Play / pause Alford Gardner

Alford Gardner

  • Alford Gardner
  • Interview by: Jess Boydon

Transcript

Between 15 and 18 I did absolutely nothing

the RAF turned up

and I said,

So I went

at the time

I found it quite easy.

And I was one of

So it came at the right time for me.

Eighteen.

You had a chance to do a trade.

You know,

I would allow for an interest in motor

Anyway,

we got on the ship

From Guantanamo Bay,

then to Camp Patrick Henry.

We spent a week in America.

What a week that was.

Oh, that was a week. That was

yeah,

yeah, yeah.

The week finished

took a train

to New York.

We boarded a ship

But I, we were, we were told to

try and

get out your long johns

and try and get warm

to avoid the submarines and whatnot.

So we woke up and there was Greenland.

What!

Everything on the ship frozen

everything.

But I mean,

Liverpool.

What lot of chimneys.

Then you look at we see the them you know,

where there might be plenty of work.

Oh, right.

Yeah. Yeah.

And then we got taken by train to Filey.

I went from Filey,

Weeton to

do a motor mechanical course.

From there

after about six or eight weeks,

they sent me back to Weeton

So I went

and meanwhile there

Lancashire.

Mostly Blackpool

but then I mean, there was Kirkham,

I did a bit of traveling.

I made, I did everything to make myself

I didn't allow things to bother me.

I tried to do things

every way I could.

Anything that was said to do, I did,

and I tried to make myself comfortable.

I didn't worry about going home

I was with the military

My dad was a policeman.

I was a boy scout at one time.

And, you know,

I had an idea about the discipline

So I was all right.

I had no problem that way.

  • Alfred's discharge

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