Rifleman Eddie
Boyle - A Potted History
I enlisted into the 1st Battalion on 2nd July 1962 at age 17. My story was like many others who enlisted at that time. I remember my first day well; it was not a good start.
The bus to Lanark went from Waterloo bus station in Glasgow. On the bus at the station I met two aspiring Royal Highland Regiment recruits also bound for Lanark. The bus was not ready to depart as we introduced ourselves. The subject got around to what lay ahead and what a dangerous world we were entering. I got a bit worried when these two stalwarts showed me the money belts they were wearing, hidden under their shirts.
“Absolutely essential gear to protect yourself against the band of thieves and chancers who were sure to be awaiting us in this new venture”, they assured me. Thoroughly alarmed at my folly of not preparing myself likewise I asked them how I could obtain a belt. “Army and Navy Stores. Just around the corner in Union Street” they told me. “Look after my bag” I said and off I went like a shot.
Needless to say, When I returned, both they and the bus had gone, and with them my bag of worldly possessions! The next bus to Lanark was hours away and I remember that journey as a mixture of pleasant expectation tinged with sorrow for myself for losing my bag.
The orderly room at Winston Barracks was the first building you came to. It was a red-bricked two-storey building with a small garden to the front. The orderly room corporal duly paper-processed my arrival and pointed me in the direction of the billets. Just as I was leaving, he called me back and with a mischievous gloat handed me my ‘lost’ bag – my two compatriots had indeed looked after it and had handed it in on their arrival. Their names were Cantly and Sutch and they were to remain with me throughout training. I wish them well wherever they are.
Anzio was the name of my platoon and Lt Christie was my platoon officer – we didn’t see him too often. Sergeant Kenyon RHF was my recruit sergeant - we saw him a lot, perhaps too much!
Training was easy for me, I was fit, just coming from working shifts at Clydebridge steel works - and it was a glorious summer. My only regret was ‘undeservingly’ not winning any type ward for the passing out parade. (Ironically, that feeling of perceived injustice spurred me throughout the rest of my service to ensure I never again lost out).
In October, after passing out from training, we departed for Germany. A train to London and the flight from Gatwick to Hannover. Total baggage was a suitcase and kitbag.
Elizabeth Bks, Minden was a typical German army Kaserne. It comprised a central square surrounded by large three storey blocks. It was to this home on a dark cold autumn night that we trundled through the main gates in the back of a 3-tonner. It looked dismal and foreboding then and remained that way to me until the day I left.
After continuation training with D company I was posted to HQ Company, Intelligence Section and was billeted in a two-man room in BHQ block with Dave Galloway.
I served in Germany until the Battalion went back to Edinburgh in April 1964. The CO then was Lt Col Kettles. The RSM was Jake Sneddon. My section officer was Capt Paterson and my Sergeant was Eddie Wallace. Other ‘I’ section members were, Cpl Archie Colville (Middle) and Tony Watt. (2nd Right).
My lingering memories of the those days are vivid,
· Always being hungry.
· National Servicemen ending their time with the resulting drunken parties which were bad new to you impressionable 18 year olds.
· Always Skint. My 30 marks pay lasted about 3 days and all seemed to go on NAAFI breaks. My pay was £3 and there were 11.22 marks to the pound. (3 marks into credits).
· Celibacy.
· The WVS room listening to Patsy Cline records.
· When I had the money, the beer bar in the NAAFI cellar drinking brandy (Desroches) and coke.
· The delightful anticipation of ‘Quick Train’
· Duties -
Normal Guard (the 1973 winter was bitter)
Gate Duty, 6am to 6pm with an adjutant’s inspection at 8am
Ration detail to Bielefeld
AKC Cinema fire watch. (“Remember to shout ‘Snowball’ rather that ‘Fire’ lest you panic the patrons”)
· Saturday morning parades. (To keep us from getting bored)
· The terrifying Adjutant, Capt Dudley Lucas
· Always being hungry (again)! Who remembers the daily routine just to get a bite to eat? Lunchtime just before 12.30. The Bn Orderly Serjeant (BOS and sundry duty Cpl’s stand vigilant outside the cookhouse door. Nary a hungry Cameronian is to be in sight because it is forbidden to be so! The bugler blows ‘cookhouse’ then the piper plays. The last note of the pipes is the signal for the rush to begin. Lo and behold anyone with a sense of pride who does not wish to subject himself to this degrading rush for food: for to do so means he will go hungry – The last in the queue get the leftovers if there are any.
The Battalion departed for Redford Bks in April 1964 and I went with them. I went on the plane at Gutersloh with my leg in plaster having broken it skiing at Murnau weeks before during an ill-trained down hill race on St Patrick’s Day.
I remained in the ‘I’ section at Redford Bks but there was not such work to be done. Most of my day time duties were taken up with ‘batting’ for new section boss Lt Sixsmith and latterly Lt Jim Murray (RIP 2014), a spell batting for Major Mackay and acting as his No. 2 second gun on the grouse moors around Ballater. But more often, just generally keeping out of the way of the RSM.
Significant events during 1964/65 were endless round of guards duties at Redford Bks and at the castle, parades for royal opening of new Forth Road Bridge, Holyrood castle guards, Giles cathedral parade, adventure training to Norway, Queens guard Ballater, London duties (mounting guard in both capitals at the same time) and an exercise excursion to Bodney camp Thetford helped pass the time.
However, during this period rumours were in the air about disbandment. This, together with there being no end in sight to endless rounds of barrack soldiering was sapping morale amongst the junior ranks. As for myself, I was fed up at still being a Rifleman after 4 years service and there seemed no prospect for promotion in the foreseeable future, so I applied for a transfer to the RAPC.
It was with regret therefore, that towards the end of 1965 I said my farewell to my friends and departed for my new army career.
It’s an interesting fact that I only served 9% of my service life with the Cameronians, but of all the places and jobs I have experienced since then, that period made the biggest impact on me. It formed the basis of standards that I set myself, and this allowed me to meet new hurdles and deal with people and situations, and successfully survive and thrive during the next 24 years in the army. I retired from the army in 1990.
Sgt Eddie Wallace as a great inspiration and one of his talents was acting as the Battalion photographer. His enthusiasm encouraged me to eventually acquire a camera of my own and do my own unofficial snapping of army life. Throughout the rest of my service I served with many units and in differing roles but I always had my camera ready.
Taking informal photos of individuals has been my interest. A great deal of pics have accumulated and until now have gathered dust in my archives with no one other than myself- not even the subjects – able to see them. That just the way it is because it has always been logistically difficult to disseminate photographs to all those who may have an interest. With the advent of the Internet however, things have changed. Here we now have the ideal medium to post photos for the whole world to see and at relatively little cost in time or effort.
I still keep in touch with old comrades in the RAPC and we have a thriving club that meets regularly at different venues in Scotland. We have our own web site which I maintain and this is used to attract new members and post information about ourselves as a central means of contact.
One of the features of this site is that we post photos taken at our meetings. It was while developing this site that I had the idea of expanding it to include some of the photo’s I had taken in the past over the years. So my new expanded gallery was born. When I came to building the Cameronian gallery, Eddie Wallace came to the rescue and provided me with spools of old photo’s that he had taken years ago and which hitherto had not seen the light of day. The best of these are now on my website for all to see. My Cameronian website is at …
www.edwardboyle.com/EB/Misc/RAPC/RAPCmisc/Cameronians/Cameronian.htm
Please take the opportunity to view the photo’s, It will make my work worthwhile and if you have similar photo’s available that you think would interesting for old comrades to see let me know. My email address is on the site.
Updated 26 June 2025
