Leaving Home
It was my last day in the Sea Cadets before I left home to join the Royal Navy. I had just turned 16 and Great Britain had just won the Falklands War.
— 1982 —
The officers at my Sea Cadet unit invited my parents to my farewell party at TS Caprice and we gathered in the officer’s mess for a beer. Everyone was very proud of me.
At my farewell party, Mr Hargreaves cried into his beer as he said goodbye. Mr Hargreaves had been a radio operator in the Royal Navy during World War Two and he taught me Morse code at his house on Saturday mornings. Mr Hargreaves begged me not to join the Navy. I should stay and do my A-levels and go to Cambridge, he said. I could always join the Navy later if I was still interested. But I had made up my mind. I was going to join the Navy.
Before I left home, I led a double life.
I barely spoke at home and I was always in trouble at school. But in the Sea Cadets, I was the star of the show. I won Best Cadet two years in a row and I was the only Cadet Petty Officer in the London Area. We had competitions against other Sea Cadet units practically every other weekend with me as team captain. Sailing, rowing, shooting, orienteering, pentathlon, adventure training, guard drill, PT and more. We won almost everything.
At school, I was a clown and a troublemaker. I went to a fancy grammar school but everything was so easy and boring that I switched off and did no work for the last two years. I was always in trouble and did zero homework but I always came top of my class anyway.
I came first in my year and won prizes in maths but I couldn’t face another two years of this. I needed a challenge. I needed to get away.
At my farewell party, they gave me a gift of a Bosun’s Call and everyone shook my hand. My mum gave me a St Christopher for safe travels and my dad gave me twenty quid for beer.
The train for Plymouth left from Paddington Station at 9:25 AM on the 3rd of September 1982, and I was off. I had twenty quid, a St Christopher and a change of clothes. I didn’t look back.
If you enjoyed this little story, you can find episode two here:
