Page 13 - BNVTA CAMPAIGN Summer 2020

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As it turned out, we had some good times playing in the Officer’s Mess and the Sgt’s Mess, but our OWN Mess provided the largest audience by far! We played “How would you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?” nearly every night of the week!
We even played in the island’s church. The organist was ill, so Bill Skinner arranged for 2 trumpets and 2 saxes to go and play some hymns in the church.
As you can imagine, it was difficult keeping the band together with some of the lads coming to the end of their time on the Island, so during my time there, the band broke up. I took over as leader at one point until such times as we eventually finished and became a quartet of sax, drums, bass and piano!
Each regiment had a 1st and 2nd football team – I played centre half for my regiment’s 2nd team and I played in the 1st team on one occasion: luckily scoring
the winning goal!
The Fijian army were also stationed on Christmas
Island and their football
team were so fit and fast...
they would have knocked
you over and you wouldn’t have known what had hit you – they were BRUTAL!
I flew to Honolulu for leave (for 6 days) – not bad for a youngster
from Glasgow! We sunbathed on Honolulu’s renowned Waikiki Beach, and were almost black with suntans
– funny to see all the pale millionaires lying on the beach trying to get a tan, wondering who on earth all these dark, tanned young men were. We’d come a long way from our pale Moon Men skins on arrival at the Island!
I witnessed two atomic bombs and three hydrogen bombs being tested; when the atomic bombs were tested we were given a day for the first one... and when the hydrogen bombs were tested we got a day off for all three of those...
But my time on the Island gave me lifelong experiences and memories and I hope this jogs up similar fond memories for some of the people.
by Jack Hassan
Photo by David Trinder, Christmas Island 1957-58
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