After leaving the Regiment in September 1960, I was employed for a short time as a company rep for a firm of wholesale wine and spirits merchants, but then I had the pleasant experience of being 'headhunted'! The secretary of the Yorkshire branch of the Grenadiers Association was very friendly with the Chief Fire Officer of The West Riding County Fire Service, and I was approached to consider an appointment in the Brigade, firstly as an operational Fireman, but, in addition - to "knock into shape" the embryo Band, Pipes and Drums of the Brigade. I was to be the Drum Major, but in contrast to my previous life in the Regiment, this Drum Major's post was to be extra and outside my prime responsibilities as an operational Fireman.
I passed all my entrance exams and medical etc and entered the training school as a raw recuit for what proved to be 3 months of sheer hell - alternating between Drill Ground, Drill Tower, Fire House, Classrooms and the swimming pool! We all had to pass our RLSS Bronze medallion. I passed the mandatory annual first aid exams also, and proudly pinned the St John's medallion to the left sleeve of my reefer jacket.
I finished the course eventually in one piece and was posted to a Fire Station, bursting with knowledge - and about 2 stones lighter! Of course, the first advice I had from my Watch Sub Officer (equivalent to a Police Sgt) was "you can forget all that high faluting Training School Stuff and do the job as I flipping well tell you to - got it?" I stood rigidly to attention and agreed vehemently "Understood Sub!" (If he had two chromium bars on his shouders he was a 'God'!).
When it came to my band reference it was a different story however - what I said was adhered to implicitly, that is after I had agreed with the leading tipper - an ex Sgt in the Royal Marines band of The Royal Yacht - that the sidedrummers would march in front of the band, a la Royal Marines, a minor point with which I had no problems.
Everything else I suggested was accepted - The band would adopt the same drill as practised in Guards regiments, as opposed to the Royal navy drill generally used in the brigade, and the uniforms would be as nearly like the Grenadiers as the tailor could manage with respect.
There was a pipe band also with their own Drum Major, but after some 'discussion' - the Director of Music agreed to my request that I should be the Senior Drum Major, so on went the crown above my chevons and drum!
It took many hours of patience and a little 'friendly' encouragement from me before we became a marching and show band, but it did come about and we started travelling about the UK and on the continent with the gratified purrings from the Chiel Fire Officer echoing in my shell like!
The former ex Marine Sgt and I became quite friendly, and formed a good team on the concert platform where he and I ran the 'kitchen sink' department. (It seemed that fate had me studying tuned percussion on my Drum Major's course with Colonel Harris and the Regimental Band).
Meanwhile my operational career was progressing nicely and by 1964 I had passed the first of my exams and been promoted to Leading Fireman, and I started to climb the ladder (no pun intended) of promotion burning the midnight oil to pass my exams with a move up to Sub Officer i/c of a Watch and then as a Sub Officer Instructor at the Training School.
I had to give up my job of Drum Major, as my operational commitments and studies grew more intense. I trained up my successor though (an ex infantry drum NCO) and he made a pretty fair Drummy after a few months treading in my shoes!
In 1974, I was promoted to the rank of Station Officer (equates to Police Inspector), then to Assistant Divisional Officer in 1976.
In 1978, I was fortunate to be offered the post of Brigade Training Officer with The Grampian Fire Brigade which carried promotion to Divisional Officer (about the same as Superintendent in the Police). I had all the training reponsibilites for a Brigade covering 3500 square miles of North East Scotland and the Grampian Highlands with my HQ in Aberdeen. I was also a member of the Scottish offshore training association, which involved my staff training those workers who were going out to the oil rigs and Gas platforms in the North Sea.
In 1980, I was offered the position of Course Director at the Fire Service College at Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire.
Whilst there, I took advantage of being a Grad of The Institution of Fire Engineers and embarked on a year's course of studies under the auspices of Oxford University at Banbury College to pass what was at that time called a 'Certificate of Teaching in Further Education', (later to be superceded by the Post Grad Cert Ed) - it was very intensive work, but highly rewarding.
My family loved living in the Cotswolds, and I enjoyed my job immensely, but my age was starting to tell on me, and in June 1984, I was pensioned off prematurely on health grounds. We decided (reluctantly) to say farewell to The Cotswolds and return to our native home in Yorkshire. (My youngest daughter would belie that last statement as she was born in Aberdeen and is a proud Scot!)..........Life goes on, but I am proud to have been both a Guardsman, and a Firefighter- (another disciplined and uniformed vocation!). |
