National Service Part 1

Meeting Bud Fisher and learning to play the cornet proved to be very advantageous when it came to being called up for National Service aged 21.  As I was approaching the call up age I spotted an advertisement, made an application and received the following correspondance:

So, the time came when I had to report to the army barracks. Diane and her mother came with me on the bus to Leicester and left me as I got on the next bus. As I got on there were 6 men all going to the same Glen Parva barracks and my time with the Royal Leicestershire Regimet began.

In the afternoon we were shown the sleeping quarters where there were thirty beds per room. Next we had to collect our bedding and then went off to the uniform area where they just threw a bundle of uniform at each of us hoping they’d fit! We all had a good laugh but that didn’t last long when the corporal soon got us into line and took us back to the building and told us we had to clean our belts, boots and leggings (similar to gaiters). He said he would be back later and everything must be as clean and shiny as his brass belt. He came back about 8 o’clock and said we’d not done too badly. He told us the canteen was next door and we could go and help ourselves until 9 o’clock but must then come back as soon as possible to settle down as the bugle plays at 6am to get us up. He said he wanted us up and out as quickly as possible as we had to clear the grounds of any litter and rubbish before we could wash ourselves and go for breakfast at 8am.

We were told that we weren’t allowed to leave the barracks for 14 days. One of the first things we had to do was learn how to March. Most of us were able to do it but around 6 or 7 lads just couldn’t get their legs in rhythm!

Starting National Service

I remember piling into a couple of lorries for days out to other parts of the barracks. We went to do target practice on a range about 100 yards long with targets at the end which were about 8 foot square. There were 6 men behind a screen and it was their job to pull the targets down to see where the bullets had hit. The smallest ring was 6", then 14, then 28, then 42 etc. When we started the bullets were flying everywhere with a lot of them missing the targets completely and bouncing off the ironwork and heading straight back to where we were in the trench!  Halfway through we stopped shooting so that they could pull the targets down and tally up the scores then they’d display a big board showing the poll.

Other days were spent:

• sliding down ropes
• doing a fun run through the hills and rocks
• going on parade and to church
• doing a 6 mile run around the area

Around day 9 we had an easy day because we were going to be called for a night time exercise at  9 o’clock:

It was very quiet when we started out and then fireworks started filling the air. I was creeping around in the dark and I fell over a cow that was lying down in a field. As the night went on we had to crawl through mud and water.  After about a mile we could hear the ‘enemy’ crackling in the bush. It was getting closer – it was a good job they weren’t firing real bullets! We were still in the pitch black and there were bodies lying around everywhere – the supposedly dead ones were lying down with a little sticker on them. The exercise finished at about 5 in the morning. We were filthy and couldn’t wait to get in the shower which wasn’t very hot. We managed to eat a meal and were then allowed to sleep in until 12 o’clock the next day.

Writing to Diane