Lives in Cricet No 33 - Jack Robertson and Syd Brown

36 Intermission Norwich Evening News written in November 2010, Scotsman John Frew, who had joined the 51st Highland Division at the age of 17, remembered his time at Morton Hall. He trained there for a full year before taking part in the Normandy landings. He knew how important that training had been in ensuring his survival. Meanwhile Syd had enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) as a physical training instructor (PTI) and so, like Jack, would devote his efforts to ensuring that his charges were as prepared as they could be for the war zone. The Army Physical Training Corps (APTC) at Aldershot was commanded by Michael (M.A.) Green, a first-class cricketer who would become secretary of Worcestershire after the war, and manage MCC sides to South Africa and Australia. For obvious reasons professional sportsmen were often likely to make good PTIs. 53 Initial training at the APTC School was tough: the first three days of a four-week crash course was spent ‘square-bashing’. Denis Compton also trained as a PTI at Aldershot and in a fortnight lost over a stone in weight. Although medical and support staff didn’t fight, they still had to be fit enough to serve in combat zones and hence the need for physical training. Syd was based in the Boyce Barracks, near Fleet in Hampshire. This was a large, wooden-hutted camp with single- storey barrack blocks and a large parade area. Recruits were billeted thirty to a block. RAMC personnel would receive the same basic physical training 53 Encouraged by the Football Association, a number of professional footballers enlisted in the school. Third Division Aldershot F.C. in particular benefited from their location and called on many famous internationals as ‘guests’ during the war. Other clubs also took advantage with, for example, Matt Busby and Frank Swift both turning out for nearby Reading. Jack (far right, middle row) at Morton Hall Battle School in Norfolk in May 1945.