COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

COMBAT AND COMPETITION
stove pipe - would have deceived the enemy seems highly improbable.
As for machine guns, there were none at all.
The domestic site and sleeping quarters were on the edge of Otley,
a small Yorkshire textile community, where the pubs were friendly
and the locals enjoyed their beer. They responded with enthusiasm to
the victories against the Luftwaffe in the south, and there were some
mighty parties.
One of our number, himself a local, found temptation all to great,
and arrived regularly on our nightly stand-to parade rather the worse
for wear. Although he managed to conceal this fairly well his little
weakness had been spotted by our detachment commander - an
unpleasant character, with a permanent chip on his shoulder, who was
always looking for some unfortunate on whom to vent his spleen.
And so on an August evening, after the air battle had gone rather
well, the defenders of Yeadon were treated to an episode of high
comedy. Our hero, trying desperately to avoid swaying, confronted by
his officer who knew that he had cornered him at last.
"Gunner Bloggs you re drunk!"
"Me? - not me sir!"
Incredibly he had pulled himself together and was standing rigidly
to attention. Then the faintest trace of a smile as, in his drunkenness,
he almost succumbed to dumb insolence. So they stood, facing each
other at close quarters, officer and man, a ludicrous tableau, as the
daylight slowly faded, until the Sergeant Major's voice broke the
silence in scarcely veiled tones of contempt.
"Dismiss the parade sir?"
- and we fell out in the darkness - collapsing in silent, helpless,
laughter.
The Army moves in a mysterious way and a batch of OCTU
postings came through with little evidence of any selection procedure.
The 'lucky ones transferred to a requisitioned hotel in nearby Ilkley,
wore white bands on their forage caps, and started to learn how to be
officers and gentlemen for the duration. No gun drill now, but there
was plenty of PT and route marching, to help make good the ravages
of life at Yeadon.
It was back to school with a vengeance, lectures and tests, and a
need for at least some 'homework' in the evenings. An introduction to
the mysteries of MT included motor cycles - on one of which I nearly
wrote myself off - and driving instruction on heavy vehicles with
crash gearboxes. When, years later, I bought an Alvis 12/50 big port
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