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Harold Taylor was born in 1926 and at the time of this story was living in Chichester with his family. Harold had just finished training for the Merchant Navy in Chiswick, London, having taken a Wireless Telegraphy certificate and passed.
Returning to Chichester, I immediately went to the Labour Exchange, which was now in my old infants school in the St. Pancras, and was sent for a job to Hall's Corn Merchants in South Gate, managed by a Mr Dunnett. The yard foreman was Bishop, whom I had met before when we had repaired the place after the earlier bombing. The lorry driver was the only other employee.
My job was quite a simple one, but strenuous. The main purpose of the plant seemed to be seed. The grains would arrive via the lorry and were hoisted, by me or the foreman to the first floor, where each different source would be stacked separately. This was not too bad with oats as the bag only weighed 1¼ cwt. These were stacked two high. The barley was in 1½ cwt bags and were sometimes stacked two high, for which I needed assistance. The wheat was in 2¼ cwt bags.
On the first floor there was a raised bin with a shoot that led to the floor below, where there was a riddle and separator. My task would be to fill up the bin and keep it coming with each batch, whilst the foreman below operated the riddle, which was electrically driven. Small stuff came out one shoot to go for feed, and large grains were for milling. There was also a smaller riddle that took out the plant seeds, which were regarded as tares. A blower also operated to take off the chaff and other light rubbish.
Of course it was my job to keep the smaller quantities shifted as and when necessary, whilst the foreman dealt with the grains selected for seed. Most days, I would have to assist in loading the lorry with stuff for transporting to the rail yard and into the trucks for movement further afield. This could be difficult work in confined spaces with heavy objects. It was fine dealing with oats, but more difficult with the barley. When it came to the wheat, it was damn near impossible at times.
The lorry driver could manage these on his own if he got in a good position, but to get from the lorry into a cramped van was not always possible. Fortunately, since those days, sack capacities have been considerably altered.
There was always one moment of the day that was looked forward to - the morning break at around 9 a.m. Usually with the lorry driver, I would go to a little snack bar across the road that was run by a fellow who may have been of French extraction. It was called the Bon Appetite. This was a favourite drop in for many workers and we would indulge in hot toast, dripping with butter.
Life went on in a quite pleasant fashion till about 4 p.m. on the 29th October 1943. My mother arrived at the warehouse with a telegram, instructing me to report to the Marconi Office in Cardiff the following morning. I left work, but there was no chance that I would catch the Cardiff train, which I believe left at 5.30 p.m. So I got on a train heading that way at about 6.30 p.m. There were several changes, and I only got so far.
I slept on Salisbury station, waiting for a train that left at around 1.30 a.m. Whilst trying to sleep, goods trains shuttled their way through all night, and one I particularly recall, was loaded with mines.
My arrival at Cardiff heralded the beginning of my Merchant Navy period.
Many of the High School boys I knew were still home, including my brother, Bruno. There was an Air Cadets Unit there, and presumably because of his position as head boy, he was flight sergeant for this unit, the highest rank the pupils were allowed to be.
Harold went on to have a career with the Merchant Navy, with whom he served for the last part of the Second World War.
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