Ron Levett's memories of joining up and training in the Royal Armoured Corps during World War II.

We all had to take our turn on guard duties in camp. The guard mounted in front of the Orderly Room was the one where turnout was most important. This was known as the Quarter Guard.

On the guard mounting parade this guard always had one extra man. At the mounting ceremony the best turned-out man was designated 'Stick Man' and was excused the guard. I managed to make myself smart enough on one occasion to be picked out.

This meant that I could fall out until the following morning when I had to report to the Orderly Room, all bright and shiny, where I was given a patent leather satchel attached to an equally shiny belt which was worn bandoleer fashion, over one shoulder.

My job during the day was to take messages round to the Squadron offices and also accompany the Orderly Officer on his visits to the mess hall during meals. It certainly beat doing guard duty on the Orderly Room.

There were other guard duties to be carried out and they were all paraded with the Quarter Guard. There was one guard mounted on the ammunition dump up on the moors. The Orderly Officer had to inspect all guards during the night, but as soon as he had left the Orderly Room, the guard commander there would ring the guard commander at the ammunition dump to warn him that the Orderly Officer was on his way.

There were three men on the guard detail at the Guard Room, plus the Guard Commander, usually a Corporal. One man was on duty as the sentry on the veranda at the front. The other two remained in the Guard Room all the time.

The sentry was only allowed to move using drill movements. To exercise he could march from one end of the veranda to the other. He must always face front so that the about turns at the end of his beat were right about at the left hand end, and a left about at the right hand end. He had to present arms to all officers and call out the guard when ordered to by the Orderly Officer, or at any sign of trouble.

The sentry spent two hours on duty, then four hours off. This was not too bad during the day because there was plenty going on around the Headquarters but at night it was very boring and difficult to remain awake.

The most intriguing guard I ever served on happened in May 1944. Twelve men plus a sergeant and two lance corporals were detailed for this guard, and the first thing we all did was sign the Official Secrets Act.

This is something I had never done before or since. Dress for the duration of the duty was denim overalls with belt, boots and gaiters. Everyone on the guard was issued with a Sten Gun with two magazines of ammunition. We then marched to Bovington Military Hospital, which was only a short distance away on the other side of the main road through the camp.

Four sentries were posted around a hut on the edge of the hospital grounds. No one of the guard was allowed in the building and the only people allowed in were the Chief Medical Officer, the Matron and the Sister, who all had to show a signed pass every time they wished to enter. There were three people in the hut. The prisoner, the Ward Sister and a medical orderly, all of who needed a signed pass before they could leave

In the event of an Air Raid, all of the occupants plus the whole of the guard would proceed to the Air Raid Shelter. When the ward orderly wished to take a walk for exercise, two armed sentries had to accompany him.

I had this job once and during the walk both the other sentry and I tried to pump the orderly to find out who the prisoner was but to no avail. This Guard was disbanded on the 6th June 1944, the day of the D-Day landings. To this day I still don't know whom we were guarding.

Ron Levett, 2001