Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2009 | Page 29

INTERVIEW
experiences. You inevitably have a much better

out of us if he’d done it in a different way –

affinity with them that with others.”

if he hadn’t shouted at us, for instance, he

Sandhurst was then a two year course:
unlike today, graduates were in the minority

would have got the message across much more
effectively.”

so the academic side was stressed as much as

Martin wasn’t sent straight off to a warzone

the military part. For Martin, there was some

but to join a Unit in Germany. As anyone who

catching up involved because he’d failed one of

has read his Boy’s Own adventure stories would

his A levels, having been distracted by the fun

expect, there was a certain ritual leg-pulling

and frolics of Welbeck. But after two years he

involved. “I got picked up at Dusseldorf airport,

and his contemporaries were in the final stages

given a tent and told ‘your troop will be over

of their time at Sandhurst. They all passed out

in the morning.’ Of course nobody came, they

bar two, one who didn’t get through and the

just left me.” He laughs at the memory. “There

other – Michael Morpurgo as it turns out, later

were some wonderful pranks.” He describes

to become the Children’s Laureate – left to

that first moment when the young officer and

pursue a literary career.

his men eyeball each other for the first time:

“Sandhurst was very, very hard work. It shapes

“They’re looking at you wondering what you’re

you physically, it shapes you mentally for sure.

going to do and you’re looking at them to see

You’re going to be given responsibility for 30

how they’re going to react. But you know that

young soldiers lives – and quite soon. At the

your training has been good, and after a while

time I passed out, Aden and Borneo were on,

– well you’re all in it together.”

and some of my contemporaries went straight

Reflecting on his own time, Martin White

out to those war zones – so the training has to

frequently refers to the young officers today

be rigorous. You really felt you’d been through

who finish training and go straight out to

the mill for two years.”

Afghanistan. They are ready, he says, because

All the time that he was marching and running

the training at Sandhurst is second to none,

round the hills, or studying military history and

which is why so many foreign powers send

techniques, Martin was absorbing the thing

their men there for training. “And it teaches

that was surely to set him up for his glittering

someone who’s just come from the Isle of

career: how to get the be 7B