A BRIEF HISTORY
OF LIFE IN REME
A Craftsman’s Story 1948 to I953
Contributed by: Phil KEMPSTER
Chapter Nine.
42 Base Workshops And District Workshops, Singapore.
1950/ 51
We disembarked at Singapore harbour and were soon transported to
various units on the island and some by rail to Malaya. Most of us REME personnel went by road to
42 Base Workshops and District Workshops on Ayer Raja road and were billeted
across the road in Rowcroft Lines.
This was a very large camp with row upon row of wooden billets over
looking 42 Base and District workshops across Ayer Raja road.
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Rowcroft Lines, Singapore, January 1950.
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After a few days we settled
in, larking about etc, and getting to know our way around the camp and locate
the N.AA.FI, the washhouse, showers, and toilets. The toilets were very primitive to say the
least, just rows of small huts with buckets in and a hatch at the back for
the buckets to be emptied, this was done daily by the local men employed on
the site and would be done at a certain time during the morning and you were
not allowed to use them. If you did it
could result in a very loud shout and a nasty stiff brush stuck up your
bum. This happened once to a mate of
mine Cfn. Pete Plumb when he was took short.
We all thought that was very amusing but he didn’t.
Lofty and me.
Rowcroft Lines Singapore
February 1950. Me and Bill.
Before we had got allocated to our units.
We were eventually selected
to join various sections at Base Workshops, District Workshops, and
T&T.T.C and Admin depending on your trade. I was selected to join the REME
Inspectorate section as a driver and after a road test and interview I was
sent to District W/ S to collect my vehicle ready to start my new job. My duties were to drive a team of Instrument
Inspectors to Army Bases around Singapore
Island. This was a very interesting job indeed, my
vehicle for this was an American Dodge 4x4 1ton personnel carrier it was a
really nice truck to drive once I got used to the L/H drive.
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My truck, a Dodge 1Ton. This was my first truck when I joined
REME Inspectorate early 1950
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Our team consisted of our
boss Capt Vyse, S/Sgt Mack, S/Sgt Kellow and S/Sgt Howe. We also had a clerk
Cfn. Jock? I cannot remember his
surname but he used to come along with us as well.
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1951. Captain Vyse, boss of the Inspectorate team, in
front of my second truck a Fordson 15cwt.
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S/Sgt Kellow, Cfn. Jock ? our team clerk, S/Sgt Howe in the back doing some
paperwork.
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Our Staff Car, a Standard Vanguard, parked at
District Workshops.
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Sometimes I would have to
take documents to our Head Quarters at Tanglin, a huge H.Q complex for all
the F.A.R.E.L.F. This was where our big boss Lt. Co. Trewby had his
office. I liked going there, a lot
of W.R.A.C girls worked in this place and it was nice to get a wave and
smile from them.
I remember once having to
drive our staff car, a Standard Vanguard, for a few days. The staff car driver Cfn. Taffy Ayres had
gone back to the U.K. Lt. Col. Trewby was due to go back home
also at this time and all the Inspectorate staff gave him a really good
send off. They booked a room at the
Shackle Club that was close to the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore
and we were all invited to a slap up meal and free drinks, what a send off
he got, it was a fantastic night.
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Some of the REME Inspectorate personnel at the
farewell party for our CO, Lt. Colonel Trewby who was returning to the UK.
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His replacement was Lt Col
Fynlayson, he was on his way home from Hong Kong
and stayed until a permanent replacement was found. It was him I had to drive about for a few
days, I didn’t like him, he was ex Scots Guards and thought he was still in
it. I remember one day I had to take
him to a bank in the City, I think it was on Stamford Rd. I couldn’t park outside the bank, it was
too busy, so I dropped him outside and parked up within sight of the
bank. I watched him come out and he
started to pat himself on the head with one hand and pat his midriff with
his other hand. I waved and waited
for him to walk the short distance to the car. Well he came storming towards me going
red in the face and shouted at me “Were you never taught field craft
Craftsman?” I said “No sir.” He said
“When I signal to you like that again it means approach me.” I said “Sorry sir.” thinking to myself
you stupid bugger I am in REME not in the Guards. Anyway I did not have to suffer him much
longer he was going back to the U.K on the Aircraft Carrier Eagle so I had
to take him with all his kit to the Royal Navy Base. When we arrived I looked at this bloody
great ship at the dockside, I had never been up close to an Aircraft
Carrier before and it looked enormous.
I took his kit out of the boot and carried it to the gang plank, he
went off to board the ship and I was left to carry all his kit up this long
steep gang plank up the side of the ship.
Going up a gang plank with a kit bag and a big holdall is not easy
at all I can tell you, but it was worth it to get rid of him. I was soon back driving my truck at last,
thank God. This job lasted from
about Feb 1950 to Oct 1950 and then came to an end. I then decided to put my name forward to
go on a Recovery Mechanic’s course that was about to start in November 1950
at Changi on a site behind the R.A.F. station, situated on some snake
infested wasteland close to the shore and quite close to the infamous
Changi Prison.
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Me in my Fordson truck at 42 Base Workshops 1951
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My brand new Fordson 15cwt truck before I
customised it.
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More photographs related to this chapter can be
accessed from the link below.
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Published: 1st October 2007
  Chapter Ten.
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