When I left Bermuda in 1962 to study nursing at St Mary’s Hospital in Portsmouth, England, I was completely ignorant of Portsmouth’s ties with the Bermuda Dockyard until patients recalled working with apprentices during the 1950s. So, here I am, writing for those who remember these men and for those who know little to nothing of them.

In 1844, a racially integrated school opened in the Dockyard to provide general and technical education for the children of admiralty employees. Primary education here was not free until 1949 when it was legislated that children attend school between the ages of 7 and 13.

Many remember the men who went off to England in 1950, but few recall the apprentices of the earlier years.

Algernon Harford, main contractor for the West End School, learnt his trade as a master shipwright at the Dockyard around 1901.

Sir James Astwood attended the Dockyard Technical School during the Second World War, when he became a shipwright. Later he studied law, and in 1977 was appointed Bermuda’s first Black Chief Justice.

C. Eugene Cox was an electrical engineering apprentice who became a Member of Parliament and Minister of Finance for the Progressive Labour Party in 1998.

The Right Reverend Vinton Anderson, an AME bishop, completed his five-year apprenticeship as a master carpenter and relocated to study in the United States. Bishop Anderson rose to prominence as president of the World Council of Churches.

In 1942, Sinclair Harford, the 15-year-old son of Algernon Harford, was accepted as an engine-fitter apprentice. Apprentices were required to pass the Royal Naval Dockyard Examination and attend the school on two afternoons and one evening a week. His weekly pay was 21/6 (21 shillings and six pence, the equivalent of £1.11 or $1.45).

New apprentices were given a wooden box containing a ruler, hammer, chisel, file and a block of steel, which they were required to chip into various shapes. This taught them the proper use of each tool.

He transitioned to the machine shop to be trained in the use of lathes in the making of nuts, bolts and their own tools. He also learnt the use of saws in the cutting and shaping of tools. As his apprenticeship progressed, he worked in the combustible engine shop and the area where ships and boats were dry-docked and repaired. He was taught to remove a ship’s engine, repair and replace it. This was during the war when ships were constantly coming into the Dockyard for repairs. He secured a position as a junior engineer at the Bermudiana Hotel, but saw the need for laundry services to guesthouses and opened a successful laundry business.

Venita Caesar-Smith recalled Somerset in the early 1940s and 1950s when “Runt” Lane left Scaur at 11am in his horse and cart to transport lunches to the Dockyard “Mateys”. Wives and mothers prepared a hot meal, which was placed in an enamel lunch “kittle” with handles, wrapped in newspaper, covered in a dish towel and labelled. They would stand at the roadside awaiting “Runt”, who transported lunch to the “Yard” in time for the 11.50am lunch whistle.

At 4.20pm, Manchester Street was crowded with more than 60 pedal bikes ridden by workers returning home at the end of the day. There was one exception — George Turner, who walked, always whistling a catchy tune.

When news was received in 1945 that the war had ended, the Somerset Brigade Band marched to Watford Bridge playing Hail, Hail, The Gang’s All Here and It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary, followed by a boisterous crowd.

In 1944, H.T. Watlington, MCP headed up a select committee of the legislature on overpopulation and emigration. Part of the committee’s concern was the welfare of 300 boys and girls leaving school every year at the age of 13. He met with Commander Middleton, headmaster of The Dockyard School, to discuss his concerns. The commander suggested the Naval Authority be asked to arrange a pre-entry course for boys of 13, and that primary schools prepare students to meet the requirements. Additionally, he recommended the British Admiralty open its school in the Dockyard to Bermudians in an apprenticeship programme. This was a successful arrangement until 1950 when the Bermuda Dockyard closed. Preparations were then made for the Bermudian apprentices to complete their education in Portsmouth, England.

On September 9, 1950, 49 teenagers sailed to England on the MV Georgic, which was anchored at Grassy Bay. On that day, the wind was so high people had to walk their bicycles over Watford Bridge. Many described it as a day of mourning, exaggerated by the crowd singing Now Is The Hour When We Should Say Goodbye.

One mother was so distraught, she had to be carried home in a wheelbarrow.

The oldest of the group was Osrola “Bo” Smith, who was two years from completing his apprenticeship as a machinist/ship’s fitter. Once completed, he joined the Merchant Navy as an officer, sailing as far away as India. When he returned to Bermuda, he worked on tugboats then at Pearman Watlington and finally the Bermuda Transportation Department where for more than 40 years he was a master machinist, crafting parts for our fleet of buses.

