RattlesnakeBob Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 (edited) Dad is proper chuffed that you're interested in his old Army photos so we've had a dig through the album and sorted a few more out for you all to have a look at .. So..... here we go with PART 2!!! Top : Passing out photograph Aldershot 1953. 4th Training Regiment 421 Group, Drivers and Mechanics. Dad is in the front row of seated men 2nd in from the left. To Dads right is ‘Taffy’ one of the other ‘Award Winners’ of the 2nd Training Group Bottom : The Award Winners of 2nd Training Group. Left to right: My Dad, Bob Smith, ‘Best Rifle and Light Machine Gunner ’ / Taffy ‘Best All Rounder’/ Derick Redmund ‘Best Driver’ and Dad can’t recall the last fella’s name nor what his award was for sorry! Top left: Dad playing his Accordion in the NAAFI , Malaya early 1956. Dad was/is a very gifted musician, absolutely superb on either the Piano or Accordion and he could really make either instrument sing... he received a letter of thanks for ‘helping to keep the mens spirits up etc’ off his CO at the end of their Malayan tour. Top right: Dad in Korea Centre left: The receipt for the deposit that Dad put on his Accordion when he bought it. He still has a few other receipts for the instalments that he made but can’t recall what the final amount was. He did remember that his CO had to vouch to the shopkeeper that L/Cpl Smith WOULD make all the payments! Dad got it in time for Xmas 1955. PS: I still have in my cherished posession this Accordian...very battered and not really now playable owing to her having done a good few thousand miles and having knocked a lot of fantastic music out over the last 55 years. Centre right: the note on the back of the photo says simply ‘Bob on a Cat D7 Korea October 1954’ Bottom Right: Dad never knew this guy until meeting him at Aldershot when they joined up but his name was Mike Deacon and he came from Brockweir a little village only about 5 miles away from where my Dad lived. Mike drove the NCK face shovel that loaded ‘Pandoras Box’ seen in Part One. Left Photo: Dad sunbathing in the shade on a day off! Malaya approx 1956 Right Photo L to R : Taffy, Dad & Bish. Korea 1954 Top left: Dad and Ray Nunn walking back from the motor depot to their tents Korea 1955. On his eventual return to the UK Roy built a successful Blacksmith business having got ‘the taste for it’ designing and making up some impressive gates for a main Royal Engineers depot whilst in Korea! Top Centre: Dad Winter of 1954 Korea Top right: Dad Korea 1954 with a Scammell called ‘Happy’ Bottom Left: Dad and Taffy Korea 1954 in front of their hut. Note the ‘signwritten’ door... ”This is it, The Finest in Korea, Home of the Mighty ” Centre and Right: a couple of close ups of ‘Pandoras Box’ in Korea 1955.Pandora featured in Part One..Note also the typical British Army humour...the sign writing on the back of Pandora reads ‘World Patent Applied for’ . Dads mate Pat is the fella stood by Pandora in the second photo. Bottom Centre: Dad the day after his 21st Birthday with his present. Look closely at his feet and you can see a toy sized Tasker plant trailer that the other fellas made for him ...it was dragged into the mess the night before by a couple of the Sgts loaded with a crate of beer for him for his birthday party! Bottom Right: The Boys of the Plant Troop on operations in Malaya. Dad is the one in front with a bush hat. The truck behind them is one of their ever present Scammells and the smaller one off to their LHS was a Ford 3 Tonner. Those present: Bill, Sam,Jim,Moose,Bob,Brownie,Frank,Pete,Ray,Alex,Ted Edited August 12, 2011 by RattlesnakeBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 of interest, receipts with revenue stamps are typically quite valuable as were not something people collect and threw away. Same old story, thrown away and now people want them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 of interest, receipts with revenue stamps are typically quite valuable as were not something people collect and threw away. Same old story, thrown away and now people want them. hey I don't suppose you know if the Nang Heng Music store is still there????.. ...Dad did think of visiting Malaya again a good few years back when his health was better but decided not to in the end.. ..He guessed that seeing as it's been such a busy and developing nation over the last 50 years or so he probably wouldn't recognise anything and could only possibly be disappointed with what he found.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Pandora's box would be a great subject for a model, pity I'm not that good. Get him to tell some tales! Or better still give him a laptop and tell him to do himself! Korea is a 'forgotten' war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 (edited) Offcourse we're interested in your Dad's photo's! The Korea war and after war period is less known than others but no less interesting. Edited August 12, 2011 by Enigma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Joys of internet http://www.eguide.com.sg/Companies/Nang-Heng-Co-Piano-House Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Joys of internet http://www.eguide.com.sg/Companies/Nang-Heng-Co-Piano-House I never found it thus far in Malaysia, but internet infomation in Malaysia is fairly dodgy. Funny enough there is a huge music store around that address, I;ll have to go for a drive. I never thought about looking at Singapore as that is something interesting as Singapore did not exist as a country back then. A lot of the bases are still in the exact same places Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 At $50 deposit, your Dad must have thought a lot of his music Bob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Offcourse we're interested in your Dad's photo's!The Korea war and after war period is less known than others but no less interesting. It would be curious to know if the RSL's and institutions in the UK were same like in Australia in that directly after this was their attitude was it was not a war, as war was not officially declared or some such legal wording (escape clause). There were several conflicts that were not recognised by the RSL's for a long time and the excuses, again at the time were, trivial. Vietnam was completely snubbed for decades and pretty sure also the Malayan confrontation also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted August 14, 2011 Author Share Posted August 14, 2011 It would be curious to know if the RSL's and institutions in the UK were same like in Australia in that directly after this was their attitude was it was not a war, as war was not officially declared or some such legal wording (escape clause). There were several conflicts that were not recognised by the RSL's for a long time and the excuses, again at the time were, trivial. Vietnam was completely snubbed for decades and pretty sure also the Malayan confrontation also. I don't know the answer to that one mate, 'Political Correctness' has a lot to answer for I guess..?..... .but I do know my Dad and quite probably any other lads that served out there ( especially the National Service boys that were there ? ) would tell you it was a proper 'war'.....mind you The Falklands lately is now often pointedly referred to as the 'Falklands Conflict' rather than 'war' and Malaya is described in the history books as 'the Malayan Emergency'....... I have absolute respect for any boy that has been shot at anywhere in the world and sometimes think 'the powers that be' are very derogatory to our Armed Forces when they say something along the lines of.... "oh that wasn't a 'war'! no, no, of course not! Oh no! , we were merely using the Military to 'police' a small dispute that nescessatated resorting to armed conflict"..... My Dad as you'll have seen from these photos wasn't in a 'front line' unit, but as he has told me, they still got shot at in both Korea and in Malaya & they still lost boys particularly to the 'CTs' (Communist Terrorists) in Malaya... I guess in years to come Afghanistan won't be considered a 'war' either..... ...........except by those that were there......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I believe in Australia the returned service institutions were run by WWI and WWII vetrerans and they had the attitude that any other war was not worthy. Attitudes have changed a lot in these type of institutions but it was something I recalled was occuring. As you said, any one thats served their country in peace keeping or a conflict deserves recognition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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