Ted Gee

Albert Edward Gee - Autobiography Part 1


My father was a very patriotic and loyal man. He had a flagpole in front of our house and always flew a rather large flag on the Royal birthdays, Empire day and on any other suitable occasion. On the wall in our kitchen there was a large map of the world showing all the Red parts of the British Empire. In one corner there were little sacks of gold showing the comparable wealth of all the leading countries of the world, and the Empire had lots compared with the others. In another corner there were soldiers in lines representing the armed strength and ships in lines representing the Naval strength.

My father was a colour sergeant in the Territorials and was a very good marksman. He had lots of silver cups as evidence, several of them he had won outright by winning for three years in succession.

I have an oak clock won in 1910 and still going and keeping good time in 1975. He used to go to Bisley every year and usually came home with enough prize money for Mother and the younger children to go to Clacton for a holiday.

I was one of the younger children. There were seven of us, two girls and two boys older than myself and one girl and one boy younger. I was born on the 26th June 1902 and there again I think my father was being Loyal and patriotic for that was the day chosen for the Coronation of King Edward the VII, but, things went sadly wrong, for the King got appendicitis and the Coronation was put off but, Mother said she could not put me off. In our bedroom there was a framed programme of the intended ceremonies that were to have taken place on the day of my birth and my father would have been taking a prominent part in these.

We boys used to go to a place called Youngsbury on Saturdays and some times on Wednesdays during holidays with the "Terriers" for musketry training. We used to go in the Butts and make and paste up the shots. We traveled in a "Brake" pulled by two horses and we used to stop at the "Bell Inn" at Much Hadham on the way and take on board a small barrel of beer. My Father was a T.T. (Tea Totaller) and was always in charge of the beer. He used to drink stone ginger, the cork of which was secured by a piece of wire. The wire could be taken off and a good shake used to blow the cork out like a bullet. We used to arrive about lunch time, which used to consist of big thick meat sandwiches and pickles, then the afternoon was spent firing. We had tea and headed for home with the beer flowing freely. A stop at the "Bell" and we used to arrive home having had a wonderful day.

On Sundays during the summer we boys used to wear white drill sailor suits, complete with black silk and lanyards. My small sister had the same outfit, but with a white pleated skirt. During 1911 or 1912 my eldest brother went to a circus instead of to school. Unfortunately, he was found out and was in so much trouble that he ran away from home and joined the army. My father soon found him and, as he was under age and had not got parental consent he managed to get my brother out. He was then apprenticed to a fitter at the gasworks, but he hated it and, with my father's consent this time, he joined the navy. (Charles)

My two elder sisters were by this time "in service", and Amy, the eldest was married in 1913 to Sergeant Hammond, who had made our house his house for several years. He was in charge of a Horse Regiment in Nigeria and used to go to Nigeria for two years, then home for six months. We children used to look forward to his homecoming for he used to bring African Grey parrots and a crate of luscious oranges, and we could always be sure of a penny to go to school. Just before the war commenced he was posted to the Essex Regiment and lived in Tottenham. My brother Perce and I went to stay with him and Amy and we had a wonderful time. I can remember he took us to London to see the sights and I can remember riding in a horse drawn tram. When war broke out he was given a job buying horses for the army, but there was a bit of trouble with some lady whose horses he would not buy and she charged him with taking bribes. He was tried at Bow Street, and although he was acquitted, he decided that he had had enough and went back to Nigeria where he stayed all of the war.

Perce left school in 1913 and was apprenticed to a Dentist as a Dental Mechanic. He stayed there until the war started when he was mobilised with the "Terriers". He went to France at the latter end of August 1914 and was buried in a collapsed trench when a shell dropped in. I used to fetch milk from a farm early in the morning and one of the other children told me that his Mother had a letter from her son saying that Perce had been taken away in a stretcher and it was thought he was dead. Within a few days Mother had a letter from a V.A.D. nurse to say that he was in Leeds Hospital with twisted bowels and concussion. He came home on sick leave on his 15th birthday February 1915. After his leave he was transferred to R.A.M.C. and continued his work as a Dental Mechanic in Scotland until the war ended, when he returned to civilian life. He worked for a dentist for a few months but was not very happy so he joined the R.A.F. He soon went through the early promotion steps and was commissioned and was a Squadron Leader on the outbreak of WW II. He served chiefly in India during the war and at the finish was a Wing Commander (Now retired)

By the outbreak of the first world war my father was a Regimental Sergeant Major and during July 1914 the Regiment went to Ashridge Park Great Birkhampstead for the Annual Camp. My next elder brother Percy by this time had joined the "Terriers" as a bugler and I was a Boy Scout. Dad had a tent of his own and a Batman . He said that I could go to camp with him if I wished, but that I should have to look after myself or I could go to Clacton with my Mother. Of course I elected to go to camp. To get there from Bishops Stortford I had to meet a Sergeant Norris in our market square. He was travelling with a pony and trap and had started from Saffron Walden 14 miles away. Dressed in my Scouts uniform I met Sergeant Norris and away we went. The journey I enjoyed very much but, towards the late afternoon and evening I became very tired and I can remember Sergeant Norris waking me up to see the deer as we went through the Park. I used a camp bed in my Father's tent and used to pass the days watching the troops at exercises and roaming around the Park.

Although I was alone I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There were ten thousand troops there and there was always something happening. I remember there were several men who used to do "Ju Jitsu" wrestling during the evenings and I was fascinated by their exhibitions and spent hours watching them. I, of course, knew that the political situation was grave but when the war started, or perhaps I should say when mobilisation commenced I had a surprise. I awoke early one morning and found that the tents had been struck. My Father's belongings were still there and the tent neatly folded. I dressed, then took my towel and toilet gear and went for a wash which was some distance away. When I returned, as I thought , to the tent there was nothing there; my Father's and my belongings were gone! I spent the day between the campsite and Birkhampstead railway station looking for my father, but as night fell I made my way to the camp site. There were two or three Marquees still erected and several soldiers about one of whom recognised me as Major Gee's boy. I explained to him what had happened and he said that I should stay with them until they left.

There was a mountain of slab cake and lots of food so I stayed and helped them to clear up and leave things tidy. I had ascertained that Sergeant Norris had left with his pony and trap the day the tents were struck, so I could not get home that way, and as I had no money, I just stayed and decided I would take plenty of food and walk it if the worst came to the worst.

Part 2
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