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The staff on ‘C wing’ took great trouble to point out the windows at the end of the wing which George Blake had escaped through; it was not just related as a historical fact but more as a kind of honour that it had happened on their wing.
The other event was one of the band of the Rolling Stones was convicted of drug offences and sentenced to prison. Keith Richards came to the Scrubs. The Governor personally arranged for him to by-pass reception procedures and for him to be located immediately in the prison hospital where his reception would take place and he would be under the direct care of the Senior Medical Officer. I was puzzled so asked why the exception. The Governor replied. ‘Do you realize how many of the staff here have teenage daughters who will all be pressing their father to obtain a lock of his hair; he would end up bald. He also has an appeal pending, and rumour had it that he was likely to be successful. I do not want him leaving here and facing the media like a scalped Indian!’
I had arranged to go to Covent Garden with a friend to see an evening performance of The Bartered Bride by Smetana, so I left the prison early for once. I usually left my digs early and was only back mid-evening. When I entered my room to get cleaned up and ready, I sensed there appeared to be more luggage there than when I had left. Pondering this I noticed the bedclothes move then discovered a man was sleeping in my room and in my bed! By now he was awake and asked what I was doing here and was that my luggage. I advised him I had been already occupying the room for a fortnight, and what was he doing there. He said he worked nights and had hired a room to sleep during the day. Management was summoned; they offered no explanation but said they would find the other gentleman a different room immediately and would I care to have a cup of coffee in the lounge whilst arrangements were made, and the room cleaned, and the bed changed. Whether this had happened prior and the room tidied before I returned, I do not know. At least 50% was knocked off my bill!
At this at stage I was still naïve as to how the bureaucracy of the Prison Department operated so when the deputy governor approached me one day and said I had been selected for a new experimental course at the staff college to be run by psychologists, I said I am busy here, so I do not wish to go. He responded; you have to go you have been selected. So I went. The introduction made it clear that there were no rules, we had to decide on the task as a group and come up with solutions, the psychologist was available to monitor progress but not to offer any further advice. Well, the group went round in circles. There was another member of the course who was also a rugby fan; I said to him, there is rugby international on TV tomorrow afternoon why don’t we disappear to a pub and watch. We can always claim we were endeavoring to come to the task set from a fresh angle. John and I spent a pleasant afternoon over a couple of pints and some good rugby. Nobody seemed to miss us and nothing was ever raised about our absence. John eventually immigrated to Canada and became quite senior in the Canadian Prison Service. Having survived the above course and gained little, at least we protected other colleagues as the course never saw the light of day again.
Within a few months of the above, I took a phone call from Colonel Jim (as he was known to everybody) at Head Office. “You went to University Bob”, “yes, we are arranging to send some governor grades back to University to undertake the postgraduate diploma in Social Studies.” “So get on to your old university and book a place for the coming year. Let me know how you get on, as we want to fill our quota!” so I applied to The London School of Economics and they arranged an interview. They gave me a place straight away. On the way out I noticed a colleague loitering there as if pondering his future. I greeted him, “ah Bob he said have you got a minute?” The gist of the matter was he had acquired a place at his previous University, Southampton but really wanted to go to the LSE, but had been told the last
place on the course had been allocated to me. Though there are many attractions to London it is also very expensive, and I had already experienced 3 years at the LSE and thought a new experience would be good, so I suggested we each get in touch with both universities and state that we want to swap places. Surprisingly, both were most cooperative, and so that is what happened. The only bit of the Jigsaw I did not know about was that in my case there was an added ulterior motive by the powers that be in Head Office. The Education Officer at Styal women’s prison near Manchester had requested and been granted a year’s sabbatical to undertake further study. So they required a temporary substitute and had earmarked Jane for the post as the new Head at Dover was now well bedded in. So my relationship with Jane which had developed into a prospective more formal situation was put on hold. She was provided with accommodation at Styal in the quarters there which were flats. The Governor there was Miss McWilliam, ex-army and a stickler for discipline, and was strict on no males being anywhere near the quarters; so on any visits, I made to Styal had to be secretive and I had to be smuggled in. This was by the fact that Kate, the only female on my initial course was also now on the staff there. Jane got to know her, and we became family friends. So in late September 1968, I departed to Southampton, where I had arranged bed and breakfast accommodation at 5 pounds a week with a Probation Officer, which much less than I would be paying in London.
