Gym Jams” (Mr F Jenner) was terribly proud of his cadets, and if they ever let him down he became very upset. Some of the sadistic senior boys played on this weakness. Second-in-command was Lieutenant Smith, another master who was very kind but ineffectual. On parade he wore a hang-dog look and one could tell he hated every moment. Great relief showed on his face when the order came “Fall out, Mr Smith.”

I was very soon made a Lance-Corporal – why, I don’t know. Gym Jams seemed to see hidden potential, perhaps because I had a smarter uniform than most and I was good at PT. Cadets were generally issued with Boer War carbines with firing pins removed, but a few had more modern 303s. The smartest cadets were in the band, which was quite proficient and the drum major very impressive. My brother David later became a bugler in the Corps. To try to boost morale in war-torn Eastbourne Gym Jams would march us through the town, bugles blowing and drums thumping. An old lady spectator was heard to say “they are sending them younger to the front than in 1914”,

Once the cadets camped for a week in the grounds of Herstmonceux Castle. By day we went on training exercises throwing thunder-flashes etc and by night, if not on duty, we went to the local picture theatre. This was a great laugh. Externally the theatre sported a faded sign boasting “Talkies”. Inside the screen flickered so much that it was difficult to tell males from females and the sound was impossible to comprehend! During the frequent breakdowns torches would come out and we would all start stamping and we would start singing “Come and join us, come and join us, come and join old Gym Jam’s army.

One day we went on an all-day exercise. Each cadet patrol set off from a different location, climbing a long hill in an attempt to capture the Monkey Puzzle Tea Rooms defended by the Home Guard. Cautiously our patrol proceeded up the hill; we never did reach the position. I don’t believe that any of our cadets did. Some idiot fired some live rounds into the roof of the Tea Rooms, for which we were all paraded next day for rifle examination.

After five days’ camping we were thoroughly fed up. The food was poor and Gym Jams was getting frustrated and officious. I had brought with me a few smoke bombs for use on manoeuvres but had found no opportunity to use them. I was persuaded to let them off that evening to liven up proceedings. However, I had not bargained for their effectiveness, as with only three bombs I completely obliterated the camp for up to five minutes. One set off behind Gym Jam’s tent was particularly effective, and he blundered about blindly shouting instructions on how to put them out.

Next morning we were all paraded and, in his fiercest manner, Gym Jams castigated us and shouted “we have a traitor in our midst!” This set off a dominoed sniggering down the ranks, which made him almost explode. Marching up and down the lines and looking everyone in the eye he called for the “traitor” to come forward. I did feel rather scared but stood my ground and nobody gave me away.

We were confined to camp for the rest of the training but in the evening enjoyed ourselves playing cards and making up a new song about Gym Jams and the smoke bombs to the tune “So merry, so merry are we.”

 

Derek Lockwood (1937-45)