National Service - Episode 1

I joined Proctor and Gamble on City Road Newcastle in 1953, direct from school in Bishop Auckland. I had three A levels, but witnessing the hardship my dear mother went through in getting my elder brother through University, I decided against following him. In any event, as I had failed my 11 +, I joined King James 1st Grammar School at Bishop Auckland in the third year, so catch up, especially in French was particularly difficult and I consequently failed French at O level, an essential for matriculation.

So as I was still studying, going on day release and night classes I was deferred from National Service. I progressed with my studies and gained my Higher Certificate in Chemistry and later progressed further.

Having met my soulmate Ann and fallen in love and wanting to settle down it, seemed appropriate to get my Army Service over with. So I cancelled my deferment and opted to do my National Service. P&G were willing to reemploy when I returned in two years time. 

So I was ‘called up’ and assigned to the Light Infantry. I duly reported to the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Barracks at Strensall near York for my Ten Weeks of initial training.

Dad is back row on the left

When it was realised that I had A levels I was quickly transferred to Leader Platoon across the Parade Square. Most of my contemporaries had been cadets and/or of a Public School background and I felt decidedly out of place. How long I was in Leader Platoon is difficult to remember but it quickly came to an end when I attended a Unit Selection Board (USB). I was ushered into a room to face a panel of officers. I simply froze. On reflection what I should have done was to boast about my qualifications and about how I was awarded a Senior Victor Ludorum at my school for my Sports and Athletics activities. I could also have added that I was training to be an Analytical Chemist but I'd never been a candidate in a process like the USB and nobody had told me what to expect. Needless to say I was rejected by the panel and returned to my original platoon.

This seemed to delight my original drill sergeant who was quick to say, in a sarcastic tone “So that's how they do it in leader platoon is it McIntosh?” when I did a drill movement at odds with the rest of the squad. 

One amusing incident occurred after we had been on the Rifle Ranges. I was told to "March the men back to the barracks." This was going well until we were about to pass an oncoming officer. I remembered to give the "eyes right" command to the squad but forgot to salute myself! I soon settled back in and completed my basic training culminating in a Passing Out Parade. We were then give leave prior to deployment overseas.

Ann was at home when I returned on leave and I even turned up at P&G in my uniform as I was so proud.

As there were problems at the British Protectorate of Aden situated at the tip of Saudi Arabia, where British Families were involved in the running of the Oil Refineries, we were drafted there as peacekeepers. So the squad travelled down to London and stayed overnight in a disused tube station.

We duly arrived at the airport and boarded a commercial flight in a Hermes Aircraft. Unknown to us at the time but a similar Hermes aircraft had burned out recently in 90 seconds. Hold that thought!

The intake I was part of took up the whole aircraft and we were accompanied by an experienced sergeant. All went well and we took off. I remember my fellow passengers thinking I knew everything, asking what the place was below as we journeyed through France.

We hadn’t been informed but we were a refuelling stop at Malta. We came in to land at Malta, and bearing in mind none of us squaddies had flown before, what followed was the roughest landing imaginable. There were severe bumps and lots of sparks flying as we touched down. We all thought "Oh that’s a normal landing" not knowing any better. However our sergeant, an experienced flyer was noticeably alarmed. It was only when we came to rest at quite an angle that we realised something was amiss. Especially as we had to disembark down hastily provided ladders rather than the usual means of disembarking!

We later learned that tyres on the undercarriage had burst on landing. It was a credit to our pilot that he had overcome the problem and landed us safely. So began our enforced few days sojourn on the beautiful island of Malta in springtime whilst they repaired our aircraft (or found us another).

After a few days relaxing, we were off on out travels again. Our next scheduled stop was at Khartoum. It was quite a memorable arrival, as we all spontaneously cheered at the successful landing (I'm not sure if it was the same pilot). Then, as the doors of the aircraft were opened, we were liberally sprayed with a disinfectant by local operatives, not a very pleasant experience.

We were soon on our way again and eventually landed in Aden. Bearing in mind we were still wearing our U K Battle Dress, on demarcation it felt as if we were walking into an oven.

LHS - Dad writing to Mum from Tent RHS Dad in front of line of tents

The Squad was split up and assigned to various companies and I was directed to The Signal Platoon. The accommodation at Khormaksar Camp was tented and I joined a tent with individuals who were well established. Me with 600 plus days to serve, my contemporaries with less than 100 days to serve.

So began my experience in the 1st Battalion of the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. The Battalion had previously  been on active service in Kenya.