Boarding school hell

AFTER the conviction of paedophile Barry Bennell, many men will recall what went on at boarding schools in the Fifties and Sixties.

I was only eight when I was sent off to a well-known public school in Scotland. My father was an Army officer in Cyprus, and I saw my parents only for summer holidays, spending the other holidays with relatives in London.

Several boys of my age travelled to London on the night sleeper escorted by two masters. Before bedtime they came into the compartment to assist us in putting on our pyjamas and at the same time molested us.

At school, being caned for next to nothing was a regular occurrence. You had to line up outside the housemaster’s study and wait your turn to be fondled before the beating. We were too terrified to tell anyone.

Fathers in those days thought boarding school would make a man of you. It did the exact opposite to me and, I expect, many others.

Like Bennell’s victims, it left me confused and vulnerable, and throughout my life I’ve found it difficult to form relationships.

Name and address supplied.