Today, army children are generally either driven, transported by hovercraft, catamaran or ferry or flown to their new or current home (and most regard 'home' as being wherever it is that their parents are living rather than a specific house, village, town or even country), yet it was very different centuries ago. When on land, families once limped behind their soldier fathers on foot, be it straggling at the end of a column of military men on the campaign trail or as part of the baggage train. But if exposure to the elements, hunger and the myriad dangers of life on the road, and sometimes in hostile territory, was testimony to the tough life of many an army child during the early nineteenth century, worse fates frequently awaited them aboard troopships bearing them to such far-flung destinations as India. Indeed, if they weren't shipwrecked or killed by an infectious disease spread by the cramped, unsanitary conditions below deck, scurvy and other conditions caused by malnutrition or poor hygiene would put their health in great jeopardy. In short, if sea sickness was all that they suffered during the months that they spent onboard, then they were lucky.
Women and children being given free warm clothing aboard a troopship (an illustration published in The Graphic of 3 August 1889). And these were the fortunate ones, the ones who were privileged to be 'children of the regiment' rather than those 'off the strength', whose abandoned mothers literally had to fend for themselves and their brood when their husbands and fathers were redeployed.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the introduction of railways began to make being on the move safer and considerably more comfortable. And by the 1970s, the British Army was even chartering aeroplanes, so-called 'lollipop specials', to fly boarding-school-based army children from Britain 'home', to their families' married quarters in Germany, for the holidays.
PICTURE: 'PERFECT LITTLE DEVILS'
This illustration appeared in The Graphic newspaper on 29 October 1887. It is captioned 'Children's tug of war on a homeward-bound troopship, boys versus girls'.
Commenting on the behaviour of army children travelling aboard the steamer Ottawa from Bombay (now Mumbai), India, to England in 1858, a certain Major Bayley observed: '. . . heaven forbid that I should ever again find myself on board ship in company with children brought up in India. They were perfect little devils; and for the first day or two we had a fine time of it, as many of the passengers were cripples and unable to move after them . . .' (Bt-Maj J A Bayley, Reminiscences of School and Army Life, 1839-1859, London, 1875, quoted in Richard Holmes, Sahib: The British Soldier in India, 1750-1914, HarperCollins Publishers, London, 2005, p.98).
PERSONAL STORY: FROM BRITAIN TO GERMANY, VIA KENYA
This army child's story begins when she was around two years old:
'Father joined the army [the Royal Artillery] after his war service and was posted to Korea in early 1952. At that time, we all lived in Portsmouth, mother's home town, and my brother was born there in 1952. From Korea, without coming home, my father was posted to Hong Kong and Malaya and returned home in 1955. We left Portsmouth to be posted to Mile End Camp, Oswestry, where my youngest sister was born. From there, we all went to Kimnel Camp, Rhyl, and then to private hirings in Market Lavington, near Devizes, while my father's regiment was at Netheravon. In 1961, he joined 3 RHA [Royal Horse Artillery], having heard that they were going to Malaya, but they were posted to Kenya instead.
We sailed in the troopship Nevasa, calling at Gibraltar, Aden and Mombasa. The RAF were aboard as well, and they went on to Colombo and Singapore. On board, we all lived according to the mess system i.e., officers, first class; senior ranks, second; and junior ranks, third class. Certainly, in third class, the married men did not share cabins with their families, but had to sleep in barracks, being allowed out to rejoin their families during the day and for the evening's entertainment. We were not allowed ashore at Port Said because of the situation in the Middle East, but it was fun going to Gib and Aden. The children had to attend 'school' on board, which was not so much fun and pretty pointless as the secondary-age children were all lumped together and given 'lessons' to occupy our time rather than to teach us anything new.
Upon reaching Mombasa, we travelled by train (overnight and hot) to Gilgil, about 50 miles from Nairobi. Because I was of secondary age, I had to board, either in Kenya or the UK. My first school, Nakuru Girls High, wasn't bad once I got used to it, but closed down and we then had to go to The Highlands, Eldoret, where I did not have a happy time. The highlight of terms there was the sight of the army bus coming to take us back to Gilgil.
We spent three years in Kenya, coming back after independence, and after a short time in the UK, where I took my exams, we were posted to Detmold, in Germany. I took a job as a nanny, having few qualifications (i.e., no German and no typing skills), but was able to go with my surrogate family to the USA. During that time, my father left the army.'
Margaret Cleeve (b.1948).
LINK
The following link relating to the transportation of army children may be of interest.
- To browse through an informative picture gallery of troopships, visit: http://www.britisharmedforces.org/pages/nat_troopships.htm
TACA TRAVEL ALBUM: BY SEA
