0:00:07 > 0:00:08Come on!
0:00:11 > 0:00:16..two, three, four, five, six!
0:00:52 > 0:00:55'In the first week of March, high on the Brecknock mountains
0:00:55 > 0:01:00'the morale of 480 Training Platoon reached its lowest ebb.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05'Sub-zero temperatures and rain biting like chips of flint,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08'exposed weaknesses of body and resolve.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12'And to cap it all, they faced the first ice cold
0:01:12 > 0:01:15'appraisal of what impact the training had made.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17'Who should go? Who stay?
0:01:17 > 0:01:22'Parachuting, for those who survived, was still two months away.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28'It was the seventh week of training, called Basic Wales.'
0:01:36 > 0:01:38'Mostly, they were in the open.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42'Occasionally, like the weather, they crept under the canvas flaps
0:01:42 > 0:01:45'of their only shelter, sodden, disorientated.'
0:01:45 > 0:01:49This is our position here, that white dot.
0:01:49 > 0:01:50The white line's there,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53at the two grid squares which we will be operating in.
0:01:53 > 0:01:59This red square here is the objective.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03'The object of Basic Wales, to apply in difficult terrain
0:02:03 > 0:02:05'the first principles of infantry they'd been taught
0:02:05 > 0:02:08'almost as games back in Aldershot.'
0:02:08 > 0:02:11- As soon as you hear Corporal Lynam's whistle,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15I want the first two pairs that are going to move into the ditch
0:02:15 > 0:02:17ready to move.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24'Concealed movement, the camouflage game.'
0:02:27 > 0:02:30- I've got more elasticated bands on this.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32- The enemy is 200 metres away,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36so you can afford to move quickly, initially. Stand by.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38- This is your rifle...
0:02:38 > 0:02:39WHISTLE
0:02:39 > 0:02:41- Come on, Butler.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Don't move together.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47- Come on. Follow me. Go on.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59'Private Butler edges forward from the east,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02'Private Fleming from the West.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05'If either thinks he's spotted the other, he fires a blank.'
0:03:09 > 0:03:10GUNSHOT
0:03:11 > 0:03:13- Direct me.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14'Fleming must now justify his shot
0:03:14 > 0:03:18'by directing Corporal Priestley to where he thinks Butler is.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19- Eh? - Got it.
0:03:24 > 0:03:25- Down a bit. - Eh?
0:03:25 > 0:03:27- Turn right.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33- Eh? - Just there.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Just here.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37- Do you want to stand on the track?
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- He's a bloody good shot, Corporal...
0:03:39 > 0:03:42You're dead. Go and stand on the track.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45Been seen.
0:03:47 > 0:03:48He's dead.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Make sure that your safety catch is applied and stand up...
0:03:54 > 0:03:58'Weapon training on the SLR, self-loading rifle.'
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Test and adjust in the standing position.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Five rounds, bottom patch, in your own time, go on.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12'The SLR is the infantryman's friend and constant companion.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16'Paras must be familiar with other weapons but, with this, expert.'
0:04:17 > 0:04:19GUNSHOT
0:04:21 > 0:04:23GUNSHOT
0:04:26 > 0:04:28GUNSHOTS
0:04:28 > 0:04:31130.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34No concentration at all, Robertson. Look at the size of that group.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37What was up with getting that in there and fetching that a little bit?
0:04:37 > 0:04:40You got three rounds here, got a group forming,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43You could've fetched those a little bit. No concentration.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47You see yourself changing your position out there? That will affect it drastically, O
0:04:43 > 0:04:47K?
0:04:47 > 0:04:50By the time all your muscles have got tense,
0:04:50 > 0:04:52the end of your muzzle is going like that.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55OK? Naturally that's going to cause a big group
0:04:55 > 0:04:59at the target end, isn't it? So, relax.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Come up.
0:05:01 > 0:05:07Incorporate your breathing, release the shot, then relax again.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09You're staying there for the whole shoot like that.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23'At close range, the noise is as penetrating as the ammunition.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34'That the recruits are oblivious to the din is a measure
0:05:34 > 0:05:35'of their increasing fatigue.'
