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One morning around mid October a loud thud was heard at the front door whilst I was having my Breakfast after completing my paper round and making ready for school.
On investigation a large brown envelope was found on the mat and with great excitement I hurriedly opened it to find it contained the results of the entire exam entrants, some 5000 in all.
Now only around 220 places were on offer, so where was I in the order of things. Feverishly flicking through the pages I finally located my name at number 77. Whew I had made it and looking through the pages further I noticed a line below which one had NOT been selected. For some of those below the line no doubt they had a second or even third chance because of their age to resit and get selected. However Jubilation overtook me and I made off to school as happy as I could be to inform the Headmaster and teachers of my success and that IF the remainder of the selection exams were satisfactory I would be leaving school at the end of the Autumn Term as the new entry was scheduled for the beginning of January.
A letter in the Results section also informed us that those above the line would be summoned forthwith to attend an aptitude test and medical for final selection at H.M.S. Daedlus at Lee-on-Solent and that travel documents would follow. Within days of this the rail warrant and directions on travelling to Portsmouth and onward via the Gosport Ferry arrived. Now 60 yrs later the actual journey there and back has faded from my memory but one rather alarming feature of the visit still brings a smile to my face.
After we had been settled in our 'ut on arrival and been fed and watered we were informed by the Killick ( Leading Hand) in charge of us that for the Princely sum of 1/- ( 5p in todays money) we could attend the cinema if we so desired. So off a few of us trotted at the appropriate hour, leaving those who had neither the shilling or the inclination to lounge in the 'ut for the evening.
Well even in those days unattended youth was not to be trusted. After returning from the cinema and turning in by 10pm, lights out and a lot of kerfuffle, we all slid off into the land of nod.
Peace reigned until around 2am when the duty security patrol burst into our 'ut and roused everyone with shouts of OUT OUT
What was this? A prank? No. Apparently whilst we had been away at the cinema, a few potential candidates had crawled onto the roof ( A danger, to themselves in the first place, as the roofing material was Asbestos and not strong enough to be safe) and filled the chimney of the "Pot Belly" stove with coal. With the doors shut and slow combustion taking place it had taken until the early hours to get going, and once going, the full length of the chimney pipe was aglow only inches from my feet. Evidently sparks were pouring from the outlet on the roof and the 'ut had a Glow about it through the windows. Having brought the fire under control and shifted the beds as far away from the raidiant heat as possible, the 'ut bedded down once more to complete a night of blissful peace