In such a place as the National Nautical School, the attitudes of staff to boys and boys to staff is of major importance for the smooth running of the place. I have no way of knowing how the staff were selected other than for their abilities to teach their elected subjects. Teaching and caring for boys in such restricted circumstances must be different to teaching in an ordinary State school. Accordingly, one would expect that some extra qualities other than academic were looked for in staff when they were interviewed for the job.

Whilst discipline at the school was always very strict, it was not over harsh; in my experience there the staff generally reflected this attitude. Because my years there spanned the outbreak of war, the turnover of staff during those years was probably greater than it would otherwise have been in less troubled times, due to some officers being called up for active service.

Head of the school was Commander H.E.Evans RN(Ret.). He was known as the Captain Superintendent. He was known to us as Captain Evans. His wife, Mrs. Evans, was known to us as Madam. Captain Evans had two daughters in about the twenty to twenty five year old bracket. They were known to us as Miss Sylvia, and Miss Daphne.

At all times, whenever Captain. Evans passed or addressed a boy, the boy was required to drop whatever he was doing and stand to attention, either until the Captain had passed, or until told to 'stand at ease' by the Captain. This policy of 'standing to' also generally applied to all the staff members, but was less rigorously followed by us depending on the occasion, and the staff member involved. Not that we were less respectful to other staff members, but after some time in the school, one acquired that 'sixth sense' which dictated when we should, and when we need not 'stand to' in the presence of an officer.

Contact with Captain Evans was not very frequent for most boys. Generally, we would see him at 'Divisions' at 9 AM each week day morning in the gym, or sometimes on the terrace if the weather was fine. Divisions consisted of a formal 'head count', when every boy had to be accounted for, wherever he was. All boys had to be 'properly dressed'. Captain would take us through a hymn, a prayer, and make any special school announcements.

Next to the Captain was Mr.N.Britton the Head Teacher. Mr. Britton was a softly spoken man, well liked and respected among the boys. He lived in the house at the western end of the school with his wife and daughter June, who at that time, was about nine years old. Since Mr.Britton's job was mainly administrative, we did not have much contact with him, unless the Captain was absent, in which case Mr. Britton performed the Captain's duties. If a class teacher was absent, he would take a school class until the teacher returned.

Chaplain was the next in the hierarchy. When I arrived at the school, the Chaplain was the Reverend J.D. Ainger. Chaplain had a large house in the woods to the west of the driveway. He was the official censor of our letters both in and out of the school. To this extent, he read all our mail, removed any Postal Orders and credited them to our (school) bank accounts. He likewise credited any S.A.E.'s (stamped addressed envelopes) which we all asked our parents to send as it saved us the money for postage. (1½d. in those days!). All boys had to write a 'Compulsory' letter each month to their parent or guardian. Chaplain also of course, saw to our spiritual needs, with Scripture lessons for each class once a week, and Church services twice on Sundays, plus Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month. I was confirmed in the School Chapel by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, probably in about 1941.

Some months after I arrived there, Chaplain Ainger left and was replaced by the Reverend G.P.O.Hill who was still there when I left in 1942. Reverend Hill was a brusque man, and not as approachable as had been the case with Reverend Ainger.
Another senior member of staff was the school Secretary. He lived in the large house at the top of the Drive, and had an office in the central section of the school, overlooking the terrace and grounds. We had very little contact with him at all.

There were twelve 'general officers'. These were the officers with whom we had regular contact every day. To all intents and purposes, and as far as we were concerned, they were the officers who 'ran' the school.

There were four divisions of boys, with (maximum) 52 boys in each division. The divisions were numbered One, Two, Three, and Four. Numbers One and Two divisions were the senior boys. They had dormitories in the west wing. Numbers Three and Four were the junior boys. They had dormitories in the east wing. At some time during my stay there, names were assigned to each division; they were, Anson, Howe, Benbow and Hood. In my recollection, these names were not used much by the boys. When referring to a division or a dormitory, we would just attach a number to it, i.e., No.One, Two, Three or Four division or dorm. Boys in No.One had two green bands around the top of their socks. No.Two had two blue bands, No. Three had two red bands, and No.Four had two yellow bands. These were the only outward divisional distinguishing marks we had. In the dormitories, the counterpanes were shaded in similar colours, No.One had green, No.Two had blue, No. Three had red, and No.Four had yellow.

