J C JOURNAL A U G U S T 1954

J. S. JOURNAL

H O U S E M A G A Z I N E O F J. S A I N S I U I R Y LTD.

AUGUST 1954

Contents Goodbye to Permits

Purley Converts to Self-Service

Bacon, From Farm to Counter

Oxhey

A Slim Figure in White

Southall

Bath Night at Manor Place

The Corncobs

Up-river with the Veterans

StafT Movements and Promotions

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5

9

18

20

21

24

27

37

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Letters and contr ibut ions arc invited from all members of J .S. Start. Photographs of Staff Association activities will he particularlv welcome. A fee of halt a guinea wall be paid for any pho to ­graph by a member of J .S . Stall which is published in j . S . J O U R N A L .

All communicat ions should be sa i l to

T h e Hilitor, J .S. J O L K N A L , Stamford blouse, HlackfriarSj London , S.B.I.

B.T. RAMM, J.S. statistician writes about some of the oddities of the rationing and controls which, we hope, are gone forever.

W I T H the official end of bacon and meat rationing on July 3rd and the return of these trades to private hands, war-time rationing and controls came to an end, more than fourteen years since they were first imposed. Starting with bacon, sugar and butter, in January, 1940, different rationing schemes came into being which eventually embraced foodstuffs ranging from bread and butter to bottled mussels (a civil service minute written in October, 1943, reads " I don't think we could possibly con­sider taking bottled mussels off points for the country as a whole " ) . In the difficult post-war year of 1946 only a fifth of our trade was uncontrolled by a government rationing scheme and a very large part of that fifth was covered by our own scheme, the " J.S. Card ". The housewife became an expert in handling " points " and " B.U.s ", and used the word " ration " not only

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as a noun but as a verb (both transitive and intransitive) and adjective as well, whilst the trader wrestled with permits and PCL2s.

To start with, ration levels were high ; 8 ozs. of bacon, 8 ozs. of butter and Is. lOd. worth of meat (equivalent to more than 3s. 6d. today) a week were all very much more than the present average consumption under freedom. At the beginning of 1940 the Ministry of Food were worried by problems of how to increase rather than restrict the demand for some foods, particularly of bacon. This position was soon to change— in the first six months of 1941 we lost over half a million tons of foodstuffs (about a pound a week per head of the popu­lation) sunk by enemy action at sea and had been deprived ot all our sources of food on the Continent. By 1942, although losses by sinking had decreased, there was a very acute shortage of shipping space and the freedom of the two main sources of unrationed food — bread and restaurant meals—was seriously threatened. That year Churchill demanded that waste of flour, which he estimated as half a million tons, should end by putting bread " on points ". The difficulties in carrying this out were so great that a scheme was not brought into force until the crisis of 1946. One alternative considered was the addition of barley

and oats to bread, a proceeding which would have meant halv­ing the production of beer. This plan was never put into action ; perhaps the government were influenced by an article entitled " Unconsidered Trifles in our Die t" , published about that

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time, which demonstrated scientifically the nourishing properties of beer !

Most other countries' rationing schemes not only covered bread and flour, but meals eaten in restaurants, canteens, etc., and in 1942 the Ministry of Food was thinking hard how to include these in the rationing scheme, toying with the idea of making the customer give up half a meat coupon for each meal including meat or else pay a number of points for every meal. Eventually they decided on a completely separate coupon system and ordered in July, 1942, two hundred million coloured cellu­loid washers together with wooden rods and stands on which to thread them. These were all delivered by the end of the year but never used, and in 1944 were ground down to free the stor­age space.

On the grocery counter

Whilst the basic foodstuffs were distributed directly by the Ministry of Food itself, other less important manufactured foods presented a different problem. Some such as jellies and ice cream were prohibited altogether, others such as custard powder and coffee essence were permitted but their ingredients and manufacture strictly controlled. Sometimes established brand names were allowed to continue, in other cases, like the soft drinks industry, products became anonymous and different manufacturers worked to a common recipe. Many small manu­facturers enjoyed an unprecedented boom for their products. A glance at our war-time price lists shows the enormous range of different brands and sizes we hid to carry to try and meet the demands of our customers ; at one time we sold eleven different brands and sizes of salad cream, sixteen different custard powders and fourteen different gravy brownings !

Not only did new brand names spring into prominence to make up for shortages in supplies of the well-tried ones, but substitute foods were experimented with. Some of these, such as whale meat, canned snoek and the curing of mutton instead of pork to make " macon " in place of bacon (actually a revival of an old custom in some parts of the country), were sponsored by the Ministry of Food. An exotic note is struck by some of the canned jams imported to replace the well-tried English ones, and

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in 1944 one reads of "Pineapple and Papaya J a m " . These additions to our diet were never very popular, even when auster­ity was at its worst, and none have survived the end of shortages. Perhaps the general drabness and flavourlessness of war-time food is best brought home by the amount of space in these price lists devoted to things such as gravy browning, cocoa and barley nearly always printed in the green type denoting " goods in free supply ". One shudders to read of a nameless sandwich spread sold to caterers with a guaranteed life of 60 days—one is not told whether this is before or after being made into a sand­wich !

Winding up After 1946 things began to improve and in 1950 we were very

close to the end of rationing. The Korean War caused a set­back and ration levels had again . to be reduced. The points rationing scheme had been abolished in 1950 and there was a sufficient supply of unrationed foods to prevent these cuts from having their full effect and the country's improved economic position in the last year or two has allowed them to be restored. The limiting of food subsidies finally closed the gap between supplies and demand and enabled the rationing scheme to be completely wound up this year.

Pur ley has grown steadily since 1902 when the branch opened. At that time the population was about 7,500. The 1951 census gives a population of 63,770. The branch business has grown with this increase and a well-chosen site which commands a view of the London-Eastbourne road has been expanded to make a very handsome frontage. Above are the shop-fitters at work on Saturday night and at the top of the opposite page is the orderly scene, shot from the same point on Monday morning just before opening and with Mr. Trevis standing by at the basket rack. Below opposite are the check outs and left is Miss Champney again with a trayful of groceries for one of the gondolas. Below right are Miss Shute, Mr. Pagden and (up to his neck) Mr. Nurthen. Below left, Mr. Clark, Mr. Horner and Mr. Foord hard at it.

