MEMORABLE DAY AT THE RACES AFTER RETURNING TO BRIGG ON LEAVE

Cliff Turner, now 91 and living in New Zealand, continues his memories of the 1940s...

It was late February or early March when we arrived at Portsmouth where the band of the army's Sussex Regiment was playing Sussex by the Sea and wives and children of crew members were waiting to greet their husbands and fathers. 
I was whisked off to the Royal Naval Hospital at nearby Gosport to see a psychiatrist who had the rank of Surgeon Commander. We had a long talk; the only thing I remember is me telling him how I sometimes used to go to the Barnetby cattle market with my Dad and that the biscuits in the canteen at the market were always damp. 
I was able to telephone the Queen's Arms pub in Brigg to tell my Dad where I was. The Commander decided that I could not be invalided out of the navy on medical grounds.
My stay in the hospital was short and then it was off to Brigg for some leave. Only one memory of the leave remains - I went to Market Rasen races on Easter Monday, my first experience of horse racing over hurdles and fences. In the first race I backed a horse called Aces High ridden by Irishman and champion jumping jockey Tim Moloney. It won.
After my leave I returned to the barracks at Portsmouth fully expecting to be soon discharged but after a day or two was told I was to go to HMS Starling. I told the drafting Master at Arms that I thought I was about to get my "ticket". He said "You're going to the Starling." I went. 
The Starling was a frigate that had been adapted as a training ship attached to a shore establishment, HMS Dryad, a navigation training school on the outskirts of Portsmouth. 
We went to sea most days but returned to harbour almost every night. We also used to take parties of Sea Cadets for a day at sea. They were brought to the ship by a Petty Officer who had his mid-day meal in our mess, and by adding a little water to the rum allocated to the mess, we were able to give him a tot. He told us he used to tell his colleagues at the Dryad that it was a horrible job so that none of them wanted to take his place.
Because we were in harbour most nights, I took a room at the Salvation Army for a very small payment and slept there most nights. We were allowed to take 20 duty free cigarettes ashore per day so I was able to build up quite a pile in my room for my Dad on my next visit home. 
Soon after I joined the Starling the captain sent for me and handed me a form. It was headed Application for Discharge and had two options, Free Discharge or Discharge by Purchase. Naturally I went for the free option. I do not recall how long it took for the wheels to go round but in June I was sent to HMS Collingwood, the navy's electrical school near Portsmouth and from there I was ejected into civvy street. I was given the kit of civilian clothes that people who had been conscripted into the armed forces were given when they finished their time.
Dad and step-mother were on holiday in London so I stayed there for the rest of the week. Still in uniform when I got to London, I was able to get a room at the Union Jack services club adjoining Waterloo Station. Then I took off my uniform for the last time and went to meet Dad and stepmother in my new clothes.
It was Royal Ascot week, perhaps the biggest event in British horse racing, which always takes place in mid-June. Thursday is Ascot Gold Cup day and we decided to go there by Greenline bus. Royal Ascot lasts for four days, Tuesday to Friday inclusive, and the Royal Family always entertains a large party at nearby Windsor Castle for the racing. There is a straight course of almost a mile at Ascot and after travelling from the castle by car the royal party transfers into horse drawn carriages and drives down the straight mile, past the grandstands into the Royal Enclosure. So we saw George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth with husband Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Margaret and other lesser royals. My royalist Dad loved it.
The Gold Cup was won by Lord Derby's Alycidon. Lord Derby had three other runners in the race to act as pacemakers as so often races over two and a half miles were run at a dawdle for most of the trip with a sprint at the end. The pacemakers were there to ensure a truly run race. We had a good day betting-wise but I only remember the name of one of the winners I backed, Swallowtail, which had been second or third in the Derby in his previous race.  
Back in London we had a meal at the Strand Corner House. Stepmother was feeling so pleased with herself she gave the waiter a tip of half a crown which was a useful amount back then. Half a crown is two shillings and sixpence; Britain also had another coin, the florin, which was two shillings. I never understood why it was thought necessary to have two coins of such close value, or why we had half a crown but did not have a crown. After enjoying Gold Cup day we decided to go to Ascot again on the following day.
We then returned to Brigg. Soon afterwards I received a letter from the Admiralty addressed to Electrical Artificer C.R. Turner with a cheque for money due to me. As I did not have a bank account I could not cash the cheque so I sent it back asking for cash and saying I was now Mr Turner. The money came in a more negotiable form in a correctly addressed envelope.
I had always enjoyed any stays I had in London and after a few days in Brigg I went back to London to look for work. But putting pleasure before business I was at Sandown Park race course within an hour of arriving at King's Cross. The Eclipse Stakes is one of the big events in the British racing year and I saw it won by Amour Drake from France. 
The Victory Club for ex-servicemen had been recently opened close to the Marble Arch end of Tottenham Court Road. I joined this, took a room there and studied the Situations Vacant columns in the newspapers. 
Further memories to come from Cliff on Brigg Blog.