Each Division or dormitory was assigned three officers. Each of these officers was allocated a cabin which was situated adjacent to his respective dormitory. A 'Duty Watch' consisted of one officer from each dormitory, so there were always four officers on duty at any one time. Generally they changed watches each day, with special arrangements for week end duty. At week ends, one watch would stay on for the whole of the three days, thereby giving the other officers chance for extended time off.

We soon learned the rotation of the watches, and who would be 'on' at any given time. We also learned to 'read' the idiosyncrasies of the various officers, and their attitudes to different situations. This was important for us. For instance, there were those officers who insisted on us remaining outside during all daylight hours no matter how cold, as long as it wasn't raining. Their philosophy was that we should run around, play football or whatever, and generally get plenty of fresh air. Others were less Spartan, and would allow the less energetic among us to play in the gym, or even in the classrooms if we were not inclined toward the 'sporting life' - which I wasn't! So, knowing who was 'on' at any given time - especially at the week ends, was important to us so that we could plan our free time to our own best advantage. The outside life was fine for the rugger and footy types but for the less adventurous, knowledge was power!

Starting at number one dormitory, the officers were, Mr. Tebbit, Mr.Tyres, and Mr.Brown. Mr.Tebbit was the Regulating Officer. The Regulating Office was the centre of the day to day running of the school. All things emanated from there. The Duty Officer could usually be found there, as could the bugler. Mr. Tebbit also taught Seamanship to those boys who were old enough.
Mr. Tyres was a school teacher. In fact, he taught Form One which was the first class that I joined, being just over eleven years old at the time I arrived at the school. Mr.Tyres was in his early twenties, and came from Tyneside. Some of us had difficulty with his accent. He was often very short with boys who had difficulty in picking up his lessons. Fortunately for me I was a reasonably good student, and did not occasion his wrath for any scholastic shortcomings. As with most of the officers, if one behaved, he was quite genial. His favourite saying of those unfortunates who got on the wrong side of him was: 'He's got the brains of a rocking horse, but not quite so fast.'

The other officer assigned to No One Dormitory was Mr.Brown. Mr.Brown was an ex RN Petty Officer. He was the school Physical Training Officer. He was rather short, and spoke with a clipped Scottish accent. One kept on the right side of Mr.Brown. Mr.Brown lived in a flat on top of the library with his wife and daughter. We did not see much of his family, but were aware of their existence. A no nonsense officer, with a reputation that said: 'When I give an order,... JUMP.' We did, and kept out of his way for the most part.

Number two Division was staffed by Mr. Littlejohn, Mr. Heron, and Mr. Davies. Mr.Littlejohn was known to the boys as 'Fishy' because of his undoubted prowess in the swimming pool. He was quite a big man, and usually very patient, especially with the more obtuse boys, and even those who would deliberately try his patience. Mr.Littlejohn was a school master, and taught Form 2. I spent some time in his class. His other duty, apart from drilling the three 'R's' into our thick skulls, was that of music teacher. He took all the classes in rotation at least once a week for music. He had a very pleasant baritone voice.

Mr.Davies was also a school teacher, and taught Form 5 which was the 'top' form. After Form 5, one went to Seamanship classes. I spent some time in Form 5, and indeed, I left the school from there in March 1942 without ever having gone to Seamanship classes! Mr.Davies, like Mr.Tyres, was in his mid twenties. He was a Welshman, and mostly quite tolerant, but as always, there were boys who would try his patience to the limit.

Mr.Herron was an ex RN Petty Officer, and taught Seamanship. He was mostly a very genial man, and very well liked among the boys. Since he taught Seamanship, and was an Officer in No Two, I had very little contact with him other than daily parades.

Numbers three and four divisions constituted 'the juniors'. Our Dormitories were in the east wing of the school. Number four being directly on top of the classrooms, and number three on top of that. In number three were Mr. Bishop, Mr.Wellman, and Mr.Windibank. Mr. Bishop was an ex RN Petty Officer. He taught Seamanship, and also took some classes for Physical Training. He was a softly spoken man, and generally 'easy going'.

