I had been carrying out my duties as normal during the day. 16.30 hrs came and it was time for me to sound ‘Retreat’. I duly positioned myself on the edge of the Barrack Square, and sounded the call. That was fine, the next part of my duty was to lower the Battalion Flag, and so having marched over to the Flag pole I commence lowering it. All went well until I undid the last clip securing it to the halyard, (which incidentally was wire not rope), and up to the top of the pole it went. Neatly coiled at the top.

In a panic, I marched quickly back to the Guardroom to report to the Sgt of the Guard. Having explained how it has happened we both went back to the flagpole to work out how we were going to retrieve it. The pole was of the 35 foot variety, and was securely fixed in the metal supports at its base. All bolts were well and truly rusted, with goodness knows how many coats of paint on them. So there was no way we were going to be able to lower the pole.

Having returned to the Guardroom to plan the next move, it was decided that after I had sounded ‘Lights Out’ at 23.00 hrs, I would get into ‘Denim Order’ and ‘Shin up the Pole’. I can now report that the mission was accomplished satisfactorily! Mind you, there were moments during the climb that I wished I was somewhere else, particularly as the pole got thinner near the top and started to bend! I certainly made sure that didn’t happen again.

2628965 Brian (Boy) Brenchley