Pawn Shop Dick

Pawn Shop Dick is a fascinating autobiography of the truly amazing life of Ray Fear told with candour and spiced with wit and humour. Follow this rare opportunity to travel and share in his many different adventures at the Tower of London as a Grenadier Guard, through World War II and as a book maker for over 30 years. Ray was conceived in the Tower of London and at a young age was caught throwing conkers at the, then future, Queen only to be reprimanded 15 years later for throwing bread rolls at Princess Elizabeth II on her visit to Chelsea Barracks. After moving around London he found himself in Falmouth in Cornwall where he became one of the main attractions at the circus before moving back to London and then finally to Brighton, Sussex by the Sea, where he and his family managed to live rent-free in a number of boarding houses. The regular bombings of Brighton enabled him to leave school aged 13 when he entered his first job at a pawn shop before increasing his age to enable him to enter his father’s old army infantry regiment, The Grenadier Guards. During preparation for The Guards, Ray spent 8 weeks becoming a trained assassin at Windsor Barracks competent in the use of 9 weapons before, to his horror, being sent to Catterick Camp in Yorkshire to train as a driver-gunner of the 40 ton Churchill tank. After completing training, Ray travelled to France to join the 4th Battalion Grenadiers, part of the 6th Guards Independent Brigade, and to Germany at Kiel, Köln, Vogelsang, Hamburg, Eisenstein, Rheinbach where he guarded 6000 German officers at the Neuengamme German death camp, and he finished the war at Lubeck. Credited as ‘Smartest man on parade’ before disgracing himself two days later at the docks of Coxhaven, drunk and disorderly, Ray headed back to London Chelsea barracks where he continued to live a highly unorthodox life. Ray built his own bookmaking business employing office workers and 60 bookies collecting thousands of bets daily while also acting as an agent for Vernons Pools, becoming their largest main agent in Britain with the aid of 320 sub-agents collecting over £30,000 every Friday night – a fortune in those days. Encounters with Customs and Excise lead you to wonder how he outfoxed their investigations and is an education in itself. After suing a solicitor for negligence in the high court while representing himself, and winning, Ray was sworn to secrecy by a confidentiality agreement ultimately broken within these pages, Ray summarises with lessons learned from a mischievous life full of debauchery, corruption and intrigue that will keep you amused for hours. A riveting read. ----- 90 next year and desperately looking for his fifth wife and having had 10 children, Ray is eager to father his 11th child. Looking 25 years younger than he is, there is every possibility that his wishes will be granted. This book makes for a most entertaining read. - Leslie Toll, Daily Mail. I normally take a book to bed, read a couple of pages and fall asleep. Last night I took Pawn Shop Dick with me, read 60 pages and kept my wife awake laughing. A most enjoyable read. - Peter Baker, Editor, Costa Blanca News. There are tales of mischief and debauchery, corruption and intrigue that will keep you amused for hours. In its own way, Pawn Shop Dick is an inspiration to the younger generation. - David Dew, Racing Post. One of the most popular books in the library, Pawn Shop Dick is a well told tale of a very interesting life. - Christine Webster, Derby Central Library. Pawn Shop Dick is a breath of fresh air, it brightens one's day. - Will Phillips, Carmarthen Public Library. A wee comment about the book Pawn Shop Dick. A light and humorous read about a character who has lived many lives in one lifetime, and who intends to see a few more. - John Smith, Aberdeen Central Library.