ATTENTION! This not so ‘orrible little lot were all smiles 63 years ago when Army cadets attended the Hampshire Cadet Force’s annual camp at Bourley, near Aldershot, in August, 1952.
Any anxious mothers with concerns that their youngsters would be subjected to shouting Army sergeant-majors were quickly dismissed in the Echo reports of the time, which said that those fearful bawling characters were a blast from the past, according to an Army officer at the camp.
Captain Seale allayed the fears of nervous parents by explaining that the modern Army way was for the messing officer to go round to tables and talk with the young men in a friendly way rather than barking orders at them.
When the 600 young lads from all parts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight arrived they found that their hosts, a regular Royal Engineer unit, had everything ready for them. Tents were up, cook houses and dining tents staffed and inviting, and a NAAFI writing room and other things waiting for the word “go”. After meals the cadets were encouraged to make themselves at home in their accommodation, with each cadet issued with a palliasse, pillow, four blankets and a ground sheet. The cadets enjoyed an action-packed itinerary each day with the mornings generally being set aside for training, such as drill and shooting on the ranges with live ammunition, before spending an afternoon devoted to cricket, football, boxing and demonstrations of a military character by regular soldiers.
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