West Coast Commando

Transcription

We started our training. And, er, I started off by blotting my copybook. I couldn't look at that 'Tarzan' course. I thought that looks good. So once I got settled in, and by the way, I was one of the unlucky ones that got put in a tent. Most of them was in nissen huts, but I was put in a tent with six other blokes. And, er, I walked across what was the square, which was all muddy cos it was pouring with rain. It never stopped raining. And I tried the scramble nets that went straight up for about 40 feet. And I'm halfway up these nets when a voice said: "Get down! What are you doing? Get down!" I got down and it's one of the instructors. I said: "Well, I've just arrived and I thought I'd, er, have a..." You know. He said: "Don't worry about that, son. You'll be seeing enough of that. You're going to get sick and tired of that." And that was my introduction to Achnacarry, in a way. But then, er, Laycock Troop started training. It considered the basics, of course, like: skill at arms, fieldcraft, right, movement by day and night, and all this... but in the Commando way. Not as you do it in a...you know. So, they let you know as well. And most days it was wet. And it's coming up...this is winter. This is the period from September through like... And, er, we had a cookhouse. In the morning there was a dustbin outside and it looked like pig swill in the dustbin. But we found out it was "burgoo", as they called it. Which is oatmeal, water and salt. Now if you wanted something in your guts - and you needed something, mate, I tell you - get your mess tin in there and get a mess tin full of that. That dustbin was empty, mate. Cleaned. Anyway, the training went on, relentless. There was no five-minute fag break or NAAFI break. You finished one period, straight on to another. You know. And that was that. And you did that, and you did that, and you did that... And you got wet, and you crossed rivers, and you swam in the loch, and that. And you done field fighting exercises. And you did assault landings with live ammunition. Live ammunition - there was people getting knocked over. And, er, it went on and on and on. Relentless. And even sometimes you'd get to bed at night and you'd done what you could to dry your gear out and clean yourself up for the mornings, cos every morning - muster parade - you was inspected. And if they thought you hadn't got up to a certain standard you was in trouble. You know. Anyway, we finished our training, of course, and got posted to 3 Commando.