In October 1962 I would have been 16 years old; an age when we were principled and indefatigable.
The Cuban missile crisis was in full swing, and a small group of about 6 schoolboys in Cambridgeshire made a defence plan.
Quite what this motley group expected I don't remember, but we imagined Communist forces entering the city, and they had to be defeated. We were the ones to take matters in hand.
We had all been trained in the art of warfare, we were all experienced with the Lee-Enfield .303 rifle, with Stirling machine guns, and ground mounted Bren guns. We were a force to be reckoned with.
Quite naturally we gave ourselves ranks (all officers of course), I seem to remember that I'd been promoted to lowly Captain.
Our plan was to break into the school's armoury, purloin a handful of weaponry (2 Brens, several Sterlings, and plenty of ammunition), and take up our position in the city's most strategic spot; The Lamb Hotel.
The 15th century Lamb Hotel was situated on one corner of the city's main crossroads. Its second floor rooms were ideal for machine gun placements, and we even did a quick reconnoitre. The manager would be no match for us, and we selected the rooms which were to be requisitioned. The hotel had both a bar and a good restaurant. Our plans were complete.
The Cuban missile crisis soon came to an end, and in many ways our little band of newly commissioned youthful officers were very disappointed. We had made specific and secretive plans, but had been deprived of putting them into action.
We'd been battle ready and eager, but it had all come to nothing. We would have won the war single handed, but between Khrushchev and Kennedy we had been denied our heroics.
En garde you foreign devils. What great courage we have in youth! What great memories.
ReplyDeletePS what a great story for your grandsons...with a bit of embellishment
ReplyDeleteIt was Remembrance Day in the UK yesterday, and it made me think back to this funny story. It was the nearest we got to going to war. Of course we'd have all been expelled if we'd carried out our plans, but we were prepared for it.
DeleteIf you'd carried out your plan expulsion would have been the least iof your worries!
DeleteNever give up Cro., with the way the world is going, you may still need those plans !
ReplyDeleteI think we're all too old for it now. At the time we were all hot blooded and ready to do our bit. We really were.
DeleteI'd go for the Lee-Enfield with match sights over the Sterling... with a sniper's silencer attached!!
ReplyDeleteAnd plenty of the larger, 10-round magazines.
Hidden stopping power...
I seem to remember that the Stirling managed one in about forty bullets on target, but they were great fun to fire.
DeleteSuch spirit! but I'm glad you didn't have to put your plan into action.
ReplyDeleteWe were very fired-up, but probably all relieved that it came to nothing. The threat at the time seemed very real.
DeleteI vaguely remember some clued-up kids telling me we were all going to die, but I didn't believe them. Turns out I was right.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was only American schools which trained pupils in the use of firearms until I heard of yours.
All schools that have a CCF corps are taught to handle military weapons. The Sten guns were quite frightening.
DeleteI've never heard of any gun training in schools in the States...hmmmm....maybe it's time!
DeleteSome of the day boys at a local public school used to travel to school on the bus in their army corp uniforms and chat away to us about army manoeuvres they would be involved that day which I believe we all took seriously and in our stride at the time.
DeleteIt was all the kit cleaning that I disliked, the rest was quite fun.
DeleteNot crawling along a ditch on your belly...soaked through...just to avoid "observation" by the "enemy".... or a 25 mile route march in the Brecon Beacons with a 56lb pack on your back....you're not telling me that that was fun!!
DeleteMakes me wonder whether TS was educated in the UK. For all schools had Cadet Units for each of the Services and were instructed in the use of weaponry and maintenance of same.
ReplyDeleteI even attended a pre-Sandhurst Officer training course. It was taken very seriously.
DeleteI used to attend Brittania Royal Naval College at Dartmouth that was tremendously exciting.
DeleteThere used to be a sign in my local pub which said: In the Event of Nuclear War hide under the ashtrays. They never get hit.
ReplyDeleteIt was a time when no self respecting soldier would be seen without his fags and his lucifers.
It was at the time of the Cuban missile crisis that the population was advised that in case of a nuclear attack, to wrap oneself in brown paper, and hide under a table. I wonder where that idea came from?
DeleteMy old Pa reckoned that it was to save the clean-up squads time!
DeleteI went to bed in Connecticut, wondering if I would wake up in the morning. My husband was a navigator at RAF Akrotiri on high alert flying sortis -- armed and ready ...
ReplyDeleteAs were we Broad. It all seemed so very serious at the time.
DeleteOh what it is to be sixteen and indefatigable.
ReplyDeleteI was 16 shy and spotty
DeleteI suspect we were just wanting to do something 'heroic'. Sadly it never happened.
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