The Beatles and Me -- How I won the War

Let's take a trip back to 1966 and grab an issue of 16 Magazine.   It was there that you would find interesting feature stories by Pattie Boyd or Neil Aspinall.    This one from Neil about John Lennon and How I won the War is really good.  I think it gives information that you can't find anywhere else.   I really wish Neil had written a book.  But at least we have articles like this one!

The Beatles and Me

By Neil Aspinall

16 Magazine 1966

On the evening of October 8, 1966, John Lennon celebrated his 26^th birthday in an apartment in Almeria, Spain.  Officially, he was 26 on Sunday, October 9^th, but the party took place the night before because John was about to move to a new location.   At the time, we had been in Spain just over three weeks for location work on the Richard Lester movie, How I won the War, in which John plays the part of Corporal Gripweed – a faithful, slovenly and slightly cowardly servant/batman on Lieutenant Goodbody (Michael Crawford) of the British Army.

The entire production unit for the movie got an open invitation to the birthday shindig and believe me, it was quite a wild night!  Almeria is a pretty remote spot – minus most forms of conventional night life, so that party was one of the few really successful social occasions of the month.

John and Cyn had become very friendly with Michael Crawford and his wife, who were renting an apartment nearby.  Already the Crawfords were finding themselves a bit cramped, because they had their lovely little six-month-old baby with them and a nanny.  And Ringo arrived with Maureen for a holiday three days before the birthday party!

“You know what we ought to do?”  John suggested one evening , just after we’d heard that Ringo and Maureen were coming to Spain.  “We should all get together and rent one of those fantastic old villas outside the town.”

The Crawfords loved the idea and the move was organized without delay.  The apartments were very attractive and comfortable – with a wonderful view looking out over the sea.  But everyone wanted more space to move around in and larger “get-togethers” rooms for entertaining.  So, on the Sunday of John’s birthday, we moved into the Villa Corjo-Romera, a magnificent rambling old Spanish villa standing on a hill outside the town.

“It’ll take days just to explore this place,” John declared, as we walked from room to room on the initial four of the villa.  We admired all the heavy woodwork, the superbly decorated ceilings and the majestic main hall.

“That’s it,” replied John.  “A party!  It’s my birthday.  We should have one.”

“We did that last night,” I put in weakly.

“Well, we’ll do it again tonight,” John said.  “It can be called a villa warming, if you like.”

“Hey—you’ve got a game room,” Ringo said.  “Let’s have a go at table tennis later.”

That night’s “villa warming” party coincided with one of the worst storms Almeria had ever experienced in living memory.  Normally, the locals expect no more than about five days of rain each year.  This storm took everybody by surprise.  The rain was torrential and it was accompanied by a fierce wind.  The party was just getting underway, when all the lights went out, so we rushed around trying to find where the fuses were located.    We needn’t have bothered.  The electricity supply cables for the entire area had been damaged by the storm.  And the telephone lines were down too.  Finally, we found enough candles to light the place.  And in the end, the candlelight added a definitely romantic atmosphere to the party, and the power cut turned out to be a novel advantage rather than a disaster.

It goes without saying that there was no film work done on Monday.  The location set had been washed away by the rain.  (After all, this was a desert sequence – and floods just don’t happen in the desert!)  The water supply for the villa came from a well, but the pump was worked by electricity.  It wasn’t until late Tuesday afternoon that the electric power was restored.  So we spent Monday devising ways of eating and existing comfortably without the use of water or electricity. 

The restoration of the power coincided with the arrival of our cook.  So at about three o’clock Tuesday afternoon we all settled down to a late breakfast of sausages and eggs.

“This, I am really looking forward to,” said John and the girls put on a look of mock annoyance.  “Not that I’m saying a word against your cooking, but even you two can’t work wonders without water.”

 John and I had left for Germany to being work on How I won the War less than a week after the Beatles’ American tour.  By  now it must be a matter of well-known historical fact that John’s ceremonial hair-cutting took place at the unearthly hour of 7:30am on the morning of Tuesday, September 6, 1966!  The “operation” was supervised by the film’s producer/director, Richard Lester, and carried out by 28-year-old German hairdresser, Klaus Baruch, of Hamburg.   He came to our small vacation type hotel in the forest of Luneburg Heath to perform his grave task.   John’s familiar fringe was swept back and greased down a bit to transform him into Corporal Gripweed.  The addition of a grubby old army greatcoat plus a pair of very pain specs completed the change from Beatle to “batman.”

