Sorted Issue 41 Jul_Aug 14 v3_Layout 1 04/06/2014 12:05 Page 58
ROGER MOORE
The Saint Gets Sorted Duncan Williams went to Launceston College as a boy, the same school as his Bond film hero Sir Roger Moore. Duncan admits to being a lifelong 007 film fanatic, so was delighted when Cornish based biographer Frank Worrall invited him to meet the man who played Bond more times than any other actor.
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he children huddled together to keep warm in the cold carriages, anxious and frightened as they waited for the train to finally pull out of London, taking them on a journey into the dark unknown. The evacuees had tearfully waved their goodbyes to parents standing helplessly on the platform and now they sat back in their seats, most rigid with fear at the prospect of what awaited them when they finally disembarked at their journey’s end. Many, the girls in particular, were too scared and too upset to even talk to each other. The boys were frightened too, but they eased the pain by conjuring up images of exciting adventures and clandestine encounters. In their minds, they weren’t simply being evacuated to the coast to avoid the German bombs that would rain down on the English capital. No, they were spies on special assignments. On their way to save their country and their families from disaster as World War Two prepared to tighten its destructive hold on mankind.
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“I’D HAVE LOVED TO HAVE PLAYED LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, AND I’D HAVE LOVED TO HAVE BEEN AS TALENTED AS PETER O’TOOLE.” For one boy especially, the evacuations – with the train windows blacked out and service personnel on board – would come to play a pivotal role in his life. Young Roger Moore, from Stockwell in South London, had always been a boy with a vivid imagination. A boy who would see adventure, intrigue and wonder around every corner. He was intelligent, articulate and despite his relatively poor background, often impressed his teachers with his stories. He wanted to do something with his life. It was his imagination and vivid mind that would hold the key to Roger’s dreams. f