In 1967 the LCC Staff Association announced it was hiring a charter flight to the USA and Leonard advised me as he knew I was in correspondence with a young lady there. So we signed up to take advantage of an organized flight. The problems then occurred. First the Hasbrouck’s’ got in touch to say that their daughter had eloped with some fellow to Columbia and would not communicate with them, but we should still come and stay with them. There was then a financial crisis due to a ‘speculative run-on gold’, which resulted in any traveler from England to America could only take £50 in cash. I had discovered you could buy tickets for the ‘Greyhound buses’ which traversed the whole of the USA, so I bought two books of vouchers in advance. I had also kept in touch with another female colleague from university days and had married and gone to live in the suburbs of Chicago, so I had written in advance to see if we could meet up while over there. The trip we had booked included two nights in a hotel in New York and two nights at the end of the three weeks. We set off on Monday 2nd September by driving to relatives in Kenley in Surrey and left the car there and the daughter drove us to the airport. The plane had ‘stopover’ in Canada, probably for refueling, but was of little use to us as all you could see were fir trees which surrounded the whole of the airport. We eventually arrived in New York at 10 pm that evening. We did all the tourist things in New York, including the Empire State Building and a couple of museums. We also had instructions from Jane’s brother’s wife (an American) to visit her brother. We did after mastering the complexity of the New York subway system, but he was not very interested and did not even invite us in. However, we had another address to visit and he was most hospitable, and we spent an afternoon there chatting and drinking. He had been in England during the war so was very pro-British. He had also on return been a New York policeman for many years and took great trouble to show us all his guns.
We then went to Washington and it was so beautiful, and calm compared to New York. We took in the Lincoln Memorial, which is a place of tranquility, a tour of the White House, and Capitol Hill. It was now time to get a Greyhound to Wethersfield, Connecticut and meet up with the Hasbrouck parents. They could not have been more welcoming, and we spent a wonderful three days with them catching up on all the news such as it was. I remember the breakfasts in particular, when a plate of pancakes, 20 high would appear along with Maple Syrup and honey’s, just for us. My postcard home to mum said they had fed us like lords! We also made a trip to Boston, famous for its tea party battle which was in protest to the British Tea Act, when the tea ships were all boarded and the tea thrown in the sea. As further reprisals ensued from the British Government it led untimely to the War of Independence. It still is a large seaport and fishing area, and a very pleasant place to visit. Autumn appears to arrive early in Connecticut and all the trees were turning red, yellow and gold, it was very beautiful. It was time for us to move on and meet up with Donna & Manley (Rip) Olsby in Greeley, Colorado. How arrangements were made I do not recall, but we were driven to the bus station and caught our Greyhound Bus. We had several destinations, Buffalo, to stop off and see the Niagara Falls, Chicago for Fort Wayne to see my friends and then Denver in Colorado.
On one stage, I wanted the night bus so we could save on hotel costs. That caused an argument with the booking clerk, as I wanted the night bus I think to Chicago. He said it was full, but we could still catch a daytime one. I replied that the terms and conditions said if a coach was full you had to put on an extra one. In the end, I won, and there were probably 6 of us on it. The relief driver was not pleased with the situation as at every rest stop, instead of letting us stay on the bus and snooze, he ordered everyone off and locked the bus. The USA is huge and once out of any city the roads are dead straight for miles, with fields of crops or cattle grazing mile after mile. So the journey got pretty tedious, and the only interesting diversion was whenever the coach stopped to pick up some Amish travelers. The Amish were from a traditional Church fellowship with Swiss German Anabaptist origins and some had settled in the mid states. They were known for their simple living, plain dressing and reluctance to adapt to using the convenience of modern technology. They would never own a car, so used the Greyhound buses as their means of transport.
