Max Scard - Growing up in Hull
Childhood Games, the Cinema and Gas Mask Training
By Bridget Conneally
Young Max with his sister
Photo from WRVS Heritage Plus Archive
Max during his RAF training
Photo from WRVS Heritage Plus Archive
Max and a friend whilst stationed in Libya
Photo from WRVS Heritage Plus Archive
Born in 1935, Max Scard spent the first 17½ years of his life in Hull. His early years were spent playing marbles in the gutter, searching for shrapnel, jumping off the Anderson shelter with an umbrella for a parachute shouting “Geronimo!” and doing science experiments in the shed they called ‘The Den’. Of course, there was also Southcoates Lane School, where Max joined in the hymn singing with gusto.
Apprenticeship and Cinema
Like many of his extended family, at 15, Max joined large local firm, Priestman Brothers, which made cranes and excavators. From Monday to Friday he was an apprentice Fitter and Turner, but on Saturday mornings he was at the cinema with his mates.
In the first sound clip (see above) Max describes the Saturday morning entertainment, explaining that there were two ways to pay the cinema admission charge...
RAF Training
At 17½, Max joined the RAF Regiment and trained as a Gunner. This included 16 weeks being put through his paces in Dumfries and learning to care for his kit. In the second sound clip Max talks about the challenges of gas warfare training.
You can hear Max talk more about his experiences in the RAF here.