A day to remember by Bob Milton

September 9th 1946

This is another day to remember, it is the day that Bob Milton, aged 16 joined the Post Office Telephones, reporting at ‘Otterburn’, Old Orchard Road, Eastbourne to Mr Veneer, Chief Inspector.
After a brief welcome I signed the Official Secrets Act and felt quite important.
I was then taken downstairs to meet my Inspector, Mr J Smethurst, who seemed a very pleasant fellow.
He told me that I was to address him as Mr Smethurst and I was to be known as Mr Milton. Customers were to be addressed as Sir or Madam. I suppose it was not expected I would meet any Lords or Ladies. So there was my first experience of equality in my new job. Mr Smethurst took out a pack of twenty Players, lit one and asked me if I smoked. When I replied yes he remarked, “Don’t let me catch you smoking on duty”

Another memory, (circa Suez)
I found myself coming in contact with ‘transmission men’ They all seemed to wear corduroy trousers and call each other ‘old boy’. They were also fond of asking people to ‘turn up the wick’ and spoke about funny things called dbs. Another favourite was ‘I’ll change the bottle old chap’. It was a different approach.
You perhaps can see why it is said. ‘You can always tell a transmission man, but you cannot tell him much’
But to be serious there was also Ernie Pike, king of the bees, and concert pianist. You don’t know what you missed.