Week one in the New Entry block and we were issued our kit and an official service number which I will always have emblazoned on my memory - D187666C, told to shave whether we needed to or not, taught to 'bull' (spit and polish to a high sheen) our boots after being told by the New Entry Chief Petty Officer 'I wanna be able to see my face in those!' and iron kit and then fold it into the size of our Seamanship Hand Book (smaller than A4 Paper). This was our new life and our home for the first week. Here I was also exposed to the fine cigarettes available at Duty Free prices only to Royal Naval personnel - they were called Blue Liners and sadly they did not last as long as I did in the Senior Service.
Once the initial shock of getting up in the middle of the night (05:30) and having people shout at us and make us run up and down in step etc etc had sunk in we were then introduced to the delights of 'Clean Ship' - basically cleaning everything that did not move for inspection during evening rounds. This was all to prepare us for the next 5 weeks in Part 2 Training where we would 'Clean Ship', square bash, assault course, fire real live big dangerous rifles, be gassed in a chamber, partake in the RN swimming test and circuit training, climb ropes, run about, wash, iron and fold kit, 'Bull' our parade boots and shoes and polish beret badges and generally be introduced to the pomp and ceremony of Naval life while earning a meagre 40 GBP per fortnight.
To collect our pay we had to go on pay parade, where a select few (usually me) would be picked up by the 'Joss' (Jack Speak - Master at Arms; Regulating Branch equivalent to Chief Petty Officer rate) for poor kit upkeep and long hair and 'Chop one off' (Jack Speak - salute) to the pay officer whilst shouting the last 3 digits and the letter at the end of our official service numbers - commonly known as our Ship's book number.
So the subsequent 5 weeks flew with all the above being undertaken, passed, achieved and boys becoming men, and all that George, culminating in a passing out parade in late October 1980 with 9 weeks cookery training looming over the horizon at the Royal Navy Cookery School, HMS Pembroke in Chatham, Kent. The Passing Out was the first time I had seen my family for the 6 weeks since I left home on 22 Sep and it had seemed like an eternity - nothing though compared to the 8-9 month seagoing deployments I had to look forward to but knew nothing about at that infantile stage of my career. Also little did I know that, less than 2 years after completing 6 weeks Basic Training, Britain would be involved in the biggest conflict involving the Royal Navy since the end of World War 2...
Once the initial shock of getting up in the middle of the night (05:30) and having people shout at us and make us run up and down in step etc etc had sunk in we were then introduced to the delights of 'Clean Ship' - basically cleaning everything that did not move for inspection during evening rounds. This was all to prepare us for the next 5 weeks in Part 2 Training where we would 'Clean Ship', square bash, assault course, fire real live big dangerous rifles, be gassed in a chamber, partake in the RN swimming test and circuit training, climb ropes, run about, wash, iron and fold kit, 'Bull' our parade boots and shoes and polish beret badges and generally be introduced to the pomp and ceremony of Naval life while earning a meagre 40 GBP per fortnight.
To collect our pay we had to go on pay parade, where a select few (usually me) would be picked up by the 'Joss' (Jack Speak - Master at Arms; Regulating Branch equivalent to Chief Petty Officer rate) for poor kit upkeep and long hair and 'Chop one off' (Jack Speak - salute) to the pay officer whilst shouting the last 3 digits and the letter at the end of our official service numbers - commonly known as our Ship's book number.
So the subsequent 5 weeks flew with all the above being undertaken, passed, achieved and boys becoming men, and all that George, culminating in a passing out parade in late October 1980 with 9 weeks cookery training looming over the horizon at the Royal Navy Cookery School, HMS Pembroke in Chatham, Kent. The Passing Out was the first time I had seen my family for the 6 weeks since I left home on 22 Sep and it had seemed like an eternity - nothing though compared to the 8-9 month seagoing deployments I had to look forward to but knew nothing about at that infantile stage of my career. Also little did I know that, less than 2 years after completing 6 weeks Basic Training, Britain would be involved in the biggest conflict involving the Royal Navy since the end of World War 2...
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