Don’t believe any claims people might make about possessing some of John’s clipped-off hair.   I watched the famous locks of hair burning away to nothing while we were at Luneburg!

No true Neil---this lock of John's hair sold at Heritage Auctions in 2016

We got one completely free day in Germany and John took the opportunity of re-visiting some of his favorite haunts in Hamburg.  We couldn’t make the rounds of the Hamburg club scene because we had to be up so early the following morning.  Instead, John went on a shopping spree and picked up an assortment of shirts, shoes, jeans and other accessories from stores he knew well from the Beatles’ days in Hamburg five and six years ago.  It was a fascinating day for John since so many of the places familiar to him had greatly changed since 1960.

We finished filming in Germany on Wednesday September 14^th.  By coincidence, that was the day that a “Mr. and Mrs. Sam Wells” flew from London, Airport on a BOAC plane bound for Bombay.  At Bombay’s Taj Mahal Hotel, it wasn’t long before Mr. and Mrs. Wells alias George Harrison, let himself be pressured into admitting his true identity and explain to the local press his motives for that extended Indian vacation trip:  to study the sitar and everything to do with Asian music.

Meanwhile, back at How I won the War, John and I left Hamburg by the night train to Paris in the small hours of Friday September 16^th.  And at the same time (or a few hours later), Brian Epstein left London for Paris—accompanied by Paul McCartney.  We all met in Paris—just for the weekend, because filming in Spain was due to start early the following week.  The flight from Paris to Spain was fast and the longest and most tedious part of our journey was yet to come.  From the airport at Malaga, we faced a five-hour car dive to Almeria, which is, as I said earlier, a bit of a remote spot.  We drove along what the Spanish fondly imagine are highways but are, in fact, more like dirt tracks with superficial tarmac coating.  For most of the way, the “road “runs alongside the sea – I mean ALONGSIDE, because I reckoned we would plunge straight down into the waves at any second.

The living in Spain was a bit rough, but  nobody minded.  By now, most of the cast had become firm friends.  Although John and I had made a particular mate of Michael Crawford, we were equally close with all the other actors.  Like Ronald Lacy, who is Spool in the picture; Lee Montague, who is Transom (Corporal of Musket and Troop Sergeant); Roy Kinnear, who is Clapper; and Michael Hardern, who plays Lt. Col. Grapple.  Each morning we would be up by 7:30 to leave no later than 8am.  John had his own driver and Rolls with him.  The Almeria inhabitants were thoroughly impressed with this vehicle, and John caused a great stir each day as we drove out of the town.  The local people described the Rolls as the “Royal Hearse.”

Once we left the town each morning, that was it for the whole day.  At the actual film location, we spent most of our spare time watching what was happening or sitting around on the floor of an old bus (no seats) which was used as the company wardrobe and the cast’s dressing room. Between 8:30am and 9, John went through the make-up process of becoming Corporal Gripweed, and the next four hours were spent in front of the cameras.  The lunch break was from twelve to one.  We were well looked after, despite the lack of facilities on the location.  We all sat around in a big and very hot tent eating excellent lunches, with things like melon, filet steak and fruit.

Most of our evenings were spent quietly.  Sometimes, John would go through his lines for the following day, with me correcting him and filling in all the other parts.  Just for laughs, we would rewrite whole scenes for ourselves, which got a bit confusing.  So sooner or later, we’d call each other to order and get back to the script-learning bit.  I’m not sure exactly where Corporal Gripweed was born and raised, but John has given him a definitely Liverpool origin.

When Ringo and Maurren joined us at Almeria on Wednesday, October 5^th, only one of the boys remained in England.  That was Paul, who was still in the process of putting the final interior finishing touches to his new house at St. John’s Wood in North London. In any case, he wasn’t ready to take an overseas vcacation at that stage because he had started work on the soundtrack musical score for the Hayley Mills’ film, “All in good time.”