Mr. Wellman was the school gardener, and as such, he took us for gardening, and generally keeping the school grounds tidy. There were several acres of land which were used for vegetables, and these were tended by the boys under the guidance of Mr.Wellman. Mr. Wellman lived with his wife in the semi detached brick house at the bottom of the drive. For some reason he chose me as his garden boy: I spent many happy summer evenings weeding and tidying his garden, and picking gooseberries and other fruit for his wife. I even helped to cover over the Anderson Air Raid Shelter which he installed in his garden when war broke out. Being a garden boy was considered a bit of a 'lurk'. Often one was excused certain parades, then of course, there was always the tea and buns which Mrs.Wellman would give me for a job well done. Mr.Wellman's nick name was 'Treddy' on account of the rather large gardening boots he wore for most of the time. He had a very broad Somerset accent which was the butt of many imitations by the boys (when no other officer was listening!)

Mr.Windibank taught woodwork. His classroom was on the Lower Road, and consisted of the two arches to the east of the central steps. Mr.Windibank was an excellent woodwork teacher, and I enjoyed his classes very much. Unfortunately, Mr.Windibank had a very short fuse, and woe betide anyone who 'got it wrong', or was seen to be 'playing him up'. However, in the normal run of school events, and under normal circumstances, Mr.Windibank was as understanding as the other officers. His nickname was 'Jazz'.

In No.Four dormitory we had Mr.Chadwick, Mr.Watkins, and Mr.Sawford. Mr.Chadwick was a middle aged, somewhat 'crusty' ex RN Petty Officer. He was the stores officer for the school. As such, he issued all new boys with school uniform, and any replacement issues of clothing thereafter. Mr.Chadwick also taught a seamanship class. He was a strict disciplinarian, but not over harsh. We had no nickname for him. He had a penchant for slapping boys quite hard on the back when they failed his 'after bath' inspection. This (slap) invariably left a red mark on the boy's back. Such boys were known as 'The Red Hand Gang'. Although he was not exactly a young man, he was the first of the ex RN staff to be called up after war broke out in September 1939.

Mr.Watkins was a school teacher. In his late twenties - early thirties, he wore his jet black hair parted in the middle, and combed straight back as was the style for many men in those days. He wore a black, pencil thin moustache. He was a Welshman, and whilst he did not actively play rugby; he was devoted to it, and spent many fruitless hours trying to infuse us with the finer points of the game as he saw it. Mr. Watkins taught Form Four. I was in his class for some time and believe I benefited from his relaxed style of teaching. For reasons I know not, his nick name was 'Sally'.

Mr.Sawford was a school teacher. He was probably in his early thirties. He took Form Three, which was the class to which the slow learners were sent. Form Three was on the Lower Road, next to the Woodwork classroom. Mr.Sawford was a very practical sort of man, and he made it his job to run the movies for us once a week during the winter months. He would also rig up radio extension loud speakers at convenient positions, and on important occasions for us to hear special broadcasts and announcements. One such announcement was Mr.Chamberlain's declaration of war on Sunday September 3rd. 1939. We were on Church Parade, but it was known that an important message was to be broadcast, so we waited on the terrace to hear it, and then went to church. Mr.Sawford was very easy to get along with.

Then there were Matron Frith and Sister. During my stay at the school, we had several Sisters, but Matron Frith stayed on. Matron ran the sick bay with a rod of iron. She was very strict, and would brook no nonsense. The various Sisters that we had always seemed less strict than Matron. However, once admitted to Sick Bay, one was given the very best of care and attention. Matron had protruding teeth and was ungraciously referred to by the boys as 'Goofy'. She wore the traditional (for those days) blue dress with white bib overall. When on duty in the sick bay, she wore lace cuffs on her elbows, and a white bonnet trimmed with white lace. She could be seen hurrying to and from her flat, through the Red Corridor at one end of the school to the Sick Bay at the other. At such times she invariably wore her Sister's black cape with red lining. The Sisters on the other hand, more often wore the large white starched head cover which fell over the shoulders in a large, triangular fold.

We had four Linen Ladies whose job it was to repair all our clothes, and label them with our respective linen numbers. Each lady was responsible for 52 boys. The linen ladies lived out, and came to the school each day. The Linen Room was on the second floor in the central block.

Miss Miller was my linen lady, and I remember her well. I also remember a Miss Davage. I am indebted to Albert Knight of Portishead who was Linen Room Boy for some time during my stay there, for the names of the other two ladies. They were Miss Smith and Miss Hibbs. The linen room always seemed - to me - to have a 'homely' smell about it, no doubt due to the freshly laundered clothes, and often, the smell of coffee. I always had a soft spot for Sick Bay and Linen Room Staff. I think it was because they provided the sort of caring service that a boy's mother would have provided at home.