We had really enjoyed our visit to the Niagara Falls and on the USA side had descended to the lower level so that we were looking up at the cascading water and getting wet from mist thrown up by the crashing water. We then decided we should also view it from the Canadian side, so preceded to the bridge connecting the two sides, only to find we had to pay the equivalent of a £1 each to enter Canada, whilst the Americans went free. I thought that was a cheek as Canada was a British colony, and it was another drain on our tight budget. The Canadian side gives a very different perspective, especially the real power of the water crashing down the falls. We had a brief spell in Chicago but were not overly impressed as it was all high-rise buildings and bustling traffic.
We eventually reached Denver, a pleasant town, and were met by Donna and taken for a meal and then to their home. They later took us on a car trip into the San Juan Mountains, which were beautiful with a variety of plant life and wild animals. We also made a trip to a preserved Indian Reservation north of Denver. Our stay with Donna was pleasant and friendly and I encouraged her to make contact with her parents, which she claimed she would. We then had the long journey back to New York which is a complete blank in my head! On arrival back at our hotel, we discovered there was a delay to our flight back to England due to our aircraft having developed an engine problem. As the hotel did not serve food, we had to dip into our last cash to eat and contact home about the delay.
Before I left Dover, the Deputy Governor had passed the next Promotion Board and was waiting for a posting. All governor grades now attended the Governors’ morning meeting at which, along with other matters, he dealt with incoming mail. Every time there was an official letter from the Department, the Governor would turn towards Bernard and with a light smile would observe, ‘I wonder if this could be, you’re posting’, Bernard would sit up in anticipation. This went on for at least four weeks before the awaited letter came posting Bernard to Send Detention Centre. When he took up the post, his quarter was not immediately available, so he resided in the bachelor quarters, which were close to the parade square. Each morning all the lads had to assemble on the parade square where a formal roll check was taken. The Principal Officer in a loud voice called them to order, as there was always a hubbub of loud chatter. Bernard must have had a quiet word with the Orderly Officer, for the next morning he heard no significant noise. He rushed to get dressed in a panic fearing all the lads had escaped. He discovered that the parade had been moved to the far side of the Parade ground and everything was being done in almost whispers. Not the normal tone for a Detention Centre.
I enjoyed my year at Southampton. It was much more relaxed and spacious than the premises at LSE. In addition to the theoretical component and tutorials, there were two long attachments of about 5 months each. My first was to a young offender psychiatric residential centre run by a renowned Psychiatrist. I attended all therapeutic sessions but also had an outreach role to support those who had been discharged. To facilitate that I was allocated a Morris Minor Traveler, which from memory I believe you had to change lights by foot as well as the clutch which I never got used to. I always then had to drive back to the Unit and park it, and drive to my digs in my car. None that I supervised had to be recalled during my time with them, which was very satisfying. One patient at the centre had become too difficult for them to handle due to his disruptive and violent behaviour; so he had to be sent to a closed adult
unit. I was asked to accompany him on the transfer. The contrast was vast, he was bundled out of the car, and virtually frog-marched to his accommodation with hardly a word of welcome or any kind support offered by his new ‘carers’. I was quite shocked.
The other attachment was to Southampton Probation Service, which was a well-run, caring and efficient service at that time. The Probation Officer I was shadowing had a car crash a week after I arrived and remained off duty sick throughout. I was told to take over his caseload and ask questions if stuck. I had not realized how many different aspects there were to a probation officer’s work, but I faced all of them whilst there including court work. One morning in magistrate’s court I was there in support of the Home Circumstance’s Report I had written. The defence solicitor asked me to state my name, which I had already done earlier when I first entered the witness box. So I just said Mr. Duncan, he responded in a sarcastic tone, I do not believe you are the only Mr. Duncan in England, Full names! so I replied I agree I am probably not, but I am the only one standing here with the report in my hand that you wish to ask questions about. The Magistrate had a small smile on his face but asked if I would indulge the solicitor by repeating my full name.
Courts are funny places at times; one morning there was a young American in the dock for allegedly stealing a rowing boat in the docks. His defence was that he had no money, and the embassy was being no help, so he took the rowboat to get to the larger ships to see if any of them would offer to get me back to the USA. I did not actually steal it; it is still there; I just borrowed it. The Magistrates pondered over all this, and in conclusion, said they found him guilty as charged but would only fine him £50. But that is the whole issue he said, I cannot get home, have no money, now I have to pay you £50, where am I going to get that. Magistrate said, “well, ask if the court poor box has enough in it to pay your fine!”