So, by the final week of October, the all round situation on the Beatle front was this:  George with yoga experience, sitar lessons and mustache, was located in a picturesque house beside a loe not too far from Bombay, India; Paul was in London, watching different bits of the Boulting Brothers’ film and writing the background music for each scene; and Ringo was taking it easy in Spain and watching John work on the final segments of How I won the War.  Now there was an interesting dispersal of talents and occupations, if ever there was one!

My Three days with the Beatles

Tina Williams was one of the school girls in "A Hard Day's Night."   This is a story that she wrote for "16" magazine about her experience working with the Beatles on the film.    I do not always think that the things in "16" in the 1960's were true because they sugar-coated a lot of the stories and told just false information, but this seems like a pretty good telling.  

My 3 Days with the Beatles

By Tina Williams

September 1964 16 Magazine

It was almost like a dream come true – in fact it was – the morning I heard that I was one of the girls chosen to make a film with those fabulous Beatles!

How did it all start?

Well, as a student of the Aida Foster School, I was asked to attend an audition with the producer, director and cast director of the film.  But when I saw the number of girls on a list who were also to be auditioned, I gave up all hopes of getting the job.  Nevertheless, I put on my best bib and tucker and sallied forth.  

At the film company’s plush Mayfair headquarters, I was shown into the producer’s office.  I was asked all sorts of questions -- “What work have you done before?”  “Do you like the Beatles?”  Just ordinary questions.  And that was that!  To be honest, I didn’t give the matter another thought.  That was until the morning I heard that I had been give the role.  I couldn’t believe it!  I was even more pleased when I heard that my friend, Susan (who attends the same acting school I do), had also been selected.  We had both waited three weeks to hear that we were in.   But it didn’t seem that long because we didn’t worry about it.  It’s no good biting your fingernails all the time.  What was the point?

Then we were told, very casually, to report for filming in three days’ time!  Those three days seemed like three weeks!   I was so excited; I couldn’t wait to get started.  Then we heard that we were all to be crowded on a train which had been hired for the filming – destination unknown!   All we were told was to report to the Paddington Station and that we would return about seven in the evening. 

Came the big day, I’d hardly slept all the night before!   Later, I discovered that in my colossal rush to get ready, I had left my purse, with my money inside, at home – which led to several embarrassments!

I said goodbye to my parents and joked, “Well, I’m off now.  Gotta date with the Beatles!”  I felt nine feet tall and actually I’m only five feet five!

So there I was on my way to Paddington.  Then I realized I had no money with me!  It was getting late and I just dared not miss that train.   Can you imagine keeping the Beatles and everyone else waiting just for me?  Luckily , I had some small change in my coat pocket which was enough to get me to Paddington Station.  

Naturally, the first thing I looked for when I arrived were those four fabulous fringes.  But they weren’t to be seen anywhere.  I joined up with the other girls and we boarded the train.  But still no sign of a Beatle anywhere.  Hello, I thought to myself, you’re not even going to meet them.  You know how films are made!  All in little bits and pieces and all over the place.  But then I thought, well, we must meet them sometime, because we are playing the parts of fans who discover in the film that they are on the train and we run up and down the corridors looking for them, until finally we corner them in a carriage.

The train started on its journey.  “When are we going to meet the Beatles?”  We asked someone.  “Don’t worry, girls, you will!”  He said.  The train stopped at Westbourne Park, just outside Paddington, and at last we heard that the boys had boarded the train.  It was all so secret.  No one apart from a handful of people were to know of their movements that day.  It was, of course, very necessary to keep things quiet.  Can you imagine what might have happened if the Beatles had suddenly turned up at Paddington Station?  British Railways would have been thrown into complete chaos!

But we still had to wait three hours before seeing the boys!   Then all at once they burst into our compartment.  “Hello girls!”  They all shouted.  I was dumb-struck for a second.  I couldn’t say anything.

They all looked great, especially Paul.  He’s so handsome when you meet him face to face.  Almost immediately, I found myself talking to Paul, George John and Ringo as though I’d known them for a long, long time.  It’s the way they make you feel.  They’re all so warm and friendly.  I thought that perhaps they wouldn’t talk to us, except in the scenes we play with them, but this wasn’t so.  They have no “big star” temperament at all.  They are just four ordinary fellas who enjoy life.   And they proved to be so much fun!

