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Veterans recall Dunston "Dads' Army"
The Eleven Club
The strains of "Tipperary" and "Roses of Picardy" were familiar sound at The Mechanic's Club, then in later years at The Rowers Arms, in Dunston - at least on one night of the year.
For that was when the "Eleven Club" met to remember their colleagues who fought in the First World War and then reminisce about the Second World War.
Each of the eleven men wore a scarlet poppy and the medals he won in the various campaigns. The club was formed, by Jimmy Goulbourn, in the Dunston Mechanics' Club on Armistice Day 1918. The club met each year until the club faded in the seventies because of pressure of work and the deaths of the older members.
The objective was to perpetuate the memory of those men who died in the First World War.
Born in Dunston, he formed his own home guard, long before Second World War. When the Home Guard became official it was a common sight to see Jimmy, the butcher, and his trainees setting out on a route march, complete with a barrel of beer. They attended a rifle range and practised shooting.
The Chairman in 1966 was 71-year-old William Ritchie, a retired railwayman, who was also the chairman of the Dunston Branch of the British Legion.
At this time most of the members had served in the Second World War and some were the sons of the original eleven. They were:- Thomas, Gerald and James Goulbourn, grandsons of the founder James Goulbourn, his nephew Alec Eltringham, Charlie Challoner, a First and Second World War man; Bob Pyle, a first War man, Miles Morrison, Harry Charlton and William Ritchie the Chairman.
"As Armistice was declared at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month we insisted that there must always be eleven members. In 1966 it was difficult as two could not get to the reunion, so two guests were invited."
As well as having their annual supper, the club was noted for the trips they organised. There was one on the last Sunday in May and one towards the end of August. Two guests were invited each trip. After a guest had been invited two or three times, he might be elected to membership of the exclusive Eleven when a vacancy occurred due the resignation or death of a member.