BIRTHDAY REMEMBRANCE

My Grandfather, Alfred Reginald Randell, was born on 16th November 1899 and was one of 10 children. They all lived in a two-up and two-down cottage in what was known as the Railway Village in Swindon but however they managed with ten children and two adults in the house, I will never know.  His Father, William Henry, worked as a Railway Factory Watchman in nearby Railway Works and the house would have come with the job.  You can see how small the cottage was from the bottom two left shots in my collage - one being the front and the other was taken at the back, always known to us as “the backsies” and I can imagine my Grandfather and his siblings all played out here when they were younger.

When Alfred was 15 years old, he enlisted in the 3rd Wiltshire Regiment but after only a month, his Mother found out where he was and had him sent home, because he was under age.  At 16 years old, however, he was off again, this time he went into the Royal Navy, and was assigned to HMS Warrior, just before the Battle of Jutland.  Hearing of this battle, and that at the Warrior had been hit, his parents feared the worst, but they were reassured when receiving a telegram to know that he was fine and would be coming home on leave, but a great many men were lost through poison gas from the ammunition used.

I am proud to have my Grandfather’s Log Book in which he recorded daily happenings, starting in December 1920, and despite it having a few loose pages, it is still in very good condition today.  The page shown in my collage is from November 1921, so 100 years ago, and there was probably great excitement aboard as they awaited the arrival of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales.  

At the end of the First World War, King George V announced that his son, Edward, Prince of Wales, would visit the Empire to thank the people for their contribution to the war effort so on 26 October 1921, His Royal Highness left Portsmouth to begin a tour of the Indian Subcontinent and Japan that covered 41,000 miles, and lasted 8 months with a break for a while when the Prince’s health deteriorated.  In 1921, Prince Edward spent four months in India, travelling from Bombay to Calcutta and then from Madras to Karachi. 

My Grandad’s Log Book has a gap between 8th November 1921 and the 17th - they were obviously very busy preparing the ship - and neither is there an entry for his birthday, 16th November.  However, on the 17th November the entry reads:

“H.R.H. arrived at Bombay on board H.M.S. Renown at 6 a.m. and at 7.30 a.m. dressed ship and fired Royal Salute.  All ships and public buildings were illuminated at night so was a sight worth seeing.  There was some trouble with the natives and the army was out with machine guns and some were killed but it soon became quiet again.”

According to records I have read, the political situation in India was not as settled in October 1921 as it had been when the tour was first mooted and in the area of India directly ruled by the British, the Prince and his visit became the focus of attention for anti-British feeling, hence the phrase used by my Grandad, “There was some trouble with the natives…”

There was another reference to the Prince of Wales coming aboard in January 1922 when they were in Madras and once again, his Log states, “Had trouble with the natives.”  I’m not sure that this phrase would be used today.

It’s interesting in one account of his time at sea that my Grandad says, “On the Warrior, I was supplying ammunition for the 7.5 inch gun turret.  This was the first action I had been in and it came off greatly, but I still don’t want to see any more like it.  Of the ships boys, only one was lost - he was shot as we were leaving the scene of the fight.  We were chased by four German destroyers, but some of our destroyers came up and drove them back.  As we were leaving our vessel for the one that took us off, a man with a leg off fell between the two ships but another jumped in after him and fetched him up unconscious.  He was brought round, but died on the way to land.  We lost only one officer, the chief carpenter.  We had respirators made of cotton tied round our mouths and noses and it was through this that I was saved from being gassed.”

I wonder what he would make of the fact that many of us wear masks today? 

I do have a photograph album, shown at the top right, which is beautifully inlaid with mother of pearl and in which my Grandfather has inserted lots of postcards, obviously bought on his travels in India, Singapore and Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon.  There are a few photographs, but not of very good quality. 

Reading all this again, I do wish I had spoken to my Grandad more about his time in the Royal Navy, but like many men who had been involved in wars, they didn’t speak much about what had happened to them and the sights they saw.  For many years, Grandad lived in Oxford where my Mother and I used to visit him regularly and I remember when we left to go home on the bus, he always gave me a Two Shilling piece.  He always insisted on accompanying us to the bus station, wheeling his “sit up and beg” bicycle, and then when he had seen us safely on the bus and waved us off, he pedalled back home.

On this day, I remember my Grandad with pride and thanks for all he did for me and our family - Happy Birthday, Grandad, you were, and are, still loved very much.  

“Grandfathers give us 
     not only wisdom 
          and encouragement, 
               but they are an inspiration to us.”
Kate Summers - and Mrs. HCB