Dorm Raids
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:16 pm
This is the story of an epic dorm raid that took place in 1978/9
While in Barnes B on the LE we were raided by Barnes A, sometime after lights out. The raiders stormed into the dorm and tore most of the blankets and sheets of the beds and hit a few of us with Pillows... Not hugely fun, but quite exciting.
Later that night I was woken by Mr. Torkington who said that I was to get a few others for a return raid on Barnes A! However this was to be a stealth raid.
Waking some of the others in the dorm we snuck downstairs to Mr. Torkington's study, where he explained that we were to sneak into Barnes A and quietly walk into the lower dorm and spread out, stand next to a bed and on the signal pull every bed off their frame and onto the floor. We were also to hit the Barnes A, LE in the head with their pillows, before making our escape.
This plan was executed with precision, we snuck in, crept up between the beds, and on the signal did our worst. We ran back to the house and into bed, knowing that we were not going to be getting into trouble for this, but that Barnes A would be stopped from retaliating. We all headed back to bed and to sleep.....
But it does not end there...
Being aroused from sleep later that night, Mr. Torknigon woke me up again and said that this time he needed everyone to come to his study, all the boys.
I woke up a lot of them, but not all believed me...
Upon arriving downstairs we were given our new set of instructions. We were to complete a second dorm raid and like the first, we were to sneak into Barnes A and quietly stand by a bed before executing the next part of his plan.
We were then given plastic cups and plastic bags told to fill them with water, and then form a queue to sneak into Barnes A again.
But this time we were not to come back to Barnes B, but run out of the house and down the avenue to Leigh Hunt, making lots of noise, before sneaking back into our own house.
However, as with the best-laid plans, not everything goes as it should. Being the middle of the night and not having everyone being involved in the first raid, things did not exactly go to plan! With the boys traipsing into Barnes A, up the stairs to both dorms all was going well. Until Justin Balding decided to shout "Charge!!!" as he reached the top of the stairs and rushed into the dorm.
Chaos ensued as everyone charged into the dorms. We threw our cups of water and smashed the plastic bags of water into the heads of the sleeping boys, soaking them and then pulling the beds apart. Shouting loudly we ran out of Barnes A, onto the Avenue chanting "Leigh Hunt A, Leigh Hunt A" while running on mass in that direction.
We ran around the Leigh Hunt block and then quietly snuck back into Barnes B and into bed. All I can remember of the next morning when we marched into breakfast was that no one from Barnes B said anything. The boys in Barnes A though had a lot to say to the boys from Leigh Hunt A.....
One last memory of this from the next day was that the Barnes A Matron, Ellie van Alphen was on the warpath as the water had ruined the wooden floors, removing all the polish and creating a huge amount of work for her to sort out.
While in Barnes B on the LE we were raided by Barnes A, sometime after lights out. The raiders stormed into the dorm and tore most of the blankets and sheets of the beds and hit a few of us with Pillows... Not hugely fun, but quite exciting.
Later that night I was woken by Mr. Torkington who said that I was to get a few others for a return raid on Barnes A! However this was to be a stealth raid.
Waking some of the others in the dorm we snuck downstairs to Mr. Torkington's study, where he explained that we were to sneak into Barnes A and quietly walk into the lower dorm and spread out, stand next to a bed and on the signal pull every bed off their frame and onto the floor. We were also to hit the Barnes A, LE in the head with their pillows, before making our escape.
This plan was executed with precision, we snuck in, crept up between the beds, and on the signal did our worst. We ran back to the house and into bed, knowing that we were not going to be getting into trouble for this, but that Barnes A would be stopped from retaliating. We all headed back to bed and to sleep.....
But it does not end there...
Being aroused from sleep later that night, Mr. Torknigon woke me up again and said that this time he needed everyone to come to his study, all the boys.
I woke up a lot of them, but not all believed me...
Upon arriving downstairs we were given our new set of instructions. We were to complete a second dorm raid and like the first, we were to sneak into Barnes A and quietly stand by a bed before executing the next part of his plan.
We were then given plastic cups and plastic bags told to fill them with water, and then form a queue to sneak into Barnes A again.
But this time we were not to come back to Barnes B, but run out of the house and down the avenue to Leigh Hunt, making lots of noise, before sneaking back into our own house.
However, as with the best-laid plans, not everything goes as it should. Being the middle of the night and not having everyone being involved in the first raid, things did not exactly go to plan! With the boys traipsing into Barnes A, up the stairs to both dorms all was going well. Until Justin Balding decided to shout "Charge!!!" as he reached the top of the stairs and rushed into the dorm.
Chaos ensued as everyone charged into the dorms. We threw our cups of water and smashed the plastic bags of water into the heads of the sleeping boys, soaking them and then pulling the beds apart. Shouting loudly we ran out of Barnes A, onto the Avenue chanting "Leigh Hunt A, Leigh Hunt A" while running on mass in that direction.
We ran around the Leigh Hunt block and then quietly snuck back into Barnes B and into bed. All I can remember of the next morning when we marched into breakfast was that no one from Barnes B said anything. The boys in Barnes A though had a lot to say to the boys from Leigh Hunt A.....
One last memory of this from the next day was that the Barnes A Matron, Ellie van Alphen was on the warpath as the water had ruined the wooden floors, removing all the polish and creating a huge amount of work for her to sort out.