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Shortly after my appointment as
Housemaster of
Aberdeen House, I became good friends with George
Sandmann, Housemaster of
McCall House. Apart from our House duties
we were teamed together to supervise the Dining Room. Inevitably, we
became friends and got together when off duty.
One afternoon, while the boys were in
school, George and I climbed up on the roof of the main building
and, while admiring the view, George commented on the fact that my
room, which, at that time was in the "Tower", could be entered from
the roof. My window was open and George promptly challenged me to
attempt the quite dangerous climb from the roof into the window. We
both performed this idiotic act which, had we slipped, would have
resulted in almost certain death. Also, if we had been spotted by
"Pinhead" we would most likely have been sacked, if not committed to
a lunatic asylum.
A few years after I had emigrated to
Canada, I was visiting the UK and called on George, who at that time
was married and an officer pilot in the RAF. My wife and I stayed
with the Sandmanns and George took us to his RAF Station and showed
us his Jet fighter
This was at the time of the cold war
and George was one of the young men who flew regular air defence
patrols over the North Sea. I thought that this was an interesting
comparison with my wartime service as an RAF pilot.
These tales may help the old boys
understand that the staff were not all Scrooges."
©
Jack Johnstone
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