Part 2 of the story of Alexis Korner.
In 1944 Alexis, now 13 years old, was back in London with his parents but was still getting into trouble stealing records and skipping school. He was still going to psychologist Crichton-Miller but was still acting out and Emil and Sappho were very worried about their son’s future. Crichton-Miller also didn’t know anymore how to help this very intelligent but troubled kid and suggested to Emil and Sappho to send Alexis to a special boarding school. Finchden Manor was a farm that housed and schooled young boys with an IQ higher than 125, who had problems at home and couldn’t finish their education. This seemed perfect for Alexis, here he could get his school certificate and get help with his behaviour and couldn’t skip classes.
On Friday March 23, 1944 Alexis left his parents home and made the trip to Finchden Manor by himself. At that moment forty other boys were living at Finchden Manor and everybody had their daily tasks of washing dishes, cleaning and taking care of the animals on the farm. There were also classes you could follow but you only had to take the classes you wanted, so the boys at Finchden Manor could figure out what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. Besides that you had sessions with the head of Finchden Manor, George Lyward and his wife.
Back in London Emil was still struggling with his health and passed away on May 6, 1944. His grieving wife Sappho send a letter to George Lyward with the following message:
“The news I have to send my son today is very very sad. That is why I am writing to you to break it to him. My dear husband who has not been well for quite a long time has suddenly passed away last night. You can imagine the tragedy of the whole situation. The poor man was so terribly worried about our boy and hoped so much to live long enough to see him grow into a good honest man. Will you kindly break these sad news to him in your own way which I have no doubt will be the best. I am going to write to him also. I do not wish him to come to London not even for a few days as I’m afraid that the good work you have started with him will get spoilt here. Don’t you think this is the best for him?”
When Alexis is sent to Lyward’s office, he knows that there is something wrong and somewhere he knows his father has died. Alexis never had a good relationship with his father, Emil was a very distant man and was very disappointed in Alexis while his other two sons were doing great and were successful, but Alexis despite his intellect couldn’t finish his school certificate. As his mother’s letter suggested, Alexis is not allowed to attend his father’s funeral and stays in Finchden Manor till Christmas, when he is allowed to spend a few days with a friend in Sunderland. For the new years he visits his mother in London and then heads back to Finchden Manor. In May 1945, with the war over, Sappho wanted to take her son on holiday and asked George Lyward for permission. Lyward says he is almost certain that Alexis can go on holiday but changes his mind at the last moment so Alexis can learn that not everything in life goes as planned. A year later, on May 26, 1946 Sappho died after being sick for a while and her brother Themi and her sister Cali became Alexis’ foster parents. Alexis is taken with grief when he hears the news of the death of his beloved mother and returns to London for her funeral.
In London Alexis moves into the house of his uncle Themi at Collingham Road, Earls Court. Uncle Themi is unmarried and shares his house with his sister Cali and together they take care of the now eighteen year old Alexis. From the moment Alexis moved in uncle Themi doesn’t want Alexis to go back to Finchden Manor, he can’t understand what is going on there and thinks it is bad for the family name to have a kid there. George Lyward tries to convince uncle Themi that it is better for Alexis to return but Themi was having none of it and Alexis never returned to Finchden Manor.
Now out of school, still without his school certificate, and back in London Alexis starts to think about his future and starts working for the insurance company owned by uncle Themi, A.G. TH. Avgherino & N. Aperguis. The work is boring and Alexis missed having people around, working in his own office. At Finchden Manor and the boarding schools before that Alexis always had somebody around and now here he was sitting lonely in an office doing boring work. Then Alexis gets called up for national service, which was still in place after the war and consisted of two years of military service. Alexis enlisted in the Parachute Regiment but is involved in an accident a few weeks into his service and is taken to the hospital with a back injury. Because of this Alexis can no longer partake in any active service and is reassigned to the Education Corps because of his high IQ. There they find out that Alexis knows a lot about jazz and blues music and can speak German. So Alexis is reassigned again this time to the British Forces Network in Hamburg, Germany. During the war a lot of young Britons were listening to the American Forces Network and now after the war, the British military started their own network, which was launched on July 27, 1945. This radio station was meant for British soldiers abroad and was broadcast worldwide. Alexis was in charge of the record collection of the BFN (British Forces Network) and spent much time record shopping in Hamburg to search for new records for the BFN collection. Alexis was only in charge of the record collection and wasn’t allowed to present any shows or pick the records for a show, other people did that, Alexis only had to make sure that the collection was in good condition and updated with the newest releases and old favorites. Because Alexis was fluent in German and knew a lot about music Alexis was offered to host a show on the German radio station NDR. Here Alexis hosted a jazz program with records he borrowed from the BFN collection.
In Germany Alexis bought his first guitar and was getting more and more into blues music and started to practice on his guitar and play along with his records. After spending about two years in Germany, Alexis’ national service was over and he moved back to his uncle and aunt in London, but not before taking a little detour to visit Paris and see Huddie Ledbetter play live. Ledbetter was an important blues guitarist and his performance changed Alexis, who now was sure that he wanted to be a blues guitarist.
Back in London Alexis moves into his own apartment at Queen’s Gate Terrace, South Kensington and spends much time practicing on his guitar. To pay the rent he goes back to his old job at the insurance company of his uncle Themi but finds the job more boring than two years ago and dreams of a future in music. Under pressure from his family Alexis keeps his job but spends much time hanging out in record stores listening to music and talking about jazz and blues with other enthusiasts. Recordstores back then were not only a place to buy records but also a place to hang out and talk to other jazz or blues fans, many bands found new members in record stores. This is also how Alexis met Chris Barber and decided to join the Chris Barber Band as a guitarist, playing an eclectic guitar without an amp so nobody could hear him play.