The Cadet Corporal

by Christopher Cummings

  Needing a pee urgently Graham immediately made his way towards the latrine in the gully beyond 3 Platoon, reasoning that he did not want to go to the one near 4 Platoon where the Hutchie Men had struck. On the way he passed close to 3 Platoon and called hello to several cadets he knew.

  As soon as he topped the rise at the head of the gully Graham realised he had made a mistake. Down in the dip were a dozen male cadets including Corporals Crane and Costigan, and Cadets Moynihan, Rundle, Waters and Franks. They were smoking, something which was strictly forbidden, both by State Law and the Cadet Regulations.

  For a second Graham considered veering away, pretending he was going somewhere else but by then he had seen their eyes on him. ‘If I don’t keep going they will think I am scared of them,’ he thought. The nub of the situation was that he was feeling scared of them. Despite this he continued walking down into the dip.

  Waters spoke first. “Well, if it isn’t little Mister Brown Nose himself! Did ya shit yerself last night Kirk?”

  Graham wanted to ignore Waters but managed to meet his eye and shake his head, even though his heart had begun to hammer hard. For a moment he thought Waters and Moynihan were going to block his path but he managed to keep walking and went past within arms reach.

  As he did Costigan snarled at him, “Don’t you bloody well dob on us Kirk.”

  At that Graham gave a wry smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t. You aren’t in my section. It’s your conscience.”

  “Conscience!” jeered Cpl Crane. “Bloody ‘goody-goody’ weakling.”

  Graham flamed at the insults but held his tongue. There were a couple of cadets from 3 Platoon at the urinal but they left as he arrived so he was now alone with the gang standing twenty paces behind him. Feeling very self-conscious and afraid Graham stood with his back to them to urinate. Then the emotional turmoil made it hard for him to start and he burned with shame.

  As he tried Waters called out, “Kirk can’t find his dick!”

  “That’s ‘cause it’s so tiny!” Moynihan added, his voice full of contempt.

  To Graham’s relief Franks said, “How do you know Lew? Have you been looking?”

  “Get stuffed!” Moynihan snarled.

  By then Graham had managed to get started. Even so he feared the gang would do something to him while he was so vulnerable. To his relief they did not. After zipping up his trousers he turned and walked back past them. Once again Costigan glared at him and said, “You tell on us and you’ll regret it.”

  Graham made no reply but walked on up out of the dip. By the time he reached the top his heart was once again hammering as though he had run a race. Almost immediately he was presented with a dilemma. Not twenty paces away was the 3 Platoon sergeant, Sgt Yeldham. ‘I could tell him,’ he thought. But he shook his head and tried to tell himself that the smokers were none of his business. That left a sour taste in his mouth and he walked on back to his own platoon area wondering if he really was a coward.

  The business of getting himself and his section ready at once claimed all Graham’s attention and he had no more time to worry about troublemakers in other platoons until breakfast time. During the mess parade Graham found Kirsty behind him in the line and she seated herself next to him when he took his food to the area allocated to the platoon.

  ‘She must like me,’ he mused as he walked over to the table where the bread and cereal was placed. After collecting some cereal and milk he went to his platoon area. Kirsty came with him and sat beside him. The main topic of conversation in the platoon was the ‘Hutchie Men’ and Graham was asked several times to give his account of what happened.

  “They reckon Carnes was rolled in his own shit,” Bert Lacey commented.

  Graham just grunted and pretended to have a mouthful of food.

  “Carnes is a useless idiot!” Cadet Lucas observed.

  At that Graham reacted. “Leave the poor bugger alone!” he cried. “He’s on his first camp and is being bullied by Pike and his slimy mates. He doesn’t need us picking on him as well.” That effectively ended that conversation but Graham sensed he wasn’t very popular for shaming them into silence.

  The next half hour went by in a rush for Graham. He had to get himself ready and at the same time ensure the section was as well. Adding to his feeling of tension was the need to go to the latrine to do a crap but he put this off. ‘I’ll go later when I’ve got time,’ he told himself, then doubted whether he was just trying to rationalise his own fears. ‘Am I coward?’ he wondered, ‘Am I actually scared of the Hutchie Men?’