We were to spend a whole day with tem and another two days at Twickenham studios.   We had lunch and tea with them on the train and both meals were quite a riot.  You know it’s almost impossible not to roar your head off when you’re in their company.  The jokes seem to flow all the time.  Those three days were really the craziest I have ever spent.  I thought Ringo was the funniest and the most friendly.  He says such funny things.  

“I can do things for you, kid.” He said to me in an American accent.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Get you into films, make you a big movie star and all that jazz!”

So I said in return, “O.K., then I’ll get you onto a Beatles record.  I know them, you know.”  They we’d burst out laughing together.

One time, when Sue and I were leaving the carriage after completing one of the scenes, there was a sudden jolt of the train and we both fell over on top of the boys, catching our new nylons in the process.  And you know how awful your skin looks when it comes poking out of the little holes in your stockings.  Ringo took one look and said, “You ought to do something about them warts!”

John offered to buy us some new stockings and he even wrote down our sizes!  Wonder if he’ll remember.

Came the time (on that first day) when I wanted to buy myself a coffee, and as I had left my money at home, I asked one of the girls if she would lend me a couple of bob.   Ringo overheard.  He called his personal assistant-secretary-casher and mall of all work over and told him to lend me some money.

That when I found out that the boys never carry money around with them!  Mal carries it.  He does everything to see that the boys are organized and well looked after.  Mal is their road manager and a real sweetie.  He took a whole wad of five-pound notes from his pocked!  Actually I felt a bit of a Charlie—I only wanted five shillings, but I paid him back later.  I hate ever to be in debt to the Beatles!

The film is going to be quite a riot.  We watched several very amusing scenes being filmed on the train.  For instance, John is involved in a very funny scene with us in a railway carriage, where he is mistaken for an escaped convict – and he’s even handcuffed.

Ringo also has some very amusing scenes, where he goes into  a pub and everything goes wrong for him.  He wants so much to join in on the fun that everyone else is having, but things don’t work out that way.  At one point he joins in a game of darts and one of the darts lands up in somebody’s sandwich!

Actually, it’s been hilarious watching them during takes.  In the middle of one scene, in the studios, John suddenly looked up at the hole in the roof and cried out, “There’s a man up there holding a mike,” in a goonish voice.  On another occasion we had a dog on the set that wouldn’t do as it was told.  The boys were  very patient until the dog finally played the scene the way it was required.  Then John turned to the dog, patted it and said, “Now the dog will sip sinc to my next number!”  Everyone was in stitches.

Haven’t said much about George, have I?  Well, George is a deeper character than the other three.  He’s the quiet one.  Poor fella can’t get a word in edgeways with Paul, John and Ringo around, anyway!

He’s so rugged looking, is George—even more so in person than in his pictures.  He and Ringo share a Mayfair flat, but they were talking of moving soon.  The other night a group of girls started signing outside their place.  They sang “Glad all over” and whistled “Bits and Pieces” – you know Dave Clark’s hits.   George said jokingly, “I rang up the police so Ringo could get a good night’s sleep.  Of course, if they had been singing our songs, we wouldn’t have sent for bobbies.  But Dave Clark?  Well…”

You know it was quite flattering, leaving the studios after a day’s shooting.  There were always a crowd of Beatle fans waiting outside.  The girls would ask me all sorts of questions about the boys, and soon I got to know them quite well.

My father came down to the stuidios to pick me up by car at night, and ti was amusing on one occasion when the fans started talking to him while he waited.  One of them went up to him and said, “The Beatles will be out soon.”

“How do you know?” asked my father.

“Tina says so,” she replied.  

Dad smiled and said, “Tina who?”

Then the girls chorused, “Tina Williams, of course!”  Can that be fame, at last?

Seriously, though, I really did have the time of my life working with them.  They are, and I really do mean this, a fabulous bunch of boys when you get to know them as I did.  On my last day’s filming, we were having pictures taken and I was asked, along with three other girls, to pose combing the boys’ hair.  Ringo was my man.  Afterwards, they offered us girls a job as their hairdressers.  But again they were joking.  At least I think so.  That’s the uncertain thing about the Beatles.  You can’t tell when they are joking or when they’re being serious.

The film is an experience I’ll never forget.  I can’t wait to see it and neither, I except can you!