Post by Matt James on Apr 13, 2009 14:54:39 GMT
Originally posted by Nancy Alexander
To All Telegram Messenger Boys in the HPO Commercial Road, Portsmouth ;-
I am sure you will remember my husband�s father Mr Alexander 'Alec', who was the inspector in charge of the boys during the 40�s and 50�s. He was a very good man.
My husband, Brian (also called Alec), joined the PO on the 26th August 1943, the day after his 14th birthday. �T16� As he was not allowed to work at the same office as his father, he was sent to Gosport. Quite a journey during wartime!
In Brian's words; "As you will all remember, it was terrible time, delivering Telegrams to relatives who had lost loved ones, sometimes going to the same house twice, especially for a fourteen-year-old boy.
Delivering telegrams to Priddy�s Yard and other naval and army establishments was a bit frightening, with all the guns firing at the German planes. The noise was terrific.
Another experience was being caught on the ferryboat, during an air raid. The boat had to stop in the middle of the harbour, with all the ships firing their guns at the aircraft and the German planes dive-bombing the ships.
I remember during the days before D-Day, cycling out to Stokes Bay, where all the troops were gathered, the soldiers giving me letters to post their loved ones, perhaps the last they ever wrote. Pockets bulging I rode back to the office, and sent them on their way.
At the end of the war, delivering telegrams with the news that the Prisoners of War were on their way home was happier times. They were very memorable days.
I then went to work at Cosham, but that is another story, tell you later!"
To All Telegram Messenger Boys in the HPO Commercial Road, Portsmouth ;-
I am sure you will remember my husband�s father Mr Alexander 'Alec', who was the inspector in charge of the boys during the 40�s and 50�s. He was a very good man.
My husband, Brian (also called Alec), joined the PO on the 26th August 1943, the day after his 14th birthday. �T16� As he was not allowed to work at the same office as his father, he was sent to Gosport. Quite a journey during wartime!
In Brian's words; "As you will all remember, it was terrible time, delivering Telegrams to relatives who had lost loved ones, sometimes going to the same house twice, especially for a fourteen-year-old boy.
Delivering telegrams to Priddy�s Yard and other naval and army establishments was a bit frightening, with all the guns firing at the German planes. The noise was terrific.
Another experience was being caught on the ferryboat, during an air raid. The boat had to stop in the middle of the harbour, with all the ships firing their guns at the aircraft and the German planes dive-bombing the ships.
I remember during the days before D-Day, cycling out to Stokes Bay, where all the troops were gathered, the soldiers giving me letters to post their loved ones, perhaps the last they ever wrote. Pockets bulging I rode back to the office, and sent them on their way.
At the end of the war, delivering telegrams with the news that the Prisoners of War were on their way home was happier times. They were very memorable days.
I then went to work at Cosham, but that is another story, tell you later!"