Army Dodgers

[Francis Ralph]

This thread suddenly brought back old memories of when I first went to Radio School in 1956 aged 16 . Nefarious Northern Counties RS in Preston. Privately run by a charlatan boss and his sidekick. It occupied one lecture room with tables with morse keys on them , and an enclosed glass area with a radio station set up inside ,courtesy of Marconi co, to whom you were expected to pop down to Liverpool with your ticket when you passed the PMG cert exam.
Eager beavers we all were, avid for knowledge and keen to get on and get our tickets, with the whole wide world waiting out there.
However , there existed up in the top corner of the "lecture room" a seperate table, with no morse keys or any contraptions at all. As we youngsters listened to the wise words of the lecturer, , the occupants of this table much older than us, lazed around and ignored the whole business. The lecturer ignored them also. When I finally queried what the hell was going on there, I was astounded to find out they were only there to avoid National Service. They had no intentions of going to sea, but it seemed if you were studying for a PMG cert you were exempt. Seamus (the boss) obviously was happy to rake in the tuition fees and left them to there own devices.
Newly out of school, I did think it was a bit off , but didn't question the ways of the outside world, unlike today's youth , who seem to be much farther up the "awareness" ladder than I ever was and dont seem to be afraid of making their voices heard.
I can remember the pleasure of getting my ticket and getting away from the place and off to sea. I must say , when I came back to do my First Class ticket 4 years later, the "top table" as was, was now occupied by earnest students like myself, on ticket leave and keen to get it done. No sign of the "slackers" then. Anyone out there remember Northern Counties Radio School in the 50's?

R692715

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Francis.
When I was first at sea the Captain of my first ship asked me if I would like to join with the cadets and go for my ticket, I told him my schooling was abysmal and declined his gracious offer. Later after about five years I applied to a radio school I thing it was Wrexham or somewhere up there, got accepted, but being at sea was off on a twelve months trip when the call came.
DEs

[j.sabourn]

#22. Sounds like you had a more favourable learning curve than I and the 3 others had for my first 3 years at sea Des. The only time I saw the bridge was on the wheel or scrubbing it out . The only thing that caught up with me was the first years exam papers which received a year late. However I did them under the eye of the second mate for no cheating. After being told incessantly by the mate that I would never get a ticket as long as I had an aperture in my rectum I tended to believe him. However when the results came back a bit quicker than I received the papers , I had a general average of 76.8 % for all subjects and 98.6% for the navigation paper and I still have them to prove it. I didn’t get 100% for navigation as misspelt a couple of words. This was the Merchant Navy Training Board . This was the only exam I ever sat before the 2 mates . The mate never spoke any belittling words to me for at least a week. If he had I was ready with the words when my time is up and I get my ticket , I’ll be Back to haunt you . JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Ivan, yes it would follow UK law so homosexuality would be illegal at sea.
But no matter a Nelson approach was taken by all.
There were a number of senior crew members who were of that persuasion, knew a couple of officers , an officers steward in charge and a chef officer who all fitted.
But as you say, the ships had to run.

[Mo Docherty]

hahaha good one

- - - Updated - - -

then you have rum,bum. baccy lot

[happy daze john in oz]

There was one of the cooks on the 'Pretoria', gay as they come, who cut all the buttons off his trousers'
Said he wanted to be ready should any occasion suddenly arise.

[Allen James Jones]

Completed 3 years in MN then one day wandering up Lord St in Liverpool, I, for some reason, popped into the army recruiting office. When I came out I had signed up for 6 years in an armoured regiment (beats walking). Sent to Catterick for training. Square bashing and small arms training then up to a small place called Warcop in North Yorks'. Emerged as a tank gunner. Posted to Berlin for a few years then to Libya. Lots of sand. National service was on its way out during my time but those guys who were called up seemed to enjoy their time and some even signed on in the regulars. I completed 6 years before moving to NZ.

[John Gill]

Ivan, yes it would follow UK law so homosexuality would be illegal at sea.
But no matter a Nelson approach was taken by all.
There were a number of senior crew members who were of that persuasion, knew a couple of officers , an officers steward in charge and a chef officer who all fitted.
But as you say, the ships had to run.

Hmm. That chief officer sounds a popular fit.