Submitted by David Wraight, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, u3a
NATIONAL SERVICE
Memories October 1957, was the year I started my National Service in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC). My father had served in the RAOC during the war, so it seemed a natural choice. Basic training was at RAOC Blackdown near Aldershot. Initially, the intake was housed in brick built two storey blocks comprising two barrack rooms each with about 20 spaces (bed and locker) and a coal fired stove (like a modern day wood burner) in the centre of the room. This was the only form of heat, so we had to keep it going all the time – it was after all the beginning of winter.
Every evening was taken up with ‘bulling’ our equipment. We learnt to blanco our webbing, polish all the brasses and iron razor sharp creases in our trousers using an iron and damp brown paper. We would sit around the fire, bonding with each other, whilst heating spoons to burn the pimples off the toecaps of our new boots and then ‘spit and polishing’ until we could see our face in them. Also, we had to contend with 07:00 barrack room inspections, by the Sgt, Cpl or L/Cpl. which always ended up with the room looking like the ‘Wreck of the Hesperus’. No pleasing some people! It did however, from a disparate group of men, ‘gel’ us into a smart, hardworking, obedient group, that would do anything we were asked to do without question.
After a couple of weeks, we were moved to ‘spiders’. These were long wooden huts, much nicer and warmer. It was also closer to the NAAFI! To get out of cross country running, I joined the corps rugby team and took great delight in tackling the officers into the mud. After six weeks of intense physical training, I could even climb a vertical rope in full FSMO (Field Service Marching Order, or full kit including rifle) something I had never been able to do at school. I also discovered that, being left-handed, firing a Lea-Enfield 303 rifle was not easy, as the bolt was on the right hand side. Basic training was hard especially when you were not used to it. We spent hours on the parade ground learning to march and all the commands etc. However, looking back 60 years later, I have fond memories – pity I never kept in touch with any of my comrades. I then moved down the road to the RAOC trade training camp for another six weeks. In civvy street, I was a managerial trainee with ‘Woolworths’, so was Graded a clerk, tech. I wanted to be a driver of some sort but they would none of it. I had no difficulty with learning the army way of counting, form filling, stores etc and also managed to help some of the others who were struggling.
At the time, there was a vacancy for a clerk, tech. in the Quartermaster’s office at Quartier Chateau, Fontainebleau, France, which was where I was posted for the remaining 21 months, whilst the rest of my intake went to Singapore. Between 1953 and 1967, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Allied Command Operations (ACO), was based at Rocquencourt, near Versailles, France. Part of SHAPE was Allied Land Forces Central Europe (ALFSE) based at Fontainebleau, actually in ‘The Palace of Fontainebleau’ or ‘Chateau of Fontainebleau’. Each country, had its own camp in the town, and the British Forces Support Camp was in Quartier Chateau. This ‘barracks’ comprised a four storey rectangular building mainly housing barrack rooms each for about eight people. Surrounding the building were the armoury, cookhouse, cinema, REME workshops, ROAC stores, Quartermaster’s Office, NAAFI, games room and guardroom. There was no parade ground simply a grassed area surrounded by a road. There were probably about 100 personnel in the camp, from various regiments. The largest regiment was the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) now the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC). They were either clerks or staff car and/or truck drivers.
The REME was well represented to look after the transport. There were about 25 MPs, a dozen cooks from the Catering Corps, and 10 soldiers from the Royal Artillery who looked after the general duties. Numerous other regiments were represented by single soldiers e.g. Pay Corps, Gordon Highlanders. I think the army was trying to involve as many regiments as possible. From the RAOC (now the RLC), there were five of us - three storeman and two clerks. Each storeman had their own store to run e.g. bedding/hygiene products, personal uniform/kit that needed replacing and army equipment (tents, field kitchens etc.). Two clerks ran the quartermaster’s office where we re-ordered stock as required as well as looked after the Officer’s shop. All the personnel in the camp had their own jobs in various places in and around both the camp and Palace. There was little ‘spit and polish’ although there were occasional parades in front of the main building. Every three months or so, I had to do guard duty overnight.
At the time France was having problems with Algeria and we were a little anxious in case Algeria attacked our camp rather than the French barracks next door. Whilst we all had our rifles, albeit locked in the armoury together with the ammunition, the Armourer with the key, lived off the camp! Generally it was a very relaxed camp and virtually empty during the day. Most evenings, I attended the camp cinema where there was a different film every day. We also had a small NAAFI and of course Fontainebleau itself with its numerous bars. In those days, I did not drink beer or wine, but specialised in Pernod – pink, yellow and blue!! Weekends were generally free to do what we liked. One year, four of us drove to the South of France for a holiday. One of our group, took part in local cycle races and occasionally we would go and support him. In the summer, the local outdoor swimming pool was very popular. Working for the Quartermaster, he often asked me to drive him and his wife in their own car, shopping, sightseeing etc.
In return, I was allowed to use the car for personal use – within reason! There was also an American camp in Fontainebleau with a PX (Post Exchange store) and Saturday nights would find us up there socialising. The Americans also had a camp near Versailles when they would hold dances on a Saturday night. Girls from the American and English embassies in Paris, were bussed into the camp. If we could afford it, we also went up to Paris to enjoy the night life. One of my closest pals, was demobbed six months before me. We lost contact until about ten years ago when I read an article involving him in a National newspaper. I managed to trace him and we now keep in close contact. It transpired that, 30 years after we had both finished National Service, unbeknown to us, for 20 years we had lived in neighbouring villages in the Midlands and went into Birmingham on the same train every day – him in the front carriage and me in the rear one. We had both ended up in Birmingham with our jobs. Another coincidence was that we both married and had daughters with their young sons playing seven-a-side football for the same team in Hertfordshire!! I don’t regret my period of National Service and have many memories of the fun and good times we had.