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R I G H T . Tie underground room containing cooler units for the refrigerated cabinets, Each cabinet has its oim separate circuit and many yards of piping connect the units to this battery of pumps.

On opening day the first customer over the threshold was Mrs. Gooddy {top left), wife of the Manager, Mr. Gooddy, who can be seen at the end of the gondola top right. In the foreground are Miss A.mes and Mrs. Martin. On the left Mr. Pagden, talking to cus­tomers about the refriger­ated cabinets and below a batch of future customers taking a friendly but slightly impatient view of the shopping lark !

A section of the slaughterhouse floor in one of the large English bacon factories, showing the gutting and splitting of the carcase.

B A C O N From Farm to Counter

by Mr. J. D. SAINSBURY who has recently succeeded Mr. Younger as Bacon Buyer under Mr. James. Mr. J. D. has been working in the Bacon Department for the last eighteen months and during this time has visited many English and Danish bacon factories.

FOR nearly 15 years bacon was rationed and controlled, and as everybody knows, July 5th was the day of freedom for bacon as it was for meat.

It is, therefore, a suitable moment to examine what this means and also to look at some of the things that happen before a rasher of bacon reaches your breakfast table. Bacon is, after all, a very important item in the housewife's shopping list. If you

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are an " average consumer " you eat nearly \ lb. of bacon a week. (A family of four would consume the equivalent of two whole sides a year—or all the bacon produced from one pig.) In fact, in a year this country eats over 550,000 tons of bacon from approximately 11 million pigs.

But let us start from the beginning—from the time the farmer decides to rear pigs for bacon. He will probably keep several sows and each sow will produce three litters in every two years and probably average seven pigs in a litter. The litter is weaned after approximately two months, and four months later the pig should reach about 200 lbs. This is the live weight that is needed for a bacon pig. Obviously, these are only approximate figures ; an inefficient farmer may take much longer to produce a pig of that weight, whereas an efficient farmer might do it in a shorter period. The bacon factories are, of course, only one of the markets that pigs are needed for, and there is a considerable demand for pigs of bacon weight for pork and for manufacturing purposes. Apart from this, pigs below bacon weight are used for pork and for high quality manufacturing, while pigs over bacon weight are usually used for general pork manufacturing.

When the farmer has got his pigs up to bacon weight they are sent to the bacon factory where they are probably kept overnight before being killed.

Bacon factories in this country vary from those killing two or three hundred a week to some killing as many as six or seven thousand. The largest kill the pigs at the rate of two or more a minute and within 20 to 30 minutes of them being killed they have been de-haired, scorched, de-gutted and split into two sides. They are then weighed and the farmer's payment is based on that weight. They are also graded into various selections according to the width of the back fat. The leaner pigs fetch a higher price for the farmer as these will produce the bacon which is in greater demand. After that the sides are cooled down over­night, and then the bones such as the blade bone in the shoulder and the feet are removed. From there they go to the curing cellars, where they are injected with brine before being placed in large tanks that are filled with brine. After four or five days in these tanks they are brought out and stacked in a room at a cool temperature where they mature for about 10 days : then they are baled up, four sides in a bale, and sent to firms like J.S.

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\bmtt 1880 a bin thi firm had >/\ In ant IKS tit ft/si depot nas opened at 90 Allcroft Koad, Kentish Town, which crosses Queen's Crescent at a right angle. "Later two houses were bought in Wellesley Koad, the next street, which gape us two entrances into the mews with its warehouse, stables and bacon stoves. These stoves seen in the old engraving above were the first erected by ].S. and were in use until the move to Union Street about the turn of the century.

Naturally the methods in each factory vary according to their size and efficiency, but a similar process must go on wherever the factory and in whatever country. In Denmark, the sides are not kept so long for maturing as this process will go on during the bacon's journey to this country.

When the bacon reaches our depot at Union Street (which is only a short distance from Stamford House), whether it is from an English bacon factory or from the boat which has brought the bacon from Denmark, it is still unsmoked. We sell a small quantity of bacon unsmoked, and this is held at Union Street for a short time before being despatched to the branches. However, apart from this all our bacon is smoked.

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The butchering floor where bones such as the blade bone in the shoulder are removed

and the carcase is trimmed before going into cure.

This process is important in bringing out the true flavour as unsmoked bacon lacks the real bacon taste. Smoking, of course, also helps to preserve the bacon and it reduces the water con­tent of a side.

Smoking is carried out in large stoves where hundreds of sides are hung over burning sawdust for two or three days. Smoking requires great care and skill as it is easy, with the variable weather which affects the stove temperature, to over-smoke or under-smoke the bacon. It is important, both from the point of view of appearance and from the flavour of the bacon, to see that the amount of smoke it has is exactly right. Finally, when the bacon has been smoked, it is ready for loading on our vans at night so that it reaches the branches the next morning.

Having had a brief look at what happens between the farm and the shop, let us turn to matters affecting the buying of bacon.

Before the war 70 per cent, of the bacon eaten in this country was imported, and only 30 per cent, produced at home. Now that has changed so that next year only about 55 per cent, of

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(To/)) T/fe f«r/»^ «//ar /« o«e «/ rf>e largest English bacon factories. Hundreds of sides are battened down in these large tanks and remain there for about five days.

{Centre) Unloading one of our "floats" that has brought imported bacon from the wharf to our Union Street depot. Each bale contains 4 sides and weighs about 2 cwts.

(Right) Inside the smoking stove. Ganger C. H. Rowe sprinkles a side with peaflour before it is hung up.

our supplies are likely to come from abroad. As before the war, Denmark has the largest share of our imports and in fact is shipping greater quantities to us than ever before. Canada, who helped us so much during the war by sending us bacon that made it possible to maintain a bacon ration, has not been able to send any quantity since 1948 because of dollar restrictions.

