Quiet Days in Turnberry
Turnberry was really in an out of the way spot so we lived a fairly quiet social life, mainly catching up on our reading, movie watching and letter writing. Sunday was the only day that we saw any of the local villagers. That day they tied up their fishing boats and paraded up and down the seashore road. The closest town was Ayr which is about the size of Orillia (in 1944). While in town one day with “Bondy”, Keith Bond a fellow pilot from New Zealand, a youngster asked him "Are you a Canadian?" Bondy shook his head then the kid turned away with a disgusted look and we heard him mutter "Shucks, you wouldn't have any gum."
One day four of us were guests of the Navy aboard one of their target ships. This particular one was a converted yacht with all the trappings of the bridal suite in the Royal York. It was a beautiful afternoon on the Firth of Clyde and we all had a great time sitting in the sun and watching the boys come over. A high speed RAE launch look us to and from the ship and the Sergeant in command let each of us have a hand at the wheel.
A large number of Italian prisoners of war worked on the station and this seemed strange for a flying field. 1 guess they were harmless enough and they certainly were very friendly and obviously quite pleased to be out of the war.
One fine summer like day three of us decided to visit a large castle which was located a few miles south of Turnberry. It dated back to 1777 and covered about the same ground as the Royal York. I counted about seventy chimneys on it. We met an old gardener who was prowling around and he told us the history of the place it seemed to revolve around Scotch barbarians and fair maidens being rescued by knights in shining armor.
After visiting this large Estate we all realized the large class distinction which prevailed in the British Isles at the time. The son of the castle owner would be brought up to look down on the common folk. He would attend Eton or Harrow, and then either Cambridge or oxford, while the son of a Glasgow shipbuilder would be told never to expect to be better off than his ancestors who would all probably have been shipbuilders. He would attend Grammar school until age 14 and then begin work in the shipyards. One good thing the war was doing was breaking down some of these class barriers.
One day four of us were guests of the Navy aboard one of their target ships. This particular one was a converted yacht with all the trappings of the bridal suite in the Royal York. It was a beautiful afternoon on the Firth of Clyde and we all had a great time sitting in the sun and watching the boys come over. A high speed RAE launch look us to and from the ship and the Sergeant in command let each of us have a hand at the wheel.
A large number of Italian prisoners of war worked on the station and this seemed strange for a flying field. 1 guess they were harmless enough and they certainly were very friendly and obviously quite pleased to be out of the war.
One fine summer like day three of us decided to visit a large castle which was located a few miles south of Turnberry. It dated back to 1777 and covered about the same ground as the Royal York. I counted about seventy chimneys on it. We met an old gardener who was prowling around and he told us the history of the place it seemed to revolve around Scotch barbarians and fair maidens being rescued by knights in shining armor.
After visiting this large Estate we all realized the large class distinction which prevailed in the British Isles at the time. The son of the castle owner would be brought up to look down on the common folk. He would attend Eton or Harrow, and then either Cambridge or oxford, while the son of a Glasgow shipbuilder would be told never to expect to be better off than his ancestors who would all probably have been shipbuilders. He would attend Grammar school until age 14 and then begin work in the shipyards. One good thing the war was doing was breaking down some of these class barriers.