The Training of a Trooper
Shortly after passing the required medical examinations, in the mail, came a travel warrant with instructions to proceed forthwith to the 57th Training Regiment RTR at Warminster, Wiltshire.
On the appointed day, at an early hour, I left Liverpool's Lime Street Station on a train, bound for Bristol, which arrived at Temple Meads Station about three hours later.
On the platform was a Corporal with about a dozen young men in civvies. "You for Warminster, if so report to me!" he said. So I, and six or so others, joined the group of soon to be ex-civilians. Following a short wait, we all climbed aboard another train Warminster bound, where we arrived less than a hour later.
At Warminster station we were met by a Sergeant whose first words were "Fall in you lot, answer your names when they are called!" The preliminaries over, Bedford 3-tonners whisked us away for the short journey the RTR barracks where we debussed outside a mess hall. We then were instructed to "feed our faces" after which processing would commence.
First impressions of "Army grub" being that it wasn't too bad, even though the mugs of hot sweet tea with evaporated milk tasted rather peculiar. After eating, more instructions including the information that we now had become 'A' Squadron's 34 Troop.
Next we were kitted out by which time, as it was early evening, we were escorted to our "living quarters"
to meet our Troop Sergeant together with his Corporal and two Lance Corporals. To my great surprise the Sgt was none other than William "Dixie" Dean, one of the greatest centre-forwards that ever played for the Everton (the "Blues") Football Team. Many a time had I seen him score goals with just a flick of his head. The Corporal, whose name unfortunately I cannot remember, was also a football player with Tranmere Rovers, a Third Division - North team whose ground was across the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The Troop quarters were on the first floor being split between two facing rooms, each in charge of a Lance Corporal, the two football players having a room of their own. I was given the bottom of a two-bunk bed, with one of a pair of upright lockers, just inside the door to its right. My locker had an amusing role to play a few weeks later of which more anon.
The First Full Day
At 6 a.m. we were rudely awakened, to be given a mere thirty minutes to perform our ablutions and to get dressed, in time for our first lesson how to properly make up our beds. We bumbled and fumbled until eventually being allowed to partake of breakfast at 7.30 a.m. We then assembled to hear a series of lectures, the first of which was given by the Squadron Leader. It should be mentioned here that most of the officers, with the rank of Captain and above, had seen action with the Royal Tank Corps, as it was then known, in World War One.
