40s and 50s Memories
86
I began as a Clerk in the Borough Treasurer's
Dept. in Taunton. Then I joined the RAF as an
Engineer Mechanic and I saw service in Algeria,
Italy and Austria. When I returned to England
and the Borough Treasurer's Dept. in Taunton
I soon realized that "the sun was low each day,
and Finance was no longer my career!"
The Daily Telegraph carried a career item,
inviting those interested to apply with a medical
report, which I did. A letter followed, with a
request to report under the clock on the Boat
Train platform at Waterloo Railway Station,
ready to travel.
There followed a fourteen day passage to Cape
Town, and a four day train journey to Salisbury
via Bulawayo.
The Deputy Chief Inspector introduced himself
to the assembled party, and there followed six
month's of intensive training. This included
Statute Law, Police Duty, Driving Instruction,
Mounted Duties for patrol, Town and District
areas.
After a life's career in the BSAP (Rhodesia)
I retired as a Senior Inspector. I am now a
widower. I have a daughter Caroline and a
son, Simon. There is one grandson and three
granddaughters.
D. WILSHERE
Meynell 1947
David Wilshere was at King's for two years and
was active in the Scouts. His school record
shows him as 'Target Boy for the Shooting VIII' .
This is a follow up to my 'King's College
Memories' where I set down my memories
of King's, followed by brief references to my
training as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and
my three years in the Army, spent in Malaya
prior to Independence.
First of all, the 'nuts and bolts' of my career.
After the Army I worked in the Bournemouth/
Poole area during which I met my wife, Pat.
The first major construction project for me was
the Winfrith Atomic Energy Establishment,
Dorset (1957-63) which gave me a taste for large schemes, and also started a series of
house moves for us!
Then over to Kent for an army barracks, followed
by the second major project, Pembroke Power
Station (1966-70). One incident from that time
sticks in my mind. I was in the Round Table
and we organised a Western Night with a
cowboy theme, for charity, within the walls of
Pembroke Castle, on 30 July 1966. As we got
closer to the date England were doing very
well in the World Cup ! So we set up a TV set
in one of the old rooms in the Castle. Nearby
Castlemartin shooting ranges were being used
by the German Army. So we had in this room
in a Norman Castle, us, the Germans and the
most exciting Final of the World Cup, finishing
4-2. An electrifying experience.
Back to my career, after Pembroke we moved
to Sevenoaks and I started work in London, with
an involvement in the Alba Smelter, Bahrain, a
very large producer of aluminium products.
In 1973 I joined a Manchester based firm of
Quantity Surveyors and set up their London
office, subsequently becoming a Partner of the
firm. Construction was booming overseas and
I obtained commissions in Bahrain and Kuwait,
followed by further work in Libya, Nigeria, Iraq
and Singapore. The Kuwait project was the
airport being built by the Japanese and they
invited me to Tokyo so travelling was a feature
of that period.
I retired from the Partnership in 1986 and
we moved back to the Bournemouth area. I
undertook consultancy work which included
being an Expert Witness for several cases, two
of which went to Court. Another interesting
period was working with the National Trust after
their disastrous fire at Uppark in 1989, near
Petersfield on the South Downs.
With advancing years I eased up on the
consultancy work and became involved with
the Citizens Advice Bureau as their Surveyor
and also as a Trustee.
Turning to the personal side, I married Pat
in 1959 and we set up home in Poole. The
following year Marcus arrived. He is now an
architect specialising in Urban Planning. After a
number of years as Director of a firm in London