Roderick Allen

Worked in butcher market as a child. Started delivering messages on the railway, very small so babied by the female office staff. Started in signal cabins, got in trouble for whistling. Sadistic "jokes" of the foremen. Working; a near miss accident. The General Strike of 1926, police violently breaking up a meeting, tried to get help from dole people but just got insults s friend hit the office man. Decline of the railways. High level bridge and carriage across it, junction there was the busiest in the world at the time. Watched fight on Silver street between Arab sailors and white unemployed sailors.

Location: Newcastle
County: Tyne and Wear
AUD1974-17c

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