Are you Free? Mr Humphries

A little ditty from Albie C.  A way back in yesteryear, a number of our servicemen who joined just before September 1939 were due for discharge in 1951 after completing  their 12 years continuous service . Some of these were from Waiouru W/T and they were replaced by some ex RN personnel who were airlifted out to NZ to fill the gaps.   Upon completing their discharge routine at Philomel , a group of about six ventured across the water and congregated in the Commercial Hotel (now known as The De Bretts) at the corner of Shortland St. and High St.  After each had touched his kick and all had attended to calls of nature,  they proceeded to divest themselves of their uniforms which left them  clad only in singlets , underpants, shoes and socks.  After putting their burberries back on , they formed up in line ahead and marched out of the bar and about 50 metres later they arrived at the intersection with Queen St. much to the astonishment of the populace who had never seen so many “pusser’s stockings” in public before.   On the corner was a shop which went under the name of Hugh Wright Menswear Ltd.  Upon entry the were met by a portly gentleman about fiftyish , slightly balding with a fabric tape measure slung around his neck.  He appeared quite taken aback by the spectacle that confronted him and before he could express his dismay,  one of them asked if they by any chance,  sold suits !..  Gathering his scattered wits he realised that if he was going to be home for tea on time then he had better call  for reinforcements and that is exactly what he did.  They returned to the  bar and the rest is history.  For a long time if you were ever short of something in your kit  you could always pay a visit and find something up on the shelf that ran around the outside of the Island Bar.