So You Must Know...........?

Although infantry units tend to be close knit affairs the external course provides the opportunity to meet people from other units. This in itself leads to the inevitable game of "You must know so and so".

This game can be quite good fun e.g "Tall bloke black hair" narrows it down to around a third of the Battalion or around 200 blokes. It's a bit like twenty questions except you might never have met the person you are trying to identify.

Matters are further complicated by the unimaginative nicknames which we impose on our comrades. Every battalion will have its' fair shair of people with the following name:

Smudge - from the surname Smith
Blue - an alternative to Smudge
Dusty - from the surname Miller
Jock - anyone from Scotland
Taff - anyone from Wales
Paddy - anyone from Ireland. I sometimes wonder what English soldiers in Scottish or Welsh Regiments are called.

The list goes on and on with the occasional spark of ingenuity interupting the endless repetition of identical nicknames. The recent influx of soldiers from the Commonwealth has at least provided a little variety.

The "You must know" game usually concludes with both sides unsure if they are talking about the same person but both sides also concluding that he is a "bloody good bloke".