Re: T.S. Arethusa -- TS2000

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Date Posted: 20:50:46 08/11/07 Sat
Author: Roger Sacks (Happy Chappy)
Subject: Re: T.S. Arethusa
In reply to: Douglas Jack 's message, "T.S. Arethusa" on 14:58:43 01/04/01 Thu

Hi,

My name is Roger Sacks (D.O.B. 29/02/1948)

STUDENT/CREW NUMBER: 138

MESS NO: 20

DIVISION: TOP PORT

YEAR ON ARETHUSA: C.1962 APRIL TO JULY 1962

Made a lot of friends onboard. Some excellant teachers and some really nasty vindictive teachers.

Dutch Captain - and his family who lived onboard on Poop Deck were really lovely people. I think that his name may have been something like Capt. LeMare? He had a really nice daughter Petra. I wish that I could remember his wife�s name.

Nautical Studies Master: Mr. Fuller - really nice man, a real friendly father to us all.

First Officer: really nasty cup of tea, very vindictive, evil and sadistic.

Physical Training Instructor: really evil man, very vindictive - with the First Officer they both physically abused a lot of the boys making our lives a total misery. The Physical Training Officer got me to jump completely naked off of the 3m diving board in front of all of our year Line and Martin classes (1962) in the swimming pool as punishment because I had just returned from seeing a specialist at a local hospital and did not have my swimming trunks when returning to the Sick Bay to report that I was back onboard. I had gone to Rochester Hospital accompanied by Petra (the Captain's daughter). My reason for needing hospital treatment was because I had injured my flat feet due to not being allowed to wear anything on our feet for the first 6 weeks whilst we were onboard - (just in case we tried to escape). I was punished because of a quierk of nature. I, along with numerous other boys had witnessed these two evil men beating a naked boy with long canes whilst the boy, (who was in Martin Class) was tied to the Gymnasium's Horse to restrain him. The young lad's punishment was because he was presumably Dyslexic and couldn't understand something. The young lad was bigger than us and we could only presume that they enjoyed taking it out on him. Also we all knew that most of the remaining teachers onboard during their time there were actually frightened of these two men.

Maths Teacher: he was small, liked to use the cane and make all our lives a misery.

Best place to spend my spare time: High up on the 2nd Crows Nest falling asleep whilst reading a book. This happened to me on one occasion and I nearly missed the Maths Lesson. I'm glad I woke up on time and didn't fall off the 2nd Crows Nest as if I had survived the fall, I would have been near beaten to death first by the Maths Teacher and then by the First Officer and Physical Training Instructor.

Best Teacher: MR FULLER (Nautical Studies). He also ran the NIGHT BOATS CREW - which I was a member of because of the kindness of both the Captain and Mr. Fuller.

I left after a failed attempt to escape enmass one night preceeding the summer holidays. I had planned a Great Escape, whereby we were going to try and walk home during the night and hiding during the day. Just after I left at the end of the summer term, two of my local friends Tony and Michael Richman who lived nearby to me in Ramsgate, (Thanet), Kent escaped during the 1963/64 year. They achieved what seemed impossible a GREAT ESCAPE- (EN MASS) due to the constant beatings on board.

Well, I hope that after we made it known about the beatings and the constant bullying by certain members of staff, you at least had a better experience than the majority of us who preceeded you on the Arethusa. Lovely ship, nice Captain, majority of lads were really nice as were the teaching staff and medical staff, but in particular these two/three adult teachers to include the FIRST OFFICER, PT Instructor and Maths Teacher were very nasty vindictive people.

Sorry if I've bored or upset you in any way, but none of us deserved being treated so inhumanely and abusively.

Yours sincerely

Roger Ian Sacks (138) Top Port c.1962 TS Arethusa (Peking)

1 Convent Walk, Pegwell, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 0JR.

Telephone: 01843 852786 / Mobile Phone: 07886 036041 /

Email: roger_sacks@hotmail.com

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