Norman “Mickey” Scotland was barely 15 and the youngest of the group. He was a shipwright apprentice who later relocated to the US.

Alan Lister left Heathcote Hill, pushing his trunk in a wheelbarrow. He joined the engineering apprenticeship programme at 14 and had already served three years before leaving with the group. He wrote his parents regularly, complaining about the quality of the food, particularly the beetroot sandwiches. He returned to Bermuda and in 1953 joined the police force, servicing police vehicles. By 1956, he was transferred and progressed through the ranks before retiring as chief inspector.

In 1949 at the age of 15, Harcourt “Jack” Fraser joined the programme and accepted the offer to continue at the dockyard in Portsmouth. There, he, along with all the other apprentices, boarded with English families.

His wife, Oriel, remembered when they returned to Hamilton, many for the first time in five years. They were barely recognisable — they had left as boys and returned as men!

Jack Fraser began his career as a master plumber with Junius Burrows Plumbing. In the 1970s, the prison system was encouraging tradesmen to join the service to encourage prisoners to learn a trade. In 1971, he was selected as the prison officer responsible for the management of all plumbing, and in 1974 was sent to Britain for prison officer training. He retired as assistant prison commissioner and opened Jack’s Driving School.

Rosamund Daniels was 8 when her brother, Arthur Guishard, left. She remembered the family going to The Shute — a concrete area next to Gates Bay — and waving as the MV Georgic sailed along the North Channel, turned and disappeared out to sea.

Claude James trained as a master plumber. He rode his push bike to catch the Dockyard ferry at the flagpole. They were teenagers, open for excitement, often riding straight off Burnaby Hill on to the ferry driven by Mr Saltus. In the afternoon, he returned by government ferry with many of the Barbadian workers.

Everything was well organised for their travel and accommodation in Portsmouth. The “town boys” gathered on that blustery day at No 1 Shed to be tendered out to the MV Georgic. At Murray’s Anchorage, the sea was extremely rough. They were all seasick, fighting for toilets and basins, with some calling for their mothers. The ship docked in Liverpool where dockyard representatives met and escorted them on to the train to Portsmouth. Although they were paid a small salary, Mr James took on a second job shovelling coal that arrived by rail into the yard. With the extra money, he purchased a heavy motorcycle. Alan Lister and a few others followed his example, and together they toured Europe, Scotland and parts of England.

Lionel Young was only 15. When he opened his trunk, he found an exercise book full of instructions from his aunt, reminding him of his personal hygiene, personal appearance and behaviour. After they arrived at Liverpool, they travelled by train to Waterloo Station in London, then boarded another train to Portsmouth. They were met by coaches and driven to where they would be put up for boarding. The day was dark, cold and rainy. He was told that when the Dockyard advertised for apprentice boarding more than 500 families applied.

The next morning, they were taken on a familiarisation tour to meet their instructors and visit the areas in which they would be working. He was able to purchase a pedal bike to travel to the yard where they attended school two days a week. At the end of five years, he was a certified master joiner/carpenter. The younger boys were assigned a welfare officer, who managed their funds. Money brought from home or sent by relatives was set aside for their needs.

Lionel wrote home weekly and often received care packages containing corned beef, tinned fruit and underwear sent from home. Butter, sugar and leather goods were still being rationed in Britain. To purchase shoes, he required coupons.

His weekly pay was £2.19.6 with £2.15 deducted for room and board. This left him with 4/6, but it only cost 4p to go to the movies.

He had taken his guitar with him and formed a quartet with other Bermudians called the Portsmouth Melody Makers. They played in dance halls and private parties, even winning £16.8 as runners-up in a talent competition on the BBC in 1952.

He returned in 1955 and worked with Post Construction until 1960, when he was selected as a customs officer and later seconded to the Department of Immigration. He retired as officer in charge of the airport.

Venita Smith recalled that in the 1950s Somerset had a dry goods store on Manchester Street run by Gibbons Company. Every Friday, family members would gather to “pay on” sweaters and clothing for the apprentices. In Hamilton, groups of women knitted sweaters, scarves and socks for these young men.

