In the late 1970s I was a Trooper in the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC). One summer I was sent to a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) school in the Black Forest.
The breakfasts were excellent: fresh coffee and rye bread. But we had to tear ourselves away for an Escape and Evasion exercise. This meant we were divided into small groups, “sabres”, and had to live off the land and escape capture for some days. Eventually and inevitably we were captured at our final RV. We were taken to a German barracks and divided into two groups. One was to be interrogated the other was for the moment left alone.
An important point in escape and evasion is that if you do not escape and evade you should make a break for freedom as soon as possible. Accordingly I edged towards the gate and slipped out. Imagine, if you will, what I looked like. I was unshaven, I had been sleeping rough, my army uniform was torn from climbing over barbed wire fences, I was rather hungry, very tired and I had my army rifle (but no ammunition). It was a moment of madness but I wanted to make a point.
I only vaguely remember hitchhiking and taking buses, trains and finally a taxi to get back to my home barracks rather late that night. I had some some well hidden Deutsche Marks, so this was possible. I was at once put under arrest and felt sorry for myself. I was apprehensive about the consequences of travelling around Germany in uniform with a rifle. After only about fifteen minutes I was marched in to my Commanding Officers’ office and given a good bollocking. Like an April shower it was over as soon as it began; he told me what a mess I looked and I’d better clean up and get to the bar before it closed. When I re-joined my friends they were smirking. They had been taken back in a helicopter. Well I still think I did the right thing.
I showed initiative on another HAC exercise; this time in the Brecon Beacons. Essentially two of us cheated. The escapade involved telling an untruth, hiring a Ford Granada, my fellow-cheater eating Duck in a Basket in his bath and a speeding ticket for one of our assistants. Our other assistant is now married to my co-cheater. The HAC smelled a massive rodent but they liked their soldiers to show initiative so no action was taken.