Awesome story and one of the reasons I love triumphs. I have six and I may have
a problem. ð???
Jim Henningsen
Ocala FL
61 3A
67 4A
67 250 CD2L
75 TR6 (2)
81 TR8 fourth to last built
> On Dec 23, 2023, at 10:15â?¯AM, John Macartney <johnbmacartney@gmx.com> wrote:
>
> Jim, very many thanks for your kind words. The Sir John Black policy of
> recruiting vets affected all services, not just the RAF in isolation. We have
> in the UK an organisation called the Corps of Commissionaires. The Corps is
> made up of mostly Serjeants, Colour Sergeants and Sergeants Major. They
> provide reception services to large companies as they have their own uniforms
> and theyâ??re always incredibly smart. We had these men at all reception
> points throughout the company in the UK, and in accordance with the John
> Black directive issued at the beginning of WW2, if any ex employee was later
> re-employed through honourable discharge, their retirement age would be when
> they wanted to leave and not at age 65.
> We had three Commissionaires in key locations in Coventry and all of them
> were in their late seventies. They were always scrupulously polite,
> immaculate in their uniforms and charming conversationalists. I used to talk
> to all of them as I was able and apart from the pleasure of having a chat, it
> was an opportunity to study their medal ribbons. All three men had won the
> Victoria Cross, our highest award for bravery and the man who worked the
> Sales Block reception desk had won it twice! But between all of them, anyone
> with the knowledge of medal ribbons could see they proudly wore the Victoria
> Cross, the Mons Star, the Distinguished Service Order, the Gallipoli medal
> and the Military Cross, plus the various other general service and victory
> medals aka Pipsqueak and Wilfred. All those men had done WW1 from start to
> finish in the desert, in Greece, at sea and the horrors of trench warfare in
> France and Belgium. They were always very quiet but never a day passed
> without a nod of the head, a smile or a friendly greeting. The thing I
> remember about all of them was that even after a brief conversation on any
> subject, you parted company feeling better for having spoken to them. They
> were true gentlemen who had somehow survived the nightmares of close quarter
> engagement on many occasions and amazingly had not been sent mad through what
> they had seen or done. Those are the people I remember and respect the most.
>
> Jonmac
>
>> On 23 Dec 2023, at 12:32, Jim Henningsen <trguy75@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> John, a tip of a Bass Ale to you and all those who served. I have always
>> appreciated your personal stories that covered all the emotions. Just like
>> this one, sad as it is. Cheers to you. My favorite that I still share with
>> others when they comment on how sloppy the commission plate stampings look
>> is the one where you told us triumph standard hired disabled RAF war vets to
>> give them a job and some of them punched those plates as best they could.
>> To me they are perfectly imperfect!
>> Merry Christmas to you
>> Jim Henningsen
>> Ocala, fl USA
>>
>>>> On Dec 22, 2023, at 10:59â?¯PM, John Macartney <johnbmacartney@gmx.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> For at least the last thirty years, I have attended a self-funded
>>> Christmas lunch held in Coventry for former employees of
>>> Standard-Triumphâ??s Home and Export Sales departments, Export Shipping,
>>> Dealer Development, Advertising and staff from the Parts Division. These
>>> were what anyone visiting the building known as Fletch South would have
>>> encountered had they arrived at that location. All in all, about 250-300
>>> people tops. My first lunch back in 1992 (Iâ??d been living overseas until
>>> then) saw a total headcount of about 180 and over the years that followed
>>> we always drank a toast in memory of those who had died during the previous
>>> year or who were absent through ill health. During the pandemic and the two
>>> lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, we didnâ??t have a Christmas lunch because of
>>> infection risk but we do know too many people died through COVID, cancer or
>>> just old age. Today was sobering for all of us as only 10 place settings
>>> were at our usual table and the Memorial Toast was for 49 people who were
>>> hale, hearty, life and soul, happy and jolly at the 2019 lunch which
>>> everyone today also attended.
>>> It seems but only yesterday we were all together working for one objective,
>>> young women, young men, together with many more older examples of the same.
>>> And in a finger snap, but just a few survive and for maybe only a little
>>> while longer? Who knows? How many place settings for the 2024 lunch? Iâ??d
>>> rather not ponder that.
>>>
>>> Jonmac
>>> ** triumphs@autox.team.net **
>>>
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>
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