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National Service

  • Thread starter Thread starter RayD
  • Start date Start date
Hi Chris and Maurice,
Looking back some things seem funny now, but they were not then......
At Padgate I polished my cap badge shining bright for inspection, but the Corporal took my cap off, and removed the the badge - I had not polished the back of it - big mistake !!

Addition Oct 2011 - I was looking here and there throughout the house and found my cap in a plastic bag in the loft. The badge was still shiny because I had used something called 'Staybrite' ....I think if my memory is ok. The DI's at 'square bashing' camps frowned on artificial means of keeping the shine so I must have used it in the more relaxed conditions of a squadron station.....

The Drill Instructors, DIs, were not noted for brain power, a Sergeant once gave an order that blankets were to be taken off the beds and aired outside on Saturday morning, but if it was raining on Saturday morning, the blankets were to be aired on Friday evening !

oldmohawk
Defending Britain during the Cold War and Suez Crisis... :)

Best_Blue_Hat.JPG
 
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Old Mohawk:

Back of cap badges and a mass of white died Brasso was a favourite one of both DI's and SP's, but once you'd made the mistake, you never made it again.

Once on my permanent station (RAF Stoke Heath) I became a member of the station band and thus exempt from guard duties, fire piquets, and because I was also on permanent night shift, being woken up in the morning! Sadly band practice was at 9:30am once a week and because we passed the guardroom later than everyone else, were an obvious target for the SP's. We used to let them find something amiss and then produce our band passes (which made us fireproof!) and then watch the smirk disappear from their faces! :D:D:D

Maurice :cool:
 
hi all
great photo's and story's I was too young for national service but one thing I do remember is something you never see today especialy on a railway station ,loads of uniformed young men from all branch's of the services and of course military police, air police shore patrol ect milling about all over the place, and as has been mentioned hitch hiking around the country.
regards
paul
 
Hi Paul,
At the time I was not too pleased to do 2 years RAF National Service. It interrupted my skating fun, took me away from my job and girl friends etc. I now look back and remember the good times, and people I met from all over the country. We had one guy in our billet from the Orkney Isles and he couldn't get home on a weekend 36 hour pass. We often took it turns to take him home with us at weekends - he visited many cities - opened his eyes a bit ! We had flights in aircraft in conditions which today's Health & Safety would ban, but the RAF always gave us parachutes.
olmohawk:)
 
hello again So after my medical a few days later i got my marching orders . Report to Maida Barracks recruit company on 12 5 56. Fronted up at the company office I could here someone yelling his head off at someone I could not see My first thought was what have I let myself in for. I was marched to a barrack room where about thirty other blokes in civvies were standing by the their beds these were all to be my fellow recruits of 40 platoon. The next day was taken up with collecting our kit from the Q Ms store. We had 2 pair of boots with pimples all over them and we were told we had to get all the pimples off with a hot spoon and boot polish and make them shine so you could see your face in them. We had brown plimsoles which we had to die black.belt brasses that we had to polish like gold. Hammer in 15 hobnails to each boot in a set pattern we had that many inoculations the worse one was the one where a lump had to come up uon your arm. Then training began in earnest our nicely boots were covered in mud, we were using muscles we never knew we had After 10 weeks basic training we were trucked to R A F Abingdon for Para Training. What a difference we were treated like human beings again.There was a choice of food dishes in the canteen and best of all nobody shouted at us. You fly boys never had it so good Moss in Aus
 
During my undistinguished military service,I spent 3 years travelleling a lot,always attached or detatched...unwanted, was probably nearer the truth.
The nature of the job meant we worked in navy and army establishments,but the best of all were the R.A.F.camps,two spring to mind New Zealand Farm in Hampshire and Pier Mountbatten in Plymouth,the food (most important) was superb,made me wish I had been a brylcreem boy.:):):)
 
Us 'brylcreem' boys only got one pair of boots, but nice to be reminded of pimples and hot spoons etc. I remember 'gas training', running round a sealed room to get used to tear gas. We had a Corporal showing us details of liquid 'nerve gas' which if it got on your skin you were a 'goner' within minutes, unless you used an automatic spring loaded needle injector with atropine in it. He had a bottle of the deadly gas and 'accidently' spilt it on someone, who nearly died of fright reaching for and using the injector. The gas was water, and the injector was dud, and we were allowed to laugh.
3150438
oldmohawk:)
 
Interesting photos Colin. Most of my Uncles served in WW2, my Uncle Al served in the Eighth Army under Monty. Is that number in the lower right corner of the the photos an amateur radio call sign ?
oldmohawk
 
Boots - yes, oldMohawk, and a pair of black "leather" shoes and a pair of plimsolls (never put on again after basic training). If I remember correctly the shoes, whilst cheap and nasty, nevertheless lasted the entire two years with the help of regular resoling and heeling. The boots, thank the Lord, were much underused and would have lasted for ever.

