|
THERE IT WAS - GONE! Arborfield, June 2001
"Seldom
in the field of human endeavour has
so much been decimated by so few at the expense of so many." (My apologies to 'Winnie')
With gratitude to Max WARWICK for the following photographs of the
site upon which AAS Arborfield, as we knew it, once stood.
The Main Gate viewed from the New buildings are seen in the distance
The plaque seen on the right-hand gate post
The torch on the left pillar of the Main Gate
Inscriptions scratched into the brickwork by former inmates
The former Warrant Officers and Sergeants Mess appears in the
distance
The Memorial Plaque on the left pillar
The Main Gate viewed from the
View of the and
View of the Square from 'J' Block (built after our time) is seen on the far side of the
Square with the former Permanent Staff Block (also built after our time) to its
immediate right. On the extreme right of the photograph stands the former Warrant Officers and Sergeants Mess
A new barrack block Addenda Contributed by Greg PECK (53B/54A) I have gazed, rapt, at the changes time and modernization have
wrought upon our poor old AAS; how sad that those buildings whose presence
permanently branded themselves into our memories are no longer extant. I well remember the clatter of steel-shod boots as hordes of A/Ts
went about their routine. The smell of the hideous orange floor wax that
adorned the floors; the cramped hours spent hunched over a pair of boots;
even the aroma of blanco that permeated the central part of the spider from
the blanco room adjacent to the shower and bog facilities. The many occasions, just before ‘lights out’, that I spent gazing
up at the exposed rafter beams as I smoked the last fag of the day and let my
own personal thoughts surface again from the clutter of militarily induced
reflexes that occupied so much of our waking hours. Priceless stuff.
Unrepeatable now. Contributed by Peter CROWTHER (65B) I agree with your (George MILLIE's) sadness over the demolition of the
old camp; it had character, held a lot of secrets and many happy memories. I
managed to get Home (to
|
