Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
When I was 15 I started doing Saturday jobs for a Major Wall (retired Lt Col.) and his wife. Gardening and general stuff around his grounds and horse paddocks. The guy gave me driving lessons when he was 81! This was so I could, on occasions, drive him into town to a supermarket so he could buy a bottle of scotch lol.
He was captured during the fall of Singapore in WW2 but his was was evacuated safely. He spent the war as a POW for the Japanese and was forced to work on the infamous Death Railway. The old boy had a tiger skin rug hanging in his tack room that he got while in India before the war. His wife was lovely lady who was a warden at the village church. An extraordinary man and very much larger than life!
He was captured during the fall of Singapore in WW2 but his was was evacuated safely. He spent the war as a POW for the Japanese and was forced to work on the infamous Death Railway. The old boy had a tiger skin rug hanging in his tack room that he got while in India before the war. His wife was lovely lady who was a warden at the village church. An extraordinary man and very much larger than life!
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Freightdog
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Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
There are two characters in particular, among a varied group of contributors in my early life.
A very close family friend, often referred to as ‘uncle’. He’d been a Mosquito pathfinder and reconnaissance pilot in WW2. A friend of my aunt and uncle since their own school days. Quiet and unassuming, Uncle George can’t have been more than 5’3”. He was tiny. You wouldn’t think he’d say boo to a goose. He exuded this quiet confidence that seemed to fill a room, without ever taking it over, if that makes sense?
I was always interested in flying, and he often gave small anecdotes and tales related to his flying, although he barely talked about the flying itself, and for years very little of his wartime experience.
Between leaving school and heading to college, I had a summer job working at the nearby steel foundry and was planted into a little department with two funny old guys, both in their last few years nearing retirement. It was like comedy hour, with Dez being of similar stature as Uncle George, and an 8 hour shift would be filled with laughter, jokes and ribbing. If he got annoyed about anything, it lasted all of seconds. He pretty much set himself up to be the butt of jokes. Yet, he commanded respect without demanding it. I found out a short while later he’d been decorated following his involvement in Operation Market Garden.
As time went on, it turned out that I’d been surrounded by a host of extraordinary people, many of whom were equally extraordinary for never making anything of those experiences of WW2. They’d done their bit, then moved on.
A very close family friend, often referred to as ‘uncle’. He’d been a Mosquito pathfinder and reconnaissance pilot in WW2. A friend of my aunt and uncle since their own school days. Quiet and unassuming, Uncle George can’t have been more than 5’3”. He was tiny. You wouldn’t think he’d say boo to a goose. He exuded this quiet confidence that seemed to fill a room, without ever taking it over, if that makes sense?
I was always interested in flying, and he often gave small anecdotes and tales related to his flying, although he barely talked about the flying itself, and for years very little of his wartime experience.
Between leaving school and heading to college, I had a summer job working at the nearby steel foundry and was planted into a little department with two funny old guys, both in their last few years nearing retirement. It was like comedy hour, with Dez being of similar stature as Uncle George, and an 8 hour shift would be filled with laughter, jokes and ribbing. If he got annoyed about anything, it lasted all of seconds. He pretty much set himself up to be the butt of jokes. Yet, he commanded respect without demanding it. I found out a short while later he’d been decorated following his involvement in Operation Market Garden.
As time went on, it turned out that I’d been surrounded by a host of extraordinary people, many of whom were equally extraordinary for never making anything of those experiences of WW2. They’d done their bit, then moved on.
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Random Dude
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Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
I did some work for an old English guy who had been farming in New Zealand for the last 50 years or so before retiring - he must have been close to 90 years old when I met him. He was a real hard case bloke - a typical old farmer, the day he stopped working and being active would be the day he died. He had a big vegetable garden he'd spend the day in.
He used to talk about his WW2 days, he had some great stories.
I remember him telling me how, through a set of weird circumstances he'd been put in charge of the German POWs. I don't remember all the details (and not sure he did either but it was still a hilarious story) but somehow he'd fucked up - think he'd gotten pissed and got in a fight or something - and was being punished. Somehow he ended up being promoted and given the job of supervising the POWs who I think were put to work doing something or other.
His words (while laughing his arse off)... "They put me in charge of the bloody Germans. Me! I were a bloody young idiot I were, and they put me in charge of the POWs. If they got out of line or we was in a mood we'd whack em with a stick, but not too badly, just to let em know."
