THE COVENANTER
with no springs in them. On each bed was a was ‘Next’ and you were out the far door,
sack, called a palliasse which we had to take amongst the complaining chaps that before
and fill with straw. We soon learnt from they came in the other door had had curls
experience and the hard way that if they and waves. Not like me, I looked better. I
were over-filled, you rolled off them or if was always a scrubber head.
under-filled, you were sleeping on the hard In this first week we were all beginning
wire straps. With a pack for a pillow and to look the same, all beginning on the same
two rough army blankets, we got so tired we level.
could ‘sleep on a clothes line’ as they say. F.F.I (Free from infection) - this was
Our first army meal was mashed another thing that was to be done many
potatoes, chopped meat, peas and for afters times in the years to come. Standing all in a
rice, with a tin mug of army tea - hot, sweet line, as the M.O. (Medical Officer) came
and strong, the rice, sometimes with jam or passed, you dropped your trousers for his
sultanas. We had so much rice it was inspection.
rumoured that we were being trained for Cleaning our webbing equipment, - with
Burma. The rice was now called ‘Burma Blanco, a green block of like hard chalk,
Road’. As it turned out this was to be our wetted and put on with a brush, then clean
diet for the next sixteen weeks, except on all the many brasses. These things were to
Sundays when we got the luxury of two be done many times in the four and a half
roast potato halves. years to come.
The next week was spent getting kitted ‘Spit and polish’ boots - This is a true
out, being shown how to put your army saying. Put the polish on thickly, then
equipment together etc and the very with a rag on a finger, spit on the polish and
important taking the two pairs of boots to rub it in little circles. Keep spitting and
the ‘snobs’ to get the right numbers of hob rubbing until a smooth shine comes
nails in each boot. Though seemingly a through. This was called ‘BULL’, but as we
small thing, it turned out to be very learnt very quickly, it was the best way to
important. If there was one stud missing or keep out of trouble, plenty of ‘BULL’.
worn down, the snobs was open for an hour Then we started a training programme,
after parades. It was an experience to split up into hourly periods. Early call, the
watch, about four of them hammer and sound of the bugle, the tune sounding to
shoe iron, at a lightning speed, picking up a the words ‘Charlie, Charlie get out of bed’,
handful of nails, putting them in their the next line of which is too rude to print.
mouths, dispatching them one at a time. Then came the shout that could be heard
They sometimes had a queue of thirty men from the orderly sergeant from the iron
with two pairs of boots each, with veranda, which was then taken up by the
seventeen studs to each boot, that’s two room corporal ‘ Rise and shine, rise and
thousand and forty studs. Quite a few shine’! Grabbing your washing kit to get to
mouthfuls. the eight wash basins first. Because there
Inoculations - the first of many to come. were two rooms of thirty to share them,
In fact as time passed you were afraid to time was precious. There was so much to do
report sick because they always found that before first parade.
you were due for another inoculation. Breakfast was burgoo (porridge). This I
Dental - Before I got called up you never was to have each morning for the next four
went to a dentist unless you had a and a half years, always different,
toothache for some time, so I was in need of sometimes thick, sometimes thin, too much
treatment. In two visits I had four out and or not enough milk, depending on the
some filled. Then it was outside, spit, and mood of the cooks, quickly learning to eat
back on parade. The dental hut had a row of all that was put in front of you, food. The
six dental chairs with a poor recruit being once a week egg was never sunny side up,
tortured in each, except the one vacant, always hard centred. Still to be fair to the
that was to be for me. cooks, they had about one hundred and
Army haircut - the whole platoon eight to fry each time! The most constant
paraded, keeping the four barbers chairs in thing was the tea, the tin mug of army char-
continuous use. It was wait in line, then hot, strong and sweet.
‘Next’ to a vacant chair, still warm from the Back to the barrack room, fold the two
previous occupant who had left by a far blankets square; fold the palliasse back,
door. It was short back, sides and on top. putting the squared off blankets on top;
You hardly had time to sit before the cry then the steel helmet on top of that; then in
38
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