Following our long hard six week stint at Ganges, the day of our passing out parade came. I had asked my parents to come, but due to financial constraints and the fact the family car was on its last legs, I was unsure if they would make it or not. Nevertheless, as fully fledged members of Her Majesty's Royal Navy we had standards to maintain, uniform is to be immaculate, drill spot on and heads held high.
The day started as any normal Sunday would, breakfast, cleaning then prepare for the usual passing out parade; the difference being that today is OUR passing out parade. A day where to a man, we stood taller than the other recruits; proud that we were finally part of a force with hundreds of years of proud history. Today our uniforms would be smarter than ever, our boots would shine as though powered by bright sunlight and our marching drill would be impeccable.
The time came to fall in outside our mess for the final time, three deep, dress left; ATTENTION! These orders that were given daily somehow because of the occasion finally made sense, anticipation of the ceremony sent pride running through every artery, vein and capillary in my body. Finally, we were ready to show our families that in the last six weeks we had learned how to drill better than anyone before us. "By the left QUICK MARCH!"
The thunderous sound of thirty or so recruits marching towards the parade ground up the "Long Covered Way" in complete unity sent shivers up my spine, I'm not sure if my senses were heightened by the occasion; but the sound was awe inspiring. Crunch, Crunch Crunch, we marched in perfect harmony, everyone in step and not one man out of line; beautiful. Finally at the top of the Long Covered Way, the order came to HALT! We all came to a crunching halt, again in perfect harmony. There was not one quiver from the bayonets attached to the barrels of our SLR rifles, no movement from anyone; we were acutely aware that we were on show today, not only to our families but to all the others still to complete their training.
There was more than just our mess passing out today, in total there were three or four mess deck groups passing out; we awaited their arrival alongside us. When we were all assembled (with the others who were not passing out) the order to "QUICK MARCH was given, at 120 paces per minute we set off for the parade ground, a journey we had taken for the previous five Sundays. Today was our day, we were going to enjoy this one. As we approached the parade ground the invited families came into view, to a man we strained our eyes to try and see our own families but conscious that we had to keep our heads high and straight. I caught sight of my parents and my younger brother in the assembled crowd, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up; to date this was the proudest day of my life. We were ordered to HALT in front of the crowd, in the centre of which stood the dias where the Captain of Ganges would address us.
We all stood still, immaculately dressed, the white gaiters reserved for the classes passing out shone brightly in the winter sunshine; a moment to cherish, to remember for the rest of your life. The Captain began his address, I then became acutely aware of my failings at previous passing out parades where I had taken them too literally. This was however MY passing out parade, and despite having the early signs of feinting; I had promised myself not today. Two things were on my side today, number one, my family were here. I could just see them out the corner of my eye, this was a welcome distraction. Also for the first time, the guy stood next to me collapsed; the bayonet attached to his rifle cutting through the sleeve of the guy in front of him. These two things carried me through the parade, despite the sunshine the day was bitterly cold; it would have been oh so different without the distraction.
Following the Captains address and presentation of various trophies (of which we won best mess) it was time for the final march past. We were called to attention before being marched off on a route which would bring us marching past the Captain and families abreast instead of in three's. Here we would salute the Captain as we passed the dias, marching in a straight line whilst not looking where you are going, keeping 120 paces per minute and saluting was a well practiced drill; we pulled it off beautifully. I'm sure everyone at some point whilst saluting the skipper secretly scanned for their families, I saw mine, my parents looked so proud that their little boy was now a fully fledged member of Her Majesty's mighty military machine.
Official photo's were taken before we were dismissed and allowed to join our families and allowed our first free time in six weeks, all whose families had arrived went ashore into either Shotley Gate or Ipswich to have a celebratory lunch with them. This time was short lived however as we all had to be back on board at some point to pack ready for the following day when we would all leave Ganges for part two of our training.