He used to talk about his WW2 days, he had some great stories.
I remember him telling me how, through a set of weird circumstances he'd been put in charge of the German POWs. I don't remember all the details (and not sure he did either but it was still a hilarious story) but somehow he'd fucked up - think he'd gotten pissed and got in a fight or something - and was being punished. Somehow he ended up being promoted and given the job of supervising the POWs who I think were put to work doing something or other.
His words (while laughing his arse off)... "They put me in charge of the bloody Germans. Me! I were a bloody young idiot I were, and they put me in charge of the POWs. If they got out of line or we was in a mood we'd whack em with a stick, but not too badly, just to let em know."
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Chad Sexington
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Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
There used to be an old German barber by the name of Rudy Sieber, in the nearest town to the village I grew up in, he had been a Luftwaffe pilot and had been shot down in WW2, he was subsequently been held POW nearby, and put to work doing farm laboring.
After the wars end, he’d met and married a local woman and settled down in the North East of England, becoming a mens barber and opening his own one man barber shop.
He was probably in his fifties when us kids used to go there to get our crew cuts, and we loved it because he swore like a trooper, “effing this” and “bastards that” very loudly in his thick German accent (this was in the days when it was very rare to hear an adult man swearing in front of women or kids)
He was legendary in our part of the country, everybody knew him or knew of him. He’d cut my own fathers hair when he was a kid.
We’d be waiting to have our haircut while he served some old fellow, all the while he’d be swearing away, usually ranting about something or other, and we’d be sniggering away.
Another of his quirks was that he was brutally frank with customers about their cleanliness and appearance, and wouldn’t hesitate to call someone a “scruffy fucker” if they came in with dirty work clothes on, or god forbid, with greasy hair wanting a haircut, “come back when you’ve washed your hair you filthy bastard” he’d tell them.
He’d also refuse point blank, to give any haircut that wasn’t basically a short back and sides (bearing in mind this was the 70s and long hair was in fashion) I particularly recall one guy coming in with an album cover showing some long haired musician, and asking to have his own long hair cut in the same style, he was promptly told to fuck off and shown the door.
Another time, a guy came in (probably 16 or 17 years old) with collar length hair, and I distinctly heard him say “just take half an inch off” which would usually warrant being told to to fuck off elsewhere, but surprisingly he was invited to sit in the barbers chair, then Rudy took his electric clippers and swiftly ran them from the middle of the guys forehead and over to the back of his head, the guy leapt out of the chair shouting “what the fuck?” and Rudy said “you asked for a half inch” (a common term used for a crew cut) It was so bad, the guy ended up getting a crew cut, as there was no way he could keep long hair with a 2 inch wide shaved centre parting. I rather suspect it was a deliberate ‘Misunderstanding’
He had some not so friendly notices posted around the shop and in the window, one referring to the clean hair requirement, and that he didn’t serve pigs, another, that because he’d suffered a heart attack, he “wouldn’t take any shit from customers”
To top it all off, he was also a licensed firearms dealer, making him even more fascinating to us kids, and he sold guns and ammunition in the same barber shop, (there was jars of Brilliantine and boxes of ammo on the same shelf) so you’d be in mid haircut, and he’d break off to sell someone a box of shotgun cartridges or show them some rifle that had just come in, we wouldn’t get our hair cut anywhere else, and when I was older I bought my ammunition from him.
After the wars end, he’d met and married a local woman and settled down in the North East of England, becoming a mens barber and opening his own one man barber shop.
He was probably in his fifties when us kids used to go there to get our crew cuts, and we loved it because he swore like a trooper, “effing this” and “bastards that” very loudly in his thick German accent (this was in the days when it was very rare to hear an adult man swearing in front of women or kids)
He was legendary in our part of the country, everybody knew him or knew of him. He’d cut my own fathers hair when he was a kid.
We’d be waiting to have our haircut while he served some old fellow, all the while he’d be swearing away, usually ranting about something or other, and we’d be sniggering away.
Another of his quirks was that he was brutally frank with customers about their cleanliness and appearance, and wouldn’t hesitate to call someone a “scruffy fucker” if they came in with dirty work clothes on, or god forbid, with greasy hair wanting a haircut, “come back when you’ve washed your hair you filthy bastard” he’d tell them.
