Like Jim, I was also a member of the Boys Brigade, however unlike him, I did not mind the pill box hat although I was not altogether sold on having to blanco the webbing white each week in order to pass muster.   From the Brigrade I passed on to the Army Cadets where we spent some time emulating real soldiers in the farmers’ fields around Maybole.

I also spent two years 1948 and 49 doing national service in Singapore at Nee Soon barracks.   During those two years we spent two weeks in Penang for rest and recreation.   The journey to and from Penang was made by means of the narrow gauge railway over the Johore causeway and up through the Malayan jungle to Kuala Lumpur, and then on to Georgetown, Penang.   The journey was a bit iffy in those days as the train tracks were often sabotaged by a group of insurgents known by the name of Mau Mau.   However, the rest area on Penang was well worth the trip, we were billeted in tents with the fronts open to the sea where we could watch the locals fishing and also watch the florescence in the sea at night.   Being close to the salt water also meant that there were very few or no mosquitoes to annoy us, that was a real bonus.