Chris
 
Hi Chris,
Maybe you kept a 'demob chart' in your locker and marked the weeks off. When I was demobbed, the RAF kept some money back just in case they found anything I had damaged.
When I came home, I chucked my kit bag unopened up into my parent's loft, and did not look at it for years. We had to keep uniforms and kit because although demobbed, we were put on 'G' reserve and could be called back at short notice. The only things I now have left are my demob papers, an instrument training book, and my best blue peaked hat.
Phil:)
 
hi all
great photo's again I was a cadet in the royal warwicks and wanted to enlist in them in boy service, unfortunatley when attending the AOC in gt charles street, I was met on entry by 6'4" sgt smith Coldstream Guards and went in there instead, just a foot note the tank "Monty" is now outside the army training corps barracks bassingbourn cambridgeshire and I remember RAF Abingdon very well too.
regards
paul
 
Hi ex squadies.

Reading these forum comments brings back a lot memories, like a lot of others I had my medical up off Broad Street, if you could walk you was in, I'm sure that they reqiured a certain number and then they failed you.

I had papers in Sept. 1959 to Report to Cove, Farnborough, No 3 Royal Engineers, I was there for 3 month with no leave, had to build Baily Bridges, Assemble LAFB ( Light Assault floatng Briges), explosives etc.we were marched through the freezing lakeside to break the ice to prevent you trying to stand back whilst bridge building, we had to build 185 ft span single section in in 1.5 hrs 6 men to each panel freezing cold and if you dropped a connecting pin in the water you got it out.

We had time at Longmoore Military Railway, learning how you would blow a train off the tracks but not damage the engine, we were using dummy wooden white blocks to represent a block of TNT, I drop one of these blocks by a 2nd Lt. his reply "SAPPER YOU HAVE JUST BLOWN ME UP" and got put on report.

After training I was transfered to 17 port Regt. RE at Marchwood Southampton, I started for short time in the Cookhouse, then trained as unit film projectionist using a Debre, feed up with show the same training films, I was promoted RHQ Pay NCO I received 25 shillins a week plus 3/6p for a l/cpl tape, then another 3/6p for acting Cpl..

Everybody had demob charts for the last 99 days, I can look back on these hard times but I am a better person for it and so would many other people who done NS, I honestly think a good many of the youth today would benefit from this shock training on min. wage you had to manage there was nobody to bail you out.

Whilst being stationed at Southampton there was number of other lads from Birmingham the Delmoss brothers, Brummie Riley of the REME, the others escape me it, we used to hire a doormobile for week end leave dropping people on way as far Manchester.

Anybody have remember 17 Port Regt. RE's

Ray

Before we engaged in these activities we were march along the foreshore of the at Cove to break the ice and to make sure everybody got there feet wet, so that you didn't

When I look back on that training it was great, but it was difficult leaving family behind
 
Ray,
Your memories seem about the same as mine,although I did join up in James Watt St.when I was 17,I never did register...perhaps I thought they might forget me.:rolleyes:
Can't agree with a reintroduction of national service though,the military is not a social dustbin,often people will say it never hurt them..well it hurt those who were killed in places they couldn't even find on a map.
However,the joys of the glasshouse would curb way's of the bad boy's.Your back pack filled with broken bricks on arrival,to be worn at all times,at the double everywhere you go,a cold shower... 10 seconds too get wet,10 seconds too soap up and 10 seconds to rinse off.:(:(:(
 
hi all
I agree with ray barrett, that national service worked fairly well, (heard many stories about pushing the same broom around for two years) but the era was different then we all were bought up with at least a basic understanding of disapline, our parents our teachers, and our workplace but we now have two generations of no disapline at all actually it is now I believe a criminal offence to disapline. can you imagine the mayhem enforcing disapline on these people, No it just would not work today you would need more military prisons than civil ones and the military police and provost corps would need to 1000 times bigger than now cost a fortune.
paul
 
mike-g
true enough mike, I havn't been able to get up to the memorial site yet. they say it is a marvelous place I wonder if my mates from Aden 64/67, are mentioned there, I understood when in silent valley (British Military Cemetary) Southern Arabia that quite a number of the graves were to National Service men 58/61
paul
 
