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National Service

  • Thread starter Thread starter RayD
  • Start date Start date
All this chat about vehicles makes me think 'did I drive anything during my national service'? I did not have a driving licence, but like Eric I did 'drive' an aircraft and it was in the skies over East Anglia in 1958. It was a dual control Provost trainer on air test at RAF Feltwell and I sat in the right seat with the pilot sitting in the left seat. Off we went and while the pilot made some notes he let me have the controls and I even flew it through a big fluffy cloud. After the pilot finished his notes he flew the aircraft through every manoeuvre in the book and I can remember now looking at the fields rotating below as we spun in a vertical dive. All very unofficial I suppose and would not be allowed these days.

Now I have a flight simulator in my main computer and 'fly' a Boeing737 mainly in the UK with super graphics and sound, interacting with ATC, landing at the main airports, parking with the door lined up with the gate, all good fun and keeps my old brain up to speed particularly if I program in some bad weather !
 


Yesterday at the National Memorial Arboretum


 

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Yes I served from Jan 1955 until Jan 1957 at No1 TRRE Morval,No 9TRRE SouthwoodCamp & No3TRRE Guillimont Barracks all in the Cove area
 
Do any of you ex squaddies ( are RAF & Navy referred to as squaddies? ) ever sing a bawdy song to the tune of Lily Marlene, going something like this "Early in the morning when we`re on parade, the sgt majors whistling the donkey serenade, then some silly xxxxxxx shouts right dress, you should have seen the xxxxxxx mess, we are the RASC we are a xxxxxxx shower. I don`t think anyone will be offended by this, but if they are, sincere apologies.
 
I remember that tune from the very early 60's, in the Junior's, but be carful Smudge, you are walking on dangerous ground again. regards Paul
 
Smudger, if I remember correctly, RAF members were referred to as 'erks', that was in 1948 to 1956 (there were less polite terms of course). Eric
 
Smudger said:
Do any of you ex squaddies ( are RAF & Navy referred to as squaddies? ) ever sing a bawdy song to the tune of Lily Marlene, going something like this "Early in the morning when we`re on parade, the sgt majors whistling the donkey serenade, then some silly xxxxxxx shouts right dress, you should have seen the xxxxxxx mess, we are the RASC we are a xxxxxxx shower. I don`t think anyone will be offended by this, but if they are, sincere apologies.
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In the late 50s we were 24 Medium Regiment RA. "We are the 24 Medium" fitted nicely with the Lily Marlene tune. We were a good regiment but still liked to sing the song. God help any other unit who tried to slag us off though !
 
paul stacey said:
I remember that tune from the very early 60's, in the Junior's, but be carful Smudge, you are walking on dangerous ground again. regards Paul
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I thought i might be, but you know, the bawdy words we sang can be substituted for fairly innocuous words that the Scouts or Guides could use, but we had good times singing that song when on excercise & relaxing round a camp fire. I never did think about asking the sgt/major if it upset him :-}
 
cookie273uk said:
Smudger, if I remember correctly, RAF members were referred to as 'erks', that was in 1948 to 1956 (there were less polite terms of course). Eric
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Erks yes, i remember now. Is that better than being called a brylcreem boy? I wonder if they still sell that stuff, as advertised by the one & only Dennis Compton.
 
Of course there were sub-divisions of terms of abuse used amongst us "Brylcreem Boys" ourselves.

There was always a slight (slight?) tension on my aerodrome between those of us in Air Traffic Control doing mainly sedentary jobs and the REAL men who kept the planes in the air, went around in oil-stained jerkins and were proud of the grease under their fingernails. The term of abuse coined by the latter to be directed towards us, the former, was "shiny*rses". Our practice was to reinforce prejudices by addressing each other as "darling" whenever one of the Squadron blokes was within earshot.

Those fitters and technicians who could appreciate a spot of irony would react with indifference or even a grin; those who couldn't were moved to ill-concealed fury - which was really rather gratifying!

Chris
 
ChrisM said:
Of course there were sub-divisions of terms of abuse used amongst us "Brylcreem Boys" ourselves.

There was always a slight (slight?) tension on my aerodrome between those of us in Air Traffic Control doing mainly sedentary jobs and the REAL men who kept the planes in the air, went around in oil-stained jerkins and were proud of the grease under their fingernails. The term of abuse coined by the latter to be directed towards us, the former, was "shiny*rses". Our practice was to reinforce prejudices by addressing each other as "darling" whenever one of the Squadron blokes was within earshot.

