RAF to Army or PMRAFNS to QARANC - Lauren Griffiths

I joined the PMs in 1985 having been advised very strongly by my brother, a WOI, NOT to join the QAs – ‘I’m not having a sister of mine joining that mob!’ Moving on to 1991. I had just completed teacher training at Cardiff University. I’m just getting ready to be posted to RAF (H) Wegberg as the Inservice Training Officer. I’d started packing, ordered my new duty-free car and then STOP! Matron in Chief is on the blower, ‘I need you to go to the Army as they are short of nurse tutors.’ Damn! So, I continued packing, cancelled the car and wrote my posting letter to Col Numbers at CMH Aldershot.

First challenge. I arrived at the CMH Officers Mess late on a Sunday afternoon; couldn’t get in – all entrances locked and no one in the office. Eventually, after circling the building, I managed to catch the attention of one of the nursing officers – I’m in! I was then met by Marion Hart who had been tasked to show me the ropes. As you can imagine I was a fish out of water – an apparition in white in a sea of grey and red! Nowhere to hide – something to be gawped at!

I joined the School of Nursing as a junior nurse teacher and the only non-QA member of staff. My role covered teaching pre-reg on two sites, CMH and QEMH. Fairly early on in my posting I caused a bit of a stir at QEMH when I was summoned to Matron’s office! She wanted to know who this Australian Officer was who was wandering around the Hospital in a white ward dress. Probably not the best start at QEMH!

Back at Aldershot I soon integrated with my Army colleagues, however, there was a line that I had to draw. I’m Airforce and we don’t do running. we don’t do circuits and we don’t do guns! Wrong! I’m with the Army now.

My nemesis – Cpl Holmes, Army Physical Training Corp, yep, Kelly Holmes of Olympic fame. Our new CO decided that we were all to do physical training weekly, no excuses. So, off I went, with Marion Hart, Lynn Adam and some of the students for our weekly session. A beasting doesn’t even cover it. The next day I couldn’t put my long hair up into a bun – Lynn had to do that for me – I thought I would never regain the use of my arms again. On the plus side my fitness improved and I did manage to evade annual fitness tests for my complete tour, although Merrill cottoned on to this – she was going out with an RAF Officer who told her that we did do running and we did do circuits. Thankfully she only found that out at the end of my tour.

I shared an office at CMH with Gary Searle. One sunny afternoon we were in the office and unbeknown to me the RMP were training their dogs to disarm someone with a gun – this was happening just outside our window. I heard a shot and I hit the deck. Gary looked quite amused as he watched me disappear under my desk. Obviously, a new experience in this Army environment.

My role evolved and I became engaged in the wider pre-registration and conversion training. This took me to more Army and some RAF sites. It was good to be engaged across the two services and to use my skills to enable nurses to develop and qualify. I found myself drawn closer to the Army and identified more and more with the Corps. However, Col Numbers’ efforts to draw me even deeper and transfer to the QARANC failed despite various offers to tempt me. My brothers warning still rang clearly in my brain!

I thoroughly enjoyed my two years at CMH and was rather sad to leave the School, colleagues and newly found friends to return to RAF (H) Wroughton. I found it hard going back to the PMs and never really settled. Two years later we all ended up working at the Royal Defence Medical College at HMS Dolphin, later Fort Blockhouse – reunited once more with my Army colleagues and friends. A new chapter in Defence Medical training had begun.