A QUIZ For You!
The
following quiz was originally set, by me, on 3rd November 1999 & submitted
to a group of `online` ex Harrogate Apprentices.
There wasn’t much response at the time!
See if YOU know any of the answers (& if you aren’t an ex Harrogate
A/T you won’t stand much chance at many of `em, of course!)
Good luck anyway:
I
cannot claim personal, previous knowledge for ALL of the following ... I'll tell you the
source for the more difficult ones as we go along!
*********************
1.
In what year was the original buildings of Uniacke barracks built?
1939.
Most of the buildings were wooden huts.
(Presumably the compiler of this particular question was unfamiliar of
the quaint term of 'spiders'!)
2.
The current Robertson Hall (which eventually `vanished` in 2000!) was originally better known to A/Ts as the
.... ? ... and what was the 'mechanical cow' that once stood outside?!!
'twas
the AKC Cinema ... with the infamous Milk dispensing machine outside.
I say 'infamous' because many 'rooks' went back & forth on an evening
or a weekend afternoon to keep their 'seniors' well provided with its contents.
3.
Name the first British Military Unit to occupy the camp? (Clue:
They apparently used to fire their guns on the moors near
Blubberhouses.
They were disbanded in 1943.)
This
was the 9th Field Training Regiment, Royal
Artillery.
4.
Queen Ethelburger's School ('for Young Ladies'
possibly/probably!)
was better known to the uncouth A/Ts as ......
?!
Brothelburgers'
... though of course nobody has ever fully revealed
why!! The school has now gone (relocated to just outside York,
somewhere); an 'up market' residential housing estate named Ethelburger Estate
(or similar) quietly stands in its place.
5.
Was Uniacke bks named after anyone/anything/anywhere
called
Uniacke?
If so, who/what/where please!
Named
after Lieutenant General Sir Herbert Uniacke KCB KCMG, who was
an
Artillery Officer. He was born in
1866 & died in 1934.
6.
It was always rumoured (during my time, anyway) that the camp
used
to be an American Army Hospital or Casualty Station, just after
the
war. Any truth in this?
The
camp was used by 116th General Hospital of the United States Army,
from
28 July 1944 to 11 May 1945, for the purpose of clearing war
casualties.
7.
In what year was the AAS established in the Penny Pot Lane
encampment?
The
Army Apprentices' School was established there in 1947.
8.
In what month & year did the first Royal Signals Boy Soldiers
arrive
in the camp?
The
first Royal Signals Boy Soldiers did not arrive until September
1948.
There were nearly 400 of 'em and they came from the Boys'
Squadron
in Catterick.
9.
Has any Commandant of the School/College ever held the Victoria
Cross?
If so, who?
One,
that we know of:
"Colonel
'Fred' Carne
VC who commanded
the Glosters at Korea. He became a prisoner and was virtually destroyed by
the experience. He came to the School afterwards. He is the subject of one of our Corps paintings
too ..." {Thank you, Col (Retd) Cliff Walters (late Royal
Signals) for that piece of info
contributed in January 2001 --- and also to Charlie Train [56B] whose
interesting website you will be visiting if you follow the above link to Col
Carne. JAO}
10.
Which high ranking soldier visited the School on 3rd November
1947?
Field
Marshal Montgomery.
11.
When was the School/College magazine 'The Gate' first
published?
There
was such a magazine published regularly & without break
since
December 1948 (until at least the Summer of 1993, anyway!)
12.
Has the Uniacke/Hildebrand camp any reputed ghosts?!
If so,
please
name them!
The
School/College had TWO known ghosts! One
was called 'Stumpy' ...
the
other??? "The other ghost
was/is THE MATRON. Apparently murdered by one of the drivers. A murder of love."
{Thank you, Col (retd) Cliff Walters, for that piece of info contributed in
January 2001. I remember the Matron during my own time there --- she used
to be our Matron at `Dukies` years beforehand, so I KNOW it wasn't HER!
She wasn't even a `dragon`! JAO}
13.
