I came home from town on my day off from labouring on the farm and announced I had joined the Army! Well my Mother went ballistic, shouting to my Father.
“Willy do something!”
“Let the beggar go” said my Father, “It’ll do him good”
So the day came, Tynwald Day on the Isle of Man the 5th July 1958, when I caught a boat and then a train, and ended in the dark at 5 Battalion RASC in Aldershot. I got a bed for the night and the next day got my uniform and most of my kit.
And it was to be on that first morning that I would witness an event that marked the long learning curve of six years of army life.
The lorries were arriving from the railway station and among the new guys was a Teddy Boy with all the gear and a mop of curly bottle blond hair. It was like a big blue cloud following him. This, of course, was the language he was using, the sergeant got it all!
“You’re not telling me what to do! I didn’t want to come here…….” (Interspersed with sweary words!). Eventually the sergeant got him settled in a chair.
Then it was his turn to get his details taken, well, off he went again, full chat to this Captain. The Captain kept quiet, just looked at this guy ranting. When he stopped to take a breath the officer shouted “Sergeant!”
“Sir” Replied the sergeant
“Lock him up!”
A couple of days later he appeared all sheepish out of the guardroom, blond hair gone!
Of course, we all learned a lesson from his mistake.