| JTR RHYL |
| From Clive Nuttall |
| JTR Rhyl was actually the Junior Tradesmen's Regiment, Kinmel Park Camp, Rhyl. Kinmel Park Camp is where there was a mutiny by Canadian soldier after WW1 which ended with 5 dead, 28 wounded and 51 Court Martialled!). It was said that you could hear the sound of boots (marching dead Canadian soldiers) at night. Actually I did from time to time, hear the sound of marching late at night, but when you checked nothing was there? |
| Anyway the Junior Tradesmen Regiment was a mixture of usual Military Training and Trade Training (Clerks, Drivers, Signals and Medics) plus Education. It was a 2 year stint. I joined the JTR on 30 April 63 (15 years and 10 months), and was posted to my first Regiment (5 Field Regiment RA) at Gutersloh on 10 May 65 (17 years and 11 months). My two best mates were Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and RASC, so you can see the mix we had. |
| Everyone started in Training Company (White Tabs) (first 8 weeks of HELL). Then they went to one of the three Company's, A (Blue Tabs), B (Red Tabs) & C (Green Tabs). Each Company had two Platoons, I was in 'A' Company (Imjim Platoon) and then Cambrian Company (Black Tabs) which was the Graduating Company, prior to joining your Regiment (and you got to have a beer with the Permanent Staff). Even in 'A' Company, it was still Hell, but not quite as bad! We also had a Corps of Drums. |
| Accommodation was in 'Spiders', 3 rooms per platoon, with the ablutions in the middle. Each room holding 16 to 18 men! We each had one bed and one locker! Locker and bed layouts, etc. were the order of the day and we used to keep our own rifles (SLR) and bayonets in our lockers??? |
| We had the old khaki blancoed webbing etc., and we also used to wear khaki SD not Battle Dress. You know the score, this included White Blanco for our No.2 Dress, parade belts, rifle slings etc., wonderful ammo boots (with the required amount of studs). We spent days/weeks/months, tramping up and down Snowdonia and back and forth over Denbigh Moors, carrying at least 60lbs of equipment, which included Bivi (do not forget we were only young lads). My training Company Platoon Sergeants were one Devon & Dorset LI and one Tank Regiment (neither were adverse in correcting you with either their stick or fist!) All in all it was very, very tough, but hey we bonded and survived (and that was what it was all about). |
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