Edmunds testimony.

16th February 1957.
Arriving on time for my posting to Headquarters 3 Infantry Division.  Hobbs Barracks.  Lingfield.  Surrey.
Hobbs Barracks is situated on the side of the main road to East Grinstead 2 Miles away.  Hobbs Barracks, now the site of Hobbs Industrial Estate, is located to the West of the A22, North of the village of Felbridge at Newchapel, Surrey. There are very few documented details about the barracks available from military sources;

Reporting at the camp gates, I am told to report to the Company Offices. 
I was held up here while the Company Clerks made up a pay book and completed other documentation.
I explained to the sergeant there that I had only received emergency pay while abroad, and he promised to sort it out for me.
I was allocated to “A” platoon under Second Lieutenant Michel Laurence Antoine Baugniet.
I joined “A” platoon in their quarters, along wooden hut with beds each side and the corporal’s room at one end and the ablutions at the other.
The lads were very friendly from the start and made me feel welcome.
There was some disbelief that I had been to Egypt and Cyprus and had been in the Army no more than 6 months on top of which I was able to wear the GSM which had been awarded to those who had been in SUEZ during the crisis.

"A" Platoon Winner of the Inter Counties Cup 1957-58. S/T Baugniet and Captain Neve Centre.

S/Lt Baugniet was a handsome young man learning to be an officer and this was his first command.
I took an empty bed next to Bryan Wilson,  a young lad with a sunny smile who was to become a good friend over time.

Bryan+Me

There were many characters among the lads of “A” platoon not least Lance Corporal Joe Offside who used to strut around the Billet stark naked..
Joe had a gorgeous red haired girlfriend who he enjoyed showing off to us.  I thought she was lovely.
There was much bragging about shagging girls and all that, and I was as bad as the rest with my imagination.  Because imagination was all that I had, I had no idea at all of the physically sexual nature of intercourse, but I made out that I had.
The few who were sexually active were extremely shy about going to the chemist or the barbers for `French Letters` or condoms.  

I volunteered, and started to take orders.  The look on the face of the barber in East Grinstead when I walked in and asked for 10 packets of “something for the weekend” was a sight to behold, having completed the task I resolved never to do it again.
Life in camp continued with a step up in our training.  The IRA were active at that time and we were expected to do guard duties at a high level of alertness.
We went out in our vehicles daily on map reading exercises, sometimes with Joe offside leading on his motorcycle, sometimes on our own, exercising our skills and initiative.

Bryan lived on the Isle of Sheppey. 

I had acquired a large old motorcycle from somewhere and offered to drive him there.  He accepted, and well togged up, we set off. 

We got there eventually and his family made me feel very welcome.  Bryan introduced me               to his girlfriend Mavis, whom he later married.
I bought Bryans Mother a bunch of flowers, which his brother remembers to this day.
The journey home did not go too well and the motorbike gave up the ghost.  We said the last rites   over it, and abandoned it in someone’s front garden I believe.  We must have hitched             the rest of the way home.
“A” platoon were chosen to test the new style uniform that the British Army were thinking of   adopting for general use.
Our role as drivers was to go out somewhere during the day wearing the new uniform, and      returning to base mid-afternoon go to a room, sit, and complete questionnaires.
We had to supply information as to the fit, feel, comfort and practical use of the uniform.                Did the new style rubber soled boots feel comfortable?                                                               Were the elasticated waistbands of the jackets ok?  Were the drawstrings long enough?              And so on.
“A” platoon were also chosen at about this time to demonstrate for UN observers our ability           and state of readiness in the field.
I remember a very warm spell of weather and we spent several days stripped to the waists       scrimming up, preparing Camouflage netting large enough to cover the Lorries.

`We are to prepare to go on exercise, and that you will be observed by high-ranking officers           from a distance to see how you perform`. 
Given a map reference, we go to a clearing some place near Salisbury plain.                             Having got there and scrimmed up we are to await a signal, at which time we were to go to           another place quickly and wait for further orders.
I could see that putting camouflage on the vehicles was going to be difficult enough, let alone     getting it off again in a hurry.  So several of us got long branches from nearby trees and            propped up the camouflage clear of the lorries.
When the signal came to move off, all we had to do was simply drive out of our camouflage     tent.  This worked extremely well and “A” platoon acquitted itself             well on that exercise.
Every day all the platoons in camp form up early in the morning on the parade ground for               daily inspection before dispersing to the cookhouse for breakfast.                                                     I did not enjoy this daily parade.
I learned that in order to avoid the daily parade you had to be involved in something else that              the C O approved of. 
One of these things was athletics.  I was genuinely interested in running and got permission            to run down to East Grinstead and back each morning.
The Home Counties Athletic Championships was due to happen and Mr Baugniet put me          forward for several races.  I could not refuse.  Mr Baugniet told me that I could use the old        Lingfield racecourse for running practice and subsequently I spent a lot of time there running      around in circles you might say.

