1966 And All That
Enlisted May 16th 1966: and like many men of my age wouldn't mind going back for a rerun. The problem is you only get one shot at being single; no responsibilities, spend all your wages on what you like, somewhere to sleep and three meals a day; then moaning and counting the days to demob! Whoever said youth is wasted on the young had the right idea. Only joking - I had some great times during and after service but it all went too fast - I can't possibly be a senior citizen while the memories stay fresh. Hope all my contemporaries feel the same way - Happy New Year wherever you are. Cheers!
John H. Nimrod Crew Chief. You have said it all. And you are so right!!
I joined in 1963 and I don't know where it all went. So quick. I don't think you realise how lucky you are until it is all over. No civvy job compares. Great times. I got demobbed in 1986.
I joined in 1963 and I don't know where it all went. So quick. I don't think you realise how lucky you are until it is all over. No civvy job compares. Great times. I got demobbed in 1986.
Alan As John has said you have said what I have always said and that is given my time back again I would do it all over again I joined in 66 and the period for signing on was the minium of 6 Years but than when I passed My basic trg they dangled the carrot to sign on for an extra 3 Years and plus the extra money I ended up doing 22 Years to think I would never have said that when I signed on at the ACIO at Forestgate in E London I wonder how many can remember the old pay books when we had to salute the Pay Officer and declare correct Sir Which I think the wages were £5/10 a fortnight Cheers for the great memories of yesteryear
Thanks to John and Bill for their comments. I remember after getting out, taking a sales job I was totally unsuited to do and one lunchtime returning to the Recruiting Office where I had signed up and standing there looking through the window for ages thinking whether to go back in. In the end, I walked away, but I couldn't settle and set off travelling around Europe, finishing up working as a deckhand on two different yachts in the South of France, which was a bit like being back in the forces in the sense of the camaraderie with the rest of the crew and free board and lodging! Eventually, I went back to the UK, got married and became a wage slave like everyone else until I recently retired. No regrets, a long marriage and three great children; but sometimes I imagine that one morning I am going to wake up in a billet and find the rest of it was just a dream, and here I am, back in my early twenties, with the whole of my life ahead of me! As you get old, the past inevitably becomes increasingly more real to you as the future shrinks ever smaller. Remembering is not, 'living in the past,' but more a life-affirming choice to take a second helping of the good times!