  In the end he did not have time as both Andrews and Halyday were not ready for inspection at 0730. Nor were Dianne and Lucy anywhere to be seen. Both had gone to the toilet and only returned after Sgt Grenfell had been waiting five minutes to inspect. Sweating with anxiety and annoyance Graham snapped at the late cadets to get a move on. To add to his feelings of poor performance his section was then left till last. This was because both Stephen’s and Gwen’s sections were lined up ready.

  “See what you’ve done!” Graham fumed.

  “Aw keep yer shirt on Kirky,” Halyday retorted.

  “Don’t back answer me Cadet Halyday; and call me corporal. This is the Army Cadets!” Graham snapped. He glanced around and saw that his outburst had drawn a frown from CUO Masters, who had just begun inspecting Gwen’s section. That made Graham feel even worse. ‘I’m not handling this very well,’ he thought unhappily.

  Aware of rebellious muttering by Halyday, Graham ordered the section lined up with their gear laid out. Halyday kept giving him sulky looks but Graham pretended to ignore this. To ensure everything was ready he went along and inspected them himself. While doing this he found himself looking into Kirsty’s eyes.

  It was as though they just grew in size and somehow drew him in. ‘They are pretty eyes!’ he thought, marvelling again at the tiny flecks of gold in the blue of her irises. ‘I wonder?’

  She smiled and he tried not to smile back, and failed. Then his eyes travelled down over the front of her shirt. ‘Not much in there,’ he thought with regret. He really liked larger bosoms. Then he blushed at his own thoughts and hastily looked on down at her boots and then her mess gear.

  A few minutes later CUO Masters and Sgt Grenfell came over to inspect and Graham was sure it was a disaster. CUO Masters found a dozen things wrong which Graham had not noticed. He said, “This section needs to lift its standards Cpl Kirk.”

  That left Graham burning with shame and he glowered at the line of cadets, who stood and sullenly glowered back. It was a relief to be called on parade.

  During the company parade CSM Cleland handed over to Capt Conkey. Capt Conkey then ordered the platoon commanders to ‘fall in’. Once they had done so he proceeded to lecture them about the previous night. “If I find out who these Hutchie Men are they are in for a miserable camp,” he threatened. “Now stop the bullying and teasing and get on with making the camp work smoothly.”

  After that the company was seated in the shade of the big ironbark. The CUOs and sergeants went over to the officer’s fire for a briefing while Capt Conkey gave the remainder their instructions for a day navigation exercise. This was to be a slightly longer version of the night exercise they had done, but all sections following a different route from the previous exercise.

  By the time the briefing was over Graham was feeling quite uncomfortable. He now badly needed to go to the toilet but was absorbed in calculating his first ‘leg’. As he did the OOCs, CUOs and Sgts moved off with vehicles and radios to set up the check points. With an effort Graham kept his bowels under control and concentrated on the mathematics.

  Satisfied he was correct he stood in line behind Cpl Bannister. Bannister showed his workings to Capt Conkey and was told to go away and check them. At that Bannister scowled at Graham as he stalked off. Heart fluttering with anxiety Graham stepped forward to present his calculations. Capt Conkey scanned them then nodded. “That’s fine Cpl Kirk. Off you go.”

  T
hat earned Graham another scowl from Bannister, who had stopped to talk to Cpl Brown. Graham ignored them and called 4 Section to join him. He set the compass. “You first Kirsty,” he said, holding it out.

  CHAPTER 7

  DAY NAVEX

  The first ‘leg’ went South West for 400 metres, past 1 Platoon’s hutchies and down the gentle slope, then across a small gully to the flat outcrop of rocks at the head of the shallow valley between the camp and Bare Ridge. Kirsty had no trouble using the compass and took them directly to the spot. Sgt Yeldham was there. He gave Graham the next leg, which was even easier- on across the valley for another 400 metres to the Burdekin Plum tree beside the road on Bare Ridge.

