Denis Gardner was born in 1926 in south London, and his childhood memories can be found under Greater London>Peckham on this website.

In July 1947 I had just arrived back in England after two and a half years in India and Burma with the R.A.F. My mother, father and sister, had booked this holiday at The Corton Beach Holiday Camp, situated between Yarmouth and Lowestoft. Looking back I still regard it as one of the best holidays ever.

Holiday camps were all the rage in those days. Butlins was the major and most popular of the camps. This type of holiday was low priced, whereby accommodation, all meals and entertainment were provided.

The entertainment was by professional singers and comedians, but on many nights, the entertainment was made by the holidaymakers themselves.

The fun often started at dinnertime in the dinning room. [It was communal dinning.] This was regarding items that had been found around the camp and on the beach during the past day. The M.C. started the meal by getting everyone to sing grace, the words being most comical. But nothing offensive.

He would then name all the items that had been found. Then the fun really got under way. For the men it would mean kissing all the women who were wearing glasses, and prior to this attendants would go around the dinning room putting plastic glasses on every women young and old.

The women would have to kiss the men wearing a moustache. The attendants would then go around putting mustard on all of the males' top lip. Another time those that had lost items all had to follow one behind the other and do a conga dance around each table, with the music getting faster all the time.

Different forfeits were concocted each day, but the first two mentioned were the favourites. Some thought people lost small items purposely. It does not sound wonderful now but it was; everyone who went to this type of holiday camp knew and loved this type of fun.

Another of the fun nights started with a warning that tonight we would be playing 'Selfridges' in the big hall, and would all those wanting to play please wear swim suits under their clothes. Of course, not all did. The game involved getting volunteers to play, and nearly everyone wanted to play.

Those selected were then grouped into eights, plus one who was the runner. Those not in the game sat or stood around the hall. The compere on the stage would then ask for a sock, a hair off a mans chest, a shirt, a blouse, a pair of mans underpants, a bra, a pair of mans braces, a lady's stocking, a rose, a handful of grass, etc.

All types of things were asked for. Generally between ten to fifteen items were called for, and the first group to get these items from either their own group, or from the audience [If the group could not provide the item] and presented to the compere, were the winners.

The great fun came when someone in the audience was tackled to get the item, especially if he or she was not wearing a swimming suit, though sheets were used to cover up whilst the item was found.

In those far off days of 1947, the young and even teenagers went on holidays with their Mum and Dad, so the camp was made up of young through to old. No one complained. All thought it great fun. The game would go on until around 11 pm with new groups for each new game.

This would be played at least twice a week. One must remember, everyone had been starved of having a fun time for the past six years. Other nights there would be beauty contests, beside the singers and comediennes, and also the knobbly knees contest, which I won on one occasion. Prize: a packet of twenty cigarettes.

The holiday camp had its own private beach, games rooms, Library, lounges, and a new innovation for those days, was the crèche where the very young were looked after, while Mum could enjoy herself. And last but not least the bar, where we would meet for a drink before lunch.

Seeing I have been in Australia since 1951, perhaps British holiday camps are still popular and still dispensing the same kind of fun????

Denis Gardner, Brisbane, Australia, 2002