Tom Crabbe was 20 when he was enlisted. Although older than many having deferred his National Service due to his Carpenter apprenticeship , Tom still recalls how frightened he felt when his train left Blandford Station. After his initial training at Aldershot John was posted to a cooking school before volunteering to stay on as a permanent staff member, eventually becoming the unit Carpenter. Tom was demobbed at the end 1961.

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Don Cutler’s National Service was deferred for two years because of his apprenticeship, he was conscripted in 1958. After his initial training Don joined the Royal Hampshire Regiment in Winchester, an infantry battalion which later became the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment. Don was posted to Germany, travelling over in a flat bottom troop ship which had been sunk three times during the war and re-floated. Before he was demobbed Don spent his final few weeks of service on the North Sea, learning about civil defence.

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