0:05:35 > 0:05:40GUNSHOTS
0:05:42 > 0:05:44'The navigation game. Six containers,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48'each bearing the name of a regimental battle honour,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52'have been concealed. The recruits are given six sets of coordinates.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54'This compass, they are not given.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56'If they want it, they buy it.'
0:05:56 > 0:05:58We're off in that direction.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11'As so often, they compete in pairs or threes against each other
0:06:11 > 0:06:13'and the clock.'
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Normandy.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25It says Grunewald.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29G-R-U-N-E-W-A-L...
0:06:29 > 0:06:33'Today an important if unexpected military lesson, namely,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37'always expect the unexpected. The fifth container has been stolen by ch
0:06:33 > 0:06:37ildren
0:06:37 > 0:06:41'and Private Butler, the platoon's strongman and a judo champion
0:06:41 > 0:06:44'again learns that there's more to this game than physical fitness.'
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Read them, starting with checkpoint one and go through them.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49- Normandy. - Yep.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51- Grunewald... - Yep.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53And we got lost at number five, sir.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Number five has disappeared.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57We took the wrong bearing. We couldn't find it.
0:06:57 > 0:06:58Right. Number six?
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Number six, went up there somewhere near the tracks.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Missed that as well.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08...Before it starts raining.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11'At Basic Wales, the games were over
0:07:11 > 0:07:13'and some of the players too had gone.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16'Ten of the 41 starters had been discharged,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18voluntarily or involuntarily.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22'Four more, temporarily injured, had been back-squadded.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25'That is, given another chance with the platoon behind.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28'Now, the remaining 28, reinforced by back-squaddies
0:07:28 > 0:07:31'from the platoons ahead, attempted to practise
0:07:31 > 0:07:34all the lessons of Aldershot at one go
0:07:34 > 0:07:36'in their first dummy section attacks.'
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Now this is where I will give you a signal of an emergency RB.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44I'll just do that on the palm of your hand.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48That signal is to be passed back as you come through it.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50No, wait.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Not until it gets to the back of the line, as you come through.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57'The Paras are used as a spearhead force, advancing fast,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59'and some say careless of cost,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02'until the objective is achieved.'
0:08:02 > 0:08:04Go forward!
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Keep it in line with me.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13To the brow of the hill, everybody fires,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16and straight down into the gully.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22'The Paras don't always go by the book, even in training.
0:08:22 > 0:08:23'Initiative is encouraged
0:08:23 > 0:08:28'and where staff or recruits have special expertise, it's exploited.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30'In Wales, skills which might later
0:08:30 > 0:08:33'have been used in the Falklands were available.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38'Corporal Al Slater is an expert in survival.'
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Is that nerves?
0:08:43 > 0:08:46It is dead. This is just a nervous reaction.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51'And this Private proved already qualified as a slaughterhouse man.'
0:08:51 > 0:08:53Where that knife's going...
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Give it some knife, Johnny baby.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Butcher bone.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Oh, it's leg has gone right stiff.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09It's probably something to do with its throat getting cut.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12The expert...
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Gather that, take the fat off.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Pull that right across...
0:09:21 > 0:09:22'In adverse conditions,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26'Paras learn quickly to make full use of meagre resources.'
0:09:29 > 0:09:34Obviously, if there's only a couple of you, you're not going to eat all of this in one
0:09:29 > 0:09:34go.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37It depends on the weather. In this sort of weather, it's cold,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40food and meat and everything is going to last a few days.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44When it gets hot, if you're in a tropical climate or whatever,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46then you've got to find other ways.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Smoking the meat, as I said, is the best way of preserving it.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Remember, animals also carry diseases
0:09:51 > 0:09:54and you're likely to pick it up off the blood.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58If you're going to die if you don't eat that, you'll eat it anyway.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06'There was one brief trip to the cookhouse in Brecon...'
0:10:06 > 0:10:07Can I have some sausage?
0:10:07 > 0:10:10'..for a relaxing meal.'
