First off I know I haven't been around the forums much recently. Real life has intervened - sharply - and that's cut down my internet time massively. I have however decided I'm going to try and keep this thread going although looking back through it I think thanks are due to Storealex, Mobboss and anyone else who has answered questions on it.
1. Did you enlist or were you called up for national service?
National Service, if I remember correctly, went out in 1959. I enlisted voluntarily.
2. Does each regiment conduct its own recruit training or is there an army post where initial training is centralized?
Short answer - it varies from corps (we don't often speak of regiments in this contexy, but corps as in Infantry, Royal Engineers, and so on). Basically, after getting through interviews (and Sandhurst for officers) everyone does what is called Phase 1 training at one of the Army Training Regiments which from memory are now at Pirbright (site of what was the greatest cookhouse in the UK, before Sodexho... but that's another story), Winchester and Catterick depending on your corps (although training is pretty much the same). At Phase 1 you learn the basics of being a soldier - they get you fit, teach you to march and to operate and maintain your personal weapon. This means that everyone, from the SAS to the chefs, has a basic level of military training, which makes every member of the British army as good a combat soldier as the infantry from pretty much anywhere else (the classic example used to be the USA, but that isn't really true anymore).
From there you go on to Phase 2 which is specific to corps - Infantry go to Catterick and do a lot more of fieldcraft, skill at arms and so on, while the Royal Artillery have a school at Woolwich, and it differs for every corps. Guards train the same as Infantry but then go on to the All Arms Drill Course at Pirbright. Potential paratroopers, on completion of this phase, go on to a selection course called P Company which they must pass to be allowed to wear a maroon beret (before then you wear the cap-badge and a blue beret), and then a parachuting course run by the RAF
3. What was your pay on enlistment?
It's all changed since I was in but it was far less, even if you allow for inflation, than soldiers of that rank get today. The conditions in which men are kept have improved no end.
4. What are the duties of an RSM?
The RSM is, along with God, one of two people allowed to walk on the grass at a barracks - and only God because the RSM can't see him. Essentially he is the regiment's voice of experience; works mainly with knowing everything about the Queen's Regulations (about dress and comportment mostly), regimental tradition, and being a mentor to young officers joining the regiment. Also, despite being theoretically junior to all officers, will instill fear in everyone except the CO, who is essentially his partner.
5. Do jump qualified personnel receive extra pay for it?
Yes; in my day and extra 2s per day
6. Are most members of the SAS recruited from the Parachute Regiment?
Overwhelmingly. You get to the course briefing and there's just a sea of maroon with the odd Khaki (guards) and almost no other berets. This is because if you're good enough that you might eventually apply for the SAS, you're probably good enough to apply for the paras, and the training done is very good preparation. Also the roles are similar and many of the skills required the same only in greater quantity - fitness, self-discipline, fieldcraft... so paras have an advantage in passing the course. That and parachute officers and careers people encourage their men onto it, although I have heard that the new Rifles regiment have a similar policy. Can't see as many of them getting through though.
7. What percentage of Army officers came up through the ranks? Is their any social divide between Sandhurst graduates and former enlisted officers?
I think it's about one in ten.
First of all, there's no such thing as a Sandhurst graduate - it's not a university like in the USA; most officers have degrees before they go although it's in no way a prerequisite (and in British english enlisted and conscripted have the same meaning; we say OR [ordinary rank] for a non-officer).
Generally the divide is one of class - while it's no longer true to say that the typical DE (direct entry) is upper-class, it was far more so when I got my LE (late entry; ranker's commission) and there are no DE officers from backgrounds like mine where we left school at 16, because you need A-Levels to even apply. Also there is age to consider; to be considered for an LE commission you need to have served at least 20 years so will be 35-40 while a new DE is about 19. Don't forget that LE officers commission (although I got demoted to Lt, but that's a long story [good one though]) as Captains which is 2 ranks senior to second lieutenant (pronounced LEFF-tenant, obviously).
One thing I would say is that if you meet an LE Lieutenant Colonel, then treat them with respect - to get to that rank, you have to be a warrant officer (which would be a very proud end-of-career rank), then be commissioned and then reach a rank which any officer would be very proud of ever reaching having started halfway up your ladder. As such these are very, very good officers who would have made generals had they entered as officers. I have never heard of an LE officer reaching higher.
Is there some equipment that you use to help detect bombs?
We used to do this in Ulster all the time (as Storealex says you shouldn't really leave your car anywhere that it's likely to be bombed, but that's not so easy when the 'danger area' is a whole province). Basically we just opened everything up, looked under the car (using a wing mirror on a stick; you could get that done down at a garage for very little) and checked it was all normal. A few guys did lose their lives to those, and there were also a few who managed to bring them back to camp (somehow) much to the shock of the men and the anger of the RSM. Generally they're not hard to spot if you stick ytour head under it: look for a package on the underside of your car that looks like a bomb. Luckily I never had one.
Line loss. Cute.