He’d also refuse point blank, to give any haircut that wasn’t basically a short back and sides (bearing in mind this was the 70s and long hair was in fashion) I particularly recall one guy coming in with an album cover showing some long haired musician, and asking to have his own long hair cut in the same style, he was promptly told to fuck off and shown the door.
Another time, a guy came in (probably 16 or 17 years old) with collar length hair, and I distinctly heard him say “just take half an inch off” which would usually warrant being told to to fuck off elsewhere, but surprisingly he was invited to sit in the barbers chair, then Rudy took his electric clippers and swiftly ran them from the middle of the guys forehead and over to the back of his head, the guy leapt out of the chair shouting “what the fuck?” and Rudy said “you asked for a half inch” (a common term used for a crew cut) It was so bad, the guy ended up getting a crew cut, as there was no way he could keep long hair with a 2 inch wide shaved centre parting. I rather suspect it was a deliberate ‘Misunderstanding’
He had some not so friendly notices posted around the shop and in the window, one referring to the clean hair requirement, and that he didn’t serve pigs, another, that because he’d suffered a heart attack, he “wouldn’t take any shit from customers”
To top it all off, he was also a licensed firearms dealer, making him even more fascinating to us kids, and he sold guns and ammunition in the same barber shop, (there was jars of Brilliantine and boxes of ammo on the same shelf) so you’d be in mid haircut, and he’d break off to sell someone a box of shotgun cartridges or show them some rifle that had just come in, we wouldn’t get our hair cut anywhere else, and when I was older I bought my ammunition from him.
Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
Could not read a word of this
The larger than life part?
The larger than life part?
Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:10 pm There used to be an old German barber by the name of Rudy Sieber, in the nearest town to the village I grew up in, he had been a Luftwaffe pilot and had been shot down in WW2, he was subsequently been held POW nearby, and put to work doing farm laboring.
After the wars end, he’d met and married a local woman and settled down in the North East of England, becoming a mens barber and opening his own one man barber shop.
He was probably in his fifties when us kids used to go there to get our crew cuts, and we loved it because he swore like a trooper, “effing this” and “bastards that” very loudly in his thick German accent (this was in the days when it was very rare to hear an adult man swearing in front of women or kids)
He was legendary in our part of the country, everybody knew him or knew of him. He’d cut my own fathers hair when he was a kid.
We’d be waiting to have our haircut while he served some old fellow, all the while he’d be swearing away, usually ranting about something or other, and we’d be sniggering away.
Another of his quirks was that he was brutally frank with customers about their cleanliness and appearance, and wouldn’t hesitate to call someone a “scruffy fucker” if they came in with dirty work clothes on, or god forbid, with greasy hair wanting a haircut, “come back when you’ve washed your hair you filthy bastard” he’d tell them.
He’d also refuse point blank, to give any haircut that wasn’t basically a short back and sides (bearing in mind this was the 70s and long hair was in fashion) I particularly recall one guy coming in with an album cover showing some long haired musician, and asking to have his own long hair cut in the same style, he was promptly told to fuck off and shown the door.
Another time, a guy came in (probably 16 or 17 years old) with collar length hair, and I distinctly heard him say “just take half an inch off” which would usually warrant being told to to fuck off elsewhere, but surprisingly he was invited to sit in the barbers chair, then Rudy took his electric clippers and swiftly ran them from the middle of the guys forehead and over to the back of his head, the guy leapt out of the chair shouting “what the fuck?” and Rudy said “you asked for a half inch” (a common term used for a crew cut) It was so bad, the guy ended up getting a crew cut, as there was no way he could keep long hair with a 2 inch wide shaved centre parting. I rather suspect it was a deliberate ‘Misunderstanding’
He had some not so friendly notices posted around the shop and in the window, one referring to the clean hair requirement, and that he didn’t serve pigs, another, that because he’d suffered a heart attack, he “wouldn’t take any shit from customers”
To top it all off, he was also a licensed firearms dealer, making him even more fascinating to us kids, and he sold guns and ammunition in the same barber shop, (there was jars of Brilliantine and boxes of ammo on the same shelf) so you’d be in mid haircut, and he’d break off to sell someone a box of shotgun cartridges or show them some rifle that had just come in, we wouldn’t get our hair cut anywhere else, and when I was older I bought my ammunition from him.
