BACK TO WORK
THE question of finding a job after demobilisation was less problematic as the employers were obliged by law to re-employ their former employees, and so I returned to my pre-war occupation as a milk roundsman for the Co-operative Dairy.
The depot I now worked from was located in Long Lane, Southwark – a good distance from my home. I cycled to and from work each day. Work involved pushing a heavily loaded milk barrow on my daily round. The pre-war norm of early, mid and late deliveries each day was now reduced to one delivery, lasting from about 7am until 2pm, but of course there was still the loading of bottles and accounting of monies to attend to.
One memorable incident at this time happened when, having parked my heavily loaded barrow just off Tower Bridge Road and making a delivery, the barrow must have been struck by a passing vehicle. The result of this was a good deal of the day’s supply of milk now lay smashed and running down the gutter.
A small crowd had gathered, including a policeman who was surveying the scene. This was quite a serious problem as milk was still rationed and the loss of such a large quantity posed a problem, not least for me! I then had the job of righting the barrow and of salvaging as many of the unbroken bottles as I could before making some of the remaining deliveries, and explaining to those customers who were not getting any milk that day.
Someone, presumably from a local newspaper, must have been in the area and took a photograph of the scene. The item appeared in the local newspaper under the headline ‘Making the ration go further’.
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