Bernard Stokes joined the Army when he was 15 years old, and served until 1946. Following his discharge he trained as an engineer, working first in the motor trade and then as engineering manager of a plastics firm.

Bernard talked to Andrew Hawkins and David Bennett about changing technology in a variety of areas of his life, including home entertainment, domestic appliances, shopping, cars, and the industry he worked in, plastics.

Technology In The Army

Mr Stokes joined the British Army at the age of 15 and was discharged in 1946, after the Second World War. He then took up a training course offered by the army in engineering, worked in the motor trade and as engineering manager in a plastic company (Geeco). Whilst in the army, particularly the tanks regiment, he spent much of his time in 'Crusaders', a medium tank which he felt was "outgunned" by the German equivalent. He distinctly remembers the introduction of the American Sherman tanks, 75mm guns, working with the tanks all his life. Ultimately he became a W02 (Warrant Officer 2) but sees the technology now as extraordinary adding that, "one plane now can do the same as one night's raid dropped." The discussion of the Second World War led to the topic of nuclear bombs being dropped on Japan. This was something that Mr Stokes felt was quite fair, bearing in mind the time he had spent at war, which he said had been "very frightening at times" and so anything that would end it quickly "was correct." Those who disagreed, he said had not been at "the sharp end" and reassured us that anyone who had lived during the war would have said the same. Mr Stokes also reminds us that there was a difference between the victory in Europe and the victory in Japan and also recalls that he was unaware of Hiroshima until after the war. This he presumes is partly due to there being no radios and possibly because they didn't want information to get to the troops for fear of them being captured. The victory in Europe came several months before the victory in Japan.

Entertainment in the home

After the Second World War, in the 1950's Mr Stokes bought a lot of ex- RAF radar gear and built himself his own television set. Living in Bournemouth, he found it hard to pick up a signal from Alexandra Palace. It took him 6 months to get the time base to work correctly and when he eventually did he remembers the comical moment when the first picture received was of the ballet. "Quite exciting" Mr Stokes joked, admitting he had always had an interest in radio and television. He commented that it wasn't until the middle 1960's that televisions were actually sold commonly. The primary source of entertainment previously being the radio (cat's whisker) or the cinema, but television had little effect on these. Records were available to buy before the war and Mr Stokes was able to show us one over 50 years old.

Domestic Technology

The first piece of domestic technology that Mr Stokes can remember is the 'fridge, which he described as having a gas flame, which heated the gas reversing the temperature, in 1952/3. Cooking equipment was very basic and North Sea Coal gas was very common too. Although, Mr Stokes recalls that a lot of people made a lot of money from the war and could afford more elaborate technology.

Motor Vehicles

Before the war Mr Stokes recalls his father owning a Guiwn 8(?), motor car, which he described as being open topped, "something like a racing car". This was the first car he ever traveled in. Moreover he said that one could travel from Bournemouth to London without seeing another car. After the war Mr Stokes replaced his bicycle with a Panther CC Motor Bike, which he eventually added a side car onto to take his wife and child out to the New Forest for the day, at the old aerodrome. "The first real motor car I had was a Joat 2 cylinder(?)" which he said was "a funny little thing" and he later owned over 15 cars through the years. Nowadays Mr. Stokes is unable to drive due to poor eye sight. The Joat cost about 12 old pounds, which he says was relatively cheap. Mr Stokes made an interesting comparison saying that the first house he bought cost just over £400 old pounds whereas the present McCarthy and Stone property he is living in cost him over £75,00 at current money value. Which he said "I can't relate to" but also adding that he thought the old times were not really that good and showing a distinct love for advances in technology and in fact says he never remembers there being at time of negativity towards it.

Industrial Change at Geeco

Mr Stokes remembers that the company he worked for changed "tremendously". When he first started the company was able to "turn out" 10/15 buckets an hour and by the time he left, within the last ten years, "they were coming off the machine at 120 an hour", which he added meant the employment of less people but that never caused real concern. Machinery methods used were blow moulding and injection moulding and Mr Stokes spent a great deal of time explaining these processes.

Technology of Food

"You could go into Sainsbury's, there were only 2 or 3 at that time and they weren't the same as they are now and you bought a quarter of butter and the lady or the man wrapped it up for you." He remembers that you didn't help yourself. "Being a man I didn't deal with it so much."

Medicine

Mr Stokes remembers that for 6p a week he would be given all the service he needed "whereas the NHS, when that started it was cradle to grave, its still supposed to be, but its not of course!" "The only time I was in hospital was during the war" and Mr Stokes remembers he was treated very well, "some of the field hospitals were still within miles of the fighting line." This was ran by Queen Alexandria's Medical Service and adds "we've still got a lady here who was one of them."

Commercial Aircraft

"There were flying boats that used to fly from Poole as a civilian passenger service, there wasn't a ground plane that I can remember that flew before the war, after the war they did start up a cross Atlantic service from London".