Although July 5th was heralded as the day of freedom for the bacon industry, it is not complete freedom by any means, for the Government will be the only importers of bacon and their intention is to continue to be so for at least two or three years. Only when it actually reaches our shores does it become " de-controlled". Then it is distributed to agents who imported bacon before the war and who now act as agents for the Ministry of Food and sell the bacon to wholesalers and to " multiples " like J.S. This means that the Government limits by their bulk contracts the quantity of bacon which is brought from any one country. But there is a more serious aspect to this continuance of bulk buying. The Ministry of Food buys the bacon in Denmark at about 50s. per cwt. (or roughly 25s. per side) less than they sell it in this country. This is equivalent to about 5d. per lb. and at current Danish contract prices means that the Government is making a profit of over £10 million a year. This profit on imported bacon goes towards the greater cost of subsidising the farmers in the production of pigs in Britain. The Danish farmer sells a bacon pig for about £14 compared to the British farmer who gets about £20 for a pig of the same weight. To help pay this high price to the farmer the Government takes a profit out of Danish bacon and keeps the price of bacon higher than it would naturally be. The British housewife therefore has to pay more for her bacon than she really need whilst at the same time at least £15 million of the tax­payers' money goes to subsidising the pig farmer.

Why is this necessary ? It is because the costs of production in Great Britain are apparently higher than they are in Den­mark. In Denmark, the majority of pig production is on small holdings where no labour is employed other than the farmer's family ; the Danish farmer therefore cannot have the same high labour cost that the English farmer has. The Danish farmer usually has the considerable advantage of ample supplies of skimmed milk for his pigs. This is a by-product of the butter

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(Above) Danish bacon being stoved.

(Right) Mr. S. Gwynne, who has recently retired after thirty-three years'" service in the Bacon Depart­ment, watches A. Morgan light a bed of sawdust.

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In a Danish bacon factory. Note the length of the side and the nice plump gam­mon and small fore-end. Generally speaking, Danish bacon has better composi­tion than English.

(Below) Sides being cut after they have been smoked.

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factories where he sends his milk and not only does it improve the quality of the bacon but plays an important part in enabling the pigs to be brought up to bacon weight in as short a time as possible. The English farmer, of course, in most districts does not have any skimmed milk available for his pigs and is therefore at a disadvantage.

And finally, a very important factor is that in Denmark they have for many years made an intensive study in efficient pig production. They have been able to reduce to the lowest possible weight those parts of the pig that do not make bacon. For example, the head and bones of a Danish pig are much lighter than the average English pig to such an extent that the weight of bacon that you get from one Danish pig is prob­ably at least 5 per cent, greater than you get from an equivalent English pig.

These are only a few reasons which partly account for the large difference between the payment to the English farmer and the Danish farmer. It is sufficient, however, to show that it is vital that the cost of producing English pigs is brought down, for only by this method will the taxpayer be saved a lot of money and our customers get cheaper bacon. Equally impor­tant with a reduction in the cost of English bacon is an im­provement in quality. There is no need to remind those who work on our bacon counters that the Danish side is better pro­portioned" than an English side. It has a larger back—which is the more popular part of the side—and a smaller fore-end.

In time let us hope then that the quality of English pigs will be improved as well as the cost being reduced.

The last stage of the journey from the farm to the shop. One of our vans being loaded at Union Street.

Oxhey SELF-SERVICE store is flourishing

The third self-service store situ­ated on a new L.C.C. estate was opened at St. Andrew's Road, Oxhey, on May 24th. This store is almost an exact reproduction of that opened at Grange Hill and has three check-outs. Sainsbury's were the seventh food shop to open in this shopping centre and in spite of this keen competition is operating very successfully. The branch is managed by Mr. A. G. BaUhelour, late of Forty Avenue.

{Above) ManagerMr.Batchelour. (Above left) The new shop front. (Left) At the check-outs are Miss Banks and Mrs. Gilbank at No. 1, Miss Correy and Miss Young at No. 2 and (right) Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Williams at No. 3.

(Above) A general view of the shop. Mr. Bramham is in the centre, Mr. Clarke at the meat counter with Mr. Smith behind him and in the office Mr. Batchelour and Mrs. Andrews.

(Centre) In the preparation rooms behind the shop can be seen (left to right) Miss Griffin and Mrs. Livings at the tomato table and Mr. Theed at the bacon machine. In the butter room are Mrs. Fuschiallo and Mr. Steggles in front and Mr. Geraghty and Mrs. Major at the back. Mrs. Dear is at the cheese table and Mrs. Higgins is looking after the eggs.

(Right) Behind Mrs. Livings and Miss Griffin is the meat preparation room. Mr. Gower, the poulterer, is in front and behind him are (left) Mr. Jackson and (right) Mr. Denyer.

A Slim Figure in White

A prominent character of the streets about the time of Waterloo was the Flying Pieman. He sold, not pies, but puddings, which he carried about the town on a hot tray. He got his name from the speed at which he moved, and from his being seen, within an hour, at such distant points as Clerkenwell, Piccadilly, Tower Hill, and Blackfriars. He dressed in white, without a coat, and he wore a powdered wig. His method was to dash through the streets with his tray, bawling " Hot, hot, hot— pudding hot! " pausing only to serve a customer, and dashing on again. He was never seen to stand still, even when serving, or when exchanging repartee with customers and others. He had a shop in Smithfield, but instead of waiting for customers to come to him, he preferred to go out and chase them. His sale was so large that his tray was emptied many times a day ; and as he took all London for his territory, he arranged a means of quickly refilling his tray wherever he might be. He and his wife made a stock of puddings in the very early morning, and as soon as the town was awake, he took parcels of these by cart to public-houses in different quarters. There they were kept hot and could be collected during his day's round. It was an early form of Stop Me and Buy One, though by all reports he went much faster than the ice-tricycles.

From The Streets of London, Thomas Burke

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Southall has an up-to-date look now Modernisation of Southall branch has been completed

for some time now. The top picture shows how the branch has been brought into line with the new style of interior developed- by J.S. Below is a view of the preparation rooms. (Left) Mr. Meill and (right) Mr. Arthur.

Mr. Bigland, Manager

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* ' ] # * ' « : « • (Above) The bacon and the meat

counters. At the bacon counter

are Miss Dalton and Mr. Arthur

and behind the meat counter is

Head Butcher Mr. Cole.

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• (Left) The meat preparation

room. Mr. Gunster at work.

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U R Y

(Above) In the grocery department are (left to right) Miss Potter, Miss Collins and Miss Lebec.

