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A wonderfull documentary, very clear explaned with a lot of important details. Thanks for this great job!

My dad did his service in kenya in the 50s

I got excluded from parades by an RSM because of my inability to keep in step. My fellow National Servicemen were quite jealous.

Yes , it should be brought back, not for me of course

What a waste of time. It was looming during my early secondary school days. When it was abandoned I felt great, not my problem. I would never have stood for some Neanderthal NCO shouting and abusing me on some wind swept parade ground.

Not all trades were good for civvy street. My brother was a bomb armorer! I learnt the morse code as a wireless operator. Non of my intake signed on at the end.

i DID MY 2 YEARS AT THE sCHOOLOF sINMALS IN Yorkshire FOR MONTHS , AND THEN POSTED TO MELF 20 WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE IN THE SAHARA DESERT IN EGYPT FOLLOWED BY TRIPS TO CYPRUS AND MALTA. THEY TRIED TO GET ME TO SIGN ON , BUT i COULD NOT GET HOME AGAIN FAST ENOUGH,. I GREW UP AND LEARNT MUCH, BUT WAS NOT A NATURAL SOLDIER. as I was a Bank apprentice on a 5 year training scheme. I went back to banking in the City.

Beautiful explanation

I was a Geordy Pitmans son, joined in 1950, yes a lucky few who had money could go into Oficers training if their parents had £30 to pay for your uniform, like winning the pools I never knew anyone who had that kind of money. when I went in it was the first time in my life I had more than 2 pairs of boots or Trousers, I could not believe all the clothes I was issued with. I was trained as a radio mechanic and again issued with tools for the job, after demob I worked the rest of my life from the education I received in the army.

I know it's not national service, but joined the ADF reserve in the Sydney University Regiment.. enjoyed being a rifleman ,we by pasted the bullsjit of prade bashing and boot buffing first camp was 25 days learning about weapons and marching and army life the camps for big and more intense .kids today have no idea.

Great presentation. Thanks.

As a proud member of Grenville thank you for this video. Three-peat this time next year 🥇

The arithmetic can be easily adapted to meet the recruitment requirements at any particular time. For example, in Denmark every physically fit man and woman is entered in a draw - if your number comes up, off you go for twelve months or more of military service. Need more soldiers? Draw more numbers. Such a system in the UK would provide a trained reserve and many young people would come to realise that military life can be very enjoyable and rewarding. I was so disappointed to miss National Service that I signed on for three wonderful years as a Regular.

My dad (83 this year if he was still alive) Did his National Service in NZ in the 60s he enjoyed it

Thank you.

This video was made three years ago and now the armed forces are at 70k

One fact! You never had the opportunity to refuse national service and stay on the dole!

Shame that it's not a possibility nowadays. I joined the Air Cadets age 13, and stayed until I joined the Royal Artillery (TA) 7 years later. The cadets and the TA turned me from being a kid into an adult, and was one of my better life decisions. One of my worst decisions was deciding to only do it part time, I SHOILD have gone full time and become a career soldier. Ah well, can't turn back the clock! :( Nowadays, especially with the current Government, I'd be much less keen to join. We've all seen how the Government screws over Veterans!

Australia had a better national service they were better soldiers!!!

Mindless spit and polish did nothing at Dunkirrk, did it you old fool? My driver on the steam engines was in the rear guard then he and his mate had to walk across france to get out and fight in the eighth army. Hobbo's tank tactics were ignored until Winstom Churchill intervened so we could be succesful in Normandy with our allies. We were saved by a few who had brains and ability with our allies. We never stood alone. NS was a vain atempt to hold not our empire which has sunk us today. My generation heard endless tales by uncles and older work mates of these realities. People like you make me feel sick.

1960 as a Fireman on the GWR I missed NS & was grateful. Those who'd been in reported a waste of time a boring & crappy life. From a working class background I don't know anyone who didn't sleep in their own bed or lacked three meals a day in 1960. My father complained at the dire effect it had on those who'd been in the forces. In the war it was different & all my Uncles served with some killed or losing limbs. After 1948 what was it for? A doomed attempt to hang onto the Empire rather than joining the EU as we needed to do.

Great shame National Service stopped.It would do a huge amount of good today as it did then and helped many people get a better start in life.

I, should think that square bashing (of sorts) in secondary school would be very popular with young people who would love some boundaries in their lives and stern discipline. For, instance if I, had not been thrashed with the cane until it broke into splinters, for shoplifting age 10 1/2, I, would now be a real criminal, or even a Tory Cabinet Minister, or some other sort of well paid robber baron CEO getting rich on inflated invoicing....

Fantastic explanation, thank you.

We must bring back the national service now so we can be ready

People always said it was easier than the army,which was why many people tried to get into the RAF.

Thanks for the explanation. I enjoyed your video.

Bayeux is a charming town with excellent restaurants. The Tapestry is a unique gem. Just a ferry ride away!

Fascinating podcast, but something inside of me dies every time I hear "enormity" used for "bignes". It means "great evil".

