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King's African Rifles and East Africa Forces Officers' Dinner Clib, List of Members 1974

Reference: L/D/67/E2/14

Date: 1 January 1974 - 31 December 1974

Publications

Reference: L/D/67/J

Personal View of Gordon Young, feature writer for the Jersey Evening Post, interviewed by Geraldine des Forges. Was born and bred in Warwickshire in 1933 and got into a choir school at a cathedral. Went on to public school with a bursary-found it difficult because he wasn't allowed to talk to girls. He was thrown out of the school for talking to a girl on the street. Used to get into trouble at school-didn't enjoy academic work but enjoyed sport. There was no freedom in the school so he rebelled. He spent a lot of time singing at school. He played rugby and football and other sports. When he came to Jersey he joined the Jersey Rugby Football Club. He was 6 when the second world war broke out-remembers going through the Birmingham and Coventry blitz. He remembered enjoying the war-going into the woods and finding fragments of bullets-for him it was an adventure whilst his parents were terrified. In those days you were what your parents wanted you to be-they wanted to be a doctor. He started medical school at Birmingham University but gave it up after a year-didn't enjoy studying. He enjoyed the army and had a wonderful time for 5 years. First Record-Ella and Louis with A Foggy Day. Initially when he joined the army he applied to go in to the Gordon Highlanders but he was put in the Black Watch and was sent to Fort George-he liked the army discipline. He was picked out as an officer-went to train as an officer at Eaton Hall. He applied to join the Gurkhas but he was seconded to the King's African Rifles. He loved Africa-all his soldiers were Africans-they were wonderful. Then got sent out to Malaya. It was a tough life but for a bachelor the army was good because you could see the world. The companies he joined had great traditions-he liked the discipline because you knew what you could and couldn't do. He doesn't think national service should be brought back although it is a good experience. He never played the bagpipes as a member of the Black Watch. After he left the army he came to Jersey-he met a girl in England who was coming to Jersey and he followed her over and they got married at Trinity Church. There was very little work in Jersey at the time-he worked in a market garden which got into trouble because of a poor winter. He found another job at the hospital on the Observation Ward where he worked for a couple of years. At that point he heard of a building surveyors job which he got-he loved it and spent 27 years in the business-dealt with the Island Development Committee. Has never regretted not becoming a doctor. Second Record-Kai Winding. Surveying took a lot of training but he learnt by experience. You were never stuck in an office-he surveryed the whole of the Jersey Airport which took about 3 months and St Helier Harbour. Saw the poverty in St Helier-a lot of houses were in awful conditions and had people living inside of them. The buildings in the island have improved but there are still some appalling buildings. Loved the Noel and Porter Building but the British Home Stores building replaced it getting rid of all the beauty-King Street has lost some of its character. Loves buildings with Jersey granite-architects are now doing a good job. Hue Street was a beautiful street and he is glad it is finally being renovated. Loves railways-his father was a transport manager for a steel company. As a child he used to travel a great deal on the railways. Received a clockwork train set as a child and then as an adult bought a model railway and has been building it ever since. Third Record-Jersey Bounce. George Marshman, a cameraman from Channel Television, asked him if he wanted to be on television. He went for an interview with Ward Rutherford and he got the job-for 13 years he did freelance work for Channel Television and worked on every programme they produced. The broadcasts were all live so people saw your mistakes. He then worked for the Jersey Talking Magazine for the blind with Philip Gurdon which he really enjoyed and then Radio Lions with Alastair Layzell. For Radio Lions he did a minimum of five interviews in half an hour and everyone was very good. He thinks it's one of the best things that people can do for the hospital and broadcasters could gain experience from the job. He was keen to try something new and decided to move into journalism full time. His wife worked at the Jersey Evening Post and she told him that the 'Under the Clock' column needed a new author and he went for an interview with Mike Rumfitt and got the job. Loves writing and working at the Jersey Evening Post. He likes to comment on things that people are interested in. He thrives on deadlines and meeting people. He has written a book on rugby for the Jersey Rugby Club-they researched a great deal through the newspaper and it took 10 years to write. It's hard to write a book because it takes such a long time-he needed to take a break from writing but it has now been published. He'd like to write fictional books. He also enjoys painting and reading-he now writes art and book reviews for the newspaper. Fourth Record-Frank Sinatra with New York, New York. Enjoys family life-has had two sons and a daughter who have left the island. His eldest son works at the Jersey General Hospital but is going back to England, his second son works with computers and his daughter is a journalist. He has two grandchildren-Amy and Joshua. Started playing music 2 years ago-took up the trombone and has joined the Jersey Big Band where he plays the bass trombone. Fifth Record-Kid Ory with Oh Didn't he Ramble?.

Reference: R/07/B/19

Date: 20 December 1992

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