Can't See The Wood For The Trees

We reached the end of the insertion march and went to move into a wood to spend the night. It wasn't a bad spot. The trees would give us some shelter from the elements. Moving into a location is a convuluted process. As with everything in the army there is a set procedure. I was one of the first ones to move in. As the Signaller I had to make sure we could get through to other people on the radio.

Usually you move in before it gets dark. Due to someone getting navigationally embarassed (the PC term for getting lost) we were doing it in the dark.

Moving into a location should be done in silence. No chance. As we moved into the wood all you could hear was CRACK CRACK as people stepped on the undergrowth. This was interspersed with the odd obscenity as a branch or twig swiped someone across the face.

Eventually we were in. I managed to get through on the radio first time which was a bonus. Then I settled down to wait. The physical effort of the last few hours had left me sweating and now as I lay down next to my bergan, listening to the radio, I could feel the sweat cooling on my body. It was going to be a while before we could settle down to a routine and after only a couple of minutes I was shivering.

Roll on bedtime.