Robert Inglis

Pupil 1941-1947

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The Second World War which started in the autumn of 1939 more or less covered my Secondary school education at Airdrie Academy.How were we affected at home? Well firstly, food was rationed. Every item of food became scarce and fruit, particularly oranges, were hardly ever available. If they were, then a sign went up saying ‘Oranges for Green Books’. That was a child’s ration book. Clothing also became scarce, so mothers had to knit socks and jerseys when they could get the wool. One thing I do remember is that the girls could not get stockings, so what did they do? Painted their legs! So much for 1940s fashion!

 

All street lighting was put out so, to go out on a dark winter evening, you needed a torch. All cars, buses and tram lights were dimmed, and house curtains were not allowed to reveal any light from inside. ARP wardens were out every night to check no lights were visible.

 

Fortunately, Airdrie was never bombed directly. There was one exception. On the night of the Clydebank raids, one bomb was dropped near Airdrie hill. It came from a German bomber on its return home and the pilot must have decided to get rid of it. Thankfully it did not cause any damage as it was dropped on a field. I remember watching it from our back garden. I did not intend on saying much about the War, but it happened, and I had to include some thought on it.

 

I attended Airdrie Academy for six years from 1941 until 1947. I was in class 1A in the new building ‘on the hill’ at South Commonhead Avenue. I don’t intend to bore you by going into too much detail about my school routines.

 

As I attended school during the Second World War, we did not have a school uniform. You just turned up in whatever clothes you had. I never had a school tie or blazer during my time there. Much like when I attended Clarkston Primary School, my best subject was Mathematics. As part of the curriculum at Airdrie Academy, we would be taught dynamics. I don’t think that is a thing now in schools.

 

My Maths teacher for five of the six years was a teacher called Danny Livingston. He was a great influence on me. I was also reasonably good at Physics and Chemistry. Unfortunately, when it came to English, I am afraid that Shakespeare never entered my brain. It meant absolutely nothing to me!

 

Languages also meant very little to me. At that time, in order to get into university, you had to have a pass in at least one language. I had dropped French classes after two years so that meant I only had one choice- Latin! It took me six whole years to get a pass at the lower level. I hated it. The Latin masters were all very strict. I don’t think Latin is a requirement now to enter University. Looking back, it was a silly and outdated ruling.

 

Airdrie Academy provided us with school dinners. This was a blessing for many families, especially throughout the Second World War. School dinners were much appreciated by pupils. I remember the aptly named school cook, Mrs Burns and her kitchen staff to this day. They charged around one shilling for a two-course lunch. In modern day money this is equivalent to around five pence! You would not get much for that nowadays at all, not even in a fast-food restaurant.

 

Although I was at school during the World War Two, I don’t remember it having a massive impact on our time at school. In my senior years we had to take a turn of ‘fire watch duty’ in the gents’ staffroom. This was in the latter years of the war so not much to report. In all honesty it was boring. I do remember playing table tennis for half the night.

 

Another major consequence of being at school during the war years was that we couldn’t go on many school trips or holidays. There were tales of previous students visiting foreign countries, going on hiking expeditions and cruises. WW2 put an end to anything like that. One freezing cold October week, we were taken up to a farm to partake in ‘tattie howking’. This was back breaking, dirty work and I am sure we stayed in a school building in Pittenweem. We were taken out in lorries to the tattie fields. It was very cold. Not the best way to spend a holiday!

 

A great interest for me at school was football. I played football for Clarkston primary school team. My position was outside right. I remember our very first game. My dad said he would give me two shillings for every goal I scored. By the end of the match, I had earned six shillings- that was a lot of money at the time! I was on to a good thing! Our team won the Airdrie Primary Schools Cup and I remember the team paraded with it from Broomfield up to Clarkston. There were no medals for the players, just a propelling pencil but we were delighted to have won! At Airdrie Academy I continued to play.

 

It is strange that I have forgotten so many of the boys and girls in my year group. Two of my best pals were Joe Reid and Ian McCracken. All three of us played together in the school football team for many years. I continued to play football at university and throughout my twenties.

 

My other great interest was Athletics. I was school sports champion for two years. To be honest, in the first year the prize should have gone to Joe who could always beat me in the sprints. Unfortunately, Joe got a football injury just before sports day so was slowed down quite a bit!I was the only one of our group to stay on to sixth year. I did keep in regular touch with Ian for years after that. I unfortunately lost touch with Joe after school.

 

In my final year at Airdrie Academy, I was delighted to be awarded the ‘Senior Champion’ medal and wooden shield. I have a picture with it when I was seventeen.