Written While I Can Still Remember .

A Memory of Calmore.

My name is Bernard Hagon I was born 1933 in city Road maternity home which had a direct hit during the war everybody killed . My parents had the British Empire in Barking Road Plaistow a Taylor Walker’s house just down past the abbey arms I come from a long line of publicans my grandmother and grandfather owned the Albert house pub in Stratford near Moerland point. My early memories of Barking Road was the squeaking trams as they lowered the wooden block brakes onto the wheels to stop. The British Empire had four bars, we only sold beer and wine. The pub was unique in as match we opened at 4 o’clock in the morning to cater for the stevedores and duckies going to work early in the morning. The bar floors were just sawdust to soak up the beer that was spilt, my father would squeegee the beer out of the doors into the street when we closed.
Saturday nights were bedlam for me as a child the noise was tremendous five bars full of people with a piano in each bar some of them pianolas where you put a penny in everyone playing at once the noise was tremendous. Opposite the British Empire was a synagogue. The war came my father joined up and went to Burma to fight the Japanese. I was an evacuee and went to stay on Lord Cowdrey estate in the country. In 1940 while I was there I was told my mother was in hospital as the pub had a direct hit 35 people killed, my mother and the barmaid were the only two survivors. My grandfather brought me back from the country to Bermondsey while he was negotiating to rent a property at Thornwood by North Weald airfield Epping. In the evenings we would go down to the underground in Bermondsey and sleep on the platform where my grandfather had bunkbeds there were hundreds of people down there. I can remember a very good atmosphere somebody would be playing a piano accordion and everybody singing. And then the singing would stop as you could hear the “ Wolf “ Wolf “ of the explosions about us and all the dust coming from the tiles in the ceiling falling all about us. Which soon cleared because of the draft coming through the tunnels. We moved to Thornwood a little house about 400 years old situated in the forest at the end of one of the runways of North Weald airfield. The German fighter planes would sweep down to machine-gun the hurricanes and spitfires on the airfield as they lifted guns still firing would sometimes shoot the tiles of our roof. My mother and father and I survive the war I could tell you quite a lot more but it would take up a lot of room. I went to sea as a young man. I owned five public houses 2 employment exchanges and a wine bar in Islington. I was made an honorary member of the Russian Armed Forces pin on me in the Kremlin by the supreme commander of the Russian army the most decorated Russian general ever who with stood the attack on Moscow and Stalingrad.” Long story “
I have was butler to 2 kings and queens of Malaysia. A few loads and ladies and presidents of different countries. But all this is being put into my autobiography which I am now writing. Thank you for reading this I hope you didn’t find it boring
It’s been a good life I am now 86 living a quiet life on the Norfolk Broads God bless you all . Bernard Hagon.


Thank you for your wonderful memories, Bernard, we would love to hear more - Editor.

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