The question I get asked quite frequently is. Do you think national service should be brought back?As you know I was called up in the last year of national service in 1960.                Many millions of British men had been before me and served their country with distinction in World War2, Korea, Malaya, Palestine, Kenya, Cyprus, Germany, and Africa etc.The national servicemen of yesteryear were certainly a different breed man than the present day men.The men who had to do national service all those years ago were originally called up when World War 2 started and Great Britain was in danger of being under the jackboot. National service continued for another fifteen years after the end of World War Two.

You may ask what do you mean by a different breed of man, they are the same? Well they are not.The lads of yesteryear mostly came from poor homes where their father went to work for poor wages and the mother cooked, cleaned the house and looked after the children. Over 80% didn’t have a bathroom just a tin bath brought in on usually Friday night. The toilet was outside in the backyard the paper was the days before newspaper. The bedroom for the children was shared with two in a bed for brothers and sisters depending on the size of the family. The only wardrobe was in your parent’s room, your wardrobe was a hook screwed to the back of the bedroom door. There was no central heating just one-coal fire, which was usual lit before the children got up.Family life was quite loving, with no television to distract conversation; every house had a radio, which played constantly.One was made to respect elders, neighbours etc, it was always Mr and Mrs and this was adhered to.When your time came to be called up for National Service and believe me no one was looking forward to it, because of all the frightening tales told to you by ex-servicemen. The day came when you reluctantly left your tight knitted community and left to join your allotted service be it Army, Navy or Air Force. Although it was a shock to the system there was plenty of food and for the first time in their lives there were showers Young men at that time had so much in common, with coming from similar backgrounds. Lifelong friendships soon formed.The discipline and overall smartness instilled into each national servicemen during those two years made boys into men. These men kept the Great in Great Britain.The lads of today have the better of two worlds, money in the back pockets, cars and certainly more permissive society and central heated homes etc.I am sorry to say now; there is not a great respect for elders, neighbours and the law, which of course should certainly be addressed.I have to also say that these same present day lads who the media etc keep picking on. Will I am sure if the country were being threatened as it was many years ago, they would be first in the queue to join up.National Service does not need to be introduced, because of our country being involved in conflicts in far off places. Politicians should sort our own country out and make it a peaceful and happy place to live, with no such thing as poverty, racism and strife.As I said earlier, we were a different breed