At the end of World War Two I was serving as a pilot in the RAF in Burma. When the atom bomb was dropped, the war ended suddenly and unexpectedly with the result that many of us were totally unprepared for life after the war.  I returned to England in early 1946 to be demobbed and to try to build a new, civilian life.  I had always hoped to attend university but found that, in these post-war years, thousands of other young men and women had the same idea and colleges had long waiting lists.  I had applied to Durham but found that I would have to wait for at least two years for a vacant place.  It was while on my demob leave that I received a letter from a wartime buddy, another pilot whose name was Laurie Bittlestone, telling me that he was working for Dr. Barnardo's as a Housemaster at Old Roar House, Brighton.  He added that, if I could come down to Brighton, he could have me stay at the house and I could help him with a concert he was planning at the home by playing the piano for them.  We would, of course, have lots of time to spend together catching up on the two years when I had been in the Far East.  I went down to Hove and thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Old Roar House. The end result was that I wrote to Barnardo Headquarters and asked about employment possibilities. After correspondence, interviews etc.  I was finally hired to be a trainee Housemaster at Corris House, Much Wenlock, under the oversight of the Superintendent, Mr. Olaf Marshall. My first few months in Barnardo's are best glossed over as I still remember, with some embarrassment, my first feeble attempts at supervising young boys.  Because I had been an officer in the RAF I, rather naively, thought that controlling groups of young boys would come naturally and easily.  How wrong I was. The young devils I was given to supervise ran me ragged and I went to bed many evenings wondering whether to pack my bags and leave immediately or to wait till the morning. Fortunately, I waited and, after a few months, began to get hold of the job and, I think I was able to gain the respect, if not the affection, of the youngsters in my care. A more accurate judgement on my time at Much Wenlock may be had from Mike Jarvis who was one of the little revolutionaries that I worked with at Corris House.

While at Much Wenlock I received a letter from Dr. Barnardo Headquarters telling me that I had been chosen to attend a training course to be held at the South West Essex Technical College in Walthamstowe.  Accommodation would be at the Boys Garden City, Woodford. Accordingly I went off to Woodford where, I found, we were billeted in Lucking House with a fearsome lady supervisor, Miss Rattenbury, who treated us all as though we were the young boys she had cared for most of her adult life. For about 18 months we attended classes in Childcare, Child psychology, etc., etc, and, perhaps more usefully, we were sent to various child caring institutions for "practical" experience. I worked briefly then in a London County Council home in Ashford, another Dr. Barnardo's boys home near Derby, and, finally a City council home in Ponteland, Northumberland.  All of this helped to give me the experience I so badly lacked and prepared me for further placements with Dr. Barnardo's. When the course ended I went to Dr. Barnardo's HQ at Stepney for an interview and was, with others, posted to Goldings where we met Mr. Wheatley, the principal.

I was then introduced to the group I would be supervising, Aberdeen House.

In addition to my Housemaster duties I was given responsibility for the Boys Club, which had its quarters in a hut in the grounds by the side of the school chapel. In spite of my experience and training, I was still pretty raw and probably made many mistakes...however. I think I got along fairly well with the gang and we put on many a Gang show that was shown in the gym on a winters evening.

In 1998; I was delighted to meet, once again, several of the lads who were in Aberdeen House with me.  They did not seem to bear any grudges, in fact, I have kept in touch with them ever since.  After a few years at Goldings I was sent to the home at Templecombe where I enjoyed working with Geoff Whitehorn, who was Superintendent.  He was known, affectionately, as Dad by the boys and he encouraged them to call me Pop.  Again, I was privileged to meet several of the boys in recent years at a reunion and have been able to maintain e-mail contacts with them.  I have been constantly impressed by the way so many of the lads who had such troubled beginnings have been able to overcome their problems and to build strong and healthy families. In my old age, I am happy to be able to keep in touch with them all. I hope that many more Goldonians will enjoy your Web site as I have done.

© Jack Johnstone