When was Bradley Sqn instigated?
"Originally the
Junior Leaders Regiment at Denbury; this unit disbanded & reformed later as the Junior Signal
Squadron at Catterick -- these last moved to Ouston. It seems they `ended
up` at Harrogate and were housed/renamed/as Bradley Sqn."
{Once again, thank you, Col (retd) Cliff Walters, for that info
contributed also in January 2001. Strange thing there; I was Sqn Clerk of
the Junior Signal Sqn when they were at Helles, Catterick in 1973 -- under the auspices
of WOI (SSM sic) `Bert` A.J. Irons! JAO}
14.
What building, in Hildebrand bks, was opened in 1951?
(Clue:
would
guess that it ceased to be 'operational' in 1966.)
The
Bate Centre. It was originally the
Church of St Alban the Martyr.
15.
The only ORIGINAL brick building in Uniacke Bks, between 1963
&
'66 was variously used as the Barber's Shop for a short while, the
Gas
(Testing!) Chamber & the Brass Band bandroom. What was its original
purpose?
It
was the camp morgue!
16.
There is a local legend as to how/why the name 'Penny Pot ' for
the
camp originally came about. Tell us
more, someone?
The
locals call the Camp "Penny Pot".
Legend has it that in the First
World
War, when it was a tented camp, soldiers used to march westwards
up
the road out of camp to purchase ale at the local farm for "a penny
a
pot"; hence the name.
17.
Was Hildebrand Bks named after anyone/anything/anywhere
called
Hildebrand? If so, who/what/where
please!
Yup;
Brigadier General Arthur Blois Ross Hildebrand CB CMG DSO.
He
was
a Signals Officer who was born in 1870 & died in 1937.
(You will
know,
of course, that today's rank of Brigadier was actually titled
Brigadier
General in those times...) {Thank you, Richard
Hildebrand (Great Grandson of Brigadier Hildebrand) for the linked
Website page set up above,
contributed in April 2001. JAO}
18.
Why was Scott Sqn (originally C Coy) 'affectionately' known as
'The
Zoo'?
I
believe its 'inmates' were Carpenters ('chippies') & destined for
the
Royal Engineers..... though why 'the zoo' escapes me. Unless they
were
generally 'animals', of course!?
19.
Who was Commandant of the Army Apprentices' College in June
1993?
Col
(now Retd.) Cliff Walters!
...
& who won Champion Squadron at that time?
'C'
COMPANY -- strange as that may sound! It
was when the last course
of
All Arms Junior Leaders Passed Out to go on to Phase II training.
There
were 39 of 'em.
20.
Who won Champion Coy twice during 1963 & how, at that time,
was
a Champion Coy member easily identifiable?
'D'
Coy ... they wore the ALL RED lanyard & on the RIGHT shoulder too;
the
rest of us wore the general School lanyard (blue & red weave)
on
our LEFT shoulders.
21.
Who wrote both the Bugle Marches "L'Apprentice" &
"Quadrangular
'64"
that were first played at the 'Beat the Retreat' @ the
Quadrangular
1964 Games down at AAS Arborfield? (This
weekend in
June
'64, "history is being made as it is the first occasion on which the
massed
bands of the four Schools have performed together.")
Drum
Maj Grenville Hall of the Queen's Own Highlanders
22.
Into what Corps were Apprentices badged when they first arrived
at
each of the 4 AASs prior to 1966?
The
General Service Corps
23.
(a) Remembering that Harrogate was home to many an Apprentice who
did
NOT graduate into the Royal Corps of Signals, which was the
Senior
Army Apprentices School that was established in 1923?
AAS
Chepstow
(at Beachley)
(b) The
others started life in 1939, 1947 & 1958 respectively; can you put the
right
establishment names to the dates just listed?
('Yes' or 'No' isn't
good
enough!)
AAS
Arborfield started its life in 1939, AAS Harrogate in 1947 and AAS
Carlisle
in 1958.
24.
