From First to Last

(The story of National Service Training at Devizes)

   The 163 recruits of No. 277 National Service Intake reported to the R.A.P.C. training Centre on 17th November 1960 and passed out on 31st January 1961, when the Commandant inspected them and took the salute. This was the last National Service Intake into the Corps, Pte D Ward being the last recruit of the intake to arrive. 

    As 277 Intake marched off the Le Marchant Camp parade ground for the last time, the thoughts of those long associated with the Training Centre inevitably ranged back over the past 13 years, during which over 39,000 men have begun their National Service with the Royal Army Pay Corps at Devizes. It was in March 1948 that the Training Centre moved from Marlborough Lines, Aldershot under the command of Lt Col C Blackwell, and National Service training got into full swing under the direction of Maj LG Hinchliffe, the Chief Instructor. Up to that time, the Training Centre had only been responsible for giving technical training to recruits of the Army Class intakes, who had already undergone their basic military training at Infantry Training Centres.

    When it had first been contemplated, the simultaneous occurrence of the start of the new training commitment and the move to Devizes seemed to present an almost impossible situation. In fact, the magnificent job done by the administrative staff and members of the advance party allowed the move to take place with remarkable smoothness. It was a great boon to have so much space at Devizes after the restricted accommodation at Aldershot. Outstanding achievements in those first days were the establishment of the pipe-line in a converted gymnasium, the modernisation of a second gymnasium to provide a central lecture room (Connaught Hall) and the conversion of the Waller Barracks Hospital Block into a Chapel and Social Centre. These things took time to achieve, but have contributed a lot to he success of National Service training at Devizes.

    As the date for Intake No. ! approached, the keenness and enthusiasm of the junior Officers and N.C.O.s who had been chosen to handle it had been splendid. "D" day came. The scene, to be re-enacted so many times was set. The weather turned out to be as perfect  as only a fine spring day on the Wiltshire Downs can be, and when the first train came into Devizes Station, the sparkle in the Corporal's eye, as he welcomed the first recruit, was matched by the shine of his brasses and the gleam of the "Waller Barracks Special" (three ton lorry) waiting in the station yard. And so a start was made and the recruits, as they have done ever since, responded with a will to the training that had been prepared for them. These were arduous and adventurous days, when big demands were made upon initiative and improvisation; at times there were of course difficulties; there were bound to be. There was, for instance, the recruit who was convinced that his C.S.M. wanted to shoot him; consequently he disliked the sight of a rifle and his training lasted 20 weeks instead of 10, but he left eventually in good heart.

    As the years have gone by, there have been changes in the syllabus and technique of instruction; new weapons, new training aids have been introduced; the amenities of the camp have been improved; but the spirit of instructors and recruits alike has varied but little since those early days. From the Training Centre National servicemen have gone out to a great variety of jobs, in Pay Offices at Home and Abroad, in Unit Pay teams, on Headquarter Staffs, on Costing services, and, last but by no means least, on the whole range of employments that are classified by the letters "GD". They have gone out to active service in Korea, Malaya, Kenya, and Suez and to more peaceful but none-the-less exacting tasks in many remote corners of the world. Over the years too, they have made their marks as individuals in the sporting annals of the Army - names like those of Paterson, the high-jumper, Tosh, the Army heavyweight boxing champion, Reid, the cross-country runner, and of footballers such as Baillie and Scott come to mind - and many of them have made a big contribution to the notable sporting record of the Training Centre in the whole range of Army sports and games.

    For the interest of those who have been associated with the training of National Servicemen at the Training Centre listed below are the names of those who held the appointments of Recruit Company Commander and Company Sergeant Major between 1948 - 1961:     

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