Captain Henry Barker

How did you get into trouble?
I used to have a habit of leaving the barracks not by the main gate but by climbing over the wall and I always used to come back that way and sometimes they would have what they call a check roll call and find that your bed hadn't been slept in. So when you came back you found a note on your bed which said report to the guard room, so you packed your kit and went to the guard room. Then you went in front of the CO and he dealt with it.
What happened to you, where had you been?
Well I was put in the glasshouse for several weeks and in those days you did pack drill, what they call a figure of eight, there is a big figure of eight marked out on the ground and you march round with your pack and your rifle for an hour or two until you more or less dropped. Then they would say, "Right change for physical training", and again you'd do physical training until you dropped. On one occasion the Commandant came round to inspect your kit and he looked in bucket and there was a little tiny piece of ice in one of the crevices and I got two days what they call PD1CC, that's punishment diet number 1, CC confined to your cell. The only thing you had in the cell was your pot and the Bible, and you got a little piece of bread and butter in the morning and a little piece of bread for teatime, that's all you got, and from then onwards I said, never will I go back, and I didn't.
How did you feel about that?
That I had done my time and that was that. It made me a better soldier because I finished up as a Captain so it just proves that it does work, doesn't it.