Yeovil Grammar  School 1939 -1 942 

Secondly, it was the very different style and culture of the teaching, the education, and the sports cricket and rugby. 
Rugby, I was immediately attracted to, and soon represented the school house team - Kingston), & the school 1st team, playing other schools and armed forces teams. The fiercest game I ever played as a schoolboy was a Kingston versus Ivel House game in which seven of us were sent off for various forms of aggression. 

My total absorption with Rugby during the winter, produced the downside of a corresponding lack of attention to school work which resulted in leaving school early to get a job obtained by parents, in Barclays Bank. 
Played Cricket and Rugby for the school. 

Probably my most notable achievement on the cricket field was getting 7 wickets for seven runs against Sexey’s school, Bruton Somerset. 

Success in academia, is not easily remembered as it was conspicuous by its absence. 
Two of my better subjects were English and French. In the former, I was told that I had some style (not specified) and in the latter, it was knowledge of French irregular verbs (probably gained from Thornleigh College, together with damaged finger tips.) 

I added to my collection of misdemeanours in this new school, for which I was admonished severely by all the masters  for a whole week,for putting my fists up to the school janitor, who many of us thought was unfair with an aggressive attitude, so we thought it was time to make a stand. In the end it was a solo stand and my first experience of a fizzling out of a “Palace Revolution.” This episode turned out to be a seriously unwise strategic, decision. There were some other escapades, many involving raiding apple orchards and being caught by owners but managed to escape; jump a few styles; and climb over walls.; getting into the cinema through the window or the emergency exit and putting silver paper round pennies to buy sweets from Woolworths unsuccessfully.)These were reported to the head but no names were involved. 

At  school, during one air raid we sheltered in the open air corridors and  we saw 70 Heinkel bombers in diamond shape formation, one bomb fell on the garden centre  250 yards away; (one jolly boy sang songs, -- I sang - I hoped, I prayed  --and I also went out to identify the planes because aircraft recognition was a most useful hobby and later a necessary RAF subject vital for aircrew. Some bombs fell near Westlands, and one on the town centre.

 
Once I saw, from our house, a Focke –Wulf German plane  attacking Yeovil town. My Mother screamed for me to get inside. This I did, but not before I had identified the plane. It was also a serious subject with many tests in the ATC, in which I did very well. 

Good job they weren’t conducted in French! 

After one raid I cycled out to West Coker to inspect a bomb crater and collect bits of shrapnel. 
On one night a bomb fell on a house adjacent to a water tower 200 yards away next door to our friends who afterwards saw bits of limbs lying around. 

During this period my father and I used to be on a street rota for fire watching and taught how to put out incendiary bombs with buckets and sand whilst carrying our gas masks. (2 hours on and four off through the night.) Watching the searchlights pick up ducking and diving German bombers. I learnt a lot about star constellations, another necessary qualification for navigation. 
This sometimes alternated with going into next door’s Anderson air raid shelter housing 6/8 people, where I learnt to play Contract Bridge. At other times, if the bombers came quickly without much warning in the middle of the night, I hid under the stairs and Mum & Dad under the table. 

Another memorable occasion was visiting an army camp at Houndstone near Yeovil and playing Housey housey bingo with the Territorial reserve soldiers. 

I left school early before Matriculation exams and got a job with Barclays Bank.