Wrekin-News-184

YOUR
LETTERS
Concerns
raised
over
church
state
Mr A. Hayward
writes with
concerns
over Prioslee
cemetery.
I recently had cause to call
at the Priorslee Church, as
I was married there in 1960
and my first wife is buried
there. I was appalled at the
state of it, and after some
searching found the people
responsible for it. After several
attempts I found a councillor
who passed me on
to the church warden from
whom I have yet to receive
a reply.
I would have thought with
all the new houses and business
that have appeared
over the recent years, there
would be no need for it to be
in that uncared for state, and
it would look even worse if it
wasn’t for efforts of individuals
caring for their own.
I understand others have
complained but nothing appears
to be done to improve
things, perhaps this may
start if off.
Ron Munt visited our offices
a couple of months
ago and gave us evidence
of the tragic accident when
two US aircraft crashed over
Lawley Bank in 1944. It was
a touching and informative
piece. Ron writes again.
The Lawley Bank and
Friends War Memorial
Group would like to express
our thanks for the excellent
coverage your newspaper
gave to the work of
our group.
The coverage resulted in
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pages!
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Bridge Road, Wellington, Telford
Shropshire TF1 1RY
Trip abroad beckons for Ken
BACK AT Cosford I
received orders to
proceed to Buckenberg
in Germany
to join the Regional Band
attached to BAFO (British Air
Force of Occupation).
Knowing that I would
have to get on the troop ship
in Harwich and cross the
dreaded North Sea to the
Hook of Holland, I went to
the Medical Officer and told
him about my sea sickness.
He gave me a letter to pin
on my uniform allowing me
to stay in my bunk until the
anchor dropped.
On my very first crossing
the Orderly Warrant Officer
came round in the morning
shouting every body out, but
of course I lay in my bunk.
He was soon at my side,
face flushed with anger. I
pointed to the letter pinned
on my tunic, when he read
it he exploded saying: “And
they called you Nelson!
Trade musician – that’s not
a trade you’ve got, it’s a
disease!”
After that comical episode
the rest of the trip was lovely.
The Dutch people gave
us a great breakfast then
we boarded the troop train
for Germany. The journey
through Holland was very
clean and pretty. There was
a marked difference when
we went over the border into
Germany, though at this time
there were no children begging
for food, but it still had
the scars of war but not as
bad as the last time I was
there.
My next shock was meeting
the bandmaster, none
other than the veritable Lambourne
but now promoted
to flight-lieutenant. Luckily
there was a band flight
sergeant called Ted Walford
between us, and I knew Ted
from earlier days and we got
on well.
Obviously Ted being my
senior and also a better classical
and military band clarinet
player, he took the solo
chair and I was joint solo.
Lambourne would never
have considered me as the
solo. Ted was a keen sportsman
and formed the band
football and cricket teams,
which I excelled at. I played
in goal and we always lost
by double scores because
most musicians are useless
at sport. However the station
sports officer asked me to
Thank you from Ron
quite a few people contacting
us to say they supported
the work of the Group including
some who have lost
relatives in the wars.
The memorial bench we
installed is well used and is
an asset for the Lawley Bank
area. We have had many
requests for copies of the
Wrekin News.
Our Group is non-political
although we have three
proud members of the local
Labour party in our group,
politics in never discussed
Ken Nelson continues his story of
his early life, he is stationed at RAF
Cosford but a trip abroad beckons.
in meetings.
The man who formed
the group, Ivor Jones, is
well-known for raising funds
for good causes over many
years and this Group is an
extension of his good work.
We received only one
criticism but we won’t dwell
on that because as is usual
the critic did not reveal his
name.
Again thank you to
Wrekin News, may your excellent
newspaper continue
to flourish.
play for the RAF team against
the army at Hanover.
I said: “What about all
those goals I let in?” but he
said there would have been
many more but for me. On
the day of the match I had
quite a shock to see George
Younger, the Scotland and
Glasgow Rangers player in
the opposite goal. We lost 1-0
but due to the heavy leather
ball and having to take dead
ball goal-kicks, the medical
officer told me to stop playing
due to getting fluid on
the knee.
The band work in Germany
was very different to
the work in the UK. We did
no civilian work and very little
dance band work but we
were doing plenty of NATO
work. It was interesting to
play so many different national
anthems for the top
officers from other countries.
We were once on an airfield
waiting for General Norsted,
a Norwegian who was
currently in charge of the
NATO forces when a Vampire
twin fuselage jet crash
landed and came to rest
about twenty yards in front of
the band. The pilot jumped
out of the cockpit and ran for
dear life. Luckily the aircraft
didn’t explode and the band
just carried on playing as
normal!
The other thing we did
every week was go to
Hamburg to broadcast for
BFM. The announcer was
Cliff Michelmore. We would
mostly do the recording the
day before the broadcast
day as the actual broadcast
went out early mornings.
Sometimes we would be lying
in bed and Cliff would
say: “The RAF Bandsmen
have just arrived brushing
the snow off their uniforms!”
Next month another chapter
opens in Ken’s life – Civvy
Street!
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SCHOOL STUDY, BUT
WHICH SCHOOL?
A reader sent in this photograph which is
a study in school life. We know the photograph
was taken in July 1952 but we are
not sure which school it is. If you recognise
yourself please let us know, it is clear the
poor teacher is struggling to get the classes
attention with the cameraman about to push
the button.