Greenwich Royal Hospital School 1924-1928

As recounted to Bernard de Neumann

by

Chelsea Pensioner, Jack Judge, in 1998

Routine:

The Duty Officer called the boys at 0600 and the boys made their beds up. Ablutions were carried out in the wash-lavatories in the basement of the wing. Each boy had his own washbasin, and when completed returned to dormitory to "scrub the deck" (polish the floor) on hands and knees, under the supervision of the Petty Officer Boys. On completion the company was then fell-in and marched to breakfast.

After breakfast we were assembled in the gymnasium for morning prayers, and singing practice of hymns for the Sunday Service which took place in the Royal Naval College Chapel. On completion we were dismissed to our classrooms, or to Trades training.

The School was divided into two divisions: Junior and Senior. The Junior Division were boys aged between 11½ and 13½ years old and were in full-time education. The Senior Division were boys aged between 13½ and 15½ years old, and spent alternate days on trades and education. Boys entering the Senior Division could sit an examination, and if they passed, they entered the Upper Nautical Company (No. 9). The education received in the Upper Nautical Division was on a par with that from a grammar school.

Upper Nautical boys had full-time education including on Saturday mornings. Boreman Boys, who were actually "day boys" rather than boarders, were there for educational purposes, and were in the Upper Nautical Company. Upper Nautical boys had the opportunity to sit for the entrance examination for Boy Artificers in the RN, and to be RAF Apprentices. The RAF option was introduced during 1924 -1928.

The RN had "first refusal" on all boys at GRHS, those that were not accepted could join the other services, or find a civilian occupation. Many of these joined the Merchant Service, and some served in Atlantic Liners (a few starting as "Bell Boys" on lifts, eventually becoming pursers. Such occupations on the prestigious Atlantic run attracted large tips!)

Senior Division boys not in the Nautical Division were employed in the Tailors’ shops, Cookhouse, Laundry, Sock shop, Carpenters’ shop, Paint shop, Bakehouse, Bugle and Brass Bands.

On reaching the age of 15 the boys entering the Royal Navy joined the Seamanship Class for their last five months. However there was no sailing or rowing on the Thames because it was too busy, especially at high tide, when merchant ships and liners were steaming to their various wharves and docks. There was always plenty of smoke and noise from the ships as they used their sirens to signal manoeuvres and attract attention. These activities were viewed by the boys from their dormitory windows on the second floor, by looking through the grounds of the Royal Naval College. They saw many sailing barges, and the majority of ships were coal-burners. There was a fully equipped seamanship room with steering simulator, and a 32 ft naval cutter in the grounds which was used by the seamanship class for training. (Fame was not in use anymore.) Jack Judge, who was on the small side, had great difficulty in controlling his oar!)

Boys who wanted to join the Royal Marines left the school at the age of 14 years.

On Tuesdays and Fridays the whole school were on Parade and gave a display of Swedish drill to the music of the Boys’ Band. This was later replaced by dancing the Sailors’ Hornpipe, which was introduced by the new Chief Officer Lieutenant Commander Yeo.

Punishment was dealt with by the Chief Officer, and a bugler sounded off "defaulters" after lunch.

Clothing Issued:

We had two boys detailed for Mess Duties (similar to Holbrook, but we had to wash all the dishes including those from the Cookhouse). Our table was perpendicular to the main wall and extended to the gangway as in a naval mess deck. Fitted to the wall-end were shelves fitted for knives, forks, spoons, plates, etc. Saturday routine was a general cleaning routine when Tables, forms, and the floor had to be scrubbed. All utensils had to be polished – eating utensils had to be polished with brick-dust. There was no water in the dining hall, which accommodated approximately 1000 boys, and any water required had to be obtained from the huge scullery in the basement and carried in a two gallon bucket. The scullery had large troughs for cleaning dishes. I can never remember the water being really hot. It had to be carried up two flights of stairs to the dining hall. This was very difficult when you were young and we got rather wet. The basement also contained large boilers for the making of cocoa for breakfast and other requirements. In the morning we had to go and queue for cocoa which was made from blocks of cocoa as issued to the navy, and had a large amount of fat. It was not stirred once it had been made which caused the fat to rise to the top of the cocoa, and if you were at the tail-end of the queue, you received a large amount of fat. Needless to say that when you returned to the mess you were not very popular when it had been issued to the boys.

I do not remember any tricks being played on the New Jacks. Perhaps it was because I was fortunate enough to have boys who came from Plymouth who I knew at the school. Some were in my company and they would have put me wise.

