by Dugald » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:33 pm
As a young resident of Govan in 1938 I watched with great interest for a long time, many of the preparations for the Empire Exhibition. Many times we, the boys on Crossloan Rd., walked up Helen St. or Craigton Rd. to see what was happening in the park where we used to roll our Easter eggs. The big new fancy Cunarder tram cars started running past our street and up to the top of Craigton Rd. and then onto the new track laid on Jura St. right to the very gates of Bellahousten Park, from where could be seen most of the bright new pavilions, including the two superb Scottish ones. The second city of the Empire was a hive of industry, had done a great job, and had much to be proud of. The forthcoming summer promised to be an exciting one, and if you had a 12/6 (twelve 'n a tanner) season pass, you were set for a whole summer's entertainment; if you didn't... well, there was always the railing.
There was much hustle 'n bustle and excitement in Glasgow associated with the forthcoming visit of King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth to perform the opening of the Bellahousten Park, and for the kids around 43 Crossloan Rd., Govan, there was an added interest...one of their own, Leading Signaller Johnny Brennan, R.N., from their very own close, would signal by semaphore from atop the Exhibition Tower, and set in motion the parade that would take the royal couple to open the Exhibition.
On the day the Exhibition was due to open, various military detachments formed up on Helen St. near the White City Dog racing track.The streets were absolutely jammed with spectators. There were many bands, brass and pipe, and all kinds of military orders being barked hither and thither. Our vantage point was right beside the band of the R.A.F., a very smart looking lot attired in uniforms more like those of Hussars than airmen. Shortly before the parade got under way the air was rent asunder by the flypast of about twenty heavy bombers of the R.A.F. heading towards the city centre...a sight not at all common in 1938 Glasgow.
We never did see Johnny's signal from atop the tower, but the parade did set off and we followed it up onto the Paisley Rd and along to the main entrance. The crowds were so thick that even we Govan urchins couldn't make our way up to the main entrance and got bogged down well out of sight of the royal couple opening the Exhibition, but very much in the grip of the unbelievable excitement.
King George and Queen Elizabeth did open the Exhibition and it was a marvelous success. I paid admission once with my father, went once with a school trip, and visited it many times on my own by going through the railings (not an easy task!). It was truly a fantastic summer's entertainment. Leading Signaller Johnny Brennan, R.N., went down with H.M.S. Exmouth in the Cromarty Firth a bit more than a year after the Exhibition closed , and some of the Exhibition's infrastructure was used to accommodate French Alpine troops evacuated from Norway in 1940, then by German POW's in 1943...all a far cry from the heady Exhibition days of 1938.
Dugald