At the age of eighteen I was required to endure a seemingly interminable period as a National Service soldier. This was in fact two years, but seemed like ten!
I received a foretaste of the treatment I could expect at the hands of the military, when I reported for medical assessment to Blackheath Medical Centre. This was prior to enlistment, of course. About a hundred potential recruits were examined on this particular day. We entered a large drill hall, which was divided into cubicles, each of which housed a medical specialist of some sort, and his clerks and minions. The first area was a ‘changing room’, in which we all had to strip naked. In this primaeval state we went one after another, from cubicle to cubicle. The various ‘specialists’ seemed to be vying with one another to make their victims adopt the most undignified and embarrassing postures. This, of course, followed by the inevitable grasping of the private parts and the instruction to “cough”! Quite why an ear, nose and throat specialist needed to do that I never worked out! However, as far as I was concerned, the most ridiculous part of these proceedings was to stand, stark naked for an eye test! Try that in Specsavers!