September 21st 1914 - Sandhurst - Edward sits at the long window cill, he is looking out, admiring the long lawns and the trees, where the leaves are just turning from deep greens to shades of yellow and red. In just two days his life has turned full circle and not of his own doing. The family controlled everything and it appears his Mother has manipulated his future by using her charms to get her youngest Son into Sandhurst, without a regimental sponsor, that will come later. One way or another he will join the Black Watch; the family has over four hundred years of history with them and she is going to make sure it does not change now. The war has come at exactly the right time for her, Edwards failure to cut the mustard is fixable, she can do it. With the Duke of Westminsters help, and money, she has ensured that the new influx of Officers will include her son. The Duke offered to have Edward join his new Regiment but she wants him where he should be, leading the Scots. After dropping him at Sandhurst and visiting the commander there the Duke himself travelled to Bisley where the first of the, newly purchased, seven Rolls Royce Armoured Cars have arrived, it is the first privately owned and operated regiment in the Army. The regiment is made up entirely of men from the ruling classes and workers from their own estates. A rich mans pals Battalion. It will soon be in action, in Egypt, where the cars will work with someone who is already creating quite stir of his own. Leaving work has not been too much of an issue for Edward, it was boring and with his education the entrance examination has been passed, also without too much in the way of trouble. But now he faces that dreaded medical. He sighs, his breath steams the window, this is where he failed before, its unlikely to be any easier, he can already taste the terror of having to face mother after being so ignominiously refused entry once before. There is a knock at the door. “All temporary Gentlemen to the hall if you please?” It is the corporal, he uses the phrase that is used to describe the trainees. An officer is not a gentleman until he has passes the training and anyone who thinks he is already a gentleman is about to find out something different, the hard way. The stairs are soon filled with the chatter of the young men as they descend into the hall where a series of brown cloth cubical have been set up by the medical corps. The metal frames rusty and the material stained after so many years of use. The nurses are there, all over fifty and all with that look of hatred that they exude when dealing with would be soldiers, no matter what social rank or where they are from. Edward joins the back of the queue, one by one they enter the first of the small temporary rooms where they are told to strip, completely, and are handed a simple linen dressing gown. Bare footed they are then told to pad their way around the hall to join yet another queue. One by one they complete the various tests, hearing and eyesight is checked, chest and lungs, and mobility. He is not worried by the first part, he has perfect hearing and can see the hairs on a fly at eight yards. The boys are very thin, the gowns hang from them and they are of various heights, it truly is a motley bunch and the nurses tell them so. Occasionally comments like “good grief man” and “come on you can do better than that” can be heard from the doctors as they carry out the different tests. Finally Edward reaches the one he has been dreading. The doctor is seated, he is writing on a pad, the wooden chair is rocked forward on its front legs as he writes. He notes the next name on the list and without looking up says, “undress please?” Edward looks at the nurse, she just looks straight through him, he has nothing she has not seen before. He drops his gown and stands waiting. The doctor looks up, he notices the pigeon chest, the frailty of the boy, he turns to a clean sheet of paper. He writes, 34” chest, lungs normal, breathing normal and finally the words Edward failed to get when he applied in Scotland. Pass....he hands the paper to the nurse. The doctor looks at Edward, “get dressed young man, youre in,” pointing with his pen to to way out. He has not moved from his chair, measured anything nor checked Edward at all. The nurse does not flinch, she just pulls back the brown curtain to allow the surprised young man through. His mothers reach is far and wide. .
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:33:35 +0000
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