Those fitters and technicians who could appreciate a spot of irony would react with indifference or even a grin; those who couldn't were moved to ill-concealed fury - which was really rather gratifying!

Chris
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That was very naughty of you calling each other darling, especially back in the day when being homosexual was illegal, although i seem to remember that there were some from a certain part of the country (can`t remember where) used the term darling like others would use the term mate. I thought it quite strange when i first met someone who used the term darling & no, he wasn`t a homosexual.
 
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Smudger said:
Do any of you ex squaddies ( are RAF & Navy referred to as squaddies? ) ever sing a bawdy song to the tune of Lily Marlene, going something like this "Early in the morning when we`re on parade, the sgt majors whistling the donkey serenade, then some silly xxxxxxx shouts right dress, you should have seen the xxxxxxx mess, we are the RASC we are a xxxxxxx shower. I don`t think anyone will be offended by this, but if they are, sincere apologies.
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Smudger, do you remember the RASC marching song. Well, it was ours anyhow.

If your wagons in a ditch, never mind.
If your wagons in a ditch, never mind.
Get a tow rope and a chain, and pull it out again,
If your wagons in a ditch never mind.

I can still see our SCM singing this at our Christmas dinner, then fell off the table in a drunken state and fell asleep.
 
...I came across those 'sub-divisions' for sarcasm when I was in the RAF (1951-53), stationed at Church Lawford, near Rugby. It was an Airfield Construction Depot so lots of blokes were learning to move tons of soil around and build things...while my mates and I worked on station HQ as clerk/orgs. In the camp inter-departmental football knock-out we were known dismissively as The Chairborne Brigade so we took great delight in winning round after round before being beaten in the final...by a team with three young pros in it. Doing a sedentary job doesn't equate with being 'a pansy'....
 
Austin K2 said:
Smudger, do you remember the RASC marching song. Well, it was ours anyhow.

If your wagons in a ditch, never mind.
If your wagons in a ditch, never mind.
Get a tow rope and a chain, and pull it out again,
If your wagons in a ditch never mind.

I can still see our SCM singing this at our Christmas dinner, then fell off the table in a drunken state and fell asleep.
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Aye i can remember singing that song (pleased you cleaned it up ) & also our passing out music was "Wait for the wagons" I still whistle that these days.
 
In the army (in the RASC anyway) when the guard roster was posted up, there was always one extra name on the list. This was because when you paraded for your guard duty, the smartest squaddie would be chosen as "Stickman" & would be excused from full guard duty & all he had to do was run up to the cookhouse & bring back the supper for the other guards, & after that he was free to go back to his billet or NAAFI for a pint if it was still open. I haven`t a clue what "Stickman" means or where the word comes from.
 
image (1).jpg
This is one of the guys who put the new recrutes through thier PT lessons at Hillsea barracks Portsmouth in 1954-56. He was a local lad who lived in Portsmouth. Although he was built like an ox ,he was a very nice chap
 
Smudger said:
In the army (in the RASC anyway) when the guard roster was posted up, there was always one extra name on the list. This was because when you paraded for your guard duty, the smartest squaddie would be chosen as "Stickman" & would be excused from full guard duty & all he had to do was run up to the cookhouse & bring back the supper for the other guards, & after that he was free to go back to his billet or NAAFI for a pint if it was still open. I haven`t a clue what "Stickman" means or where the word comes from.
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We had the same arrangement in the Gunners, it was a custom that died out when National service finished.
It was said that the lucky man was called the Stick Man because the Orderly Sergeant would single him out by tapping him on the shoulder with his stick, (could be an "urban" myth of course).
 
Stickman in my Regt meant "Duty dogsbody , gofah", in other times I believe it meant would cover your back or always right hand man.
 
During a visit to London, a fortnight ago, we reached Horse Guards.
Standing by the Guards memorial I was afflicted with an overpowering urge to roar "Escort to the Colour !!".
(I resisted the urge, don't know what the tourists would've thought !).
 
Thanks Baz, tears in my eyes, Although "Grenadiers",!!!!!, the drill was faultless, and notice unlike today mate, all more or less the same height, and dressing perfect, ooOOH, Happy days.Paul
 
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