Renault cars were imported through Southampton and there was a large dock area where they were held prior to onward transport. The low wooden fence was broken in places, and all the cars had the keys left in them. Two young boys (11& 12) when bored one day, walked in through the broken fence and discovered it was easy to get into the cars and to even start the engines although their legs barely reached the pedals. So they simply played dodgem cars and crashed several into each other, causing thousands of pounds of damage. The court put them on Probation, under my supervision. When I made my first home visit after the sentence, I met the father for the first time. He was a large man and towered over me, he also worked in the Docks. We chattered for a bit, and then he suddenly said, those two need some discipline. I agreed, asked what he had in mind, ‘me’ he said, ‘I cannot do it, I thought that was your role.’ I was a bit taken aback, but we talked it through and made tentative plans. In the period I was with the Probation Service they did not offend again.
The Probation office had arranged to take 20 young offenders on probation for whom they felt it appropriate, 10 of each sex, on a week’s residential experience in an isolated Accommodation Centre that catered for such events. It was cited in an isolated sunken field somewhere in Devon. I had agreed that I would be happy to be one of the four Probation Officers overseeing the event. What I did not know until the day of the departure was the officer off sick was one who would be driving the hired minibus. One of the others suddenly said ‘it looks like they are all going to turn up; Bob you had better go and collect the minibus.’ I was a bit nonplussed but suddenly realized the whole trip depended on me. There appear ed to be no rules or regulation about driving a minibus or non-I was aware of, so just got on with it. I was anxious about the responsibility but once we were out of the city traffic after a few miles you seem to drop into a rhythm and adjust to the extra size of the vehicle. Anyway, we arrived safely and ensured all the provisions and other equipment was ferried to the living quarters before it got dark.
The accommodation was 2 large dormitories and two smaller ones with two bathrooms in between so that the leaders could form a buffer between the sexes. The noise level amongst the youngsters at bedtime went on and on: we determined to tire them out the next day. As we were in the middle of nowhere there was a need to make a trip into town for essential provisions such as milk and bread. On the first two days, the two female officers undertook this, whilst we organized a long walk or organized games. It was then suggested that the men should go to town to give a break. When we returned to
camp there was an eerie atmosphere; we found the youngsters milling about outside but giving us a strange look. We carried the fresh provisions in and found our female companions closeted in their room. Apparently, the youngsters had ‘gone wild’ and would not heed anything the ladies told them. They said it was really like a scene out of William Golding’s classic novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ where a well-behaved party of schoolboys behaviour turns more primitive and almost like murderous savages.
We ensured that supervision was more pro-active from then on. Also, we knew that they all wanted to go to the funfair at a nearby seaside resort, and made it clear that was at risk if such behaviour repeated itself. However, it was an insightful lesson into how they might behave when unsupervised and very different from the more obedient and respectful image displayed at interviews in a probation office.
During my period at Southampton, other matters had not stood still, and Jane and I had agreed we would get married over the weekend when I finished the course. It was traditional to serve at two establishments prior to being considered for promotion. Having had a year’s break from Dover (much as I loved being there), and the fact that there was a new governor, Frank who was a bit eccentric and thought that all the lads should play table tennis.; it was time to be in touch with the Personnel Officer re a posting: I advised him of the crucial dates and that I needed to know in advance as we needed to make plans. Waddilove was a rather insipid man with a handshake like a wet lettuce, so I knew I would have to badger him. So in the last 3 months at Southampton I phoned frequently only to be told it each time, it was in hand. The decision to move on having been made, looking back at my time at Dover, both Governors had treated me as an almost equal and confided in me on many matters. I kept in touch with the colleague who was also posted to Dover as we proceeded on our careers. About 15-17 years later he asked if he could tell me something, he said, ‘I doubt that you know how much I resented you as you were always both Governors’ favourite, there, he said I have got that off my chest, and feel better for it.’ We did, however, remain friends. I had been treated so well by both Governors that I had learned a lot that I could use in my career later.
BOB DUNCAN
PART TEN of BOB’s MEMOIRS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN ISSUE No 93, AUTUMN 2025
Autobiography.
