{A military hoax}[17th May 1968]

[Redbook1:47][19680517:1245]{A military hoax}[17th May 1968][Age 16]

Friday 17th May 1968

12.45 p.m.

            Once again I am sorry about these gigantic omissions.  I am going to stop writing this in the evening, when I'm usually short of time, and do it in the daytime instead.  I shall try to divide each entry into (1) Events at home or wherever I am (2) Events in the world outside which interest me and (3) My comments and thoughts.  This record must not be taken to show everything in either of those categories.  I may be reduced to note form at times, but I really shall make great efforts to keep it up -- it is pretty pointless otherwise.

            Thursday I spent preparing for the C.C.F.Wednesday--Thursday night operation on Salisbury Plain.  It was quite fun but chaotic.  A funny looking, rather tired officer in an army greatcoat and officer’s hat and glasses turned up and claimed to be a bomb disposal expert from the Gunners at Larkhill doing a course at the School of Infantry at Warminster.  He said there were bombs in the C.C.F. army section campsite; it so happened, quite by chance, that there were.  He then asked to be shown over the C.C.F.operation, at which Major Q (i/c C.C.F.) beamed and took him back to H.Q.-- but not before our filming unit had rolled the live bombs away with their hands!  The "officer" asked several pertinent questions of V, boy cadet officer i/c R.A.F., such as "What exactly is the point of this exercise?" and “How do you tell if someone wins?"  It was by now getting darkish.  At about this stage I heard his voice for the first time, and realised that it was K.S., a boy in my form and a member of the C.C.F. army section.  Thinking that he must have put on the greatcoat etc. to keep warm, or to look after them for some officer, I went up to him and said "Hello, I thought for one moment that you were an army officer".  When he replied "Hello" very distantly, I withdrew, thinking for one moment that he really might be an officer and that I had made some ghastly mistake!

[PostedBlogger27092012]