大象传媒

Now a sort of Army Hybrid and no longer Lance Corporal Royal Signals; the latter鈥檚 stripe having been replaced by a white band in the cap signifying reclassification as 鈥淐adet鈥�. The hopeful intention was that after the requisite six weeks, out of the 鈥渃hrysalis鈥� should emerge a Second Lieutenant Royal Army Service Corps.

Not much happened at first. Course work and the inevitable drill sessions presented no problem to someone who had already spent nearly nine months serving in the ranks. But progressively the Cadets became involved in active defence work due to the deteriorating situation in nearby France. Cliff defences were set up and manned by Cadets from dusk to dawn. This became boring routine, which was sometimes relieved by typical Army happenings.

The first of these followed one of the occasions when the Cadets got a night off. This happened approximately once every ten days: a congenial evening spent in the local pub followed by a comfortable bed in a Hotel Billet. Peaceful sleep was interrupted at about 4am by a large outbreak of alarm bells, etc. There was a report that German paratroops had landed at the local civilian airport. The Cadet personnel were mobilised, loaded into an ancient civilian truck, and provided with a rifle and 20 rounds of ammunition to deal with crack German troops. Understandably there was considerable apprehension as the truck slowly wound its way up the steep hill to the airfield. The time was now about 5.30am, a fine summer morning and no sign of Germans. Perhaps they were all in hiding, but a thorough search revealed that the airfield was deserted and all at peace. The Cadets returned much relieved to breakfast.

Military intelligence agreed that the German invasion was a false alarm, but thought that they 鈥渕ight come tomorrow鈥�. So the Cadets were mobilised again with an enlarged working party to make the airfield inoperable; i.e. covering the whole area with barbed wire, old drainpipes and any other available rubbish. This took all day. The Cadets were very tired but proud of their achievements. The surface of the airfield now looked like a huge hedgehog, bristling with sharp objects to inconvenience potential invaders.

The following day the Cadets were re-mustered once again, and dispatched to the airfield to confirm that nothing further needed to be done. And there, sitting in the middle of the impregnable fortress, was a completely undamaged Naval Swordfish aircraft that had decided to make an emergency landing during the night.

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