In preparation for Chrychan’s Challenge, which was getting closer every day, hardly a day of Week Eleven was spent inside. In the pouring rain outside, our Colour Sergeant demonstrated how to move silently and tactically so that we could do it on our own patrols. There is a stark contrast between moving along a tarmacadam parade ground in broad daylight, and traipsing around a cluttered wood in the dead of a moonless night. Our chosen objective which we were to recce involved crossing a dying section of wood, whose floor was strewn liberally with dead branches and old shell-scrape holes. An enemy would have heard us coming a mile away. We’d choose a different route next time! After the tactical reconnaissance, we were allowed to go ‘non-tac’ and wander around the enemy position. There were many good sites from which to launch an attack – ditches and trenches in abundance – but one which enticed me involved using a long, narrow drainage tunnel. This would allow us to pop up in a completely unexpected position from which we might take the enemy by surprise. I scurried into one end of the tunnel: a tight fit but manageable. Wrong! As I progressed further in, the sandy floor rose upwards hindering my forward movement: my webbing prevented me extricating myself backwards. Hmmmm… I set to digging myself out, and emerged into the fresh air on the other side. Definitely possible, I thought. But judging by the expressions of horror on the others’ faces, I was the only one of that opinion.

The recce had been mounted in order to gather information for a subsequent fighting patrol. However, I would play no part in this: the following morning, I was heading northwards to the Peak District. I had to give a presentation to the committee of the Combined Services Caving Association: I went cap in hand to get sponsorship for my forthcoming adventure training expedition to the Pyrenees, Exercise SPELEO CADET. I must have got them on my wavelength, because I persuaded them to part with £1000 worth of caving rope and two hundred and fifty pounds for more kit. I even bagged an extra instructor to come along.