End of session ploys...

At this time companies have had their displays and presentations even if, this year, it has been put in abeyance. In earlier times boys were often presented in their final year before ‘discharge’ their Queen’s Badge (or King’s Badge). However this meant they may not have an opportunity to wear it in uniform. Today President’s and Queen’s Badges come with a miniature version used as an out-of-uniform buttonhole badge. Some more lateral thinking recipients then wore such badges as kilt pins and some discovered the BB in New Zealand issued miniatures of the ‘old’ King’s and Queen’s Badges and could be passed off as buttonhole adornments. Again looking back in the archive from my previous battalion secretary, I found another innovative way of allowing boys to wear badges. The occasion was at Larbert Station in July 1986, when a party of 42 met to leave for a 10 day trip to Jersey. Two boys who had been too young to obtain their President’s Badges at their display had in the meantime attained the age of 15 and so were presented with their badges before the assembled party, well-wishers and parents seeing off the 1st Larbert group on their adventure; for an adventure it was, travelling to London; crossing the city during morning rush-hour by underground; then on to the south coast for a ferry to the Aquila Methodist Youth Centre in St Helier. Haversacks and belts were worn all the way, not least to ensure spotting, counting and recounting of all the boys at every change of transport. An amusing tale from the trip was breakfast at a London café when 42 ham and eggs were ordered. They duly came, cold ham slices and fried eggs (should have been bacon and eggs)! Thanks were due to Mr Laird at Larbert Station who had engineered every officer’s obtaining a family Railcard entitling half price travel each with four boys travelling for £1 (including the ferry which was BR owned).