(Right) Miss Fenn and (behind) Mrs. Casselden in the preparation

(Right) Miss Mangle, housekeeper (left), and Miss Ftannery, assistant housekeeper, at work in the new kitchen.

Wednesday night is Bath Night at Manor Place Baths...

. . . and the Gala is # to be on Saturday,

September 11th.

TTresa cups must be won on September 11th. Left to right, Top row : Gent's Section Relay, Inter-section Championship, Senior Lady Champion. Middle row : Ladies 66 yards Club Championship, Men's 100 yards Club Championship, Senior Gent's Championship. Front row : Junior Lady Champion and Junior Gent Champion.

Looking dorm the line of sunken blockships which formed the outer breakwater of the prefabricated port which was sited off Arromanches on the coast of Normandy.

10 Years Ago

The Corncobs Commander F. Jeyes writes of a little-known aspect of the invasion of Normandy in the summer of 1944.

This contribition is not topical. It tells, briefly, of how block-ships were sunk off the French coast on D Day and the days immediately succeeding.

We have read time and time again about the Mulberries, those great concrete moles which, starting on D Day, were towed at 3 to 4 knots towards the beaches, gradually to form docks. A great conception indeed, and magnificently executed. Little, however, so far as I know, has been written about another

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detail of the operation, those ships which on their last voyage gave our armies 24,000 feet of breakwater and that vital protec­tion from the weather which enabled the beach head to be established and maintained long before the Mulberries could make their presence felt. Only half the Mulberries were in posi­tion D + 12, and the gale of D + 13 caught these harbours at their worst stage, half finished, and that off Cherbourg was so broken up that work was discontinued. The Calvados reef protected, to some extent, the British harbour, which ulti­mately gave shelter to many ships.

In describing my own small corner of the job, I write of what I know and, since it covers the job, make no apology. , . .

In April, 1944, I arrived in England in the trooper Moollan after some months in a Middle East hospital, and was given an unspecified period of leave for recuperative purposes. About a week later, the naval assistant to the 2nd Sea Lord (N.A.2.S.L.), an old shipmate, asked me to come and see him, and how fit was I as he had something in mind for me, which was both very secret and very interesting. I told him I was fit enough provided it did not call for too much immediate exertion and so long-as the doctors would clear me. It was suggested that I should go down to Haslar and square them, and this was done.

On returning to the Admiralty, I was let into the very limited circle of " in the knows " for Operation Neptune—the naval side of Operation Overlord or the Normandy landing. My job was, briefly, to collect 15 ships in the Forth, take them round to Oban to join another 45 already there and prepare them, in collaboration with two other officers, to be sunk off the beaches on D Day. We had a month in which to do it. The idea was to split this fleet of 60-odd ships in three groups (Corncobs) and, acting as Commodores, the three of us were to take them to position off the French beaches, there to be sunk in line, and roughly parallel to the shore in soundings which would allow their deckline to be above water at all states of the tide, and so form the breakwater behind which, whatever the weather, landing could be uninterrupted and a continued build-up in the beach area preserved. Naturally the first assault flights did not have this protection and, indeed, had to beach in water that was still pretty turbulent from the effect of the gale during the first days of June, the worst June gale in the Channel for 40 years.

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The ships of my " Cob " were named as follows :— British and European American Lynhaug Ingman Audacious Nyegos Empire Waterhen Courageous Winha Formin West Honaker Agios Spyridon Formigny West Grama Innerton H.M.S. Centurion Olambala Ellsworth Park H.M.N. S. Sumatra Flight Command

To return to Oban, I think perhaps the most difficult task was to keep happy the civilian crews of 60 merchant ships of all the allied nationalities (chosen to give each nation representation in this great undertaking) and to hide from them the object of their raison d'etre. The cover story was that these were " Port Repair Ships " and we were sailing from there to the Bristol Channel, and that from then on the ships would be manned by naval personnel. They could not be allowed ashore.

For the operation, I decided to fly my flag in the Norwegian hjnhaug, Captain Host Olsen, known amongst his cronies as " thirst " Olsen, but nevertheless a good man, and seaman. I chose the ship chiefly because, old as she was, and all of these ships were very old, her owners had kept her reasonably up to date with modern aids to navigation, because the navigator's

The shore end of one of the pier roadways.

bridge and compasses were efficient, and because there was accommodation for my staff. I never regretted my choice. Her engineers helped me greatly by keeping steady steam pressure, for if the Commodore cannot keep a steady course and speed he can hardly expect his convoy to keep in station. The Captain and officers co-operated with me in every respect and when finally I opened orders and let them know, in common with the rest of the ships, that I was taking them to the battle area, not one man in any ship, so far as I know, and certainly none in mine, demurred. I remember at Oban trying to interest the men in aquatic sports, sailing, etc., and excursions to Black Rock for gulls' eggs (but mustn't touch the mainland) what time the ships were prepared for their last voyage. I personally spent some time walking in the highlands and gradually regaining weight and fitness.

The cruiser Durban was also to be sunk, and was to rendezvous with us off the beaches, but the Dutch cruiser Sumatra, with English Captain Sutcliff and mixed officers and Dutch crew, was to be in my group. It is the first and only time a ship commanded by a Post Captain has sailed under my command and I remember gratefully the help and support he gave me throughout. With a very mixed and multi-lingual crew his path was not all roses, and one dark night, off the Irish coast, the Sumatra acting as my Vice Commodore failed to see my alter course signal and nearly rammed me as I swung to port, the rest of the convoy, steaming in four columns, following. A very bad moment ! The whistle blowing and alarms brought him to his bridge, and apologies were made.

I had some troubles with the Master of a Greek ship, the Agios Spjridon, who wanted to take his wife and alsatian dog. I couldn't tell him what we were doing, but told him, in the event of his being torpedoed, I could not have the lives of our own ratings and his crew jeopardised looking after women and dogs.

The day before sailing my signal ratings in his ship informed me that they were being starved and I got the Ministry of W.T. to put that right, and an hour before sailing he made a signal that he wanted to land 11 bottles of brandy for his owners. I sent a boat over and put that right myself. They helped a lot. We left Oban on June 1st, I think it was, and apart from a half hour at odd occasions and a few hours in Poole Harbour,

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!jjPtl||ig:,*«»rM».,

Putting the finishing touches to the shore end of a pier roadway. In the distance can be seen the caissons and blockships.