Mr Baugniet has entered me in Championships in the 110 yards Hurdles and the 220 yards sprint, or was it the other way round?
The crafty sods from the outfit who were competing and providing Hot doughnuts from their portable bakery caught many of us out.  We stuffed ourselves with delicious Doughnuts not noticing that their lads did not eat any.  The result was, we were bloated and many bent double with tummy ache. Ho Ho!

The races bagan but they and I had overlooked the fact that I had never run competitively before, and had no idea of the distances involved or at what pace to run each race.  The first race was the hurdles, which I had been practicing every afternoon.  I felt that I         had got the hang of it allright and thought that I would not win but not trip up either.                       

Anyway, the usual stuff, GET ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, BANG, off we went, or rather off they went!  I had to chase after them and jump               hurdles at the same time, I didn't realise that   they would run so fast! I was quite busy there for a minute or two.  Anyway, I came third much to        my surprise.  I was quite pleased and even more so when I was then given second place because the chap ahead of me  had strayed out of his lane and was disqualified.                                                                                                                                         The next race was the sprint race and once again I was taken by surprise when they all     shot off up the course leaving me well behind.  So gritting my teeth I shot after them and caught the up on the bend and managed to run through the pack crossing the line a genuine second again.   The prizes were handed out by Mr Baugniet and I got and extra prize of a  pair of cufflinks for some reason?

HOBBS BARRACKS

The testimony of Sgt. Don Hares, Baker, 1955-56

RASC Command Supply Depot,
Hobbs Barracks, now the site of Hobbs Industrial Estate, is located to the West of the A22, North of the village of Felbridge at Newchapel, Surrey. There are very few documented details about the barracks available from military sources; so much of the enclosed information is based on local knowledge and the memoirs of soldiers that were once stationed there.

During the war, apart from basic training, Hobbs Barracks also operated as the RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) Command Supply Depot for the South Eastern Command. They supplied the Army, Royal Air Force and Navy with provisions, meats and bread, the bread being baked at the No.1 Static Bakery that was situated approximately 250 yards (231m) from the main gate, on the opposite side of the main road, heading North. The barracks, at this time, also housed the female members of the ATS (Army Territorial Service) who worked along side the male RASC bakers at the Static Bakery. The Bakery started production in 1943 and was in operation up until the late 1950’s.

The 3rd Infantry Division, Column HQ, RASC were stationed at Hobbs Barracks during the 1950’s, along with members of the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers), and the 34th Light Aircraft Defence Regiment Artillery, with many National Service men passing through the camp.

Life at Hobbs, after work time, was a bit thin. We could spend our evenings sitting in the billet, or go to the camp NAAFI, or the camp cinema, go to the local pubs, or a visit to East Grinstead and the cinema there. To see films soon after their release we used to travel to Purley or Croydon, and thus we had seen the films by the time they arrived at East Grinstead.

During 1956, it was the Suez Canal cock-up. The main part of Hobbs was RASC Transport and so all the lorries, (Bedford three tonners), were sprayed sand colour and moved out. The Government set up the AER (Army Emergency Reserve), which we were all in for, (I don’t know how long), and Shorncliffe office sent and said they wanted Sergeants made ready for the AER. So an Officer came from Shorncliffe to Hobbs and in five minutes I was a Sergeant, and I was on Grade 1 pay. About three months before my de-mob, the              office in the Barracks was short of a civilian clerk and I was put in there.
RASC Command Supply Depot, Sgt. Don Hares, Baker, 1955-56

The testimony of  Pt. Michael Parkin, Driver, 1956-57

On top of the Armoury
The drill was, you did two hours on and two hours off, you see. Now this [the armoury] was solid, about two feet thick of brickwork with an equal thick roof of concrete, and two doors, one in the front and one in the back. Round it there was about ten feet of barbed wire, all the way round, with one little gap at the back. There would be one patrolling round the bottom one on the outside of the wire and one on top, you used to take a little piece out the wire, you’d go in and put a little ladder up against the wall, you’d climb up and stand on the top. You’d be a dead ringer for a sniper, that would be you just finished off on the roof there, but you had to go up on the roof there, you see. You had to go up there for two hours. You’d climb up and then they’d take the ladder away, put the section of wire back and that was it, you’d got to stop there for two hours whether you wanted anything or not, that was too bad. You couldn’t jump off because you had about ten feet of barbed wire all the way round you. I was on top of that when the Suez crisis, 1956, when that all came to a head. There were vehicles, blokes shouting and flashing lights and there was me and my mate Willie Watson, from Liverpool. They lined up all the vehicles in the Parade Ground and sprayed them all sand colour, and the tin helmets. They just laid them all on the ground, taped the windows in, all the equipment and the tin hats and everything, all on the Parade Ground and this spraying team, did the lot, sprayed all the lot.

