Page Title: "From there it was back to Barton Stacey near Andover in Hampshire for three days of tests designed to assess your suitability to lead infantry soldiers and hold the Queen's commission. this included the well known situation where you are given command of the squad of six other hopefuls, all standing in freezing cold weather on the edge of a tributary of the river Test. You are briskly informed that the Test is full of crocodiles and you have 5 minutes to get everyone to the opposite bank without falling in. Equipment was an empty 40 gallon oil drum and a scaffold board which only reached half way across. For an architect, easy, principle of the lever, cantilever out from the bank, drop drum upright in middle of stream and in no time all across and no one eaten by crocodiles. many brownie points earned. I had a further piece of luck when it came to final interview by (very) senior officers.

We knew we would be asked what sports we played and the correct answer was rugby. Being a grammar schoolboy I did not feel able to carry this one off, so admitted to playing football. The Guards General commanding the panel looked up in surprise and at this critical moment in the interview the other (less) senior officers raised their pencils ready to fail me. It turned out I had found the one Guards officer in the history of the British Army who loved, what he insisted on calling 'sockah'. I passed and was now officially an officer cadet."

I failed (to be edited)