I was on the bridge until my job was done on the 7th. We sailed as three groups, spaced twelve hours apart, under Commanders Ayre, Makepeace, and your amateur historian.

The voyage south was pretty uneventful, but bad weather made for tiring conditions. I could steam at little more than 5 J knots so ancient were some of the ships, and one complained, when I tried to clap on a few more revs, that his boilers were rocking on their bed plates. Past Lundy Island and the fiction was over, and all knew they were committed to something

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pretty big. I retired to the Captain's cabin and waded through hundreds of pages of " Overlord " and then came back to my own little bit of it. It was simply to make Area Z and there send six of my ships to Cherbourg, and take the remainder to Arromanches, arriving at 08.00, June 7th. We steamed quietly along the Cornish Coast and coming up astern we saw the Combined Allied Fleets. As they approached us the Admiral made me a signal " Maintain your formation and course, I am steaming through your columns." I shall never forget my im­pressions during the two hours that followed. Duke of York— Anson—ILodney—Nelson—Arkansas—Missouri and so on, Cruisers, Destroyers, Minelayers and Fleet Sweepers. A final signal C. in C. Combined Fleet to Commodore ' Good Luck Blockships " to which I replied " Thank you and good luck ", as they disappeared into the evening haze.

It started to blow from the south-west, and then came an " immediate" signal in code, changing D day from 5th to 24 hours later. From where I stood, it meant that I had to lose 24 hours with 17 old wrecks, full of explosives, off the Lizard in a gale, during which time it was hoped it would blow itself

The port at Arromanches. (A) Concrete caisson breakwaters. (B) Caisson and blockship breakwater {picture p. 27). (C) Pierheads forming wharf. (D) Barge pierhead. (E) L..S.T. Pierhead {picture p. 35). (F) Pier roadways {pictures pp. 29, 31 , 34).

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A. general view of the port of Arromanches.

out, a reasonable hope in June. I conferred with Sumatra and decided to make for and anchor in Poole Harbour. Admiralty concurred, Flag Officer Portsmouth concurred, and no doubt a number of others concurred and I set course accordingly.

We arrived off Poole on the evening of the 5th, and upon anchoring I called a conference of all commanding officers, which now included the commander of the Centurion, an old gunnery target ship, now to start her last voyage. Orders were drawn up, typed in Sumatra, signed and distributed over miles of shipping by the duty boat, and so to bed for a few hours. No sleep came, the trouble with benzedrine being that it keeps you awake when you would sleep. Excitement too, no doubt. The pace quickening ! A man of very little imagination, my chief sensation was a desire for the sleep which wouldn't come, and a fishing in the mind for forgotten details. During the hours of the final long trek to the beaches, alertness never left me, but I noticed that it became narrower and narrower in its scope until it embraced only me and my ships. Towards dawn on the 7th, for instance, I had stopped giving helm or engine orders, doing the former by hand movement and operating the engine

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•,:'.•;

Looking straight out along a pier roadway.

room telegraph myself. I was, I suppose, getting beyond speech, other than an occasional signal order to my yeoman.

If you can imagine a cross current of some 4 knots and yourself steaming across it at only 6 knots, in addition to the numerous uncharted alterations of course necessary to avoid collisions, you will know the anxiety in my mind about just where we were going to arrive on the French side. The convoys of greatliners full of troops (L.S.I.'s), L.C.T.'s, L.C.I.'s and so on, proceeding at vastly different speeds and so each making different corrections for tide pouring past us and disappearing into the blackness and ourselves proceeding at an angle of some 45° to all of them, and a smoke screen drifting seawards from the battle area tending to complicate the reckoning. Navigation had become a matter of every ship for herself. I put mine into single column, telling them to follow me, acting independently as necessary. Overhead the steady and unceasing roar of our glider towing aircraft, of bombers and fighters, all heading southward into action, to be, apart from the intensive radar jamming which preceded the landing, the first heralds of libera-

34

A Spud pierhead assembly being used to clear casualties. The Spuds were towed across the Channel, positioned in deep water and so made a fixed wharf joined to the shore by the roadways.

tion. As dawn broke I was very happy indeed to see the H.M.S. Durban, Captain Hill, looking out for me, and offering to lead us.

The scene off the beaches, and as we threaded our way west­ward for some miles to reach our position, was as fantastic as it was inspiring. Literally thousands of ships of every type, even little restaurant boats, for the use of the smaller and galley-less craft operating; Rodney, in which I served under Captain A. B. Cunningham (now Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope) in 1930, hurling 16-in. shells over our heads at targets behind the beach, the bricks roaring over like express trains ; every craft intent on its own mission ; a master­piece of ordered chaos. A number of ships on fire on " gold " beach, to the eastward, and others mined and torpedoed around us. A great deal of noise aloft, and now and then a largish splash, gave comforting evidence of the presence of the R.A.F.

We anchored off Arromanches near the spot at which it was intended to form the breakwater, and I turned over the ships to the officers and tugs who were to be responsible for placing them end to end and to detonate the sinking charges, a job calling

35

for considerable skill and patience in a tideway. These ships were mostly of the " three is land" type, that is, forecastle head, midship superstructure (bridge, etc.), and poop, whilst between them two cargo holds forward and two aft. Sinking was achieved by explosive charges strapped to the shell plating on each side of each hold, below the waterline, fired simul­taneously from a switch on the bridge.

I waited until hynhaug settled, whilst my signal staff in the other ships were being collected, and then embarked in an American L.S.T. which was just departing for Portsmouth.

The Captain kindly placed his accommodation at my disposal. She had landed her tanks and embarked a load of German pri­soners, many wounded, in the tank space, rigged with bunks.

Arriving back at Portsmouth, I saw Rear Admiral Tennent, was told a good job had been done and sent home to rest. Imagine my indignation, on leaving his office, to be handed a signal ordering me to Southend next day to take a follow-up convoy of cargo ships to Arromanches ! ! !

The English Channel, always fairly busy, and in total blackout condition a sailor's nightmare, was now carrying a steady stream of colossal concrete mulberries, 146 of them in all, laboriously being towed to their sinking positions. Weighing from 6,044 tons each down to the smallest at 1,672 tons, they presented formidable hazards to navigation.

