Anecdotes and Memories of a Driving Instructor
Story by Allen Paul Harris
I attended a Driving Instructors Course at Leconfield, near Hull in 1976, and passed after three weeks of intense training, returning to my unit ( I SQN. Royal Corps of Transport) in Colchester, to become the new training N.C.O.
As nearly all of the unit already held a class 3 H.G. V license, I was able to specialise in upgrading the drivers to class 2, and ultimately class 1
As a combat unit, 1 SQN. only used class 2 & 3 vehicles on a daily basis, but we did keep one artic for training purposes, as the policy was that as many drivers as possible should pass their class 1 test, even though it was unlikely that they would use it.
The artic in question was a Bedford TX with a 15' trailer. Yes. You did read that correctly FIFTEEN FEET, and believe me, that trailer could be a pig to reverse. It was fitted with a Scammell semiautomatic coupling (same as British Railways used on their 3- wheeled mechanical horses). For those of you who do not remember, or more likely for the younger of you, don't know what I'm talking about, these trailers typically had a maximum capacity of about 3 tons (before metric weight) and used a totally different coupling system, whereby when the tractor unit was reversed under the trailer, the trailer legs were automatically lifted. It was vitally important to make sure that the trailer parking brake was applied. Because there was no air in the system when the trailer was not coupled, you could quite easily push the trailer backwards. The air system was also different in that there were THREE air lines (RED - emergency, YELLOW - service and BLUE - auxiliary, which allowed, by use of a lever on the steering column, known as a "Deadman" the trailer brakes to be applied independently of the main brakes. This was very important on hills as these lightweight, very short vehicles were prone to "jackknife", and it was very difficult, if not impossible to stop once started. Also, the airlines had taps fitted, which must be turned on, to allow the air to pass into the air tanks on the trailer as the air lines used at the time did not have constant pressure, as you have today. Just to complicate matters further, the trailer was un-coupled by pulling a lever INSIDE the cab. This meant that it was possible to drop the trailer WHILE DRIVING.
This particular vehicle had been taken to Belfast and as this was classed as a vehicle, vulnerable to attack by paramilitary forces, it underwent treatment known as "being civilianised". This was designed to disguise the vehicles military appearance and make it less conspicuous on the road. The only modification to the vehicle was to repaint it…BRIGHT YELLOW ... (yeah, right). Consequently, forever afterwards, it was affectionately known as "The Yellow Peril”
The one major luxury enjoyed by the Army instructor is, because the student has not paid his/her hard earned money for their training, there is no pressure to rush the student to test standard, so you can take extra time to teach the student to become a good driver and not just to pass a test. I would never put a student up for test, unless I was absolutely certain that they were capable of passing. There was always the odd case of "test nerves" or an occasional unforeseen incident (more on this later) but I can honestly say that I have a first time pass rate of 97%.
Because the Army driver is not subject to the driving hours restrictions placed on his civilian counterpart, and also due to the fact that tachographs are not fitted to military vehicles, there is no requirement to cover tachograph law except as general information for when the driver is either discharged from the Army, or wants to get a part time job, for instance while on leave.
As a lot of military vehicles tended to be "getting on a bit', (we had a number of A.E.Cs and Scammells that were built in the ‘50s) the mechanical systems left a lot to be desired, so I was one of the first "new style" instructors who taught what was then called the "Progressive driving system". As the majority of my students were quite young, they had relatively few bad habits to break, and this made the new system easy to teach. I felt, and still do, that it is important to educate the driver to enjoy the art of driving properly, and to respect the power the vehicle has in society. One of my favourite sayings to my new students was "Driving a loaded truck is just like being given a loaded rifle and sent into a crowded shopping centre. Different, but just as dangerous. One mistake in either case and someone ends up dead." If I did not go home with a sore throat, from talking all day, I had not done the job right.
Reading, and listening to, comments made by newly qualified drivers, I find I am disagreeing with certain methods used by instructors today, especially when I read of students practising the reversing exercise "again, and again, and again until I got it right" Sorry , but after two or three attempts, or when it starts going wrong. is the time to stop and come back later. I always found that once a student had had enough reversing at one session, they went from bad to worse. My way kept them fresh.
I have not had very much to do with civilian examiners, but the military ones could be right b*#+'#+*$s. Most of them tend to be SGT. MAJORS so I suppose it goes with the territory. Two cases come to mind.
In Colchester, when you exit the barracks on the driving test, you turn left and at the end of the road is a "T" junction.. At this junction is a sign which reads "No right turn for military vehicles over 3 tonnes." At the start of the test, the examiner must follow certain procedures. He will always start the test with the words "FOLLOW THE ROAD AHEAD, UNLESS I TELL YOU TO TURN, WHICH I SHALL DO IN GOOD TIME ". My student approached the junction, but the examiner remained silent. Not sure what to do, the student said "which way, sir? The examiner replied: "Back to camp son, you just failed. Fair? Maybe, but harsh. My second case was when a student actually failed the test before he got in the cab. During the off road exercises, the examiner explained what he wanted the student to do but as the student opened the door to get in , the examiner told him he had failed, because he had not looked for passing traffic when opening the door. I appealed against this decision and got a retest with a different examiner the same afternoon. The student passed with flying colours.
In November ' 77 we were sent to Cyprus on a six month United Nations peace keeping tour. We were based at the old International Airport on the outskirts of Nicosia. Our main task was to transport food, gas, heating oil and other essential supplies to Greek refugees, living in the Turkish controlled northern part of the island. As we were a working unit, I was only allowed to carry out instruction when I was not engaged on driving duties.
As we did not have any attics in the camp, I was given the use of a Bedford R.L for class 3 training, and a A. E. C Mammoth Major for class 2.
The mornings were cold and damp at this time of year and the Bedford had a petrol engine, which could be a pig to start. One morning I had a young lad straight out of basic training, who needed his class 3 licence. Most of my students thought I was a little strange as I tended to talk to my trucks as though they were my babies. This particular morning, the Bedford was playing up and would not start. I opened the engine cover (on the R.L the engine is in the cab), patted the top of the air filter and said gently; " Come on Doris, you can do it, be a good girl". No response, the engine would not fire. I stroked the engine again, saying; "Come on now, I don't want to get angry and have to smack you" Still nothing. By now the student was looking at me like I was some kind of nut. I said "right! You’ve been warned" I kicked the top of the carburettor adding "NOW START". I flicked the switch, This time the motor burst into life, much to the amazement of my student. Every morning after this, he would climb in the cab, and kick the engine before starting up I never did explain that the needle valve on the S.U. carburettor was prone to stick in the cold weather and just needed a little nudge to dislodge it ( that's one way to gain a reputation).
After a couple of months, I took a vehicle to the main RIME workshop at Akrotiri, in the south of the Island. We dropped the truck off at the workshop, and went for some lunch. While standing in the queue, a voice behind me said; "What are you doin' 'ere Corporal 'Arris" I turned to see my old senior instructor from Leconfield. I told him, and he replied "Not any more, I want you down here".
True to his word, when I got back to Nicosia I was called into the office, and told to pack my bags as I was to be transferred immediately.
On my arrival at Akrotiri, I was allocated two rooms in the barracks and told that I was to be in charge of training U.N. personnel. This was more like it. Now I had a proper artic, a Scammell Crusader with a BIG trailer. To this day, the Crusader remains my favourite of all time.
For the next four months, I would get two new students every Friday afternoon, who would get a full weeks training with a test the following Friday morning. The weekly routine would be;
