Fifty Years Ago: Sunday, 11th July 1976
(Okehampton Camp, Dartmoor, Age 14.9)
I woke at 6.15 a.m. and went to the bog. Back in my bunk, I read an Isaac Asimov short story and then fell asleep again until 6.47 a.m. Reveille was delivered by an older Sedbergh boy who took this army stuff seriously.
Breakfast was good. Unfortunately, something gave me catarrh-induced deafness. What a nuisance. Especially when eating. Everything seemed slightly blocked up and distant. The milk? The cream? The bread? A reaction to something I’d eaten or hay fever?
Map reading was first. Quite easy. Just a Geography field trip really.
We went to the NAAFI for break. We were each given £1 to spend. I got a pint of milk and some sandwiches.
Later I needed to sewed up my buttonhole. A minor practical task completed with schoolboy aplomb.
Talk.
Parade.
Lunch.
In the afternoon, Jamie and I did the orienteering. We got 150, which looked like a winning total. He was good at finding his way around – after he’d got off the train in Crewe and ended up back in Preston.
Supper.
Shower.
Watch TV.
Not too bad all told
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