I was a green kid and fresh from my mum's apron strings, and I think you can say, it showed. I had been well played with by the time I was being posted to my unit in Sydney. Have you ever been sent to the Q' store and ask the corporal there for a long weight (wait), and then be asked "do you want a right handed weight or a left handed one” - "well I dunno,' I said; so I was sent back to Corporal Blackie, and then he said a right handed one; and then as I said this to corporal Coleman, I was asked “what kind of weight do I want - a long one or a short one;” so off I would go once more to Blackie and he said he wanted a long one; so off I would go back to corporal Coleman in Q' store; and then he asked me what colour do I want it in, as he has it in red and black, black and blue or just plain red; so off I went again, and I was told it was to be a long weight and the colour had to be black and blue. This sort of thing happened to me a lot in my first year of Army life. I was just too gullible for my own good.
I had never experienced anything like the Army before, and certainly my mum and dad had taught us to keep away from any one who used vulgar swear words, and this I made sure that I did all through out my younger life till I was seventeen. So the shock of those early morning wake up calls by our platoon corporal "Blackie" or sergeant, was always a shock and I did not want to talk to them, for they were always so rude and vulgar. I mean fancy saying to us green kids hands off … and on with socks. That's disgusting. I was going to write to my parents to get me out of here if this sort of thing kept up.
I was a scared kid as well, and my mind was always off on some kind of expedition of some kind…smile…and not knowing how to be like any one let alone myself, was a bit nerve racking at times; I was far too vulnerable and too much a virgin too. Smile, what else can I say on my behalf? I was just like that. I stood five foot eight inches tall, with just a hint of a wider spread of shoulders to come along as I got a bit older, slim and lean at the hips, blonde haired and blue eyed, and as sweet and innocent as any fresh kid would be; So being in the Army barracks at Kapooka close to Wagga Wagga, in central west New South Wales back in Jan of nineteen seventy, was very scary at the same time,
as it was beginning to feel alright as well. Then I was introduced to alcohol drinking, at the local canteen at the barracks; you all know how it happens, the whole platoon is about four weeks away from graduating and as a green kid, you get invited up to the canteen for a few drinks. Well I can say that my thoughts were on milk shakes, orange juices, and soft drinks; they were not on anything to do with having your first drink, I can tell you that for free…smile.
Anyway, big George invited me up to the canteen for a few drinks with the boys before we were sent off to our various units. George was a big man and old too, he was thirty five, and he looked it (no offence George), his Civi job was as a teacher when he got his call up orders.
Anyway I could not say no to him, as he looked out for us really green kids a lot. So off we went to the dry canteen and instead of going to the counter there, he went straight on through to the wet canteen. I was in trouble here, for I had never touched the stuff before. How do you order it? And how do you drink it? And what does it taste like and so on went racing through my mind. Anyway I was about to find out. So I followed George up to this booze bar and he said to the lady there “G'day luv, I'll have a schooner of new,” and he put to bob on the counter top; as she was pouring his drink she looked at me and smiled and I said the same as George “g'day luv, I'll have a schooner of new too, and I put my two bob on the counter too. She scowled a bit at me and said “don't call me luv, y're too yung.” So I quickly apologized in a very sheepish manner. And both George and this lady laughed at my red face; but I could tell that they were not making fun of me, as their eyes were still friendly.
