Image generated with Nano Banana 2 via Google Flow
Writing about this during the heatwave summer of 2026, more than 50 years after the event, it seems odd to be shivering at the thought of how cold and bleak I felt on that day, Friday 13 February 1976.
Alleyn’s School CCF took a whole load of us cadets, presumably all aged 13 to 15, to a rifle range in Gravesend (I’m guessing it was the Milton Ranges), where we were taught how to fire Lee Enfield 303 rifles…
…yes that’s right, World War One…CORRECTION…World War Two…jobbies…
…on a freezing cold day on exposed estuary marshes.
All I wrote in my diary about it was:
Cold Gravesend…
…but the experience is etched in my memory.
Not only were we all shivering half to death, but those early 20th century Lee Enfield 303 rifles had a kick like a mule, even when firing blanks. I am reliably informed that we were firing live rounds on those Gravesend ranges. I remember that my shoulder was black and blue for days after the experience – partly the result of poor technique I’m sure but also because those weapons were not intended for puny 13 year old shoulders.
My next encounter with such weaponry was 30 years later in much warmer circumstances – in the South Omo Valley of Ethiopia, where tribes-folk carry Lee Enfield 303 rifles as adornments…
…although Janie doesn’t look too sure about being in such close proximity to lethal weaponry. You can read a bit about that adventure here.
As for my popular music earworm that cold February back in ’76…
Also, for the completists, and the lovers of 1970s TV and film memories, are all my diary notes for that fortnight:
Sunday 1 February 1976 – classes good. Meeting great. TV MASH, film [They Call Me Mister Tibbs!].
Monday 2 February 1976 – all ok. TV Ask The Family, Hello Cheeky, Waltons.
Tuesday 3 February 1976 – cross country. TV Ellery Queen (tick), Pro-celebrity golf, Fawlty Towers.
Wednesday, 4 February 1976, CCF ok. TV Dave Alan, Mike Re-e -e-e-d [The Mike Reid Show]
Thursday 5 February 1976 – drama, good. TV World At War, When The Boat Comes In.
Friday, 6 February 1976 – Candid Camera, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Yes Honestly.
Saturday 7 February 1976 – All ok. Went to library. Andy all night [Andy Levinson sleepover].
Sunday 8 February 1976 classes great. TV MASH, war film funny [The Extraordinary Seaman], That’s Life.
Monday 9 February 1976 – all ok. TV The Waltons don’t mention the war.
Tuesday 10 February 1976 – entrance exams great. TV Ellery Queen (cross), Pro-celebrity golf, Fawlty Towers.
Wednesday, 11 February 1976,- CCF okay. TV And Mother Makes Five, Morecombe & Wise, Olympic Games – J Curry gold.
Thursday, 12 February 1976 – drama, great. TV World At War, When The Boat Comes In.
Friday, 13 February 1976 – Cold Gravesend. TV Yes Honestly, The Liver Birds, Steptoe & Son.
Saturday, 14 February 1976 – All OK. TV Celebrity Squares.
Sunday, 15 February 1976 – all okay. TV World About Us, MASH, That’s Life.
I must have missed out on Gravesend, as I only remember using Hythe Ranges, which we did when we stayed at St Martin’s Plain camp every Easter.
But I do remember some very cold range days, both in the cadets and later in various UOTCs.
Pity AI still isn’t able to generate authentic-looking pictures:
1. That is an SMLE, whereas we had Lee Enfield No. 4s. Our SMLEs had been converted to .22 for the indoor range, making them officially No. 8s. You must have been firing the .303 No. 4 at Gravesend, because the .22 had no noticeable kick.
2. The Army section of Alleyn’s CCF stopped issuing battledress before I joined, which was in 1973. I think the RAF section kept it for a little longer.
3. That beret badge is nothing like that of Alleyn’s CCF.
4. No instructor would ever have allowed a cadet to fire in a position like that of the first picture — lying on his left hip with the butt under his armpit!
5. None of the cadets have their sights up.
Thanks for the comment, Stephen. WW1 corrected to WW2. For sure we went to Gravesend – that is what I wrote down at the time and that is where I remember going. The image is AI generated. I stated Lee Enfield 303 but did not specify the name of the school – just “mid 1970s CCF”. I thought the AI did pretty well given my light on detail briefing.
Good memory Ian ,I too recall go into gravesend range the back of beyond in my eyes . Yes the 303 certainly had a kick enough to break your shoulder if used incorrectly . Believe we issued with live ammo the targets were up on large hill at a distance where blanks would have had little effect .
Thanks Vipul. I have corrected to clarify that we fired live rounds at Gravesend that day. I wonder if we went on the same day?