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'BRATS!'
(Part 1)
Duke of York's RMS
"With Catlike Tread" (from 'Pirates of Penzance' by G & S)
It transpired that, in the early hours of that morning, a raiding party of Dukie Prefects had 'blacked up' (using burnt cork for camouflage 'cream', in the approved manner of those days) and encroached onto the campus of Dover College without the knowledge of its occupants! They hadn't exited the School grounds en bloc though --- they had left in small Details of about four to six (Patrol strength) lads and, taking pre-arranged and varied routes through the outskirts of Dover, had eventually converged onto the grounds of the College from their different directions. Just as well too because the local constabulary had, it appeared, been warned that a retaliatory raid was likely to be mounted by Dover's 'boy soldiers' onto the College's esteemed premises!
Conflicting tales abound re the actual mischief the Dukie representatives caused during their 'visit'. Certainly, toilet rolls were strewn all over their lawns and paths, apparently 'rude messages' as well as 'Dukies Were Here!' type of slogans were chalked and painted on prominent walls and other surfaces whilst, supposedly, a College Tutor had had his car devotedly, hand painted --- more personal a service, it was felt, than Spray Painting! Naturally, all this was done in silence so, the 'Boater Boys and Girls' knew nothing of their home's 'makeover' till the following morning! The Operation was not without casualties, regrettably --- on the return journey two Dukies 'commandos' fell by the wayside --- 'martyrs of the cause' Brooks and Eggleton were caught by the Law and spent the remaining hours of darkness in the cells of Dover Police Station! At least the mystery of these two missing stalwarts was thereby solved.
Presumably when the Police 'lifted' our two heroes, Bobby Brooks and 'Eggy', both refused to give anything away. The Constabulary (probably) contacted Wolfe's Housemaster to query why his Prefects were on the loose and doubtless the results of the Wolfe 'Practice' Fire Alarm 'sparked off' the other Senior House Fire Practices to see if anyone else was absent. As we now knew, Eggleton had been 'second in command' of the raid, whilst the leader was indeed his pal Jack Hobbs.
"Storm In A Teacup" (The Fortunes)
Whilst the School classes were in normal progress that morning Jack Hobbs had gone to 'A' Office and told the Commandant, Col Kiggell, what had happened the night before -- who had instigated it (himself) and why (literally for the honour of the School in retaliation to the various recent, goading antics of the 'toffs' of Dover College). From what we understand (to this day) Jack apologised for the Raid but felt, in mitigation, that as CSP, or Head Boy, it was his duty to have done something. The late 'Rundy' Kiggell did not agree, obviously, because he expelled Jack on the spot instead of 'backing him up'.
Swiftly, the whole school realised the full extent of the problem now created. Apparently the Prefects, on being informed of the expulsion, were outraged and 'advised' the Commandant basically that "he could run the School himself" -- and, consequently, resigned their appointments there and then! Hence all but two of the Prefects had removed their badges of ranks. It was both amusing and disconcerting to see the worn Battledress collar patches where their pips and gorgets had been. (We won't record the names of the two renegades here!)
It may be hard for the civilian scholars (or 'students' as they seem to be better known these days!) of our time to appreciate but actually our School was, for normal day to day living, in reality run by the Prefects rather than the School Staff (the Masters)! Indeed we were more wary of our Prefects than of the Masters -- as most adult soldiers of the 1950s and '60s similarly were of the RSM of a Unit, his WOs (Warrant Officers) & Senior NCOs rather than the regiment's Commissioned Officers. Internal discipline was the job of our Prefects .... therefore, suddenly for there to be no Prefects to rule the 'mob' --- in theory there could now be anarchy! So be it, we now appreciated, the loyalty we'd been taught made us respect the fact that our Pre's had resigned in support of their expelled Leader. Result? The so called Mutiny!
"Soldier Boy" (The Shirelles)
To be fair though, there was no real mutiny. On the contrary, from that lunchtime onwards self-discipline 'kicked in' ... as it would be described today. On behalf of all the 'plebs' (plebeians!) of those exciting couple of days, I'm proud to report that we did not wander around like proverbial lost sheep: instead we smartly went about normal school business duties etc. in our usual way. I believe that in general the Masters and other Staff were pleasantly surprised by this, if the truth be known. Nevertheless, at tea time that day we definitely showed our displeasure, once!
After the usual afternoon sporting activities, the showers and changing back into uniform -- we walked (not marched) to tea in the usual manner for this particular meal. On the way, we noticed that the Union Flag on the Clocktower was flying at Half Mast ... which, flying unofficially on a Government Building such as our Tower, just was not legal: also, of course, the abnormality could be seen for miles around! We soon discovered the reason when we sat down to our meal. Two Seniors --- let's call them [Boy] Soldier B (of Marlborough) and [Boy] Soldier G ... for devilment since ex 'Pre' Soldier G is actually picture elsewhere on this website .... so I'll preserve his anonymity here! --- had entered the Clocktower from inside the 'Cookhouse' section of the Dining Hall and then locked the gates. Next they climbed the stairs on the inside of the Clocktower and reached its summit, thus being able to lower the flag!