0:10:10 > 0:10:12You haven't got time to blow it cool, Hooper.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15If it's too hot, eat the other one and let out one cool down.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Use a little bit of common sense.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Not that side, idiot.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23There, where the cook is, where the plates are.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Strike a light.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30Come on. You have had three-quarters of an hour to have your breakfast.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35Your spots won't go by eating the beans, disappear.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38'As always, the urgency with which recruits are tempted
0:10:38 > 0:10:41'to take energy in, was matched by the remorselessness of the staff
0:10:41 > 0:10:42'in taking it out.'
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Come on. You're holding everybody up...
0:10:48 > 0:10:51'Not all the hazardous obstacles on Welsh mountains
0:10:51 > 0:10:53'are designed by nature.'
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Pull forward. Pull forward!
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Push your arms out as far as they'll go.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Come on. You must get your legs up. Put your leg over!
0:11:03 > 0:11:04You may as well drop down and get out.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Top speed!
0:11:07 > 0:11:08Come on, get back out. Come on.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Come on, keep pushing. Don't stop.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16Pull. Push with your left foot.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Good. Keep pushing now, keep pushing.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Come on, a couple more feet, a couple more feet. Good.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Keep pulling. Good.
0:11:23 > 0:11:24Come on. Keep pulling now.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Just to me, to me, to me.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Good. Come on.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34OK, drop down, drop down. Right, let's go.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38'There was a cruel inevitability about who would be
0:11:38 > 0:11:41'the assault course's principal victim.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45'Private Andy Cunningham was once again the big man in big trouble.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50'He'd already survived a conviction for negligently firing a rifle
0:11:50 > 0:11:52'but would he, could he, survive this?'
0:11:55 > 0:11:56Straight through.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Come on!
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Get up. Get through it.
0:12:00 > 0:12:01Get down.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Up you get. Stand up, come on.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06Come on!
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Straight up. Dig your heels in! Dig your heels in!
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Come on. Stay up.
0:12:13 > 0:12:14Stay up!
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Stay up.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Right, run across the plank, jump across the space.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Go on, move.
0:12:29 > 0:12:30Get up!
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Get up!
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Get up.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Right, run at it. Arm over arm.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40One arm on that, one arm on the next. Go!
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Go! Keep...
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Keep going!
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Straight through!
0:12:57 > 0:12:58Come on. Keep coming.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11You set off there, first to get to the front.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13When you get to the front, you stay there.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15You went straight to the back as soon as you got to that rope.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- No. - I want to see a big improvement
0:13:18 > 0:13:21the rest of the week or you're for the bin. You understand?
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Right. Off you go. Get dried off.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30'With his future hanging precariously on overstretched sinews,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34'it was scant consolation that tomorrow was another day.'
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Right, the route we'll be following will be this blue route here.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Up to the first hill here, which is the one up there.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Along the railway which is on the left-hand side of the reservoir,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50up the reservoir, to this point here where you'll have your lunch,
0:13:50 > 0:13:52which will be a quick stew, a cup of tea.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Then we go up the Roman road here, go straight up Pen y Fan.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00'Pretty as a picture postcard one moment,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03'Pen y Fan has a reputation for flattering to deceive,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05'to which it entirely lived up.'
0:14:09 > 0:14:12'The SAS train here and in five years,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16'the mountain has claimed four victims, dead of exposure.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19'Just six days after 480 Platoon climbed it,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23'an SAS trainee was lifted from this peak and blown to his death.'
0:14:26 > 0:14:27Lean into the wind.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30OK, let's go. Last bit.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Right, you get your Blue Peter badges when you get up here.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52It's not like getting upstairs to bed.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58- Did you enjoy coming up there? - Yeah, it's worth the view.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02He still thinks there's a cafe up here.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06There is, it'll be on top. Go for a cup of coffee now.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08There's a cafe here?
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Yes, granddad.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17'On a day-trip from Aldershot,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20'senior staff from the depot join recruits for the exercise.'
0:15:20 > 0:15:21Who's got the brandy?
0:15:21 > 0:15:23'Even the regimental Sergeant Major.'
0:15:24 > 0:15:26How often do you do this one?
0:15:26 > 0:15:27Not too often.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Don't have to at my age!
0:15:30 > 0:15:32To set an example or just to keep in trim?