N/S call up July 1947, medical grade B1, Basic training 6 wks Budbrooke Brks, tough stuff, posted to Royal Artillery Immingham Dock near Grimsby, seemed like end of the world to a Brummie!, trained as Gunner on 5.25in bore Heavy Anti Aircraft Guns, the food was rubbish, never had a piece of fresh fish or milk while there, February 1948 92nd HAA Regiment posted to Tripoli except for about 50 Officers, NCO`s & Gunners of which i was one, sent on a 6 month Gunfitters course to Borden, Hampshire, great food, passed ok returned to Grimsby, posted across the Humber river to 3 Maintenance Unit RA, 40 strong, i REME Armaments Artificer, 2 RA Master Gunners, 4 NCO`S, 2 Gunfitters Jim & me, 1 Engine Room Attendant, 1 ACC Cook (Great) the other Gunners were Tradesmen`s support, at Sutton on Hull our C/o Captain Nunn was the War Office District Officer we only saw him every few months, we went across the Pennines to Merseyside to change the Barrels in 4 HAA Guns on the seafront at New Brighton, the Barrel`s were taken to the Royal Ordnance factory at Nottingham refurbished and returned to us to refitted into the breech blocks all this took 12 days of hard but enjoyable work, the unit went back to Sutton on Hull except 1 Master Gunner who was a pleasure to work with, me , Jim, the ERA & Gunner, so every Friday afternoon it was a train from Lime St station to Brum for the weekend, July 1949 report to Aldershot for demob, Medical Grade A1, i dont know the reason for the grade differences, engineering work for 2 years called up on Z Reserve July 1951 (Korea Crisis) for 2 weeks up grade course on the Guns at Weybourne Artillery Firing Range, Norfolk (Now a privately owned Military Museum) super summer weather enjoyed it, after transfered to the REME, i was not posted abroad, the only water i crossed was the Humber & Mersey Rivers there were good times & bad times, mostly good. Len.
 
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hello again after our 4 weeks para training we got presented with our parachute wings which meant we were real hairy ar==d paratroopers. We returned to Aldershot and were issued with our tropical gear in preparation for embarkation to Cyprus and then the Suez landings. We were issued with Boots C W W (comfortable wubber wuns) you could not wear them out. I still had mine about 3 years after being demobed in 1959 Moss in Aus
 
Hi Moss,
Did you float down at Suez ? I was in during that crisis but comfy in Yorkshire. Some of the 'regulars' on the base were told to get ready to go but it finished before they did.
Phil
 
Alf,I have one of them passing out photo's.on this pic the lad who is 4th.from the left on the back row,had managed in 8 weeks to get a dishonorable discharge,he was wearing his civvy trousers on the photo'.:rolleyes:
Mohawk,the army also had a "houswife" needle and thread and a thimble, I think.However,the funniest item of kit for me was "drawers cellular, green"the first pair of underpants I ever had ...used them to buff up my boots.:D:D
 
Ray Barrett said:
Alf,I have one of them passing out photo's.on this pic the lad who is 4th.from the left on the back row,had managed in 8 weeks to get a dishonorable discharge,he was wearing his civvy trousers on the photo'.:rolleyes:
Mohawk,the army also had a "houswife" needle and thread and a thimble, I think.However,the funniest item of kit for me was "drawers cellular, green"the first pair of underpants I ever had ...used them to buff up my boots.:D:D
Click to expand...
Yes Reg one of ours got a discharge for drinking Ink a couple of times, I met him again outside Wembley selling Badges Scarves etc when I was down there while working for Cardiff.
Drawers Cellular Green for the use of, you could never forget those always 5 sizes to big for anybody:D
 
Housewife not a female commonly called a "hussiff", your Mom was not with you to sew a button on!!. Len.
 
Where did you get that from Len ? it looks new do they still use them ?.

Arthur :confused2: why have you started calling me Reg.:confused2:
 
:redface:I remember when i had to enlist for national service. i was dreading it.done my training at Saighton camp in Chester.after training went to Westmoores in Devon.when the Suez crisis came up had to go to Aldershot
to join up with the paras on a 12 hours notice to go to the Suez.but that was called off. i was then sent back to Westmoores.i was made up to L/Corporal i joined the camp police and stayed at that camp. up to six weeks before demob.then went to Westmorland in Cumbria on a first aid and stretcher course.
had some great times and great friends.:)
 
When i boarded the train in 1947 at Acocks Green for Warwick all my school pals were also on board including my best friend, Georgie Greenhill we were in the same hut at Budbrooke Brks for a fortnight and GeorgIe being small lad was posted to Saighton Camp to be given PT and extra food to build him up, i did not see him again until demob day 1949 at Aldershot in the queue for breakfast and we had a grand reunion & travelled home to Brum together, sad to say Georgie is now RIP. Len.
 
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