Chapter 4: COPING WITH A DESERTER

Before leaving my Greenock Military experiences to return to school I was detailed to and pick up a "deserter", who had been AWL over the period of twenty-eight days. Taking along two raw recruits, we proceeded to some very sleazy tenements in Greenock's Vennell.

We found our hero lying on a filthy mattress covered by a single army blanket, otherwise completely naked. He had sold his uniform bit by bit, to buy booze.

I took my pocketknife and cut a yard off the blind cord and tied the army blanket around the deserter's waist and marched him out into the street.

The inhabitants of the slum tenement rushed into action hurling garbage at us. As we gained the street the mob scene was rapidly getting out of control.

Never was I so glad to see and hear two massive Greenock bobbies who cleared the way for us to march our deserter to jail and enabling me to report our mission accomplished to the Orderly officer.