  The tree was plainly visible from the rocks but Graham insisted that Pat use the compass correctly. The section walked across to find Lt Hamilton there again, his Land Rover parked nearby. As Graham worked on the navigation his attention was distracted by the sound of a train. He looked up and saw the train off to the south. It was about a kilometre beyond the highway. From where they were the highway was clearly visible but the railway was partly hidden by trees and long grass. As Graham watched it, the big diesel locomotive went out of sight behind a cluster of houses that the map named as ‘Bunyip Bridge’.

  Graham looked down to continue with his calculations but an abrupt change in the sound of the train, from a noisy sort of vibration to a distinct roar, made him look up. For the first time he noticed the railway bridge. At a glance he could see that it wasn’t just an ordinary rail bridge. This one was huge. A long, grassy embankment led across the plain to the nearest end. The first section of the bridge, over the last part of the high bank, was steel-sided. After that it was a massive steel girder construction set on top of colossal concrete pylons. As Graham watched the train it was swallowed by the criss-crossing steel girders, the noise changing to an even deeper roar.

  ‘Through truss,’ Graham told himself. Being a keen model railway operator he was interested in such things. He noted that the girders were mostly a dull reddish colour. The train, a long ‘goods’, passed through with a continual flickering effect. ‘Bloody big bridge,’ Graham thought, estimating the length at over half a kilometre. It was marked on his map so he now studied it carefully and then revised his estimate. ‘Nearly a kilometre long! That is a big bridge,’ he thought.

  The train had gone by then so he resumed his mathematics. Two minutes of work gave him the next leg. It was also very easy. They had been there the night before and could see the check point from where they were. It was in the dry creek which ran down from 1 Platoon’s hutchies to the highway. Halyday took the lead with the compass and they walked the distance in five minutes.

  CSM Cleland was there. As Graham’s section arrived from the west No 9 Section (Cpl Gallagher) came in from the east. There was a fair amount of good-natured teasing and chatter between the sections while the two corporals worked out their next leg. Graham liked Gallagher and was happy to compare notes and to check his sums.

  After that 4 Section went on eastwards over the low ridge which ran down from 2 Platoon to the Highway. Andrews was the cadet with the compass.

  “We are now going backwards around the same course as last night,” Roger said as they puffed up the slope from the gullies to the South Gravel Pit.

  “So far,” Graham agreed.

  After that the course changed however. Sgt Sherry was at the South Gravel Scrape and she told them to move to a Grid Reference over towards Scrubby Creek. That pleased Graham as he was finding the exercise too easy. Even the next leg was no real challenge. Dianne did the compass work but as the route went across the gullies where the other boy’s latrine was Graham knew exactly where he was most of the time.

  Checkpoint ‘S’ was at a track junction and was staffed by Capt Conkey and CUO McAlistair. The CUO gave them a cheerful greeting and told them to move to another Grid Reference which was a gravel scrape further north. “There’s a fence you need to go through,” he cautioned, “But don’t cross the Canning.”

  Very conscious that Capt Conkey was watching Graham studied his map and noted that the left-hand track went north to the North Gravel Scrape while the right-hand track went to a windpump called ‘Quiglys Mill’ beside Scrubby Creek. That made the navigation simple but he decided he had better work out the exact magnetic bearing with Capt Conkey there. Otherwise he would have just walked along the vehicle track.

  The OC’s presence made Graham anxious but he quickly did the calculation. He showed this to CUO McAlistair, who nodded. The next person to navigate was Lucy so Graham gave the compass to her and they set off. It was easy going through more open savannah, heading down a long, gentle ridge. However the navigation was not Graham’s only problem. Leadership soon came to dominate as Andrews and Halyday both began to complain. Andrews said it was too hot and Halyday moaned of sore feet. Dianne also muttered that she needed to go to the toilet. That made Graham conscious of his own needs but he insisted they get to the next check point first.

  As they walked along Graham saw Peter’s section go past a hundred metres away and he gave his friend a wave. After that Graham began to fret about the time. The exercise was due to end by 11:30 and he saw with alarm that it was almost 11:00 already. He hurried the section along, encouraging and growling at Halyday and Andrews in turn. The fence was encountered and they rolled under, several cadets objecting because the sand was now quite hot.