Two Housemasters, the (now) late Major Don Jackson RAEC and the previously mentioned Major Herbert Parker-Jones RAEC, entered the Dining Hall in a rage. They each, in turn, called for silence and tried to speak themselves ..... both unsuccessfully. A couple of boys had began to bang their empty pint pot mugs rhythmically upon the table tops. This revolt was gradually taken up by the whole school present -- mugs and heavy, full metal teapots being banged on the tables in rhythmic, deafening unison! The din was bad. Most of us felt particularly sorry for Don Jackson: we'd never shown him disrespect before but feelings had to be registered. The two Masters, furiously red-faced, stormed out of the Hall to resounding Cheers! We boys ate our meal and drifted on to evening classes and thence, eventually, back to our respective Houses for evening 'Prep' .... again, all as usual.
Peter Payne has reminded me that at Supper that evening, a similar rebellion occurred. I quote him here: "I remember the incident well. I was a newchie in Kitchener at the time. We were at Supper and everyone banged the tables. I wasn’t too sure what it was all about but joined in too and as it was End of Term time we were all in a “demob” mood. The banging soon stopped though when the Adjutant on meal duty (the now late Lt Col Hann [Royal Sussex Regiment]) walked around the Hall and stood pointedly at the end of each table, staring hard at us. So, being wimps, we stopped banging – whence the mood then switched to one of complete silence. It soon lightened up though when we queued up to get our food!" Our belated, collective apologies to John Hann, if you read this; your father Col Hann was another officer who had earned a lot of respect from we Boys during his service at the School.
Excitement still ran
high throughout the School till the following day. I remember that three
Newspaper reporters and a photographer appeared in Marlborough House itself that
evening to glean details of the 'scandal' for certainly the local 'Rag' and,
reputedly, for a couple of National Dailies. We didn't really believe that
the National Press would be interested --- and anyway, a couple of Masters
swiftly spoilt the offered 'Interviews' by escorting these 'civvies' to the Deal
gate to politely see them off the premises! How wrong we were about such
interest though: the following morning some of the National Daily newspapers
did indeed run the story 
-- including the Times
who, if memory serves correctly, had their version of the episode running on
page 4! We knew this because most of the said Papers that would normally
appear in each of the House Dayrooms were confiscated that day --- but copies were
still available for us to clandestinely read because Cleaners, Caretakers etc.
all brought a varied selection into School for themselves!
WERE the Inmates at last running the Asylum?!
No! -- because the 'Great Bubble' soon burst. The events just related all occurred literally in that last week before the School was due to break up for us to go 'On Leave' for the Easter Holidays. We boys, of course, were all eagerly expecting to travel to our respective homes once again --- which varied in destination from villages to cities the length and breadth of Britain. Someone in authority obviously quickly 'cottoned on' to the simplest way out of "the Establishment's" dilemma ... and an unarguable ultimatum duly delivered to us. We were told that "... unless you cease this mutinous behaviour" (or words to that effect) "NO RAIL WARRANTS WILL BE ISSUED tomorrow morning" (the day that term finished). Surprise, surprise, --- all demonstrations ceased; suddenly we were placid and beaten! Warrants were issued that following morning and ...... we all jubilantly embussed and then entrained as usual to wend our individual journeys back to our homes.
"A Well Respected Man" (The Kinks)
Personally, I found that my parents emulated Queen Victoria and 'were not amused' and certainly not impressed by the whole episode. I'd collected Newspaper cuttings of the event myself ... but was made to feel that the whole palava was unimportant. "Your education is far more important etc. etc." I often wondered how other parents or guardians reacted. One recently told me too! I quote Alan Logie-Campbell: " ...in my case the Daily Mail was 'sorta' pushed under my nose when I got home, and I was asked ever so politely what was going on ? 'Mutiny'? What Mutiny?"! The Newspapers combined fact with fiction of course: nothing changes! However, they got one thing badly wrong. The so called Mutiny was never a 'Rag' either -- in fact it was the sincere support (one dictionary definition - "upholding a military action"!) of our fellow Seniors.
Back to School then (three weeks later) for the Summer Term of 1959 and, on our return, the previous End of Term's events did indeed seem to be forgotten. All the old Prefects were back in post and a 'stand in' CSP -- one of the two who did not rebel, we noticed! -- was in post. Later on, Peter Scarlett was properly appointed the new Chief School Prefect. Sadly, it was rumoured that the Commandant had 'put in a word' to RMA Sandhurst authorities with the result that Jack (who, it was understood, had originally been accepted for entry there as an Officer Cadet) had to join the Army quietly and via a different route instead. Five decades later, it's good to discover that Jack Hobbs didn't fare too badly in the end. All the same, Col Kiggell lost a lot of respect for that.
Sad and amazing to relate also, Jack wasn't allowed to join the DYRMSOBA for many years to come -- neither even, was he allowed into the School grounds again till the Summer 2005, i.e. forty six years later! It took the death of 'Rundy' Kiggell to occur before "the Establishment" really forgave Jack, it seems.
"Ob-La-Di [Life Goes On]" (Marmalade)
Nevertheless, forty six years later, at a Reunion Evening (held at the Swingate Inn on the eve of Grand Day 2005) at long last ex CSP Jack Hobbs was able to say the Grace he missed so long ago ... in front of Dukies and before Dinner once more!
Well, there we go. I've tried to put in writing, after so long, the events of those few 'interesting' days as correct to the best of my memory ... for posterity. I bet it was the first full scale rebellion of cadets/boy soldiers at a British Military establishment since the Mutiny that took place at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst in 1862 (now Old College, RMA Sandhurst) even though nowhere near as drastic!!!
Over half a Century later and, as Max Boyce would undoubtedly say in such circumstances, "I was there, Boyo; I was there!" I wonder how many of YOU recall it also?!
This page last automatically updated: 04 November 2010 20:48 hrs.
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