JRTE
Page 2 .... Settling In
All one possesses goes in this locker (pictured below), you will see
it had five compartments in which to keep your kit, including footwear,
personal effects and school books. Hanging space or cupboards were
not provided, all items of clothing had to be folded in the prescribed
manner and stowed neatly inside the locker. Nothing except a correctly
folded towel on the end of your bunk was allowed to be left out. Many
said this was supposed to prepare us for life on a cramped warship.
Our bell bottomed trousers and jacket were tailored and pressed in
such a fashion as to allow them to be rolled up into a neat cylindrical
package which could be placed under your mattress whilst you slept
for automatic pressing prior to wearing.
Civilian
clothing of any type, including underwear, was not allowed even the
civilian clothes we got off the plane in were sent home in a box within
a few days of arriving. This ritual returning of your last contact
with the civilian world was carried out under very close scrutiny.
In
the picture below you will see on the upper right shoulder of my No.8's
Action Working Dress Shirt two white 'flashes'. The top one is the
obligatory 'Australia' Flash, the one below it being the 'Tingira'
Flash. Although the only time we were allowed outside the Establishment
in this dress was on a working party.
The
Daily Routine
The
daily routine was extremely demanding, we were accommodated in aging
open dormitories housing two hundred boys apiece within its two decks
(floors).. There were four sailors to a 'cubicle' which consisted
of two double cyclone wire bunks, 4 small lockers, a window, no doors
and a rubbish bin. Wakey Wakey was at the extremely strict time of
0630, 7 days per week (if you weren't under punishment or in a working
party which it was then at 0530). Any JR who was slack in turning
out (i.e. cribbing an extra few minutes doze) of his bunk would be
punished, in various forms, one common form would consist of emptying
your locker of all your kit, packing it into your kit bag and being
sent doubling (running) around the perimeter of the parade ground
with kit bag above your head, or, bundling up all your bedding - blankets,
sheets, pillow, counterpane plus mattress and again doubling with
it above your head around the parade ground. Note: All this had to
be put back properly before leaving the blocks for the days work or
instruction..
Once
turned out you then showered - 100 boys to approximately 8 - 10 shower
recesses. If one didn't shower he would be labeled a 'grub' and would
be descended upon by his peers, at the silent encouragement of the
staff and instructors, and 'scrubbed' with hard scrubbers, ajax, steel
wool and just about any other piece of cleaning equipment or chemical
compound the JRs could get their hands on until the 'grub' was red
raw, bleeding, screaming and sobbing. I personally saw this happen
for some boys who came from more disadvantaged families or from the
Australian outback or city slum areas and had never bathed more than
a couple of times per week in their lives. It was a hard, painful
and degrading lesson in personal hygiene. "Offenders" were
quick to realise the error of their ways after this kind of treatment.
Every
morning, once ablutions were complete it was then time to scrub out,
(on hands and knees) your cubicle, clean the windows, rubbish bin,
walls and polish the wooden skirting boards. Fold up all of your bedding
and lay it, very very, neatly and precisely upon your bunk in the
prescribed manner then prepare your kit, webbing and uniform for morning
divisions (parade). If by then, you had time, you ran hastily off
to the dining hall hoping that you would have time to get to the servery
and get breakfast, after being constantly jacked in upon by all and
sundry, and gulp down a quick feed before making it to the parade
ground for divisions. First of all it was straight to the armoury
to get your .303 rifle and Bayonet where the Gunnery Instructors would
lie in wait with canes and long hard leather 303 rifle bayonet scabbards
and crack you viciously on the backs of your bare legs (shorts worn
in Summer) whilst you fumbled about getting your rifle from the long
racks. Hopping about wildly trying to avoid the blows you would tear
out of the building with your rifle and bayonet and race to your divisional
muster point on the huge parade ground. 'Oppos' or mates would then
quickly give each other the 'once over' to ensure that each boy was
immaculately turned out; for one slovenly sailor may bring repercussions
upon all in the class should his cap or webbing be found dirty, shirt
or trousers not starched and ironed properly, or his boots lacking
the required amount of 'spit polish'.
These parades, everyday except Saturdays and Sundays, where church
parade was compulsory,consisted of full personal inspections where
everything had to be crisp and spotless, lest the promise of even
more punishment. An address by the XO or CO, the Chaplain, and a full
march past with guard and band. These morning parades generally lasted
between 40 minutes to 1 hour, in all weather. On completion, after
running the gauntlet of the sadistic Gunnery Instructors and returning
our rifles to their racks in the armoury, we were doubled away to
our classes or working party muster point.
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