Basic
Workshop Practice
It was early evening when I alighted
from the Reading-to-Arborfield bus; I walked the short distance to the main
gate, walked past the bloke on Guard duty, booked in at the Guardroom, and
immediately felt relieved at being ‘back home’. It was then that I realized
that it had taken fifteen years for me to find my real home; the other place
was relegated to somewhere I was obliged to visit from time to time. I found
great comfort in being reunited with my friends as they returned in dribs and
drabs throughout the evening; even the ones from Monday 31st October: Army Apprenticeships at that time were for a period of three years, with each year divided into two ‘Divisions’, and progression through all the stages to Division 6 was the result of continuing good performance and by examination. It was stressed that there were no second chances given; either pass the final trade test at the end of Division 6 to qualify as a Mechanic Class III in one’s chosen trade, or fail and be classified as a Learner Tradesman to receive further training and trade testing at the REME Workshop to which one was subsequently posted. One’s new unit also undertook the responsibility of providing the practical experience, further training, and trade testing to Mechanic Class II and eventually Class I level. At AAS Arborfield examinations in
the theory and practice of one’s chosen trade were conducted at the end of
each Division, in addition to a weekly theory test each Friday afternoon, the
accumulated result being used to assist in the determination of an
apprentice’s suitability to continue into the next Division, or be relegated
- held back - to repeat that phase of his training. There was never any question
of discharge; complete failure to qualify at AAS, or later in one’s new unit,
resulted merely in reclassification to General Duties, or being re-trained as
a driver, or clerk, etc. Only under very special circumstances would a
discharge by purchase be considered. We were about to embark upon the
second and most important phase of basic training; although each of us had
already made a choice of preferred trade, this initial period of trade
training was of a very general nature, designed to sort the sheep from the
goats. It gave everyone the opportunity to learn and master some of the most
basic skills required for just about every trade, to give each of us a chance
to obtain a better insight into what each trade on offer was all about, and
it also acted as a filter that allowed an apprentice to be trained in the
trade of his first choice or to be redirected into a trade more suited to his
particular skills and potential. Based primarily in the Basic
Workshop Practice facility in building M27, opposite HQ Company Office, we
commenced general metal fitting, designed to give us the knowledge and
experience of using basic hand tools, progressing on to metal turning,
working with ferrous and non-ferrous metals, tinsmithing, sheet metal work,
carpentry, pipe work, brazing and welding. Test pieces had to be completed in
each discipline, and marked at every stage. I cannot deny how much I enjoyed
the whole experience and am not ashamed to claim I did rather well. One training day a week was
devoted to ‘Education’ undertaken in one of the classrooms set aside for the
Royal Army Education Corps instructors whose task was to prepare us for the
forthcoming Army Certificate of Education Class II written examinations
coinciding with the conclusion of Division I in February 1950. With the poor
standard of education I received in Royal Army Dental Corps: On Wednesday 23rd
November intake 49B was marched out of the back gate to the garrison Dental
Centre for an oral hygiene inspection and treatment. Whilst waiting to
receive attention one joker said that he had heard that the dental officer
was a bit savage with his tool kit and on a few occasions had broken blokes’
jaws whilst extracting their teeth. Being naturally terrified of dentistry in
general and the drill in particular, by the time my name was called I was in
a state of panic. Upon inspection it was declared that I needed a few
fillings, and the necessary injections were administered to deaden the gums.
Unfortunately, when drilling commenced I could still feel the pain. I soon
reached the limit of my endurance and pain threshold, wrenched the drill from
my mouth, and fled to the dying proclamation of the dental officer: “You’re a
very foolish lad. That partially drilled tooth will soon give you trouble and
pain.” Many decades have elapsed since that experience, and it is one of the
few teeth that have never been a problem. Christmas Leave: A weeks’ leave over the Christmas 1949/New Year 1950 period wasn’t too memorable for me; once again I was glad to get it over and done with and return to Arborfield. I had no friends in Dursley, even from school days, and my brother Arthur was so distant from me in every way. By now my grandmother had become firmly entrenched in her armchair from which she ruled the roost. For the sake of peace and quiet I gritted my teeth and refrained from commenting on the situation. I suspect that even at the age of eight years Arthur had already made the decision to follow in my footsteps and to leave home as soon as he could legally leave school. Time would prove me right; at the age of fifteen years he enlisted in the Royal Navy as an Apprentice Petty Officer. Final Days in HQ Company: Throughout the time in HQ Company, every Saturday morning reunited us with our former Drill Instructors. It was during this period that we were introduced to the standard firearm of the day, the .303 Lee Enfield rifle. At the commencement I found it fairly heavy to march with, and throw around in the performance of rifle drill movements, but constant practice in the handling of the weapon seemed to lighten its burden, and the initial soreness of my left shoulder gradually disappeared. All too soon the month of March
was upon us, the end of our time in HQ Company, and time to part company with
Sergeant Roberts and his colleagues, now contemplating starting the process
all over again with a new bunch of recruits. I was delighted to learn that my
results in this General Workshop Practice phase were entirely satisfactory
and I was therefore permitted to continue my apprenticeship in the trade of
Telecommunication Mechanic – my first choice. I had also passed the Army
Certificate of Education Class II examination, taken on
|
