I have to admit that life was getting a wee bit boring. It was the same old round of drinking and
working and going, or not going, to school.
The crowd had somewhat dissipated, we were each going our own way, some
were concentrating on their studies, some would have been training for trades
and some would have been continuing with their lives in work, getting married,
having children. Me? I was just getting bored, and that of course
was a very dangerous situation for me to be in.
My life had changed, as in; I was hanging around with my
girlfriend Pat and her family, a lovely family where I actually voluntarily
contributed. Pat’s father had killed himself in Belfast and the family had
moved to Warrenpoint, the mother, five daughters and one son. They didn’t need my help, or the help of
anyone else, for that matter. The mother
was the head teacher of a local primary school and the children were all well
rounded, well-spoken and well behaved.
Despite the settling effect they had on me I still was
getting frustrated with life. One of the
hideaways I used was Mervyns’ travel agent offices. I would spend the day with him, hiding in the
back room if any one came in. One day
while hiding there I was complaining about the air force and how they had never
bothered to get back to me. Mervyn
suggested that I telephone them. I did.
I promise you, I knew nothing about the air force. I knew nothing about the rank structure, the
jobs available, where I might be posted to or stationed. I just needed to get away. I was extremely lucky for I chose to join the
air force as sergeant aircrew air electronics.
This would mean that I would have been working in the new Nimrod aircraft
as a submarine hunter. That sounded
exciting.
I had to undergo a weeklong series of tests and interviews at
the officer and aircrew selection centre at Biggen Hill. I had heard of Biggen Hill and didn’t really
care about the interviews and tests. Luckily
for me they were all quite practical and fitted in well with my abilities and interests. I did have enough qualifications to apply
to be a pilot, but thankfully didn’t.
As with the eleven plus and my entrance examinations the
letters arrived to say that I had been accepted and would my parents sign the
form allowing the air force to take me away.
Dad still wanted me to be a dentist or pilot for Aer Lingus, but what
did he know. Despite passing all their tests
I was still kept waiting. Warrenpoint
was getting greyer and greyer, and then one day I was asked to go to RAF Aldergrove
for a meeting. I went there and found it
very strange to be sitting in a room with thirty soldiers all in full combat gear
and armed to the teeth.
It was 1975 and huge defence cuts were being applied to the
forces. I wasn’t even in the air force
and my job was being cut. However, they
offered me another position. Its official
title was Ground radio and radar electronic fitter. A flight sergeant explained to me that after
my training I could work on anything from computers the size of matchboxes to computers
the size of buildings. I couldn’t have
cared less, I just wanted to get away and throw stones at submarines.
One of Pats sisters well; three of Pat’s sisters were
studying at Queens University in Belfast and one, Anne asked me to escort her
to the New Year’s Ball. Thin Lizzy were
the headline act so I agreed, with Pat’s permission of course. Six of us headed for Belfast and the night of
our lives. It was a fantastic
night, much discussion had gone in to
whether or not I should hire a formal suit for the evening or wear a normal
suit. Canny as ever, when it came to money,
mum and dad stepped in and I was given dads set of tails, with white waistcoat and
white tie so I could dress properly for the occasion.
At Violet Hell I was the only person at the school to wear
short trousers and that continued for two years. I knew that for this evening I was going to be
the only person wearing tails. I was
wrong, for at one point during the evening when I was staggering out of the
gents toilets I met my maths teacher who was wearing a set of white tails. It was a fantastic night and I remember going
in to see Thin Lizzy on stage. Phil Lynott
and another member of the band, Eric Bell, spent the evening kicking lumps out
of each other on the stage while the audience still bounced around on the dance
floor oblivious to the real tension and emotions that were erupting on the
stage.
As with most parties and drink we lost each other and I
staggered out not really knowing where I should go. A passing army patrol thought it quite funny
to find a drunk, in tails, staggering along a Belfast street, at dawn. They came over and asked who I was and where
I was going. My ability to speak was
somewhat compromised with the amount of Pernod I had consumed, but I did have
the address of their digs written of a piece of paper. I handed it to the soldiers who very kindly
placed me in their land rover and dropped me off at my accommodations.
I returned to Warrenpoint and a day or two later received a
letter and some money. I was in and had
to report to a building in central Belfast one evening the following week. There was so much to do, people to see and
say farewell to, places to go and visits for the final time, get my hair
cut. I only went to see one person that
was Mrs O Hare, the wonderful woman who’s family I had lived with in
Warrenpoint. She wished me well and
asked that I send her a postcard from whatever country I was in. I promised I would, however, to my eternal
shame I never did.
The only other thing I did was get my hair cut, three
times. I had shoulder length hair and
for my first visit to the barber asked for a couple of inches to be taken
off. I only got outside the barbers door
when I went back in and asked that he take a bit more off. I then went to Mervyn who explained that a
short back and sides is what I would be needing or else they would shave my
head when I got to basic training. I went
back to the barber and got my short back and sides.
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