national service

[quote="Shelldrake"...........

Reminds me of the old Scottish joke:-.............. [ quote]

Er, yes ! What has happened to Gordon ? ............. but a more refined English one , too. ..............

Chap on country walk with a mate :

" I remember this field ! Lost my virginity here, must be ten years back".

Mate : " Did you by Jove ! Exciting was it ? "

Chap : " Hardly. Her mother caught us at it "

Man : " Damned awkward, what ? What did she say ? "

Chap : " Not much, only ' Baaa !' "

brum wrote:

Woolwich still had the Victorian buildings when we were there on transit, in '59. Dismal hole of a place.
There's a film, still doing the rounds, called "Carrington VC". Filmed in Woolwich barracks, the old buildings can still be seen in background shots........ !

One of my mates swore he was in "Carrington" too, that must have been around 1954. Never saw him when I watched it, though. And some of the Victorian stuff, especially the long block beside the parade ground, was still there around the turn of the century when my half dozen old sweats went back to be entertained by 16 AD Regt & Minden Bty. Can't imagine it will all be pulled down, there must be some sort of preservation order in place.

CARTAV,your right there the year was 54,when he went on demob in57 I got all his webbing it was all squared off and blanked white on the back,he was a right bull s----er,i remember the long block and that parade square,we had our big parade befor we leftfor our service regts and was told if anyone fainted leave them were they fell,happy days

[quote="cartav  Can't imagine it will all be pulled down, there must be some sort of preservation order in place. [/quote]

Certainly the buildings on the Front Parade, (including the Court Martial Centre), have a preservation order on them, a lot more of the historical barracks has too, The Academy is to be preserved.
I was told that the Front Parade was the longest frontage in Europe but find that hard to believe.

ronnie french wrote:

.............. I got posted to the 12th l.a.a.

Just had a thought Ronnie........ Did you come across Sgt, Macalliog in 12 LAA ? He was Southern Irish, a gun No.1 who got busted after causing some sort of disturbance back home on leave when he wore his Brit uniform. Paddy was posted into 16th without any stripes around mid- '55. Good lad when he was sober , and a great layer who fired the Bristol Bofors on single shot more effectively than all the others who liked to loose off 120 rounds a minute. I seem to remember a dispute he had with another Mick. Very physical & bloody. They ended up mates after both sorting out someone who tried to break it up.

brum wrote:

 The Academy is to be preserved.
I was told that the Front Parade was the longest frontage in Europe but find that hard to believe.

Could be Brum........ maybe with the reservation that it's the longest frontage of that function & that style ........ i.e at 1802 completion it's Georgian.  ( Wiki says Wentworth Woodhouse is the longest frontage of a [b]country house[b] at 605 ft long and, although not in that category, I reckon Woolwich exceeds  that )

And another feather in 16 AD Regt's  cap........  the last RA unit to move out in 2007,   though the RHA & their horse drawn kit are now relocated in Woolwich.

It 's good to have an association with a unit which has all these historical connections !..............   Happy Minden Day for tomorrow !

CARTAV,cant recall the sgt macalliog,i joined the 12th in jan56,on of my mates was paddy Mcbride and he to had trouble when on leave for wearing his uniform,so he stopped wearing it when he went home
,I noticed you were at Osnabruck,i played football there against an r.a. regt in 56 and 57,i was in r.h.q,the btys had the bofors,they didn't trust r,h.q with them lol

Quote :

Reminds me of the old Scottish joke:

Er, yes ! What has happened to Gordon ?

Watching over you Cartav.... 

[quote="ronnie french"i joined the 12th in jan56,on of my mates was paddy Mcbride [/quote]


Did he serve with 42 Regt, Ronnie?

SHELLDRAKE,paddy was still in the 12th when I left in 57 and the regt left herford for lippstadtin oct 57,i have been searching for him years,he was a well made lad with dark curly hair,and was a l/bdr when I left,i am not sure what regt he went to when the12th l.a.a,left lippstadt

Ronnie, when I joined 42 Regt in Lippstadt in 1964 we had a Lbdr (Later Bdr) Paddy McBride in 94 Bty, it may well be that he was ex 12 LAA.    I believe that he left the Regt when we moved to Devizes in 1969.   A few years ago his Son, who I think was serving with 29 Cdo at the time, left a message on the 42 Regts Messageboard to the effect that he was Paddys' Son and that Paddy had passed away.   It might be worthwhile confirming that it was the same guy by leaving a message on the 42 Regt Website on:-

www.42regt.com/home2.html


Paddy was a bit of a Regimental character so they all knew him.

SHELLDRAKE, thanks for the infor of paddy ,been on the message bd for the 42nd could not find any message but I have left one on there. and your right paddy was a character,we had some great times together,he was the only one that could play the bugle in the regt,and he would play it every time there was a parade of any high officers that visited the regt,mind you we had to put up with his practicing,plus he was a good singer of irish songs,thanks again

Gordon. wrote:

Quote :

Reminds me of the old Scottish joke:

Er, yes ! What has  happened to Gordon ?

Watching over you Cartav.... 

Help Brum, Shelldrake ! Is there a Young Pretender on this net ?????

To avoid confusion & irritation delete "Gordon", insert "Alex Salmond".........

And, in truth, it was a serious question. The ever present Gordon we knew, the one who always slipped in a cutting observation, or came up with detailed answers to queries, seems to have disappeared. Any info ?

Not so much "Young Pretender" as "Old Bugger".

I think he's going for a dual rank, that should put him in a good position in any future Jock Army.  

the same shepherd went for his driving test the examiner ask him can you do a u turn the shepherd relied give me a pair of willies and [ will make its eyes water

............... or the Aussie who carries a sheep up to the bedroom & says :
"This is rhe pig I sleep with when you've got a headache "

Wife opens her eyes & says :
" I think you'll find that's a sheep........."

Aussie says:
"....... and you'll find I wasn't talking to you "


National Service was never like this......... was it ?