Poems about the Army Apprentices School, Harrogate
(Attributed to Terry Corbett, intake 54B, with some subsequent editing)

Arrival at UNIACKE

We drove past the Guardroom and “Stan the Man’s” shrine.
The tail gate crashed down, followed by shouts and a whine.
“What’s next?” someone asked, “To me looks like trouble”.
“Get off, fall in here, and move at the double!”

Sergeants Bowsley and Caine, they just weren’t the same
As the kindly old chaps we had met at the station.
From Jekyll to Hyde in the space of the ride,
They’d transformed into Hell and Damnation.

“Squad ‘shun, answer names, fall out, follow me,
For six months you’ll be here in HQ Company.
This is your ‘spider’ and this is your bed.
Put your things in your locker, you’ve got to be fed”.

The bottom cookhouse was smelly and dreary,
With slippery floors to trap the unwary.
Our plates were piled high and we all ate our fill,
But for three long years after the grub was just swill.

Then back to the ‘spider’ and make up your bed.
It wasn’t yet winter and the heating was dead.
The room looked so tidy, gleaming and bright.
We’d very soon learn that this took all night.

The blankets were hairy, the sheets they were damp,
A lumpy old mattress from an old prison camp.
The bed springs were sagging, the pillows like rocks,
A big wooden locker and a large soldier’s box.

With thanks to  Trevor "Bill" Powell for this contribution.