  On the other side they paused for a drink and Graham wiped sweat off his face. The sun was now blazing down from a clear blue sky and there was no breeze to cool them. ‘I’d better watch out no-one gets heat exhaustion,’ he thought, noting the red, sweaty faces.

  Two hundred metres of walking along a gentle, open slope brought them to a stand of timber. Beyond that was the harsh, bare redness of the North Gravel Scrape. The checkpoint was under the last of the trees beside a vehicle track which led in from the Canning Road. No 1 Section, Cpl Rankin, was there already. Manning the checkpoint was the CQ, Staff Sergeant Coralie Bates, a tall thin girl with fair hair and a freckled face. With her were two of the ‘Control Group’: Cpl ‘Porno’ Pornosittipol and Cpl ‘Ziggy’ Zeiglitz.

  Graham could not resist. As he arrived he said loudly, “Well, well, if it isn’t the famous Hutchie Men!”

  Porno gave an evil grin and called back, “And if it isn’t Mister Crapin-pants- Kirk.”

  The unjust jibe hurt but Graham noted that neither denied being Hutchie Men.

  Halyday said, “Jeez, you blokes scared the crap out of me last night!”

  Both Hutchie Men laughed and Ziggy nodded. “We sure scared the shit out of Carnes too.”

  That annoyed Graham. He stood over them and said angrily, “You shouldn’t pick on the poor bugger. He doesn’t deserve it.”

  Porno had the grace to look embarrassed but Ziggy sneered. “Huh! He’s just a bloody weakling!”

  “All the more reason not to pick on him!” Graham flared.

  “Yeah, yeah, alright,” Ziggy agreed. “We’ll leave him alone in future.”

  “Good!” Graham said.

  “But we won’t stop picking on you,” Ziggy added, giving Graham a challenging stare as he said it.

  Graham felt his stomach turn over with anxiety (He did not want to name it as fear) but he managed to keep a bold face. “I look forward to it,” he retorted. Even as he did he was uncomfortably aware that he still hadn’t managed to have his morning crap and the need was becoming insistent.

  So, on the next leg, which took them down to a fair sized dry creek towards the Canning Road, he halted the section and told them to wait. “Just sit under this tree,” he said, “I’ll only be a few minutes.” He was embarrassed at having to admit to bodily needs in front of the girls, particularly Kirsty, but he knew he could not hold on any longer.

  “What’s wrong? Where you going?” Andrews asked.

  “Just down the gully,” Graham said.

  “What for?” Andrews persisted.

  Halyday
laughed. “Because he’s got to see a man about a dog.”

  “What?”

  That drew a laugh from the others. Dianne pointed up the creek. “We will go too,” she said. “Come with me Kirsty, to keep watch.”

  Graham walked away, burning with embarrassment. As quickly as he could he found a spot hidden from the others. This was around the bend and behind some small bushes. After scraping a hole with the heel of his boot he dropped his trousers and proceeded to relieve himself.

  In the middle of this Graham heard a peculiar scuffling noise and looked anxiously around. His first thought was that the Hutchie Men had followed him but no-one was visible. Then he heard what sounded like a sniffle, or a sob.

  “Definitely someone crying,” he muttered anxiously. As quickly as he could Graham finished his business and dressed then walked up to some bushes nearer to the Canning Road to investigate.

  It was David Carnes. He was sitting hunched up, tears streaming down his cheeks. At the sound of Graham’s footsteps he looked around, fear all over his face.

  “It’s only me Cadet Carnes,” Graham said. “Are you alright? What’s happened? What are you doing here?”

  “They keep teasing me!” Carnes cried. More tears flowed down his cheeks.

  “You should tell your corporal,” Graham replied, somewhat uneasily.

  “Brown! He’s the worst! He puts me down all the time. I hate it! I’m going to run away!” Carnes sobbed. Graham saw that he was very red in the face and looked utterly miserable.

  “Where is your section?” Graham asked, looking in all directions.

  “They wouldn’t stop so I walked away. I don’t know where they are,” Carnes replied. His chest heaved and his lower jaw quivered as he sobbed.

  “You mean they left you?” Graham asked. He was astonished. One of the unit’s strict safety rules was that no-one was ever left in the bush.