0:15:32 > 0:15:36No, to let the soldiers know we can do it.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38They know we can but it's nice to come out now and again.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Plus fresh-air is better than sitting in the office all day.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44It's the first time since I've been in command.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48When I was in Recruit Company, I used to be up front.
0:15:48 > 0:15:54But it's good weather, this. Last time we had three feet of snow.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55So, they're lucky.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59A small amount of hail is nothing much?
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Oh, no. A cool breeze, this is.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Two days ago we'd have been...
0:16:04 > 0:16:06up here.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Nice to see you up here. I didn't expect it.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Thank you.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19'Throughout training, the platoon corporal's had been noting carefully
0:16:19 > 0:16:22'but unobtrusively the actions, reactions
0:16:22 > 0:16:24'and attitudes of their recruits.'
0:16:24 > 0:16:25I'm lost!
0:16:26 > 0:16:28'From now on, recruits could expect to be failed not just
0:16:28 > 0:16:31'for lack of motivation but for incompetence,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33'as back in the barracks at Brecon
0:16:33 > 0:16:36'the staff begin their first major assessment.'
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Right, our judo expert, Butler.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41He's worked hard, he's a fit lad.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46But his personal admin, and all the rest of his stuff,,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49he's not put enough into it as far as I'm concerned.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53And for that, although his fitness is good, I give him an E.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57OK, basically he's done just enough to get through but no more.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00OK, our trumpeter, Clarke?
0:17:00 > 0:17:03He's far too slow on everything.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Every time I've seen him do anything he's been last.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Lean back and swing!
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Get him out!
0:17:10 > 0:17:12I've got cramp!
0:17:13 > 0:17:15I'd like to fail Clarke.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21He shows a lack of aggression, a lack of drive as well.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23He's uncoordinated in a lot of things
0:17:23 > 0:17:27and I think he gets affected by the weather.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29He's not really material for us.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32I can't see him wearing the red beret.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Clarke strikes me as being an intelligent guy
0:17:35 > 0:17:39but also an extremely sensitive and artistic type,
0:17:39 > 0:17:45and not really cut out, one, to be a paratrooper and probably secondly,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47to be in the army.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50So fail?
0:17:50 > 0:17:52Cunningham, sir.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55He's...
0:17:56 > 0:17:59He can take the thing in since he's been here.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02He's got good intelligence. He's good at taking things in.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06But his fitness, to me, he hasn't got any.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08He's got nothing at all.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Lift your feet!
0:18:10 > 0:18:13You've to drag him along all the time.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14Pull your feet!
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Get up!
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Lift your feet!
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Stand up straight! Stand up!
0:18:29 > 0:18:31Push forward, come on.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Come on! Get up!
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Get moving, come on!
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Come on!
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Basic Wales isn't just about fitness.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56It's about learning all the lessons that we try to teach.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00OK, to fail him purely on fitness
0:19:00 > 0:19:03on something like Basic Wales I think is wrong
0:19:03 > 0:19:05because he's got the guts and determination.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08He tries as hard as he possibly can.
0:19:08 > 0:19:15To my mind, that's the kind of guy deserves to be passed Basic Wales.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Hunt.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19He's done well, he's taken everything in.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22He's excelled on most things he's done.
0:19:22 > 0:19:23He's a fit lad.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26But he's a bit gobby and tries to impress other members
0:19:26 > 0:19:30of the section with his gobbiness and they're getting bored of it.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33Coming down the rope, the knot flicks up and smacks me in the face!
0:19:34 > 0:19:37It caught me above the eye. I thought I was going to be unconscious.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40If necessary, pull him in front of me and I'll talk to him.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45OK, but from a soldiering side, he's OK.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47OK.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Right, Boreland.
0:19:49 > 0:19:50Boreland's mine.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Boreland, compared to what he was like in the barracks,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58has improved 100%.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Drill, he's pathetic, virtually untrainable.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Boreland, you make me despair!
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Left, right, left, right.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11All the way through Basic Wales, he's done well.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16He excels in the field rather than in the barracks.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18He's willing to learn, asking questions.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20He's done very well.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Anyone else with comments about Boreland?
