I mentioned in the past about my compulsory four years service in the TA and I would like you to come on a journey with me to the most memorable time of my life, wrote Allan Huntingdon, who was born in 1930.

It was in May 1953 when we were asked for eleven volunteers to attend the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Why the number eleven I can't quite recall but anyway I was one of the first to put my name down and was duly selected. We didn't know what our duties would consist of but were told we would be required for eleven days. At that time, I was working one the buses at Darwen so I had to beg the time off. I eventually took it as part of my annual holiday.

The first thing that happened was to measure and fit dress blue uniforms. And didn't they look smart! They sure looked a lot smarter than our usual battledress. There was one officer, one sergeant, myself as a corporal and eight privates. When we all had our uniforms we were paraded in full dress and, even if I say so myself, we were a very smart outfit.

We flew to London and were taken to one of the parks (I don't remember which one) where we found we were to live under canvas until the actual Coronation. There were thousands of troops in London and every spare space was occupied by tents, huts, trucks and every type of transport. If a stranger had seen us and not known what the occasion was, they would have thought there was going to be another Normandy Invasion.

In the tents next to ours we saw some small boys who we assumed were Cadets but turned out to be the crack Gurkha troops. They were a terrific bunch of fellows, very friendly and affable and so smart. It turned out they were brought over from the Middle East especially for the occasion. Then there were more regular soldiers from different regiments. The whole of London was full of Military.

For nine days we were drilled and placed in the line where we would be in place for the procession. We also had .303 rifles which were quite heavy, but after a few days we were used to virtually throwing them around.

One of the problems was that our officer did not have such a loud voice and we found that, when a band was passing, it was difficult to identify a particular order, such as: 'Shoulder Arms, Present Arms, Ground Arms, Attention, Stand At Ease'. Sometimes when the order 'Present Arms' was given those at the end of the line had to hesitate half a second and follow the lead of the man next to them. Anyway, we felt we would manage on the day.

The day finally arrived. At last we could put on our best Blues. Up to then we had only worn our normal battledress uniforms. Our rifles were spotlessly clean and we were a credit to our Regiment. We got to our designated spot on the route at least four hours before the parade was due.

We had a final dress rehearsal and then we were allowed to put our rifles down and stand easy. By that time the crowds were already there, behind the steel barriers. We were allowed to chat to them as long as we stayed in our line. I met and chatted to many of them and even tried to date one or two, but without success.

Finally the time came for us to do the job we were there for.

A lot of the following two hours cannot be described. The procession was such a sight that it was breathtaking. The troops on horseback, the carriages, both open and closed. There were Royals from about every country in the world, Heads of state and everybody who was anybody.

The Queen looked magnificent as did all the Royal Family. One person who really stood out was the Queen of Tonga, who I am convinced, winked at me. Well I thought so then and I think so now. It was so spectacular that it made you feel a little dizzy and it was no surprise when we heard that quite a few men had fainted .

After all the pomp and ceremony, we were taken back to our camp, fed and watered and allowed to spend the rest of the day and evening on the town.

What an evening that turned out to be. We were welcomed wherever we went. In the pubs we were not allowed to buy our own drinks. The regulars congratulated us on our appearance and manners. We never heard a wrong word the whole time we were in London

The only time we were asked for money was after dark, on our merry way back to camp, at almost every doorway or corner, we were approached by 'ladies of the night' who were offering services we had never heard of and we were certainly not for taking up the offers, whether we could afford them or not.