ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

I joined the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Guard in 1943 having been turned down for the other armed forces due to poor eyesight. At one of my early parades, Lt.Ellis(our Captain Mainwaring) announced that the platoon had received a machine gun. This was a great event, the gun was a Browning, as used on the Hurricanes and Spitfires and mounted on a tripod. Our commander told us that this was a very easy gun to use and it was also simple to clear any jams. This he demonstrated by using two turnbolts which allowed all the inner workings to drop out and thus the jam would be cleared. We then spent the whole of the remaining parade time trying to get it back together again. In the end Sergeant Drage (our Sergeant Wilson)offered to take the gun home with the manual and he would have it in working order for the next parade. So if Hitler had invaded that week there would have been a gap in the defences. I have often thought that this event would have been an excellent foundation for an episode of Dads Army.

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