Re-educated by Lucy Kellaway

[rockfreak]

That is just so sad that you were orphaned while at CH. I seem to remember that you've spoken about it before and that the school thought that by not talking about it too much you wouldn't be reminded of it. I was contemporary with you and remember the Fantle affair and wondered how he coped with it. What is the best route to go in these situations, I wonder.

As for the CCF and guns, did you not get to fire Brens on automatic fire on the range? Put on the clip (30 rounds was it - some army wallah can maybe put me right) and blast away. Imagining one of your least favourite master's head as the target. We also fired .303 rifles but they had a bit of a kick and I was only a little lad so I rarely hit anything.

[sejintenej]

That is just so sad that you were orphaned while at CH. I seem to remember that you've spoken about it before and that the school thought that by not talking about it too much you wouldn't be reminded of it. I was contemporary with you and remember the Fantle affair and wondered how he coped with it. What is the best route to go in these situations, I wonder.

No two people are the same. My brother, a gunner in a Lancaster, died over Germany. My father died shortly after the war as a result, my sister I never met (I was in England, she in Belfast), my mother was housekeeper for a couple of "big houses"(very much as in as in Upstairs Downstairs) , so busy I seldom had a quiet moment with her. Indeed I already knew the people who took guardianship far better and on their deaths I was far more affected.

It is only in the past 4 years that I have even met my blood relatives including a cousin and niece I had not previously heard of. I was able to discover themselves by myself but then there is the question of the approach by someone they have never heard of!!! It did work out OK

Paul (Fantle) Wade's case was very different; given the history I suspect that he should have been far closer to his father (the survivor) but ......

How should the cases have been dealt with by the school? In Paul's case (and I suspect my own) pupils were instructed never to raise the subject when he returned though of course close friends might have said something. I suspect that that would probably have been the best way. Kit was friendly as previously (I had got him out of a jam years before) The Chain did make an offer but I never felt comfortable with him.

As for the CCF and guns, did you not get to fire Brens on automatic fire on the range? Put on the clip (30 rounds was it - some army wallah can maybe put me right) and blast away. Imagining one of your least favourite master's head as the target. We also fired .303 rifles but they had a bit of a kick and I was only a little lad so I rarely hit anything.

Brens? possibly though I don't recall that. 303 Lee Enfields - certainly but I had no problem with the recoil. Did you pull the rifle very tight against your shoulder with your left hand which was/is the best way.? .22s also have a bit of a kick but held properly they do not even slightly waver off target when you fire.

[loringa]

As for the CCF and guns, did you not get to fire Brens on automatic fire on the range? Put on the clip (30 rounds was it - some army wallah can maybe put me right) and blast away. Imagining one of your least favourite master's head as the target. We also fired .303 rifles but they had a bit of a kick and I was only a little lad so I rarely hit anything.

Your Bren probably had a 30-round (curved) magazine as you recall; when they were rebarrelled as a 7.62 LMG, the (straight) magazine only held 20 rounds (I think - though younger than you my recall is slightly hazy). I once had to do an investigation into an incident when the barrel of an LMG wasn't locked properly in place and it shot off into the middle of Pacific Ocean. The investigation was required in case the lost weapon (part) ever fell into the hands of terrorists or organised crime. Good luck to anyone who could retrieve that from 4 km down!

The .303 Lee Enfield rifle No 4 which was still used by the CCF when I was at CH in the 70s was a lovely weapon. With competition sights a 4-inch group at 500 yards was a fairly easy achievement but it had a heck of a kick, more so than the Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) that replaced it as the SLR used a proportion of the gases generated to eject the expended shell case and load the next round into the breech. The right lens of my glasses always had a series of chips caused by the .303's recoil, something that did continue when I moved on to the SLR but which one simply doesn't get from the 5.56 mm rounds used by the more modern SA80. The .22 (Lee Enfield rifle No 8 if I recall correctly) was another accurate weapon but obviously with a much shorter range and used indoors at the miniature range behind, I think, Thornton. It had no noticeable kick at all.

Shooting was very much one of my things at CH under the tutelage of the excellent Chief Bradley. Nowadays I really do not much like guns at all and, except for shotguns, haven't fired one for probably 15 years.

[sejintenej]

. The .22 (Lee Enfield rifle No 8 if I recall correctly) was another accurate weapon but obviously with a much shorter range and used indoors at the miniature range behind, I think, Thornton. It had no noticeable kick at all.

Shooting was very much one of my things at CH under the tutelage of the excellent Chief Bradley. Nowadays I really do not much like guns at all and, except for shotguns, haven't fired one for probably 15 years.

I was never allowed to or invited to shoot except for 303 at ranges and the single attempt at army classification. Never heard of Chief Bradley.

I shot two types of .22 - a German named one with the breech opened by a lever underneath and then an "International "(AFAIR it was a 4) which was a straight bolt action like a 303 but without the magazine. Most weeks it was 25 yards indoors but sometimes 100 yards outdoors. Highly accurate at both ranges and not much affected by wind. Enjoyed the sport very much and shot with two clubs in London/.