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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.