The most exciting time for me before going on leave was the last Sunday Divisions, when we marched to Chapel in the Royal Naval College, and the boys’ band played the music of "Home, Sweet Home" as a march for the occasion.

During my time at GRHS there was two changes of Chief Officers. The last one did try to get some entertainment going. For Saturday nights he introduced dancing to the "Lancers" and other formation dancing, also the Waltz, one step, etc., with the music being provided by the School Band. We enjoyed the dancing and it was great fun, but it took some controlling, especially in the choosing of partners, because, naturally, everyone wanted to be a "gentleman". The dancing took place in the gymnasium.

Bullying was very rare, and usually, if arguments came to blows, it was immediately stopped, and the protagonists were given the opportunity to sort it out by the Naval Physical Training Instructors who arranged for them to settle their dispute in the gymnasium after lunch and under their supervision.

The Gymnasium played an important part of our lives. Lockers for our personal use were built around its walls and were the only storage space for our kit. Each one had its owner’s number on it on a small brass plate, but no name. Most of our spare time was spent there. I cannot remember seeing a Library, but there was a small reading room.

After the "Tea" meal we were left to our own resources. At seven o’clock supper was available in the gym – usually a piece of cheese and a small piece of bread, or currant bread. There were always Company Officers on duty at 1930hrs when we fell-in by companies and marched to our dormitories. On arrival we prepared for bed until 2030 hrs when we had to settle down for a night’s rest. A duty officer visited the dormitories during the night.

Wednesdays whilst parading for Tea, was the time for haircuts. Whilst we waited to proceed to the Dining Hall, the Barber, and the boys who he had trained, would go through our ranks and detail boys for haircuts. Hair was not trimmed, but cut very close to the head. This was alright during the term, but before going on leave we would try and dodge the issue. Some of the boys risked going over the wall, by going through the Infirmary grounds to the disused church there, and climbing the boundary wall to get to a Barber’s shop in the near vicinity. Once it was done there was a difficult time in trying to avoid the School Barber before going on leave. We also tried to cut our hair ourselves with a comb and a pair of scissors, but this was not very successful.

At times there was talk amongst the boys of going over the WALL, especially on return from leave. I believe whilst I was there, two boys did make the break, but they were soon returned to the school. They must have stood out like a sore thumb, especially after dark, because as far as I know there were no civilian clothes available

Raids on the kitchen were often discussed because they entailed FOOD. Such raids were always arranged to take place at night. They would result in failure, for instance, if they took place from No. 6 Company Dormitory: the raiders had to cross the parade ground, and when they arrived at the Cookhouse it was like trying to get into Fort Knox.

The other adventure was in the summer, and was to go swimming in the small swimming pool used to teach young boys who could not swim. The pool was easily reached by No. 6 company dormitory by going down the fire-escape. There were potential problems because the Company Officers lived in our wing, but easy access could be had via a window deliberately left unsecured by one of the boys who worked there. I often wonder why they were not caught, as we could hear them splashing around in the water. How they dried themselves was another mystery, as our towels were kept in the ablutions.

Bath nights were Wednesdays and Saturdays. There was a communal Bath and we bathed by companies. The Bath was a nightmare for me. There was very little heating in the ablutions, the boys ages ranged from 11½ years to 15 years of age. We stripped off and queued to enter the Bath, and when we arrived, the water was almost cold. There was a duty officer present, and when we finished bathing, we again queued for him to inspect our bodies. There was always a thin dark line around our ankles, which I think was caused by wearing boots. It was very difficult to remove, and the soap that was issued was for normal household use, and there was never enough. When you reached the duty officer you prayed that he would pass you, else it was back to the Bath.

Recreation and Sport: Football and cricket were played on the parade-ground in our spare-time during the week. On Wednesday afternoons the sports grounds at Blackheath were available to us and the inter-company matches were played there. Sports-day was held on the Parade ground and was thus very limited. There were school representation games, but the only one I remember was the annual match against the Duke of York’s Royal Military School. The main sports were boxing, football and cricket, no indoor sports such as Volleyball, Netball, etc, yet the gymnasium had plenty of space for such games.

Entertainments: These were few and far between. We did go to a pantomime in the City at Christmas - before we went we were made to practice all the pantomime songs for a week. We also went to the Royal Tournament every year. I remember one special occasion when I was a Chief Petty Officer Boy, I went to see the local Amateur Dramatic Players perform during the evening. This was very unusual.