Memories: Ralph Smith.... On K. L. Dames Butler Davis and Harlow at war

		Has anyone mentioned Davis, Kenneth Dames' butler who was I was told his batman from WW1? Once when I was the sole recipient of an infectious ailment I was quarantined in the headmaster's house and had my meals served by the aforesaid Davis (may have been Davies!). He was always proper and polite and the perfect butler immaculately turned out in black coat and striped trousers. I was however told by some prefects that if he thought you were to be trusted Davis would show you "the photographs" - a collection which it seemed he had collected in France in the First War! I know that the Dames's trusted him implicitly and it must have been a considerable shock when Mr. Davis died suddenly from a heart attack and they had to sort out his effects! Perhaps some kindly maid removed them before that happened. I also have a very clear picture from an misty autumn morning in 1940 when I heard the sound of what seemed to be a noisy lawnmower - then just above the hedge at the bottom of the playing field there appeared a Hawker Hector army co-operation biplane which flew a leisurely course about 10 feet off the ground banking slightly to pass between the elm trees which lined the boundary. Around that time morning prayers often revealed that soldiers had moved through the town the previous night - we never saw or heard them but only soldiers would have left empty cigarette packets and biscuit wrappers in the pews. We did once meet a few Sherwood Foresters when we went swimming in the River Stort - where there were the remains of an old watermill and a waterfall. That was unusual - most troop movements were made at night during those dangerous months. Others must remember similar happenings.
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