They did a fine job, particularly because they assured us of long-term protection for beach-head reinforcement. That the unexpectedly early fall of Cherbourg gave us use of a harbour, and a long period of fine weather enabled many convoys to discharge their cargoes without entering the harbours they made, in no way detracts from their value to the operation or the genius of their conception, particularly if it is remembered that the immensity of the operation required the daily landing over the beaches of 12,000 tons of material and 2,500 vehicles, and that this volume had to be maintained for at least 90 days. It was known, moreover, that even should a French port fall into our hands at an early stage, and be—most unlikely—undamaged, it could not handle anything like that quantity of shipping and material. Without these artificial ports, therefore, the operation must have been at the mercy of the weather in its most critical phase.

36

Mr. Alan and Mr. J. D. with left, Mr. Hoare and Mr. Curtis and right, Mr. Gurr at Stamford Street.

Up-river with the Veterans (Right) First call was Windsor. Visiting the castle were (left to right) H. C. Rudd, W. J. Ford, E. J. Harvey and J. H. Davies. Below is the veterans' boat just before sailing to Marlow.

(Below) Mr. Salisbury talks to Mr. Curtis before the departure.

Starboard (Below left) Left to right, Mr. Hoare, Mr. Tupman, Mr. Snow, Mr. Turner Mr. Baker and Mr. Toe.

(Above) It was warmer below.

(Left) But not too bad on deck either. Among veterans here are Mr. Tupman, Mr. Seaton, Mr. Fellows, Mr. Royal and Mr. Yeo.

Port (Below) Mrs. Forman, Mrs. Penton, Miss Brand and Mr. W. G. Smith are among this group.

(Below left) Left to right Mr. Briscoe, Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Middleton.

(Below right) Left to right Mr. Atkins, Mr. Goss, Mr. Wright and Mr. Reeves.

Mr. Jones and Miss Dudman, the Group secretary. Mr. Jones travelled from Bridport to Join in the outing.

{Above left) Mr. J. Dowling, oldest veteran aboard, flanked by Mr. Kilbee {right) and Mr. Harvey {left), our two youngest veterans.

{Above right) Miss Brand, our oldest lady veteran, on the trip with Mrs. Chapman the youngest lady veteran aboard.

{Left) James Boswell, editor of J.S. JOURNAL, just too late to dodge the camera this time.

JS Cattle take prizes.

Latest news of the firm's pedigree Aber­deen-Angus herd at Kinermony in Banff­shire is that six of the animals were entered for the Koyal Highland Show at Dumfries in June and were pri^e winners in their respec­tive classes. In addition, Jubra Eric (TOP), Euinmony of Kiner­mony (BOTTOM) and Idacora of Kinermony (CENTRE) were reserve for the best group of three animals. This trio afterwards came South for the Royal Show at Windsor, where among a total entry of 114 Aberdeen-Angus, they again - collected pri^e tickets.

Jubra Eric is one of our stock bulls, Elin-mony, a six-year-old cow and Idacora a year­ling heifer. The two former animals have been prize-winners on several previous occa-

On the 110th anniversary of the birth of Mr. J. J. Sainsbury, founder of the firm, a bouquet of roses was placed in front of his bust at Stamford House.

(Below) Mr. F. W. Salisbury of J.S. and Mr. S. A. Chisholm of the N.Z. Meat Producers' Board take a very good view of the winning award in the Fat Lamb Competition for 1953/54 at Smithfield. The entry is of 21 carcases from the Fairfield works of our friends the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company. Readers will remember Mr. Salisbury's account of his visit to Fairfield in J.S. JOURNAL for April this year.

Photo by courtesy of N.Z. Meat Producers' Board

• \-<

1§M '*« ,;*<§• m.

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Rain stops play

at Calne

The annual cricket match against the House of Harris was to have been held this yiar at Calne. But what with it being 1954 and the wettest of summers the contest was decided on the dart board and Messrs. Harris kept the cup for another year. A.t the luncheon before the game Mr. Gillett, Sales Manager for Messrs. Harris, welcomed the visitors from London and Mr. J. D. Sainsbury replied on behalf of J.5'. Top right, from left to right, Mr. Stone, of Harris, Mr. Younger, of J.S., Mr. Gillett and Mr. J. D. Sainsbury, who is seen replying in our second picture.

Roundsman Reid of Reigate sent us this post-script to our article on J.S. Transport. It is a Ford delivery van in use about 1924. We are still anxious to find a picture of one of the Straker-Squire iron-wheeled steam wagons which were in use about 1906.

S T A F F M O V E M E N T S AND P R O M O T I O N S \P^e are phased to record the following promotions :— TO MANAGEMENT

F. N. Bettger TO HEAD BUTCHER

A. R. Baird B. Lowe S. Pell J. Smith A. R. Taylor L. R. Woolmore The following transfers ASSISTANT MANAGER

H. W. Henson R. Higgins L. R. Layer A. Lester D. G. Maddocks A. G. Seward E. R. Weeks

(Winchester)

(9-11 Croydon) (Ruislip) (Boreham Wood) (Paddington) (128 Kilburn) (Marylebone)

to Farnham

to 68 Croydon to Pinner to Burnt Oak to Eastcote to Forty Avenue to Spare List

will be of interest to many memixrs of the staff :—

from Paddington from Purley from Marble Arch from Southall from Greenford from Coulsdon from 9/11 Croydon

C. Willis (Bedford) and A. Ranger (P.A. to Mr. Blackfriars in the Personnel Department. L. Kemp HEAD BUTCHERS

A. E. Bird A. Grogan L. S. Higgs E. Lyons A. M, Millard R. Milsom G. W. Rogers A. G. Somerville A. Sprules G. West

from 128 Kilburn

from Forty Avenue from West Wickham from Addiscombe from 96 Kilbum from South Harrow from 2/4 Ealing from Pinner from 68 Croydon

to Westbourne Grove to Coulsdon to 128 Kilburn to Greenford to Southall to Purley to Purley

Walter) are temporarily at

to Paddington

to Willesden Green to 122 Croydon to West Wickham to Westbourne Grove to Kingsbury to 96 Kilburn to South Harrow to Addiscombe

from Westbourne Grove to 2/4 Ealing from Eastcote to Kenton

44

M A R R I A G E (BETWEEN MEMBERS O F I.S. STAFF)

Our very best wishes for their future happiness to the following staff on the occasion of their marriage :— Miss E. Pagden (147 Balham) and Mr. B. E. Powell (Thornton Heath) on lune 19th, 1954. Miss E. Vaughan and Mr. B. M. Evans (128 Kilburn) on May 22nd, 1954. Miss P. Birch and Mr. W. Heron (Folkestone) on July 10th, 1954.

