 Arrived in fear & trepidation at Inkerman Barracks, Woking with a handful of other recruits from 2wks. basic training at Park Lines Camp, Oswestry. We were about to embark on a 16 week training course which was intended to change a bunch of innocents straight from their (mostly) extremely un-military backgrounds, into a unit of highly efficient Military Policemen!Where are you now 173 Squad? Any of you out there? Do you remember Sgt. Goodman? How he laboured to bring about the impossible, but, thinking back, he did manage to bring us up to a fair standard of presentability before he had finished with us. I am sure by the end of our training period not one of us regarded him with anything but the utmost respect and affection. A true father- figure. One episode remains firmly in my memory. After the first couple of weeks we were informed the time had come to be allowed to have the Sunday off, and, provided the Corporal on duty at the guardroom deemed we were smartly enough turned out, we were to be allowed to leave the barracks for the rest of the day in Woking! Some hopes! The whole day was then spent repeatedly reporting to the guardroom and being sent back to press uniforms, clean brasses, polish boots etc; Needless to say, nobody got out that day, and by nightfall we were all well and truly exhausted! It was a hard 16 weeks, but, as always, one took the good with the bad, and, on the whole I'm sure it did us all a power of good. I for one look back to that period in my life all those years ago with a certain feeling of pride and affection. |
