Biography of Malcolm Archbald SMITH
[Ref. S.1]
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Biography of Malcolm Archbald SMITH
[Ref. S.1]
| Biography index | |
Childhood holidays | |
Childhood photos |
Malcolm Archbald Smith was born on 14 November 1940, the first of the three children of Doady and Archie Smith. He was born at home at "Glencairn", Brentmoor Road, West End, Chobham in Surrey. He was baptised at the Parish Church on 26 January 1941.
Malcolm was an active child and his mother described him of "having ants in his pants" as he seldom kept still. In his pram he would wriggle about, often removing his clothes, Although he was strapped into his pram, he would stand up and rock it from side to side so his father resorted to tethering it to an old motorbike cylinder one side and a lump of concrete the other to keep it upright.
Malcolm had a few early memories of wartime. On hearing gunfire, he had asked his parents what the noise was, and, upon being told that it was soldiers firing guns, declared that they were naughty boys and should stop. During night-time air raid warnings, Malcolm was put onto a matress under a table.
Brentmoor Road led up to the common at Donkey Town and there was a pond along the way. One day, whilst being taken for a walk by his father, Malcolm was throwing pebbles into the water then forgot to let go and fell in. His father quickly retrieved him but he could remember being under the water and looking up towards the sky.
Life was good for a child in Brentmoor Road as it was quiet and there was a patch of woodland adjacent. Malcolm had a length of chain that he would drag along the road. He would also go out on his tricycle and one day was found up near the shops and declared that he was going to see Sybil who ran a drapery shop. Next door to "Glencairn" was a smallholding and the owner would sometimes entertain Malcolm and his siblings. He showed them the dangers of snakes in the long grass also, one day, made them a toboggan.
Getting into mischief is a priority for small boys and Malcolm had his share. He drank a bottle of ink one day and the doctor was called. Malcolm could remember standing in his playpen whilst the doctor tried to examine him but would not allow his trousers to be taken down. The doctor let Malcolm retain his dignity and suggested that the ink was not dangerous and might even kill any worms if Malcolm had them.
When he was a bit older, Malcolm got hold of some scissors and cut a hole in the net curtains in the bathroom. His mother told him he would be in trouble when father came home, so at that time Malcolm hid up the apple tree where he thought it was safe. However, his father dragged him out and gave hin a caning. The cane was split and it pinched the skin of Malcolm's bottom at each stroke. Lesson learned.
Brother Stewart was born on 6 April 1943 and sister Gillian on 19 January 1945. At one bedtime, when Stewart and Gillian were still in a cot, Malcolm got up onto a corner cupboard and jumped in at which the bottom fell out, leaving his siblings looking perplexed. Father then spent ½ hour fixing it back again. The bungalow did not have central heating so the children had a paraffin stove in their room on winter nights and they were fascinated by the pattern of light on the ceiling from the ventilation holes in the stove.
Malcolm's maternal grandparents had taken to living by their own means on a smallholding in Marlow and Malcolm loved the visits there. He
At around the age of five, Malcolm started lessons in horse-riding with Billy Biggs at his small farm nearby. All went well until it came time to go over a jump at which Malcolm jumped off the horse just before it went over the jump which was actually very low.
The back garden was used entirely for food production during the war and Malcolm became interested in gardening. His father let him use a flower bed in the front garden to get started and Malcolm sowed some red cabbage seeds. However, the family sold the bungalow to move to a house so Malcolm made a point of letting the new owners know that the cabbages were included in the sale!
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