Many of us remember a '252', a '120' & a '121' (Charge Sheet,
Coy
& Regt Conduct Sheets!) in our time but ... before the MOD 90 ID
card
... what was the number (AF B ????) of
the old ID card AND its
clear
plastic cover between the time of the Pay Book (AB 64 pt 1) &
the
MOD 90?!! Woe betide you if you
weren’t carrying both at all
times,
you'll no doubt recall!
AF
B 2603 was the ID Card and AF B 2604 was the cover ... & I STILL
have
a couple of the latter, clearly marked!!
25.
What was the distinguishing dress of the A/T members of the
Fire
Piquet & their 'privileged duty' as far as the AKC cinema was
concerned?!
They
wore denims with scrubbed web belt & gaiters (rather than the
blancoed
webbing everyone else had to wear) ... er ... foot powder etc
on
the webbing (to whiten it further) was frowned upon! The Piquet
had
free entry to the cinema because they acted as male 'usherettes'(?!) on
film
nights.
26.
For the ex A/T musicians amongst us, perhaps you can complete
the
following March titles?! "Bugle
Horn.", "Cock O' The North",
"H
R.H", "National Emblem.", "The Earl of Mansfield.",
"Sons of the
Brave", (also the regimental march of the Duke of York's Royal
Military
School in Dover) "Johnny
Todd", (Clue: the last one,
reputedly
an old Folk Song, was the signature tune to the TV series 'Z
Cars'!)
27.
One more! What was the March
"Mechanised Infantry" (by McBain) often,
rather
irreverently, otherwise called by
Brass Band members?!
Mechanised
Dandruff !!
28.
One Platoon Sgt of the 1960s will go down in legend for (a)
looking
ferociously like 'Snudge' out of the 1950s TV 'sitcom' "The
Army
Game" (b) was the official Hangman, during the EOKA troubles of
the
1950s, & appropriately 'dispatched'
the brother of Archbishop
Makarios
yet (c) was not only quite kindly (known to many as
'Daddy'!)
but was also a serving member of the Salvation Army! When
he
left the British Army, he worked for 'Higgs & Hill' building
contractors
in Uniacke for a while ... one Wednesday morning he
barked
a command from the top of a scaffold & the whole Parade 'worked on it' --
upsetting
the then, current RSM no end! Please name
that Sgt!
Sgt
Doug Lewis of the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers (attached to 'A' Coy)
29.
To date (9th October '99) how many Young Students of the
new
Army Foundation College have served more than 7 days' Detention
in
Uniacke Bks Guardroom?!
None!
... shame! (this fact given by Maj Mick Davis [Royal Signals]
who
is currently still serving up at Pennypot ... ex A/T of 'A' Coy
circa
1966)
30.
Who was appointed the first ever A/T B/Sgt (Band Sgt) of the
Harrogate Brass
Band ... wearing a brown leather sword belt
as mark of that
appointment
... in the mid 1960s? [Clue: At the
same time C/Sgt 'Geoff'
Evison
of the D & Ds was promoted to WOII (BSM).]
I bow in pride;
t'was
me, 23968153 A/T B/Sgt Oakley J.A of Phillips Sqn. (63B).
(I
ended
up as unofficial Corps {RSigs} Trumpeter -- arranged between the Brigade Major
of
Catterick Garrison & the Corps Band Director of Music in 1973!!) A
slight
waste of Resources for someone originally trained as a Radio
Tech
Lt, I suppose, but there we go!!
*********************
I
am indebted to a copy of 'The Gate' magazine for the Summer 1993 for
much
of the info. gleaned for use in the above quiz ... also a copy of
a
programme for the 'June 1964 QUADRANGULAR Games & Ceremony Beat the
Retreat'
which is one of my treasured bits of AAS memorabilia ... not
forgetting
my own memory & imagination!
Thanks
for your interest. Hope it reminded
many of you of some of your
misspent
youth!
JAO
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Questions
originally posed and answers given during 1999
Updated
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