Cecil Woodley, at the age of 90, continues to work in his carpentry shop on Curving Avenue. He left with the group from Hamilton to join the MV Georgic. He was 17 and had served most of his apprenticeship before leaving Bermuda. He returned before the others to work with Post Construction before joining his father’s carpentry business.

In 1949, Brunell Swan was 17 when he joined as an apprenticeship machine engine fitter. Many of the passengers on the Georgic were dockyard workers returning to England.

He was there in 1952 when King George VI died and saw the preparations surrounding the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. He became a part of the apprentice musical group, singing and played the harmonica. Malcolm Eve, apprentice shipfitter, played the bass. Raymond DeShields, apprentice shipwright, played the maracas and Lionel Young played the guitar.

Mr Swan worked on many naval ships but found it difficult to find employment when he returned to Bermuda. Many of the men were unable to find work in their specialised trades. He was employed for 40 years with the Department of Marine and Ports, where he maintained tugs and tenders. He is still in possession of his Dockyard Apprentice exercise books.

William “Billy” Young remembers departure day with great clarity. They were due to leave on March 10 but because of an approaching hurricane left one day early.

The ship’s crew had been moved into cabins on another deck and the Black apprentices were assigned to their quarters. They were not allowed to mingle outside the area. The White apprentices were assigned cabins on another deck. (Three of the White apprentices travelled ahead on another ship with their parents.) The Black apprentices lived for ten days with the rattling of the anchor chains, fume-filled air, the awful rolling of the ship and unbearable seasickness. After ten days, the ship finally arrived in Liverpool, but the weather was so extreme the ship lay at anchor for two days.

Billy Young trained as a shipfitter, working on aircraft carriers, submarines, battleships, heavy cruisers and the royal yacht Victoria and Albert.

He had completed most of his apprenticeship before leaving Bermuda, which made him eligible to return before the others. Had he remained in Britain, he would have been enlisted. Britain was fighting in the Suez Canal, and so he quickly chose to return home, travelling on the HMS Sheffield. The Governor of Bermuda, Sir Alexander Hood, was also travelling on the ship and invited him for a shot of rum. He travelled in the crew’s quarters where everyone slept in hammocks, which were more comfortable than he expected as hammocks are not affected by turbulence.

In Bermuda, he was employed at Musson’s Factory on Court Street, at Belco and later at HM Customs, retiring as a senior officer.

Hilton Wingood joined the apprenticeship programme in 1946 at the age of 14. They rode second or third-hand bikes purchased from George Todd or George Ratteray to be at work for 9am.

He was 17 when he left for Portsmouth on that racially segregated ship. The “Coloured boys” were in the bow or forward part of the ship, where they remained for the entire journey. In the Irish Sea, he witnessed the biggest waves he had ever seen. They were not permitted to leave their assigned area. They ate, slept and socialised there. He had no complaints about the food, experiencing rice for the first time as a dessert — rice pudding with raisins!

In Portsmouth, nine of them were assigned to one room with one bathroom. They vehemently protested the next morning and were immediately moved. They were served potatoes and cabbage every day with desserts of rhubarb and frequently prunes. Meat was rationed.

In the yard they worked in gangs of 50 with an instructor and formed sports teams.

Hilton Wingood returned as a qualified shipwright/welder. He worked with the Board of Trade on ferry boats, including the Wilhelmina and Corona, before joining the police force. He retired as a chief inspector.

In the late 1940s, Orien Young was a Bermuda champion sprinter. He continued his athletics career in Portsmouth and in 1954 participated in the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is remembered as one of the greatest athletes associated with Portsmouth. Orien was an apprentice electrician who became an electrical warfare expert on submarines. He died in 2016.

In 1956, the Bermuda Technical Institute opened to replace the Dockyard apprenticeship programme. It was the first racially integrated school supported by the Bermuda Government. It closed in 1972.

• Cecille C. Snaith-Simmons is a retired nurse, writer and historian. Sincere thanks to the National Museum of Bermuda for photographs and everyone who assisted me. I am especially grateful to the six men who opened the history books of their lives to recollect the apprenticeship years. I feel privileged, and am truly grateful to have met you.

References:

The Bermuda Recorder (September 17, 1960)

The Bermuda Sun (October 26, 1984)

Portsmouth News (October 27, 2016)

Black History (Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda 2020)