NEW A P P O I N T M E N T Recently joined the firm is Mr. R. Fortescue, who has been appointed our Agricultural Representative in East Anglia. Mr. Fortescue was with British Field Products for four years before joining J.S. His duties in East Anglia have recently been concentrated around the rebuilding of our pig-buying organisation under Mr. James, but he will also be responsible to Mr. Alan since he takes over the egg and poultry packing stations later this year.

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S to the many staff who were successful in the recent examinations of the Institute of Certified Grocers and the Institute of Meat, especially to :— J. A. Emeny (Marylebone) and J. F. Lucas (Brentwood), wTho have passed the Final Examination for their M.G.I. D. A. Cope (Surbiton), who has obtained the Diploma of the Institute of Meat. A. D. Chapman (St. Albans), who has qualified for the Craftsman's Certi-ficate of the Institute of Meat.

R E T I R E M E N T S In July of each year some old friends retire after years of active J.S. service. This year we have said " Good-bye " to the following and wish them health and happiness in their well-earned rest :— A. W. BURTON. Engaged February 21st, 1921, as a Poulterer at 3 Golders Green. He served in this area, 2/4 Ealing, and at his retirement was in charge of Poultry at 13/15 Blackfriars. E. A. NORTHWAY. Engaged August 23rd, 1911, as a Porter. He later learned both the Provision and Butchery sides of the business and worked at Lewisham, Sydenham, Forest Hill, 193 Catford. At his retirement he was a Leading Butcher at Rye Lane. W. F. ATTEWELL. Engaged December 2nd, 1920, in the Meat Depart­ment at 140 Finchley. During the many years that he was with the firm he worked at branches in this district, originally being promoted to Head Butcher in 1931 and retiring in that position from Kingsbury. C. G. TAYLOR. Engaged April 20th, 1914. He worked in the Provisions Department at Cricklewood, Guildford, Byfleet and Woking. He was a Leading Salesman at Woking, and was at this branch when he retired. E. EDRIDGE. Engaged January 19th, 1920, as a Butcher in the Kitchens. He was promoted to a Selector-Examiner in 1950. W. J. FRANKLIN. Engaged May 8th, 1944, and worked all his time as a Painter and left from the Factory. A. F. MAXTED. Engaged December 31st, 1934, as a Boiler House Engineer in the Kitchens. He spent the war years with the Royal Navy and returned to the Kitchens in the Boiler House.

45

FORTl YEARS BACK Mr. C. G. Taylor, whose retirement is noted on page 45, sent us this reminder of forty years ago. The photograph is of the staff of 160 Crickle-wood in 1914 shortly after war had been declared. It is interesting to note that the Japanese flag is being displayed among those of our allies. Mr. C. G. Taylor is third from the left in the second row. The manager {front row) was Mr. J. W. Taylor and immediately behind him is Mr. Barrett, who will be remembered as manager ofXijlb Stamford Street. Seated on Mr. J. W. Taylor's right is Miss Brand who was the oldest lady veteran to go on the Windsor trip last month and whose photograph appears on page 40.

J. W. WHATRUP. Engaged June 16th, 1927, as a Stoker in the Kitchens Boiler House. He was Foreman when he retired. A. RAVENHILL. Engaged May 26th, 1913, at Head Office. On War Service from May, 1915, but resumed in January, 1919, as Egg Stock Clerk. He became Head of the Branch Sales Office in April, 1927—a H.O. Depart­ment which was merged with Retail Sales Office on outbreak of war in 1939 and is now the Branch Stock Office. W. HUNT. Engaged November 20th, 1911, at Head Office. He saw service in the first World War and returned in August, 1919. For many years he was Cheese Stock Clerk.

46

S. G W Y N N E . Engaged June , 1918, but left in Augus t , 1920. H e was re­engaged in July, 1921, at Union Street, Bacon Depar tment , where he was a Bacon Scalesman and subsequently Yard Foreman. Dur ing the last war he managed the war-t ime Depot at Bramshot t from February, 1943, till its closure at the end of the war. W. C. L. J E F F R E Y S . Engaged June 4th, 1914. After war service dur ing which he lost a leg he was in various depar tments at Blackfriars and dur ing the last war was employed for a t ime at the Woolmer Green and Fleckney Depots . Since the war he has been in Sales and Depo t Stock Offices.

O B I T U A R Y

Since our last issue we regret to record the deaths of the following colleagues :— Mr. A. C. Beer, Leading Salesman at 55 Br ighton, w h o was engaged in 1932 and has been seriously ill since the end of 1953—died on July 16th, 1954. We extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Beer. Mr. J. F . Curness, w h o retired from the Warehouse, Blackfriars, in 1946, after 31 years' service, died on June 4th, 1954. We sympathise deeply wi th his wife and family. Mr. F. P. Floodgate , w h o was engaged 27 years ago and had become a Senior Stockkeeper at the Depot , fought ill-health for a number of years and died on July 15th, 1954. His wife and family can feel we share their deep sor row with them. Miss S. fi. Nelson, w h o retired from 76 Islington as Housekeeper in 1949 after nine years' service, died on May 16th, 1954. We sympathise wi th her brother in his loss. Mr. J. N o r t h w o o d , w h o only joined us in 1952 in the Factory Engineers ' Depar tment , has been seriously ill since April of this year, and died on June 28th, 1954. We extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs . N o r t h w o o d and the family. W I L L I A M W E L L E R , Superintending Electrician, joined J .S. in 1930 shortly after the arrival of Mr. Hall, with w h o m he had previously been associated. The many jobs with which he was concerned caused him to be known almost t h roughou t the firm. His s tanding as a technician and his personality, earned him the respect and affection of his colleagues to w h o m he was known as " Cyril " . So long as his health permit ted he was a keen cricketer and was prominent in S.S.A. social activities. Even though his health had been failing for some t ime, his death on May 19th t w o days before his retirement, came as a shock. His son Cyril has been with the firm since January, 1942.