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Chad Sexington
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Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
More a case of “extraordinary” than larger than life.kiwikiwon wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:24 pm Could not read a word of this
The larger than life part?Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:10 pm There used to be an old German barber by the name of Rudy Sieber, in the nearest town to the village I grew up in, he had been a Luftwaffe pilot and had been shot down in WW2, he was subsequently been held POW nearby, and put to work doing farm laboring.
After the wars end, he’d met and married a local woman and settled down in the North East of England, becoming a mens barber and opening his own one man barber shop.
He was probably in his fifties when us kids used to go there to get our crew cuts, and we loved it because he swore like a trooper, “effing this” and “bastards that” very loudly in his thick German accent (this was in the days when it was very rare to hear an adult man swearing in front of women or kids)
He was legendary in our part of the country, everybody knew him or knew of him. He’d cut my own fathers hair when he was a kid.
We’d be waiting to have our haircut while he served some old fellow, all the while he’d be swearing away, usually ranting about something or other, and we’d be sniggering away.
Another of his quirks was that he was brutally frank with customers about their cleanliness and appearance, and wouldn’t hesitate to call someone a “scruffy fucker” if they came in with dirty work clothes on, or god forbid, with greasy hair wanting a haircut, “come back when you’ve washed your hair you filthy bastard” he’d tell them.
He’d also refuse point blank, to give any haircut that wasn’t basically a short back and sides (bearing in mind this was the 70s and long hair was in fashion) I particularly recall one guy coming in with an album cover showing some long haired musician, and asking to have his own long hair cut in the same style, he was promptly told to fuck off and shown the door.
Another time, a guy came in (probably 16 or 17 years old) with collar length hair, and I distinctly heard him say “just take half an inch off” which would usually warrant being told to to fuck off elsewhere, but surprisingly he was invited to sit in the barbers chair, then Rudy took his electric clippers and swiftly ran them from the middle of the guys forehead and over to the back of his head, the guy leapt out of the chair shouting “what the fuck?” and Rudy said “you asked for a half inch” (a common term used for a crew cut) It was so bad, the guy ended up getting a crew cut, as there was no way he could keep long hair with a 2 inch wide shaved centre parting. I rather suspect it was a deliberate ‘Misunderstanding’
He had some not so friendly notices posted around the shop and in the window, one referring to the clean hair requirement, and that he didn’t serve pigs, another, that because he’d suffered a heart attack, he “wouldn’t take any shit from customers”
To top it all off, he was also a licensed firearms dealer, making him even more fascinating to us kids, and he sold guns and ammunition in the same barber shop, (there was jars of Brilliantine and boxes of ammo on the same shelf) so you’d be in mid haircut, and he’d break off to sell someone a box of shotgun cartridges or show them some rifle that had just come in, we wouldn’t get our hair cut anywhere else, and when I was older I bought my ammunition from him.
Reading not one of your strong points? you obviously couldn’t read one of the words in the subject title
Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
I guess not
Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:34 pmMore a case of “extraordinary” than larger than life.kiwikiwon wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:24 pm Could not read a word of this
The larger than life part?Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:10 pm There used to be an old German barber by the name of Rudy Sieber, in the nearest town to the village I grew up in, he had been a Luftwaffe pilot and had been shot down in WW2, he was subsequently been held POW nearby, and put to work doing farm laboring.
After the wars end, he’d met and married a local woman and settled down in the North East of England, becoming a mens barber and opening his own one man barber shop.
He was probably in his fifties when us kids used to go there to get our crew cuts, and we loved it because he swore like a trooper, “effing this” and “bastards that” very loudly in his thick German accent (this was in the days when it was very rare to hear an adult man swearing in front of women or kids)
He was legendary in our part of the country, everybody knew him or knew of him. He’d cut my own fathers hair when he was a kid.
We’d be waiting to have our haircut while he served some old fellow, all the while he’d be swearing away, usually ranting about something or other, and we’d be sniggering away.
Another of his quirks was that he was brutally frank with customers about their cleanliness and appearance, and wouldn’t hesitate to call someone a “scruffy fucker” if they came in with dirty work clothes on, or god forbid, with greasy hair wanting a haircut, “come back when you’ve washed your hair you filthy bastard” he’d tell them.
