johnboyzzz
LE
Guy I served with, his grandson was with the Para Platoon and went back to the Bn, there is no ceremonial in 1SG, where he has been promoted twice since his return.
The Queen’s Guards: A Year in Service
- Thread starter Queensman
- Start date
LE
That period, mid to late 90's, was not good. Options, losing almost half the battalion to 2RRF, then Demo Battalion, saw off a lot of blokes. Catterick was a bit better, first time we had been oop't north in nearly a decade. I stayed in touch with a couple of lads, ironically, the Iraq/Afghan period saw a lift in morale. Bullshit dropped off, a more realistic attitude swept through the battalion, and the bullies largely disappeared. I was reliably informed that as the tempo of Ops got lower, the bullshit crept back in.
I suppose they thought that standards had slipped while the battalion was on active service?
After returning from S. Armagh in 89, that was exactly the attitude. We were treated like week one crows for a couple of weeks, I have never seen so many blokes getting locked up.
Q_Man
Old-Salt
I and a number of other recruits did that at Bassingbourn in 97. And we polished the soles of boots. And used the back of our A4 pad as a measure for folding.
And we joined the Corps that "look like tramps and build your camps".
I am a Kipling Walt.
Do you like Kipling?
I don't know, I've never kippled.
Gout Man
LE
“Dirty welts, take his name Sgt Major”.
That was the year I left. Did you have to black polish the skirting boards?
Gout Man
LE
Looking back signing on as a Grenadier was a bit of a major crime on my behalf.
beefer
LE
Bad form to quote oneself but I’ve just remembered another SG incident on that tour.
Early December I was on final approach to BBK when a contact report came on the net. Glassdrumman hill fort was being mortared. I had the CO - Kiszely? - and the RSM on board so we legged it down to the border at max chat.
On the way down the OP said the baddies had gone off in a brown Allegro towards the border. We were allowed 5km over the border in “hot pursuit” so over we went. Felt very odd to be on the wrong side after years of making sure I didn’t stray.
No sign of the Allegro and the Garda then pitched up so we went back to BBK. No injuries at the OP. Later a Lynx nitesunned me in to Slab M’s back field to drop a couple of visitors off. I was then released.
That was not the most memorable part of the day however. On return to Aldergrove I went with my missus to the WO & Sgts mess Christmas draw and won a cordless iron - RESULT!
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Dreamseller
War Hero
Heard different reasons over the years. Unsure of how accurate any of them were. One was to do with manpower issues in the Para battalions.
Whatever the reason, it seems to be successful, along with the Household Division and Parachute Regiment Combined Courses.
Yes, the para regt and guards regiments used to do the JNCO cadres together, maybe they still do.
Dreamseller
War Hero
Yep still do. HDPRCC encompasses a few courses.
Rodney2q
LE
I went through Queens Div depot at Bassingbourn in the winter of 76-77. Didn't find it too bad apart from trying to clean and polish the accomodation floor (my pl was in the old wooden buildings opposite the guardroom). Once you learned how to fold the kit for locker inspections and make a bed block it was pretty straightforward.
I found my initial exposure to the army way of life a bit of a shock but learned how to do what was required of me and coped with it OK. The lads in my Pl however had a very good collective sense of humour and everyone chipped in to get things done.
Joined my Bn (2 Queens) in early 1977 - apart from Ceremonial duties in Gibraltar (which were a pain in the ar*e and which I pretty much managed to avoid), I don't recall much in the way of BS other than keeping the accomodation clean, neat and tidy, and making sure that you turned up correctly dressed (clean, neatly pressed etc) on Monday morning muster parades.
It was certainly a different army in those days though - still had pay parades up until 78 or 79 IIRC...
We were in the old H blocks around the main square. Nice wooden floors that looked great after hours of bumpering. Black painted skirting boards that were desperate to bulled, and luckily the window handles were made of brass so we were kindly allowed to make them nice and shiny, along with all the copper pipes in the ablutions etc, etc. It was horrendous. However, all the other platoons were going through the same.
johnboyzzz
LE
Hence your dislike of mars bars
Robsa68
Old-Salt
The old feller was conscripted into 3rd batt G G in 1958, did the caterham and pirbright gigs before going to Libyan desert to train for 'middle East rapid reaction force' then onto sunny Cyprus to have blokes with big tashs try and make holes in him.
Was on the big parade for de Gaul.
He said depot was effin awful. He had to take the screws out of door and window handles and bluebell them and also burnish the tea bucket ( wtf is a tea bucket?) As well as his own admin.
He is was probably the last Brit squaddie nearly killed by a luger,( in training his sergeant was in the habit of having one tucked down the back of his trousers, he got in an altercation with the trained man and let fly, luckily missing him but going through the wall of the spider block and into dad's barrack where it went through the forage cap he had perched on his head while sat on his bed doing his brasses.)
I don't think he enjoyed his time in brown.
Was on the big parade for de Gaul.
He said depot was effin awful. He had to take the screws out of door and window handles and bluebell them and also burnish the tea bucket ( wtf is a tea bucket?) As well as his own admin.
He is was probably the last Brit squaddie nearly killed by a luger,( in training his sergeant was in the habit of having one tucked down the back of his trousers, he got in an altercation with the trained man and let fly, luckily missing him but going through the wall of the spider block and into dad's barrack where it went through the forage cap he had perched on his head while sat on his bed doing his brasses.)
I don't think he enjoyed his time in brown.
whiffler
LE
Their junior musicians were also at Pirbright with HDiv.
The tea bucket was exactly that. A galvanised bucket with a spout and a lid, one of the sprogs would be sent to the cookhouse to get it filled.
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