These are some of the characters of the period. The BSM of 179 Bty was Buck Taylor, a big man with a huge moustache that was clearly visible from behind. I once drew a cartoon of him from the rear, urinating into a desert rose, with the caption “The only man in the Battery who knows what he’s doing!” Buck got hold of it somehow and pinned it to one of the Bty Office tent poles, and was forever pointing to it whenever any Officer needed remind who was in charge.

Doggie or Crasher Hayes was my TSM in Easy Troop. He also had a moustache, but it was a sort of flimsy, raggedy-looking thing. He spluttered a lot and often had icicles visible in his moustache. He was certainly one of the old school and wasn’t the brightest of men. He was quite fat and would sometimes push his belly up against you whilst giving you a boll*cking. If you showed any sign of resistance he’d say, “Oh, assault your Sergeant-Major, would you?” and start beating you with his hands. Like many Southerners he pronounced “th” as “f”. His favourite saying when he found fault during inspections was “You’re filfy dirty!” One time he came along the rank telling most that they were filfy dirty, then he came to myself, looked me up and down and screamed “You’re not filfy dirty, McDougall, you’re f*cking manky!” He yelled at another guy by the name of Wheatley who wore heavy, horn-rimmed glasses “If you don’t smarten yourself up I’ll stuff you down the thunder box and throw your glasses to the Chin*s!” (Chinese)

There was a story of the time Buck and Doggie were at some Div parade when the National Anthem was played and a Korean next to Doggie failed to stand up. When he remained seated after a nudge from Doggie he was dragged to his feet and Buck leaned across and smacked him one.

The TSM of Fox Troop was George Page, a holder of the Military Medal. George was quite the opposite of Doggie, a quiet, understanding, gentle man who was very well respected by all.

Jock Morris was the archetypal Aberdonian, deadly mean and absolutely no sense of humour. He was famous for never having worn socks in his life, even during two Korean winters. Everyone received a free weekly ration of a tin of 50 cigarettes and Jock, being a non-smoker, stored his in a wooden locker under his bed. He wouldn’t lend anyone a tin whenever they ran short. The time came when Jock had to be unexpectedly hospitalised after when he reported sick. Doggie Hayes ordered me and another Gunner to check his kit into the BQMS Store (I’ll never understand why an NCO wasn’t detailed to do this). Anyway, in the event, all Jock’s kit was duly handed in as ordered, minus the cigarettes, which were distributed between the lads. He wasn’t best pleased on his return, but got no sympathy and hopefully learned something from the experience.

Jim Kelly was a huge Gunner in 87 Bty. I first came across him on my first introduction to German beer in the NAAFI bar in Kupferdreh. Like most squaddies, I underestimated the strength of the brew and over-imbibed, leading me to loudly interrupt Jim whilst he was standing on a table singing. I don’t remember any of this, but apparently there was a deathly hush as Jim glared at me, pointed and said “I don’t like you!” to which I replied “I don’t f*cking like you either!” Someone must have got me away in one piece, and the next thing I remember is big Jim tapping me on the shoulder in the dinner queue next day and asking if I still wanted to fight him – an invitation I hastily declined as I stutterd out a grovelling apology. Jim was caught drinking from a beer bottle whilst on guard duty in 87 Bty in Korea. He denied the charge and refused to accept punishment from his BC and the CO, leading to a Court Martial. He got off by claiming the beer bottle contained water and nobody had thought to retain the bottle for evidence, but the Army got him back in the end. Jim eventually blotted his copybook again and was sentenced to 28 days detention, which had to be served at a French-Canadian detention centre, notorious for its harsh regime. On his return Jim was a broken man, his hair had literally turned grey and he was a meek shadow of his former self.

To be continued…………………