Then after a few weeks we all took off from the Parade Ground to Lingfield Station, all in double decker buses, you imagine trying to get up on the top deck with a kit bag! And of course, Muggins, I was at that time the RSM [Regimental Sergeant Major] Smith’s Batman, so I was responsible for his kit bag as well! We went from there [Lingfield Station] to somewhere in Wales where we all got ready to take off like and it all calmed down again and we returned to Hobbs. They brought all the vehicles back and sprayed them all green again! Must have cost them millions. There was about 1500 soldiers there [Hobbs Barracks], that’s a lot of soldiers all in one place.

 All for half a crown!
All the barrack block buildings were built about three feet off the ground. They had a brickwork foundation; they weren’t filled in so you ended up with a hollow underneath. It wasn’t funny in those days but it would be hilarious now, you see, the wages, the Pay Parade, you’d have to stand in a queue and the Officer would come along with a table, with the Regimental pay chest or whatever they called it, and dish the money out. You’d have to go up and salute, with your pay book and state ‘Pay correct, Sir’, then after making that, if it was not correct it was too bad! Well, a half a crown in those days was a lot of money, you see. Well I’d just been paid and gone back into the billet, it was when I was courting Jo [future wife], 

We always used to try and get a lift into Grinstead, because money spent on the bus was gone, it was money wasted you see. Anyway I’d got this half a crown and dropped it. It dropped out of my hands, rolled along the floor and down this crack in the floor. I was so desperate that I got a spade and a pick axe and prised the floorboards up and I looked down in the hole and I could just see this half a crown, it was just balancing on the edge of the three-foot drop. I couldn’t reach it, so I got a long piece of wood, and a spoon, a table spoon, and bent it, lashed it to the piece of wood, all for half a crown, 2/6d, and put it down and carefully hooked it up. I thought ‘Core you’ve done well there Micky’ like, then I replaced the floorboards again. But what a state to get into, but half a crown was quite a lot then, ’cos my pay when I was first married, well I was still in the army as I had several months to, was only about £1. 4s or something!
RASC, Pt. Michael Parkin, Driver, 1957

Te testimony of Graham Moorhouse, Driver, 1956-59

Cafes and Horse Racing
I arrived at Hobbs Barracks in 1957 from my training at Yeovil in Somerset. When I arrived the at Hobbs Barracks, one of the regiments there was my regiment, 14 Company, RASC. They had just returned from war service in Egypt, the Suez crisis in 1956. We were a Driving Unit attached to the 3rd INF BDE (Infantry Brigade) Group and all the vehicles (7 ton lorries) were painted sandy and camouflaged to blend in with the desert. Before our Company was stationed at Hobbs Barracks I believe it had been a squadron of WRACS that was there, sometime in the early 50's.
Altogether, the camp had two Companies of RASC. Mine consisted of A/B Platoon, 14 Company, RASC, our lorries, 40 in total, were parked up on one side of the large parade square and 101 Company RASC were parked up on the other. In early 1958, 101 Company left and were posted to Germany, leaving our Company the sole inhabitants of the camp.
Then in June 1958, we were dispatched to Cyprus on active service to join what was then the most elite and largest contingent in the British Army called 1st Guards Brigade. This consisted of all the Battalions of Grenadier Guards, Irish Guards, Scots Guards, Cameroon Highlanders, Welsh Guards and 1,2 & 3 Parachute Regiments, and we, the 14 Company, had been selected to drive them into battle, if needed to help the late King of Jordan, who was being got at by neighbouring Arab States, similar to the recent conflict between Iraq, except the only attacks we were vulnerable to were from EOKA Terrorists and their Leader Colonel Grivas. This tour lasted until December 1958, and on returning to Blighty we camped on Salisbury Plain, at a place called Winterbourne Gunner.
My recollections of Hobbs Barracks are easy. Across the road from the Guard House and Main Entrance used to be a small wooden Cafe. I remember it well, because I picked out my Horse in the Grand National ‘OXO’, ridden by Pat Taafe, which won at a fair price. If you turned right from the Gate House and walked for about 100 yards, set back from the road, like in a clearing in the woods, (because then in the 50's it wasn't so populated with property like today), was another wooden Cafe called the White Rabbit, which had a Juke Box in the back room. Cliff Richard's first number one was always on it. Then looking from the front of the Guard House to the right and rear of our camp, used to be the training stables of Winston Spencer Churchill. We used to watch on Sunday's as they paraded around the Paddock with blankets over them and WSP embroidered in the corner.
Unfortunately, the CO's are just a scribble in my Red Army Book that lists all my records of service, but my Commanding Officer was called Michelle Baugniet. He was of Belgian-French-Canadian extraction and very Army motivated, a good chap, in fact.

When the Iraq war was on, I saw him on the television, and he was a Brigadier.
RASC, Graham Moorhouse, Driver, 1956-59