This was when I was forced to face up to the fact that I had an alcoholic problem.  It wasn’t that I had to drink, it was just that when I started I couldn’t stop.

The next morning I was called before Commander Preston.  I was charged with a whole range of offences including being drunk on duty and causing undue alarm and panic.  I do not recall my punishment, or maybe I left before punishment could be announced.  But I still laugh about this today.

Mutiny on the Bembridge
It was shortly after this event that whole crew mutinied.  We were at anchor off Ryde on the Isle of Wight and I do not remember the reason for the punishment but shore leave had been cancelled for the whole crew for a month.  Everyone was being extremely aggravated and wound up by Preston and his dactatorial ways.  We had just about had enough and the lads started talking about just walking off the ship.  We were well aware of the possible consequences of such an action but didn’t believe for one minute we would be shot.

I think it was about lunchtime when the whole crew met on the port side of the ship.  We clambered into the liberty boat, a motor boat that was used for landing pilots on ships and the crew ashore, and headed away from the ship to Ryde.  As we looked back we could see the solitary figure of Commander Preston on deck calling for us to go back.  We all laughed especially at the thought that he was all alone and had no way to get ashore. 

The liberty boat was grounded on the beach by the pier and as we all scrambled to get ashore we saw police cars with sirens and lights heading along the beach towards us.  We had forgotten he had the radio to call for help.  Holiday makers were running for cover as the police cars slipped this way and then that way in the fine sand as the tried to raced across the beach to reach us. 

We all split up and ran in different directions.  I ran into the town and after an hour or so headed back towards the beach.  It all looked quite normal now.  The liberty boat was now gone off the beach.  The police cars were all gone and all the holiday makers were lounging again on the sand.

I never went back on the Bembridge.  I hung around Ryde for a few days trying to work out what I should do next.  Finally I had a plan.  I  caught the ferry to Portsmouth,  hitchhiked up the A3 and found my way to a mate’s house at Chiddingfold.

Chiddingfold  (April 1972)
After I was landed at Portsmouth I went to stay with a friend in a village called Chiddingfold in Surrey.  I don't know what had happened to the mother but Donald lived with his father and brother.  I had met Donald at Wishmore Cross.  He had been one of my few true friends there. 

I told Donald how I came to be there and was currently homeless and he talked to his dad about me moving in with them temorarily.  They agreed to let me stay for a while I got something sorted out.  Donald and I got on really well as we had at school and became the village hooligans.  Apart from us the village was dead.  The only nuisance was his little brother who was about 9 and wanted to come with us everywhere.

I got a job fairly quickly in Milford, a village a few miles away.  It only paid £5 a week but it was a job, it was a start, and it showed Donald and his dad I was trying.  I was assistant store man in the village supermarket and was happy to stay at it for a while.    I resented the low wages, but it was a job for now.  I got paid more than that when I was at the training school.

Helen Green
Donald’s dad used to take us each weekend to Working Men's Clubs in the area.  On one occasion we went to the Saturday Disco at the Milford Club.  There I met Helen Brown.  She was the same age as me and was beautiful.  We danced a few dances and I managed to steal a few kisses and few cuddles.  At the end of the evening we swapped telephone numbers and she said she would like to see me again.  I had learned from her that usually she and her dad went to the Haslemere Club but her dad had been poorly this weekend so she had come to Milford with a friend.

The next weekend I managed to talk Donald and his dad in to going to the Haslemere club.  I met Helen and her dad at the Club.  Helen was wearing red hotpants with a yellow blouse, and I immediately stood to attention.  She was beautiful and so sexy.  Her dad was a postman and I learned that the club was mainly for postmen, their wives and families.   Helen and I had a few dances but felt watched over by Helen's mum and dad.  We managed to slip away for a while and went for a wander around the town.  We stopped from time to time in a shop doorway for a snog and by the time we got back near the club we were so caught up in passion that I would have made love to her in the street.  She led me round the back of the club where there was a little green area and some benches and we settled down on a bench.  She wouldn't let me go all the way with her.  We had about an hour of snogging, petting and cuddling until another couple came out the back.  Helen felt all embarrassed to be there with me and wanted to go back inside.  I sent her in first so we wouldn't appear together.  I took my time going back inside, I had to allow time for the evidence of my arousal to go down.

I saw Jane a few more times and even stayed at her house, once sleeping on the settee.  Once her mum and dad were asleep I tried to creep into her room but she heard me and came out to meet me.  She told me she didn't want to have sex yet.  I felt totally deflated.  I believe I had genuine feelings for this girl, but fate would determine this would be the last time I would see Helen.