Page 188 - RAPTC Year of 2019

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Senior Officers’ Day
During my earlier courses, before I joined the Corps, I had seen the sheer brilliance of the Corpsman I had met, and the school staff being at the pinnacle of performance. I suppose that was to be expected as they were all experts and talented in their specialist subjects and many other associated activities but above all their sense of fun, mischief and the ability to clown and entertain when performing the most difficult physical skills. Our course officer was Captain Stanley Blacknell (later Lt Colonel); we referred to him as Blackie (behind his back of course), or alternatively, our pet name for him was ‘Polly.’
On our Probationers course, we had a secret weapon a confident ‘Gary Fuller’. Fuller ‘the living legend’ as he liked to name himself in later years, was a 6’ 4” tall, angular, bony individual. At the time he was a noted basketball player with the Aldershot Warriors and Great Britain; he later boxed in an A.B.A. final. Gary had a big ego, a wonderful sense of humour and was a great judge of human nature and was one of the most cunning men I have ever met. We were all his minions, we had to do correctly as he directed and not be concerned about the big picture. He would conduct the show according to his plan, and we, the bit players, would be involved in a Triumph. We had to ignore all the bad scenes along the way, but Fuller would banish all our worries at the finale.
One of the most important events in the School Calendar was The Senior Officers’ Day. At the time, Senior Officers from many nations attended a day of exhibitions and displays, when staff and students showed off their talents to the world. Our probation course was to do two presentations, unarmed combat in the second slot after morning NAAFI break in Fox Gym. Then later in the afternoon, we were to do climbing, scaling, and abseiling on the tower that had been specially built (now demolished). In most unarmed combat displays, there was usually a stooge, often the worse for drink, who ended up getting a good kicking as a climax to the show. This always delighted all present and especially the audience.
Fox Gym had tiered rows of benches below the big balcony. In front of these was a row of comfortable chairs that were reserved for very senior officers with name cards on them. In the middle of the right-hand side row was a comfy chair with the name of Colonel POLO Mint. To the right of this chair was seated an Italian Officer and to the left a Spanish Officer. Colonel Mint was, therefore flanked by foreigners. Johnny Ions, the excellent trampolinists named the mysterious Colonel Mint himself, and Bert Dooley an international gymnast were our instructors and heavily involved in the plot. During the unarmed combat display, Harry McClure was dressed as a WRAC Corporal who was to give out programmes to the audience.
Harry came to our course from Singapore and was very suntanned and had blond curly hair (in those days) and looked incredibly attractive with all the padding in the right places under his uniform. Meanwhile, I was detailed to meet Colonel Mint at the door under the main balcony and then to escort him to meet Captain Blacknell. After the introduction, I was to accompany him to his comfortable chair in the front row. After I had conducted my duty, I was free to watch the display while the rest of our course performed in the gymnasium.
After the guests had taken their coffee and biscuits, they were directed back into Fox Gym where they were milling about talking informally. Captain Blacknell was standing in the centre aisle talking to a group of about ten officers, no doubt giving them the benefit of his knowledge and experience. I was standing inside the end door waiting for my officer when the door opened, and a tall, distinguished man entered, dressed in a warm winter overcoat and brown trilby hat. His hair was greying at the sides and over his right shoulder swung a binoculars case, and he carried a shooting stick in his left hand. He looked by far the most impressive officer
present, and a few officers observed him with great interest. It was, in fact, the dreaded ‘Fuller!’
“Is there a Captain Blacknell here?” he asked me. “This way sir,” I said and led him to the group who were surrounding Blackie.
As we approached, some of the officers made way for Fuller who extended his hand and said, “Good morning Stanley.”
The announcer asked those present to take their seats for the next event, and most of the officers drifted away. Captain Blacknell grasped Fuller’s hand and said, “Good morning, Sir.” Blackie at about 5 feet 4 inches was looking at Fuller’s waistline. As Captain Blacknell raised his eyes to look at this new arrival’s face, he suddenly realised who he had addressed as Sir. Captain Blacknell noticed the other officers had drifted away towards their seats. This gave him a moment; out of the corner of his mouth, he hissed, “I’ll give you bloody Stanley in the morning.”
I had done my duty and was free. I quickly made my way up to the small central balcony to watch the proceedings. Fuller had stood around his chair, waiting for the other officers to be seated. He then made a show of shaking hands with the officers on each side of him. Having eventually sat down, he took up conversations with his neighbours, what about is anyone’s guess. The first item on the programme after the break lasted about 15 minutes during which Fuller continued his conversations and made comments and gestures about the show. He had undoubtedly drawn the attention of several of the officers on the benches behind him. At the end of this short item on the programme, Harry McClure made his appearance carrying programmes.
Harry, presumably following instruction, strutted across the gym in front of the seats to the front corner nearest Fuller. There he stood as if waiting for guidance on what to do next. Fuller then nudged his neighbours in turn, and with winks, comments and quite vulgar gestures indicated his approval of such an attractive young lady. His neighbours, obviously men of impeccable character, tried to distance themselves by turning sideways away from Fuller. A few officers behind Fuller started to take more than a passing interest in the proceedings; some had traces of alarm on their faces. The unarmed combat display began, and Harry began to hand out programmes in a most haphazard manner, going up the side aisle, returning past Fuller and repeating the pattern several times.
At each pass, Fuller became more and more animated. By this time, about half the audience were extremely concerned about the conduct and behaviour of one of their senior officers. To coincide with the end of the display, Harry had moved remarkably close to Fuller’s chair with his back towards it. Fuller lunged at Harry and reached over and grabbed Harry’s ‘breasts’. The audience was aghast. As one, they jumped to their feet; there were shame, disgust, and embarrassment on their faces. How could a brother officer misbehave, perhaps he had too much to drink, maybe it was stress and a nervous breakdown. There had to be some reason for his bizarre conduct. Suddenly, Harry grasped Fuller’s arm and threw him over his shoulder and proceeded to give Fuller a full working over. At the same time, the announcer told the audience how useful unarmed combat could be even to the frailest and vulnerable in our society.
The audience had been fooled and realised their concerns were unfounded; their brother officer had been a stooge, planted deliberately to dupe them. It turned out to be an excellent and fitting climax to the display. The audience was not angry but mightily relieved. They stayed on their feet, cheering, and clapping as loud as any audience had ever done in Fox Gymnasium. I made a quick exit to our dressing room and rejoined our course and moved over to the climbing tower to prepare for our afternoon display.