When I went there in 1956 they were using Cardington as the central reception Camp and I remember those very large hangars. Uniforms were issued one or two items at a time and we wandered around wearing a mixture of civvies and uniform. We were a bunch of stangers in the billet from all over Britain and I always remember one guy from Norfolk who was a real slow talking 'country bumpkin' type with very poor eyesight. We took pity on him helping him find things, making his bed as he wandered around in a daze, we were amazed that he had even got through the pre-service medical.
With hundreds of servicemen coming through Cardington each week, the staff seemed rather bored and eventually the medics failed him which didn't surprise us. We were surprised however when he later came into the billet waving discharge papers and a rail warrant, quickly put his civvies on, expertly packed his bag, laughed at us all, and went home.
Next day some fierce looking NCO's appeared shouting at us, hustled us onto a train and made us sit upright 'to attention' on the journey from Bedford to Warrington.