Naval Parties

There always seemed to be parties going on when I was a kid. Sometimes they would be around our house and we would love all the visitors though I was packed off to bed and slept through most of it! This photo doesn't seem to have been taken in our house though I recognise many of my dad's Naval pals and their wives. In the back row, is Pete Barton who lived near us at Jalan Dato Sulaiman. He was always in charge of showing the films at the Naval Base and always got hassled when they broke! In the middle row, is my mum in the centre and her friend, Bette Sharpe is on the right. In front of them are Jean and Tom Bagwell and Les Sharpe and Ron Morrison are at the front. I think this might have been the party where Les came as James Bond complete with a plastic duck strapped to his head! My parents had a great social life with knowing so many people at the time and there were always barbeques, firework displays and banyans. I'll always remember the firework show at Les's house when the Catherine Wheel flew off the fence post it was nailed to and shot straight up the leg of his shorts! The Naval Base always had events going on too including the Summer Ball, Chinese New Year and shows which included celebrities of the day such as Harry Secombe and Anita Harris. We loved Christmas day parties for the kids which included food, cinema shows, firework displays and lots of games. When I think of it now, there seemed to be something going on all the time! It must have seemed strange for all our parents when they all finally returned back to England.