In charge of food were Chef Mr. Petley, and his assistant Mr. Brown. Both were ex RN cooks. They had several galley boys allocated to them, so all the scrubbing, cleaning, and preparation of food - potato peeling etc. - was done for them. Quality of meals in such an establishment was hardly Cordon Bleu, but I suppose we received what would have been called 'A good, nutritious, and balanced diet'.
The lesser known staff - to us boys - were; Mr.Major, who repaired our boots. His workshop was the Western most archway on the Lower Road. We rarely saw him, all the boots were taken down and retrieved in bulk, and there was really no reason for us to venture into his workshop. In the stoke hold (boiler room) were Mr.Challen and Mr.Smith. As with Mr.Major, we rarely saw them, but since their domain was somewhat nearer the centre of the school than Mr.Major's workshop, we saw much more of them than we did of Mr.Major.
Casual staff that I can think of was a barber - presumably from the village - who came to cut our hair about every three weeks or so. There was no choice - not that I think boys thought much about choice of hairstyles in those days - all boys were given a 'short back and sides'.

A Mr.Johns came up from Bristol about once per month to take the band for band practice. Mr. Johns was known to us as The Bandmaster. On his arrival, (usually about 6 PM) the members of the band would assemble in the Tub Room, this was the third archway from the steps to the Western end of the Lower Road, and was the place where the boys who wet the bed used to wash and dry out their sheets, hence 'Tub Room'. However, once a month the band used it for practice under the guidance of Mr.Johns. The sounds of bugles and drums could be heard all over the school for the next two hours or so.

For probably the last eighteen months I was in the school, I was a bugler, and therefore part of the band. For quite some time before I left, I was the Band Leader, as such it was my job to decide what tunes we would play on the march to and from church each Sunday morning and evening, and to some extent, who would, and who would not take part in the band as a bugler on any given Sunday.

In the months following the outbreak of war in September 1939, several of our regular officers, being ex RN were called up for active duty. As a result of this, some new officers were recruited as replacements. Although I know that some of them stayed on for years after the war, I call these the 'War Time Officers'.

The first of our regular officers to be called up was Mr.Chadwick of No Four Division. Then Messrs. Brown, Davies, and I think that Mr. Heron, and either Mr. Bishop, or Mr. Tebbit went also. Certainly, there were four ex RN, or MN types who joined the staff during the war. The officers who replaced them were:
Mr.Turner. I think he was actually a retired Merchant Navy Master Mariner. We called him 'Bulldog'. He took on a Seamanship Class.

Mr.Lawry. Ex RN, he was relatively a young man, so we assumed that there was some medical reason for him not being in the Services. He took over as the school P.T. Officer. Mr.Lawry was a strict disciplinarian, but quite fair.

Mr.Peebles. Ex RN, he took over as a Seamanship Instructor. Softly spoken, no one took advantage of him.

Mr.Hussey. Ex RN, we understand he came from another Training Ship, the 'Conway'. Mr.Hussey had a pronounced limp, this being so, he earned the name 'Peg Leg' amongst the boys. Mr.Hussey was very strict, and stood for no nonsense. He was a Seamanship Instructor.

Mr.Powell. Replaced Mr.Chadwick in No.Four Division, and in the stores. However, Mr.Powell was a school teacher, and not a Seamanship Instructor as had been Mr.Chadwick, so one of the other replacements listed above must have taken on Mr.Chadwick's Seamanship Class. Mr.Powell had already retired as a school teacher. He was not a young man, nor was he a strict disciplinarian. Consequently, many boys 'played him up' to the limits of his patience. He taught in Form Five.

Mr.Griffiths. School Teacher. Relatively young man. Wore glasses, and spoke with a slight Welsh accent. He took us in Form Five. On his first day in class, he asked every boy in turn to stand up and introduce himself. When we had all done this he said, 'My name is Mr.Griffiths, and I am Form Master in here; now I know all of you, and you all know me, I want it to stay that way.' Mr.Griffiths was a strict disciplinarian, but as long as one behaved, he was quite reasonable.

Mr.Pugsley. Gardener. He worked in the gardens for some time with Mr.Wellman, and then he became a full time officer.

These then were the staff at the National Nautical School between the years 1938 - 1942.