How something as simple as Sun warming your back can bring back a memory..... "spring has sprung" I thought as it warmed my neck and back as I stood on the decking outside our house looking across the valley ...
It took me back to when I was 16 years old and we were being transported back from Otterburn ranges after a particularly bone chilling few days on exercise on that God forsaken place we'd spent the last four days or so eating, sleeping and generally farting about shooting imaginary enemy, being attacked by real enemy (firing blanks of course....yes the MOD had money in those days we didn't have to shout BANG!!!) from our sodden trenches and throwing our first live grenades..... at our "Battle Camp" (<--- it hasn't changed much) ......The picture above is of the actual grenade ranges ....the exact same place I threw my first...... (one of several) from the middle bay... I even remember we had Spam sandwiches laced with very cheap MOD margarine and very hot sweet tea with no milk because the cookhouse had run out !!! but you know what those Spam sandwiches and black sweet tea were the BEST !!
I remember vividly sitting on those cold concrete benches inside that bunker holding on to my un-primed grenade with fingers that refused to work properly it was so bloody cold.....and eventually it was my turn and I was ushered into the priming bay..... the alcove on the right of the bunker, priming the grenade and walking into the throwing bay adjacent to the priming bay.... and throwing my first live grenade.....Pull !!! check pin..... THROW !!!!......2...3...4 DOWN !!!! .... even today.
I can remember how excited and scared I was.... it wasn't helped by the fact that the range officer was throwing great handfuls of grit into the bunker through the slit windows around the side with each grenade that went off making all of us in the bunker think "OMG that was a huge explosion" .....
But it was after all that uncomfortable coldness and misery wore off on the trip back to camp as my feet warmed up for the first time in days and I got some feeling back in them ......that I thought ..... "yes... this is what I want to do" as I closed my knees on my SLR to stop it from hitting my groin and bringing tears to my eyes.......as we went over several bumps in the track.....it was then the Sun warmed my neck and back and I said "Spring has sprung".......
It took me back to when I was 16 years old and we were being transported back from Otterburn ranges after a particularly bone chilling few days on exercise on that God forsaken place we'd spent the last four days or so eating, sleeping and generally farting about shooting imaginary enemy, being attacked by real enemy (firing blanks of course....yes the MOD had money in those days we didn't have to shout BANG!!!) from our sodden trenches and throwing our first live grenades..... at our "Battle Camp" (<--- it hasn't changed much) ......The picture above is of the actual grenade ranges ....the exact same place I threw my first...... (one of several) from the middle bay... I even remember we had Spam sandwiches laced with very cheap MOD margarine and very hot sweet tea with no milk because the cookhouse had run out !!! but you know what those Spam sandwiches and black sweet tea were the BEST !!
I remember vividly sitting on those cold concrete benches inside that bunker holding on to my un-primed grenade with fingers that refused to work properly it was so bloody cold.....and eventually it was my turn and I was ushered into the priming bay..... the alcove on the right of the bunker, priming the grenade and walking into the throwing bay adjacent to the priming bay.... and throwing my first live grenade.....Pull !!! check pin..... THROW !!!!......2...3...4 DOWN !!!! .... even today.
I can remember how excited and scared I was.... it wasn't helped by the fact that the range officer was throwing great handfuls of grit into the bunker through the slit windows around the side with each grenade that went off making all of us in the bunker think "OMG that was a huge explosion" .....
But it was after all that uncomfortable coldness and misery wore off on the trip back to camp as my feet warmed up for the first time in days and I got some feeling back in them ......that I thought ..... "yes... this is what I want to do" as I closed my knees on my SLR to stop it from hitting my groin and bringing tears to my eyes.......as we went over several bumps in the track.....it was then the Sun warmed my neck and back and I said "Spring has sprung".......
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