He’d also refuse point blank, to give any haircut that wasn’t basically a short back and sides (bearing in mind this was the 70s and long hair was in fashion) I particularly recall one guy coming in with an album cover showing some long haired musician, and asking to have his own long hair cut in the same style, he was promptly told to fuck off and shown the door.
Another time, a guy came in (probably 16 or 17 years old) with collar length hair, and I distinctly heard him say “just take half an inch off” which would usually warrant being told to to fuck off elsewhere, but surprisingly he was invited to sit in the barbers chair, then Rudy took his electric clippers and swiftly ran them from the middle of the guys forehead and over to the back of his head, the guy leapt out of the chair shouting “what the fuck?” and Rudy said “you asked for a half inch” (a common term used for a crew cut) It was so bad, the guy ended up getting a crew cut, as there was no way he could keep long hair with a 2 inch wide shaved centre parting. I rather suspect it was a deliberate ‘Misunderstanding’
He had some not so friendly notices posted around the shop and in the window, one referring to the clean hair requirement, and that he didn’t serve pigs, another, that because he’d suffered a heart attack, he “wouldn’t take any shit from customers”
To top it all off, he was also a licensed firearms dealer, making him even more fascinating to us kids, and he sold guns and ammunition in the same barber shop, (there was jars of Brilliantine and boxes of ammo on the same shelf) so you’d be in mid haircut, and he’d break off to sell someone a box of shotgun cartridges or show them some rifle that had just come in, we wouldn’t get our hair cut anywhere else, and when I was older I bought my ammunition from him.
Reading not one of your strong points? you obviously couldn’t read one of the words in the subject title
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CaptainCanuck
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Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
My Godfather was an uncle who lived hours away in another city. He often returned to visit his father and never failed to come by to take me along. A huge bear of a man who walked everywhere I remember almost having to jog to keep up but to have his huge hand taking mine to cross each intersection was worth the pain in my legs. He promised me a hot dog if I sat quietly as he visited with his elderly dad and never failed to deliver. Once when he dropped me off he told my Dad that I was a good boy because I could keep up without whining, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so proud.
I learned a lot without knowing I was being taught like .... don’t quit just because you’re a little tired ... keep your promises, it matters ... old guys chatting often drop pearls of wisdom in day to day conversation so listen and remember .... and the most important, nothing tastes so good as an earned hotdog ate in the company of someone you love and respect.
RIP Uncle Harry.
I learned a lot without knowing I was being taught like .... don’t quit just because you’re a little tired ... keep your promises, it matters ... old guys chatting often drop pearls of wisdom in day to day conversation so listen and remember .... and the most important, nothing tastes so good as an earned hotdog ate in the company of someone you love and respect.
RIP Uncle Harry.
Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
I was neighbour to a girl named Michelle Wie for a when I was young.
Turned out to be a good golfer or something.
Turned out to be a good golfer or something.
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Tootsfriend
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Re: Extraordinary or larger than life characters you have known
I worked on a new power station being built when I was 17 years of age as a TA [ trades assistant] in the instrument department. The engineer I worked with was a old Swedish guy called Charlie Linburge , under 5 foot tall, smoked cigars and wore a aluminum safety helmet. He was quite a genius and often pointed out to the Betchel Pacific builders of the power station that the plans he was given to install a instrument and the copper or stainless steel air supply line could not be installed as per plan because of some technical problem like a major beam being in the way. He was well respected by the project manager as if he bought up a sujestion or problem that may arise , he always seemed to be right.
None of the other workers would work with Charlie and yet I got on great with him cause I started to think like him. I was always one step ahead of him and if he was going to need any tool to do a job I already had that tool in my hand ready for him to grab . Whether it be a screw, bolt , threadtape or whatever, I knew what he was going to do next , so we got on well together and he taught me many of those engineering tips that I still know today .
RIP Charlie.
None of the other workers would work with Charlie and yet I got on great with him cause I started to think like him. I was always one step ahead of him and if he was going to need any tool to do a job I already had that tool in my hand ready for him to grab . Whether it be a screw, bolt , threadtape or whatever, I knew what he was going to do next , so we got on well together and he taught me many of those engineering tips that I still know today .
RIP Charlie.
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