Some of you may be saddened to reflect upon the closure, in August this year, of the Army Apprentices College at Arborfield. Our modern government apparently saw no need to continue training young REME mechanics and technicians at this fine establishment, which started out as the Army Technical School in 1939.
The old “Boy’s School”, as many of us knew it, closed its famous gates in the 1980’s when a new, smaller, college was built near by. The name was changed to Princess Marina College (then back again to the Army Apprentices College), and it finally ended up being called the Army Technical Foundation College (…perhaps the word “apprentices” causes offence to somebody – too “cloth cap”, perhaps?).
In these enlightened times, one can only assume that the MOD, like the NHS, prefers to take it’s young technicians readily available “off the shelf”, thereby saving itself the trouble and expense of training up its own. Does anybody know where these eager youngsters are actually to be found?
Don’t be surprised, guys, to find a technician from Eastern Europe at a workbench near you very soon!
