The Commander and the Major were already in the dining room when we arrived; for the first time since we’d met he was in full uniform and looking extremely smart. “Hello chaps how are you feeling now? The Chief shown you all need to you know has he?” I don’t think either of us knew how to answer that so neither of us did, eventually as if to fill the space, the Commander said “Help yourself to some sandwiches chaps, there’s potted beef and then whilst examining a sandwich with a quizzical look continued or some sort of fish paste, they tell me there’s a war on.” All four of us were sorting our food onto plates when the CPO arrived and he too was in full uniform and also looking very smart. We all sat down at the dining table and the Major said. “Thought we’d do the full uniform men, this is after all your passing out parade eh? Seriously though,” he continued, “we’ve had to rush you through, much faster than we would want to. I want to take this opportunity now to run through what’s expected of you so that we can maximise your chances of survival.
