Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

wounded by mortar shrapnel - abdominal wounds - he was moved to the Royal
Derby Infirmary and was not expected to survive the operations. It must have
brought back very hurtful/traumatic memories to my father. On 22 June l944 we
were concerned to hear that Peter had abdominal wounds. It seemed that he was
more seriously wounded than at first thought. On 24 June, Dad and Mother phoned
about more bad news of Peter and asked me and Michael to go to Derby to be with
them and to visit Peter. We travelled down by train. It was one of those interminable
wartime journeys, changing at Crewe, and we found a Bed-and-Breakfast place to
stay. Next morning, on reaching the ward we were shocked to see how grey and ill
Peter looked; it was all rather upsetting. We returned to Windermere on 26 June
because I had an important exam to sit next day (for Higher School Certificate), for
which I wasn’t in the optimum frame of mind! Fortunately Peter made a complete
recovery, although he proved to be allergic to the new wonder drug Penicillin. He
was awarded the Military Cross.
School work and Cambridge scholarship
At school I was preoccupied that summer taking my Higher School Certificate in
Botany and Zoology (full subjects), Chemistry and Physics (half subjects). I did well,
and also took scholarship level in Botany and Zoology, achieving ‘distinction’
markings in both. Not really knowing what I wanted to do I had chosen to go in for
Medicine. The choice was between King's College, Newcastle, then part of Durham
University, and Cambridge, where I took the Scholarship exams at St. Catharine's
and Peterhouse (Peter had been an Exhibitioner at St Catharine's). I travelled down
to Cambridge for about three weeks in March l944, to sit these exams. I felt very
unsure of myself socially; for example I didn't know what to do about tipping the
gyp (Syd Alderton) who looked after us candidates and I wasn't sure how to handle
other things, so probably appeared rather ‘wet’. However, I sat the exam and didn't
find the papers too bad.
An interview that formed part of it took place in the Master's Lodge I think - or
perhaps it was the Senior Combination Room. A vivid picture in my mind is of a
glowing open fire and we sat around it in roomy, high-backed chairs. The then
Master was Dr Chaytor, who had twinkling eyes and asked me penetrating
questions (or so they seemed to me at the time). I met Sydney Smith for the first time;
he was the college’s Director of Studies in Zoology, and was later to become a great
friend, mentor and influence in my life. The Zoology viva was probably the most
daunting part of this experience. The examiners were Sidney Smith and
L.A.Borradaile, who Sydney told me was nicknamed ‘the white rat’. A white-haired
old man (a relative term!) he was lead author of the standard invertebrate Zoology
textbook of the time - known to a generation of zoologists as BEPS (Borradaile,
Eastham, Potts & Saunders). Not having been formally taught biology at school, I
had had no practice in vivas, and anyway no preparation or wide practical
experience of Zoology. One question that completely floored me was in the form of
a ‘spot-test’. In these tests candidates were given objects to identify, or asked to look
down a microscope at slides and to comment. One of my spot-tests was the clavicle
of a turtle. For those who haven't seen this it is a bone that has three ‘arms’, more or
less at right angles like an old- fashioned cobbler's last. I’d never seen
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