大象传媒

Some people have read this book of my life in the war years and later found it very interesting. They said would I write the next two years of my life in the army. So I will do my best.

Sitting on that huge steam train with hundreds of young men, we all looked nervous. Someone said we are all in the same boat and its's sinking fast. We tried to laugh. We stopped at a station called Templecoombe. Someone shouted, "All out". This huge station was so busy with army people. We were told to go on a little old train to Blandford Camp-it is called the Pines Express. I remember looking out of the window and seeing the open country. I was frightened of open spaces all my life. I was always staring at a brick wall or a house in front of me.

Getting of the train at Blandford, army lorries were waiting for all of us. We arrived at the camp. The first thing we had was a haircut. All my hair was on the floor in a minute. I was kitted out in a uniform, boots and army equipment. There were 24 mean in each barrack room. We were shown how to make a bed block out of blankets. A sergeant said, "Next day at 6 am, you will start being soldiers-lights out at 10 pm". When he went out everybody started talking . I was amazed at all the different accents from all over England, Scotland and Wales. A lot of young men were swearing, shouting and talking loudly. The foul language was terrible. Then a young lad next to me knelt down by his bed with a bible and started to pray. All the tough men and swearing people stopped talking and when the young man was praying I could hear a pin drop. At 10 pm the lights went out the lad who prayed was asleep and the lads that were swearing and using foul language were crying in their beds.

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