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Bearing in mind he was not particularly good in barracks
0:20:27 > 0:20:30and therefore that's the reason we've given him
0:20:30 > 0:20:32this trophy for the most improved recruit.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Congratulations, Boreland.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I'm sure you deserve this in everything you've done.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39I'd like you to maintain these standards
0:20:39 > 0:20:42that you've shown this week in the rest of your training.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43Thank you, sir.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Rejoin.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Fall out!
0:21:01 > 0:21:03'After the carrot, the stick.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05'What the staff said behind their backs,
0:21:05 > 0:21:07'Captain Baird will say to their faces.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10'back at Aldershot, and recruits too can have their say.'
0:21:11 > 0:21:14- I want to transfer, sir. - Why?
0:21:14 > 0:21:16- Cos I'm not happy, sir. - Why aren't you happy?
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Don't like the PE.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Don't like the aggressive attitude here, sir.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23I think...
0:21:23 > 0:21:26I want to stay in the army. I just want a transfer, sir.
0:21:26 > 0:21:32OK. Let's get to the bottom of this. What in particular about...
0:21:32 > 0:21:35You said your family wanted you to get out of the army.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36What is it in particular?
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Is it anything to do with your colour, for instance?
0:21:40 > 0:21:44- No, sir. No, nothing like that. - Well, I'm glad to hear it.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47I haven't got the determination, when you're cold and tired,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50to get up and go. It just isn't there in me.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54But you've got everything going for you on the physical side.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58I'd understand it if you were weak, physically, but you're not.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00But you still don't want to do it?
0:22:00 > 0:22:02I still don't want to do it, sir.
0:22:03 > 0:22:04OK, Ripley.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08I'm sorry that you want to go. Really, I am.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13I'm sorry you feel that way but it's not for everyone, I suppose.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'Later, Chris Ripley was ordered to continue training
0:22:17 > 0:22:19'with unforeseen consequences.'
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Shut the door, Stirling.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27'Before joining the professionals,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31'John Stirling had been a part-time soldier with the SAS.'
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Stand to attention. That typifies your whole attitude, Stirling.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39You're not doing enough. You're just coasting.
0:22:39 > 0:22:40All right? You've been spotted.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Your section commanders and I have noticed.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48And you've got very much a fly attitude to the whole business.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51You could do a lot better.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53- As I said, you're just coasting. - Sir.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57We expect a great improvement over the next few weeks.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00All right? Otherwise you will be out.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05Go away now and I expect a lot better from you in the next few weeks.
0:23:05 > 0:23:06Sir.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Stirling, come back. What have you forgotten to do, already?
0:23:11 > 0:23:13All right. Get away.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19OK, Price.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22This interview is because you have failed Basic Wales.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29The reasons you've failed it are because you failed to pick up
0:23:29 > 0:23:32the majority of the information that was taught there.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35You didn't get as much out of Basic Wales as you could have done.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37I'm recommending that you be back-squadded.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39- Sir. - To 482 Platoon.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- What have you got to say? - Nothing, sir.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44- All right, Price? - Yes, sir.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46Right, away you go.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53'However forcibly expressed, Captain Baird's decision is not final.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56'He'd over-ruled his corporals about Andy Cunningham
0:23:56 > 0:23:59'but even when he and his staff agree, they can all be
0:23:59 > 0:24:03'over-ruled by the officer in charge of training, Captain Max Gandell.'
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Private Price.
0:24:07 > 0:24:08What about him?
0:24:08 > 0:24:12It certainly came out in Basic Wales that he hadn't really picked up
0:24:12 > 0:24:14the stuff as much as he should have.
0:24:14 > 0:24:15Mmm.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19- Keen? - Oh, he's keen.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21He's keen to go on.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26It's just that his...mental capacity lets him down a little bit.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Right.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29You must keep him, OK?
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Do you find that satisfactory, as corporals,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35that people who you have doubts about actually pass?
0:24:35 > 0:24:37No, but I mean we're involved with training a section.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39I suppose people above us
0:24:39 > 0:24:42are training battalions and getting them up to strength
0:24:42 > 0:24:44so that's just a thing we have to accept.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48You know, it's our job to assess them while they're down here, using
0:24:48 > 0:24:50all the various tests and everything,
0:24:50 > 0:24:52and weed out the ones that can't do it.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Erm, unfortunately, sometimes, the odd one or two might get through
0:24:56 > 0:24:58which we don't like or we don't want to get through.
