Children of Michael Downes:

Michael and George Downes
 The elder sons of my Uncle Michael were two mad Irishmen. They used to go out of a weekend on the booze, and if they couldn’t find anybody else to fight  would   fight each other. There was miserable old woman who lived next door to them who kept tabs on George, and would split on him if she saw him doing anything wrong. This was easy because he was always doing wrong. George had an airgun. The old misery was always moaning about her bloomers getting moth, even new ones, as soon as they was washed. Aunt Sarah was most sympathetic.

George was very young he was sent to get a jug of beer at the corner pub.  He never got back with it. They found him rolling drunk and the jug empty.  He never looked back.

Mick took part in the Great War, so George must have been born before 1900. They bought a donkey and cart, for what fiddle I don’t know. They lived in a corner house and would hoist the cart over the wall and take the donkey through the house and stable it in the garden. At Green End, in Woolwich, there was a person who sold hot potatoes and chestnuts. I saw M & G trying to get their donkey to move. Would he hell. Mick got a hot potato, lifted the donkey’s tail, inserted the potato and slammed the tail down. Donkeyand cart shot off like a rocket, Mick and George in hot pursuit. They must have made it to Woolwich Common in five minutes flat.

Mick served in the King’s Royal Rifles in the 1914-18 war. He married and lived in Crescent Road, Plumstead.

 George was an armament inspector. When I was in Portsmouth, in a pub, 1940, I was going to the lav and in front of me was an unmistakable pair of bandy legs. It was George, inspecting Naval   equipment. (Not in the pub)

 Charles was also an armament inspector. When I was Chief Inspector at Henry & Thomas, Bow, Charles called to inspect Army equipment. I  didn’t know who he was until the names tied up. Had to keep quiet about relationship or he would have been removed from the job. Eventually posted to Singapore. Lost touch about 1970.

Edward was a steward on the P&O run to Australia. He was Chief Steward until he led a strike in Australia. Got the push and had to work the Australia/England route. He earned extra cash as an entertainer on voyages. He could sing both tenor and soprano, so did impressions.

John was the one with whom I was most friendly. We were much the same age. Played football at times for the same teams and trained together for boxing, sometimes appearing on the same bills. He married a girl whose parents owned a chandlers shop in Herbert Road, Woolwich. When they died John and his wife continued the business. John got out of bed one morning and had a cardiac arrest.