No more reveille’s, no stand-to, No waiting in a breakfast queue,
No half fried eggs in pans of oil, No hot water, hard to boil,
No PT kit to help me run, No cold sea dips just for some fun,
No racing back to camp at speed, to satisfy some urgent need.
No polishing to make it gleam, no painting grass to make it green,
or painting coal to make it black, no not much freakin chance of that.

No reason not to speak my mind and say exactly what I find,
No need to watch just what I say, No interviews without coffee,
No slow march or marking time, no quick march, nor double time,
No making sure your never late and no more ‘hurry up and wait‘,
No new CO’s or RSM’s, or fresh from Sandhurst Subalterns,
with fresh ideas to listen to, no not a chance, I’m freakin through.

No Battle Camps to hone my skills, no digging-in, no Battle drills,
No forced marches all gung-ho, to fight a non-existent foe,
No passwords, recce’s or ‘O’ Groups, no consorting with the troops,
No soggy maggot for a bed or bivvy slung above my head,
No cries of ‘End Ex’ or ‘Stand Down’, no pack up kit and hit the town,
Into the nearest bar we find,….. to right the wrongs of all mankind.

No more recruits to educate, no more trained soldiers to update,
No more courses EPC, First-Aid, Weapons, NBC.
AMI or CFT and no more freakin BFT’s
No more range days in the rain, and running back to Camp again,
some circuit training ‘for a change‘, …I’d rather run back to the range.
Inspections every other day,.. thank Christ ,..for me,.. they’ve gone away.

No Reggie dinners in the Mess, best bib and tucker to impress,
No five course meal with Sunday roast, no ’Pass the Port’ with ‘Loyal Toast‘
The waiting Staff receive our thanks, then onwards with our foolish pranks,
No drinking long into the night, and walking home in broad daylight.
High spirits mixed with alcohol, ensured our members had a Ball,
Alas, too much for one or two, and ‘Extras’ went where ‘Extras’ due.

No MFO and no A10’s, Should never have to move again
With no March out and no March in, at last a house to settle in.
So no more soldiering for me, no uniforms or cards ID,
No ‘GRIT’ with ‘CLAP’ no more TP’s, just civvy street and memories.
No need for bullshit every day, a fair days work for fair days pay,
that’s how it works here, so they say, so ‘Carpe Diem’ or ‘seize the Day‘.

I’ve ‘Carpe Diemed’ for fifteen years and kept my distance from my peers,
ashamed they thought I missed my Corps or better yet, I missed them more,
No honestly!, that’s not the case, I’ve just been busy in this place,
Trying just to be like them, a hard working, honest, citizen.
but recently it has dawned on me, that all those years of military,
Were not as bad as they might be, much better than those presently.

For people such as you and I,………………… ex RD and MTI‘s,
We thrived on challenges each day, “What’s that?, not me!”, I hear you say,
You lying git, you loved it too, It’s what we lived for, me and you,
Not content, like all the rest, we all aspired to be the best,
We gave our all and then some more, for our beloved, Ordnance Corps,
Alas now gone, just like our trade, forgotten, as our memories fade.

We muster now within this Board, recanting tales of long past wars,
Of characters within our Corps and stories from our many tours,
Remembering mates now passed and gone, united now on this Forum
Old friends absent from Parade, not a problem, new ones made,
Time to form up, what a sight!, Dead on the Left, Us on the Right,
The new guard bring up the rear, what now for those assembled here?
Who, not content just marking time, The ‘Gathering, two thousand and nine‘.

“SPARTANS!. This year we dine in ————–”

By BZED 1972-1994