-  148 Battery-68th Regiment / Royal Regiment of Artillery  -

"OUR FIRST MORNING"

CRASH! BANG! WALLOP!

I thought we were under attack! The noise was horrendous! This was our early morning call by the Orderly Sergeant. What a row he made! He had taken one of the metal buckets and thrown it the full length of the room!  And then his soft, dulcet tones invaded our innocent ears,

 “WAKEY-WAKEY, RISE AND SHINE! ..YOU’VE HAD YOUR SLEEP, AND I’VE HAD MINE!”

..."HANDS OFF C*CKS , AND PULL ON SOCKS! ”

What an introduction to our first morning! We leapt out of bed as if all the banshees in hell were after us!

“I’LL BE BACK IN FIVE MINUTES, ANYONE STILL IN BED WILL RUN AROUND THE PARADE GROUND IN THE NUDDY! ” ...“MOVE YOUR F*****G SELVES!”  he roared.

We moved alright.We grabbed our washing and shaving gear and went straight to the ablutions (Army name for wash room) Oswestry in January was freezing, and so was the water.The shower wasn’t working, so that was out of the question. We all moaned but got on with it anyway. All we could say was, “Two years will soon pass”  although January 1954 seemed an awful long way away...

We got back to the Barrack room, and 'God' was waiting for us!  Goodness knows what time he got up? To us he was immaculate. Pressed uniform... highly polished boots. He had us cleaning windows and sweeping and buffing up the floor. By the time breakfast arrived, we were all ready to fall into our beds. The  shirts and uniform I’m sure were made out of wire wool. They were so rough and itchy. The boots had very stiff leather, they were called Ammunition boots, and one had to make sure there were exactly 13 studs in each boot.

My uniform would have fitted Charles Atlas! (Mr Universe.) Our Instructor asked a few of the lads what their Army numbers were. (I’d already forgotten mine) If you didn’t know your number you were made to double (Run) around the block.

He asked one lad for his number, and he said “F**K knows!”   The L/Bdr. went crazy!  “Don’t you F******G  swear in front of me! “  he yelled.

So he was made to 'double' around the block twice. Talk about Fred Karno’s Army! We eventually marched off to breakfast.We had our knife, fork and spoon clasped in our right hand behind our backs, and were told to swing our left arms up to shoulder height.

Breakfast was a total disaster.

We entered the cookhouse.  (see photo Oswestry cookhouse) We picked up a tin tray with  sort of indentations in it, and joined the queue. Porridge in one compartment, half cooked egg in another. Bacon and beans in another, and then one had to balance this lot, while trying to fill a mug with tea. The Tea? It was awful! I was told there was bromide in it to stop us getting randy thoughts about our comrades! After home cooking this first breakfast was terrible. After this breakfast we were allowed to make our own way back to the billet.

I decided to write a quick letter home to say I’d arrived safely; indeed we were all told to write letters home as soon as possible. Our L/Bdr Instructor came into the room with a Sergeant ,this was our drill sergeant. Sgt. Wilson. (Name changed to protect the innocent!)

He was a typical Army Sergeant, well made, 6 feet tall with a bristling moustache. His first instruction was for us all to go to the end of the room where large sheets of brown paper had been stacked.This was to send our civilian clothes back home. We were allowed to keep our shoes, but everything else had to go. After this task was done we were formed up outside, and taken for our first army haircut.We went into this barber’s shop one at a time, and there were two barbers. When I sat in the chair I felt sure he was using a knife and fork to cut my hair! It didn’t half pull.. One lad had a lovely head of hair, thick black and curly. He nearly wept when he went back to barracks and saw it. Just inside the barrack room was a full length mirror with the words “ARE YOU A CREDIT TO YOUR UNIT”? We all had to stand in front of this, before we left the barrack room.