0:24:58 > 0:24:59Such is life.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03What did you feel when you saw Captain Baird this morning
0:25:03 > 0:25:05and he said he was recommending you for back-squadding?
0:25:05 > 0:25:08- What was your reaction then? - I was going to leave.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11I asked for a discharge but he said to carry on.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13I didn't want to go back and do the eight weeks again.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Are you really keen to be a para, or aren't you?
0:25:18 > 0:25:19Oh, yeah.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21- But you were going to leave? - Yeah, I was.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25I didn't want to do the eight weeks again. Go through that again.
0:25:25 > 0:25:26But if you wanted to be a para,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29wouldn't it be worth it to go through eight weeks?
0:25:29 > 0:25:31It's a short time in your life.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Erm, I don't know really... It feels more like eight years!
0:25:38 > 0:25:41But now you're not being back-squadded, you're carrying on.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44How will it change your attitude to your work?
0:25:44 > 0:25:46I think I'll have to try a lot harder.
0:25:46 > 0:25:47Cos to get...
0:25:47 > 0:25:51If you want to get out... Or I'll get back-squadded.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54You know, he said I'll have to put a lot more effort in.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Stop doing stupid things.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00'Two days later, Gary Price went absent without leave.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03'He was on the run for nine months, gave himself up,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07'served 28 days detention, and then continued training.'
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Right, I'm afraid, Clarke, that you failed Basic Wales.
0:26:13 > 0:26:14Sir.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18The reasons you failed it because, one,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22your attitude towards the rigours of army life. OK?
0:26:22 > 0:26:25You haven't gone into it wholeheartedly enough.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32You're too...sensitive about your person
0:26:32 > 0:26:36and you haven't come up to the standard of the rest of the platoon.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38So, I shall recommend you to be back-squadded
0:26:38 > 0:26:42and you'll go in front of the OC either this afternoon or tomorrow.
0:26:42 > 0:26:43Yes, sir.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48I understood when I joined that I was only to do eight weeks
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and then I would move into the band.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53That's not for me to decide.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56It will be for the officer commanding, Captain Gandell,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58to decide.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03You know that the band are medics and stretcher carriers?
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Yes, sir.
0:27:05 > 0:27:06When we go to war,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10so life isn't going to be that much easier in the band. Is it?
0:27:10 > 0:27:11No, sir.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16You can't adopt an attitude where you think, well, you want to do something
0:27:16 > 0:27:19and you'll do the minimum of work to achieve that aim, can you?
0:27:19 > 0:27:21- No, sir. - No.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25However, having said that, you are fairly bright.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28I can see that. OK?
0:27:28 > 0:27:31And I think at this particular time,
0:27:31 > 0:27:37your best interest would be for you to go to a band as soon as possible.
0:27:37 > 0:27:38It's really great.
0:27:40 > 0:27:41I'm really surprised.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44I thought I was going to be back-squadded.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48And it's turned out to be just what I wanted so I'm really overjoyed.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50I was worried that if I was back-squadded,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52I would have to do the 12 weeks all over again.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57Which would mean another 12 weeks away from playing my trumpet.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02Erm, I'm just sort of amazed that it's come through just as I wanted.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05It's like Father Christmas has come, isn't it?
0:28:05 > 0:28:07- Yes, sir. - Good. Now get out of my sight!
0:28:07 > 0:28:11'Lee Clarke never won his parachutist's wings.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14'But as a first cornet in the band of the First Battalion,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16'he kept his red beret.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21'And that day in March, when he picked up his trumpet again,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25'neither he nor anyone else could have perceived the irony
0:28:25 > 0:28:27'of his choice of tune...'
0:28:27 > 0:28:32HE PLAYS: "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"
0:28:35 > 0:28:38..Still less could anyone have predicted that the Paras
0:28:38 > 0:28:43would soon travel 8,000 miles to death and glory in a land of moor
0:28:43 > 0:28:47and mountain, water, wind and sheep.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50The very stuff of Basic Wales.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00MUSIC: "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"