Thank you Sir

Right on! You never forget drill! If you somehow forget, there is all the military course that you, the soldier, would take to remind you. :)

Always amuses me the majority of the group who say bring back National Service, have never served in the Armed Forces. Up to 1990 the Country’s in Europe that did not have a form of armed forces National Served were U.K. and Ireland. The rest did, and these conscripts were a low military standard. To give you idea, during the first Gulf War the French conscripts refused to go, and so there place was taken by French Foreign Legion.

I wish I went military instead of college in 🇺🇸

Did that a few times quite enjoyed it

Before joining a (British) Territorial Army (TA) band as a young man, I spent my teenage years as a keen cadet, and I loved drill. So much so, that by age 16 I had already become a drill sergeant, and was soon appointed drum major of my cadet unit, which was close to battalion strength. If you think basic drill is complex, then you should try it while parading with musical instruments, and especially while playing them. Even more complex is recruiting, training, rehearsing, and commanding a corps of drums or a band. Especially at age 17! But I learned to do it all competently, and I cannot think of a better way for a teenager to become a disciplined, self-confident, and smartly turned out young person. I learned skills that have proven valuable throughout my life. Now aged over 80, I remember my adolescent experience, including drill, with pleasure and pride.

The Parade ground at Caterham Barracks, is now the car park you mentioned😂😂😂😂

Joined the Royal Navy in 1949 to avoid conscription in either the army or air force and even going down the coal mines.ended up doing 22years including 3 years on an aircraft carrier in Korea. Would do it all again,a great life. Now 92 and still enjoying life!

Apart from anything else today's forces are too technically orientated. Most of today's personnel are tradesmen, and even the PBI is more than just cannon fodder. For the forces to benefit from national service, that service would have to last a helluva lot longer than two years, or 1½ years as it was in the early days. The forces' attitudes towards white men would be problematic too!

Still teaching me, sir

Thanks for the memories sir, I was in the RAF from 1954 and done my square bashing at RAF Bridgenorth as an "orrible little man" but soon learned a way round that by following orders, learnt a trade and signed on for a further three years. It would do a lot of todays young men good to go through it.

I have followed your National Service experiences on You Tube. We must now be of a similar age. I was deferred until the age of 21, having completed a 5 year engineering apprenticeship; when I was called up to serve in the RAF in 1958. Looking back on it, it was a bit of an adventure. I spent my first year learning Morse code ( not just in English) and my second year, listening to Morse code in various foreign parts. Enough said. Apart from the discipline aspect at the beginning, the rest of my service was an eye-opener into Society, Travel, and the ways of the world outside of a small town in Dorset, which was my home. In these respects, I think some sort of National Service, ( compulsory but not necessarily military in nature) would be of benefit to many of todays youngsters who don’t understand the laws of the country they call home.

Training took 10 weeks then many were shipped overseas to places like Korea,Malaya and many other trouble spots, I my self wound up in Cyprus and the Suez invasion all on half pay. I did not get any leave before I was shipped out as I was told one day were I was going and I was on my way the next day.. While waiting to be sent into Suez we were not allowed to write home encase we let anything slip, and this is when I lost touch with the young lady I was courting as she thought I had dumped her. Also when I was called up I was studying Electrical engineering as was very close to sitting for my finial exam yet I was called up. I wrote to my MY Harold McMillian and he told me I could sit my exam if I signed on for !! years, which never happened so I was then in the Army.

How I wish the Government still made it compulsory for every 18 year old, male or female to complete 12 weeks of square bashing, and to bring discipline back into Education during school years. The kids today have no respect for authority. They don't know what fear is. Mandy Pansy individuals who think they know everything.

It stood for deception

Thanks for the facts of National Service. My nation service began in 1954 as two years in the RAF and I leaned to drive many different vehicles from cars to heavy refuelers and queen Marys, they were articulated low loaders that were capable of carrying an aircraft fuselage and wings. I enjoyed seven years in total and travelled on overseas postings, not forgetting twelve months in the Pacific during the Nuclear Testing.

I remember 63 years ago the moment when 120 of us first managed to march exactly in step and feeling quite proud.

National Service, not Military National Service. Give the UK two years and your country will give you two years of, say, University education or a wage whilst doing an apprenticeship, the list is long.

@BerwickCoatesHistorian I read this book, an entertaining read and probably a more realistic account of what national service was like for the vast majority. I wonder if there are plans for a second book detailing the experience of officer training for national servicemen? I guess you went to Sandhurst? I remember reading somewhere that those electing to take a commission were required to serve 5 years as opposed to 2 because of the investment in training, is this correct?

My Dad did his in the RAF on a windswept airfield in Lincolnshire, described it as an utter waste of time, both for him & the Govt.

I've got an idea about a new National Service: anyone - and I mean anyone - who wants to be a politician should first have to complete a mandatory 3 to 5 years in the NHS, in all the most difficult situations, with no special privileges. It may help a little to reduce the self serving sense of entitlement and arrogance of some of our government members and end the complete disconnection between them and the average citizen.