Captain Malcolm Burwood CO60

Memories of Truro School and careers at sea and in the sky

Malcolm Burwood CO60 attended Truro School as a boarder between 1954 and 1959, and shares his memories of his time there and his life at sea and in flying after his school days.

I started at Truro School in the Spring Term of 1954 and resided at Malvern for two years. Mr W.E.B. “Boozy” Worthington (TS 1941-1968) was house master. I think he may have had polio, which was not uncommon in those days. He was an ace table tennis player and commuted to school in a black Austin Somerset. Life was quite bearable under his and his wife’s guidance.

I was pleased to move up the hill to Dormy 3 under Mr Penna (TS 1945-1979), who let us watch the Brian Rix farces on his black-and-white television. Whilst staying in Dormy 3, my Christmas shopping list included a copy of “The Ying Tong Song” by The Goons, for my brother. I stowed the record behind the hot-water pipe so, to my dismay, it became distorted when the heating came on!

It was very fashionable to smoke in the ‘50s, and the boys from the 4th year used to have a puff up the lane by the farm buildings. Before church one Sunday we were having a puff, and Pop Newton, the school maintenance man, was trying to start his car, which he kept there. “You boys want a lift down?” as four of us crammed into the Morris 8, and off he went! Pop was unaware that our fifth smoker, Ian Ridgeway CO60, had decided to run behind holding the luggage rack.

Past the Science block, two things happened: Ridgeway lost his footing, and Pop decided to warm the car up and continued, accelerating past Dormy 3, which was where he let go! “What you boys laughing at, then?” Laughing? We were delirious! Rather a lot of knee damage resulted, and the church suit didn’t look too good either.

In the Easter holiday of 1956, Mr Penna organised a cycle tour starting at Bath YHA … which is on a hill ... A chap called Francis Dyer CO60 renewed his brake blocks in reverse, sailing past us as the blocks flew out, and out of sight. We found his bike in a hedge, and he had been tossed, rather bruised, into a field! The slightly bent bike went with us to Stratford, Ely, Peterborough, Devizes and Bath. The roads were deserted and of course there were no motorways. How life has changed.

Later in life, I became interested in the life of Reverend Vernon Victor Cooper (TS 1950-1954), the padre in 1954 who had been an RAF Pilot in the still-recent war. Early on, he had been shot down in a Hampden Bomber, and soon found himself in Stalag Luft III with an acquaintance of mine. He wrote two books, A Pilot in the Pulpit and One of our Padres is Missing, all about his captivity. He was a fanatical free-flight enthusiast, and on summer evenings a score of boys would invade Truro, hunting for the missing free-flight models. Victor never spoke to us of his experiences. It is hard to relate 1954 to 2021. The war had been over for 10 years, but we still had rationing. There were only a few cars on the road and they were all black. Wherever we went there was bomb damage being repaired, in Plymouth especially. Living in Polzeath, I was able to cycle home.

Although I surprised myself with six O-Levels, I knew my limits, and left Truro School in 1959 and became an apprentice Deck Officer to the New Zealand Shipping Company, becoming certified in 1963. Life at sea was wonderful, and I moved around a bit until I joined Union Castle line.

Whilst waiting to sail in November 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated - one of those days you never forget. I sailed for South Africa in 1964 on a passenger ship, the Edinburgh Castle, which I loved. In Cape Town I was ordered to fly to Dar es Salaam with a promotion. I had never flown before and was invited to the flight deck when crossing the Zambezi. This looked like fun, and 17 weeks later I was at RAF Aircrew Selection at Biggin Hill, Greater London. My greatest achievement was being selected for aircrew training, which led me to fly the Hercules C130 when it was new.

A role in the Air Force generally leads into a civilian career, and I joined DanAir, flying jets for the next 30 years. After becoming an airline captain in 1976, I captained flights covering the whole of Europe and North Africa.

I married my wife, Rosemary, in 1974. She had also had a spell on School Cruise Ships, so we speak the same language. We went on to have a daughter, Emma, and a son, Ben, who is now an EasyJet Training Captain. Rosemary and I have been sailors for 30 years. We love our family yacht, and have visited the Fal to rekindle memories of where this life had all started, high on That Hill with the city below.