N E W S O F J . S . S T A F F ON N A T I O N A L S E R V I C E

J\ ens from some of the letters ire have received from f.S. men on National Sendee since our last publication :— N. R. B E S T , W'estbourne. Aldershot (Army). Is attached to the A.C.C. and if successful in his next examination will shortly be cooking for officers. Has put on 16 lbs. in weight . C. G. B O D M A N , 122 Croydon. Rugby (R.A.F.) . W o r k s in the Stock Cont ro l Office and for some time n o w has been kept extremely busy. Had the

47

opportunity of escorting machinery to Tilbury Docks recently and was able to visit his home. P. W. CAFFREY, Portslade. Plymouth (R.A.F.). Still stationed at Yealmpton near Plymouth and seems to be particularly affected by the weather. Strangely enough, for some reason, the water supply was cut recently and this added to his discomfort. He is very much looking forward to his demobilisation in a few months' time. A. COOPER, 2/4 Ealing. St. Athan (R.A.F.). Now attending an Engine Mechanics Course and has already passed several tests. Seems to be quite enjoying his period in uniform. F. HOLLEY, WeaUstone. Guildford (Army). Was expecting to be sent to Malaya but his draft has now been cancelled. Has now settled down much better having completed his initial training. R. W. FRY, Forty Ape. Germany (Army). A L/Cpl. in the R.A.S.C. Finds his job as a P.O.L. Accountant fairly interesting and was very successful in recent tests. Seems to be making the most of his opportunity in Germany by visiting all the places of interest. G. W. LUCAS, 140 Vinchky. Malaya (Army). Now stationed at Kuala Selangor which is about 30 miles from Kuala Lumpur. Has already managed to have some cricket practice and has played two or three times for the local club. D. A. DANIEL, 158 Cat ford. Brackley (Army). Is now employed as a Security Policeman and spends most of the day walking accompanied by a war-dog. Very much looking forward to his demobilisation in a few weeks' time. B. M. DANIELS, Berkbamsted. Aldershot (Army). Has only been in uniform a few weeks but seems to have settled down quite well. At the moment spends most of his time polishing and cleaning kit. A. R. DANIEL, Joel St. Stanmore (R.A.F.). Has now been promoted to L.A.C. and is still stationed at Stanmore. Finds the work interesting enough (Signals) but is not too keen on the working conditions underground. T. DELVES, Nottingham. Shrewsbury (Army). Employed on clerical work in the Medical Section and expects to stay at Shrewsbury until his demobilisation early next year. J. W. FAWDRY, Winchmore Hill. Wythall (R.A.F.). Was successful on his course at Compton Bassctt and is now A.C.I. Is now on a special course and expects at the end of it to be drafted to Germany. W. MITCHELL, S. Harrow. Kenya (Army). Has now arrived at a place just outside Nairobi after a very pleasant journey by plane. Was able to look round one or two interesting cities during stops for re-fuelling on the way out. G. PORTERFIELD, Edmonton. Salisbury (Army). Called at Blackfriars a few weeks ago whilst on leave. Is expecting to go to Korea shortly. Army life seems to be helping him to put on weight. M. E. REYNOLDS, W'lncbmore Hill. Malta (R.A.F.). Has for some months now been stationed at Malta and has recently been promoted to L.A.C. Is normally employed on Radar and has recently taken over the camp N.A.A.F.I.' A. E. ROGERS, Sydenham. Hednesford (R.A.F.), Has recently completed his initial training course and is now expecting to go to Yatesbury on a course for Radar. Recently called at Blackfriars during leave and looks very fit.

R. S T B N N 1 N G , 218 Sutton. Bicester (Army). Is still stationed at Bicester and expects to remain there for the rest of his service. Evident ly is able to travel home quite frequently. A. T 1 D D , 68 Croydon. T idwor th (Army). Has n o w passed his hospital cook 's course ami has been posted from Aldershot to T idwor th . Has already met Lee of Colchester w h o is stationed at the same place. D. I.. H U N T , Manor Park. Compton Bassett (R.A.F.) . After a s t renuous 10 weeks ' course at West Kirby has now been moved to Compton Bassett where he is training to become a Wireless Opera tor . B. FAR R A N T , Romford. Germany (Army). N o w stationed at Osnabruck serving with the 5th Regt. Royal Horse Artillery as a Driver . Finds the food and barracks very good . D. M. J A C O B S , Cambcrky. Oxford (R.A.F.) . Is still stationed at Kidl ington near Oxford and has recently been promoted to L.A.C. Is employed as a Telephonist . W. A. M O R R O W , 140 \-hicbky. Netheravon (R.A.F.) . Has recently been successful in his final examination and is helping to train Air Force Police Dogs. L. WEBBHU, Crouch hue'. Nor thampton (Army). Was successful on bis Instructor 's Course and has now been p romoted to the rank of Cpl. Spent most of his leave recently on a visit to Holland with his football club. T . B . C O W D K N , lU/gtvare. Colchester (Army). Is employed training Sig­nallers and expects to g o to Germany later on in the year. M. K A L B , Ij'ia'Ster. Hednesford (R.A.F.) . Has completed his initial training but unfortunately had a leg injury at the end of it which auto­matically cancelled his expected posting. He is now quite fit and expects to move from Hednesford very shortly. R. B B L L 1 N G H A M and R. S. K M M H T T (H.O.) are both in the R.A.F . at Yatesbury and so see much of each other. P. C. C H A P M A N (H.O.) is in the R.A.I*, at Wythall, near Birmingham, and expects to g o abroad shortly. 1). T . R A N D A L L is far removed in Berwickshire at an R.A.F. Radar station. 1). W. WJ iST {///).) is just complet ing his basic training as a Fighter Plotter at Andover.

K.J.I.., Hoplon SI., S.L.I

]S swimmers get ready for the gala on September nth.

Wednesday night is Bath Night at Manor Place Baths...

. . . and the Gala is to be on Saturday, September 11th.