OA LETTERS
OA Bulletin june 2011
40
and the huge 3.7-inch Heavy Antiaircraft Gun (‘heavy ack-ack’). The Swedish Bofors gun was used against low-flying aircraft CCF School Shooting Team These recollections are mainly from Bert 4 who was the only one of us who was good enough to be in the School Shooting team. But I believe all the Berts were awarded their Marksman badges. Bert 4’s introduction to shooting began with his godfather, who let him roam his farm in North Wales unsupervised with a .22 rifle on his own when he was eleven. He stalked rabbits but could never hit any. He says that he was lucky not to shoot himself or anyone else, being a clumsy lad for his age – he remembers once catching the bolt in his jacket (the weapon being loaded at the time!). Health and Safety crime, or neglect of a minor, or both? But then, the breakthrough – at 14 years of age joining the CCF and being taught to shoot by LG Walker (Geography Master and ex Major). Bert 4 must have been one of his favourites (or “toadies” as they were called) because L G Walker organised what was apparently a school shooting competition which Bert 4 won plus The Open Shooting Cup! This was in the Fourth Form and, later on in the school, Bert 4 came to realise that none of the really good shots had, or were, entered for it. To put this into some sort of context, he scored 94 out of a possible 100 which was good enough
on the day to win this competition, but later in the school other boys were shooting 100s on a regular basis but Bert 4 never scored the perfect 100, only 99s. (Still better than all the other Berts! – Ed.) We used the 25-yard indoor range in the orchard. We lay on sloping platforms with rubber pads buckled to our elbows with a webbing sling to steady the left arm and, peering through the Parker Hale aperture sight, took up the first pressure on the trigger, as instructed. Squeezing the second pressure produced a satisfactory ‘crack’, but a hollow ‘pop’ if you were unlucky, meaning that you had attempted to fire one of the faulty rounds from L G Walker’s purchase of a cheap job lot of seconds or rejects from somewhere. L G Walker would be spotting with a telescope and calling the shots – bull – inner – outer, if you were good, but 8, 7, 6, 5 ring if you were not so good. Then the excitement of walking up to retrieve your NSRA (National Small Bore Rifle Association) card, always hoping there would be virtually one hole in it right in the bull made by your ten rounds. But usually the results were like buckshot, with the occasional stray near the edge caused by a rogue (never your fault!) The school used to have postal competitions with other schools and Bert 4 was supposed to be the Secretary but in fact L G Walker did most of the work. However, during Bert 4’s architectural training he studied with someone from Bradfield