Dear Jon,
Very Happy for any Icenians to contact me about The October Club and of course 
I will do all I can to help.
By way of explanation and whilst my memory, with advantages of my time at 
Langley , I give you below an highlighted resume which may entertain:
I was born in Rugby in 1943 and in 1948 I went with my Father and Mother to 
Argentina because my Father an Electrical Engineer who spoke several 
languages decided to help build power stations in Buenos Aires, imagine being 
demobbed from the Army in 1945 in the UK.
We lived in Buenos Aires, , I went to St John’s School Buenos Aires then Bogota Colombia 
attending Collegio Nueva Granada ( an American School there being no English 
schools ) and then back to Argentina where our lessons in the morning were in 
Spanish and in the afternoon in English to satisfy Evita Peron and Don’t cry for 
me Argentina.
I think my rebellious instinct and obstinacy kicked off at then. I would not stand 
for the Argentine National Anthem – I must have been an objectional child.
Fast forward to Langley , we go to Harrods Knightsbridge to be kitted out in the 
blue Beauchamp Blazer and board the Norwich Thorpe train at Liverpool Street 
where I meet for the first time my Hogwarts Express inmates , one inmate 
Swinhoe travelled on his own in first class – I think he was in Mancroft , all the 
slightly racy boys I was to discover were in Mancroft.
I have never taken much to games so would avoid them by all devious means if 
possible so it was a Godsend when Tuesdays came round for CCF parade , I 
seemed to like marching up and down but even that was too much exercise so 
rapidly became a Corporal and helped run the Stores … this was the way forward,

the cadets had to have boots and at the end of each term the kit had to be 
collected and returned to the stores for safe keeping – well Langley was 
surrounded by farms with farm labourers who needed boots – not too much 
imagination was needed that by selling them old boots the profits could go into 
a fund to buy a second hand champ jeep.

I came unstuck one glorious summers day when having to play cricket for my 
house (sometime one was forced onto the games field) when I made a snotty 
remark to the Umpire, my House master Froggy Moore,

“-Who is that yokel leaning on the gate watching us?”

My house master replies –“One of those is Her Father” !
How he knew I had had an assignation with her in the school chapel I still do not 
know.
John Jevons my Head master instilled in me a love of music with his weekly listen 
to a gramophone record in his sitting room – I went on on my own to hear Yehudi 
Menhuin with Sir Adrian Boult conducting Beethoven’s violin concert on 
Norwich Cathedral on a rainy summers day.
Particular memories of Mr Laurence who taught me French and in exchange for 
improving my Spanish made me run the Tuck Shop where my first move was to 
change the locks so the staff could not “buy” cigarettes at low prices – a profit 
was turned for the first time ….
Chosen by David Clarke CO of the CCF to parade at Buckingham Palace before 
the Queen for the Centenary of the CCF with another cadet from Beauchamp –
Sandal.

My heroes at the school were Colin Mann , Field and the Shah of Iran’s 
finance minister’s son Farhad Akhavi – he was particularly good value as he 
received proper caviar which we Prefects immediately confiscated for Sunday 
tea – he was also useful as his Sunday suit was “borrowed” by me for Sunday 
church parade when mine started ageing.

But the highlight has to be my speech therapist at Norwich hospital who I was 
sent to by Molly Jevons , the Headmaster’s wife ,every Saturday morning to try 
to cure me of my stammer . After three sessions the therapy took a slightly 
different course when I asked her to come to see the new movie El Cid with me 
I eventually confessed at the Jevons retirement party that my attractive speech 
therapist had helped a shy 16 year old in more ways than one!

All power to your elbow you are obviously a great find for the Iceni , I remember 
Izard , he was a Day Bug but also I think good at hockey so our paths would not 
have met certainly not on the games field.
Again with best wishes
Robert

(Is this the same 'Twit' Whitaker mentioned in the 100 Years of Langley book?)