R.A.F. Padgate
R.A.F. Padgate 
As 4163873 A/C2 Jamieson,J. along with about 100 others,I arrived at Padgate for 8 weeks of recruit training. We were to be No.6 Flight of “B” Squadron and we were split into billets of 20 and unpacked our kit. The billets were wooden huts with 20 beds plus 2 lockers in two rows down each side plus a separate room for the corporal drill instructor at one end. The ablutions were in another wooden hut at the back. Two coke stoves heated the billet but, as it was January, the temperature never rose very high. After getting marched to the mess for tea, we were introduced to our drill instructor N.C.O.s, one sergeant and four corporals. In fact, they were corporals in name only, their real rank was leading aircraftman acting corporal. The immediate aim of the N.C.O.s was to instill in the recruits a sense of fear and to reach a point where we would obey any order no matter how stupid it was. It was all a game and some of us realised this and as long as we played the game we would reach the end of our training without any problems. Unfortunately, some of the others tried to buck the system and argue with the N.C.O.s and there was only going to be one winner there. A few buckled under and had a very hard time but everyone eventually would pull through and pass out. Immediately the “bulling started” both on our kit and on the hut itself. The kit had to be blancoed and polished to the satisfaction of the N.C.O.s and eventually the officers. We had diagrams of how to lay our kit out for inspection on our bed and everything had to be exactly in the right place and folded as per the diagram. This took many days to get right and pass inspection. Each man was issued with an Lee Enfield .303 rifle for drill purposes only. These rifles had seen better days having been dropped on parade grounds for a few years, so it would have been quite dangerous to try to fire them but we had to keep them clean as if we were using them in battle. The rifles were stored in a rack just inside the front door and were available for inspection by an N.C.O at any time.

The hut floor was highly polished linoleum and was polished regularly by the application of wax and then polished up with a heavy bumper. No one was allowed to walk on the floor with their boots of shoes. Thick pads of felt were used to slide around the billet except by senior N.C.O.s and officers.

Other duties were allocated to each man and you might find yourself going for coke, cleaning the wash basins and toilets, cleaning the windows, scrubbing the two tables in the hut or many other housekeeping duties. The officers inspected each hut on each wing each week, a crest was awarded to the best hut and this was eagerly sought after.
Share by: