I joined the army in 1958. I tried to join the 12th Royal Lancers but as they were on active service at the time and I was only 17, I was not allowed to do that so I ended up as a driver/gunner on Centurion tanks with the 8th Royal Tank Regiment. A good regiment but not what I was really looking for so I left the army in 1960.

After a boring two years in civvy street, I decided to sign up again and to my joy, I was fortunate enough to sign up with the 9/12th Royal Lancers who were in Aden. Unfortunately for me, they were due to be posted back to Germany and so I was posted to Osnabruck, which was to be my home for the next five years. Whilst the regiment was settling in, I managed 'through being a batman to the troop leader' to get into recce troop as a driver which gave me some of my happiest moments with the regiment. We had good times and bad. There was fun and sadness but the morale was 100%.

I could tell stories for ages but will mention just a few for Ferret fanatics. I believe AFV crews do have a close bond, mainly as they live in each other's pockets. Tank crews are limited by 'tank mileage' and are normally in troops all the time. Ferret crews are independent and work in pairs when on manoeuvres and I believe this gave them a sense of freedom not experienced in any other vehicle in the army at the time.

The fun and freedom which recce troops had was unbelievable from driving in 20 degrees below zero temperatures in Bergen, Norway to parking on a 600 lb culvert mine in Ulster which luckily didn't go off, 'it makes you shiver though' and I would not have missed one minute of it!

Memories of things that happened on manoeuvres live with me even now. Such as being chased by a Guard Hussar Regimental jeep in Denmark. We had no more thunder flashes, so I threw a tin of Pom into the back of their vehicle. The delight in watching the crew screech to a halt yelling 'grenade' and diving into a ditch as we made our escape was fantastic. Mind you, a tin of Pom could be more dangerous than a grenade!

Another incident involved having our Ferrets painted with the black and white German cross on the turret as we were a Recce Troop for a German Tank Regiment in Southern Germany. The British were the enemy and we had a slight advantage as they thought when they saw us 'its one of ours' and we quietly drove past them until an NCO in the 4th RTR noticed the crosses. Then, all hell broke loose and the 4th RTR Saracen and Saladins chased us. Cornered in an apple orchard, we were asked to surrender. Whilst my commander was thinking about it, "poor old Peter never knew what hit him"; I decided to drive through a fence to make our escape as a Saladin was blocking our exit. When we drove into the Orchard, there was a pile of rubble by the gate and I had forgotten about that. On making our exit, the fence came down halfway onto the rubble and the Ferret took to the air! Being a young and na�ve driver, I thought I had 'pulled off the great escape' and drove off at top speed. Everything was going well until I pressed the brake pedal. As you all know, Southern Germany has lots of steep hills and hairpin bends. Nothing happened when I put my foot on the brake. The pedal slammed to the floor and for a few seconds my blood ran cold. Then, your nerve suddenly returns. Poor old Pete was yelling, 'slow down, slow down' but I was too busy to listen to him. I found that by pressing the brake pedal continuously, I managed to get a little bit of the brake to work. I saw an open gate leading into a barn and as we were still being chased by the 4th RTR, I turned the Ferret into it. Pete was yelling 'where are you going, where are you going?' Thankfully, the Ferret stopped in the barn, the farmer came running over and asked in very good English if we were all right. I quickly explained the situation. He closed the gate and the barn door and then positioned himself by the main farmhouse gate. Two Saracens came screaming to a halt and the crew asked him if he had seen an armoured car. He shrugged his shoulders and told them that he didn't understand English.

When everything had calmed down, I realised, I had ripped the hydraulics off the brakes so we couldn't go anywhere and called NODUF to get the REME out. Whilst we were hanging around, the farmer was really hospitable and allowed us to use his bath. His wife cooked dinner for us and we drank the best homemade beer I have ever tasted. The farmer enjoyed being shown all over my Ferret and thought it was a 'smart car'. As we left his farm, the farmer said 'funny isn't it! If you had come through my gate 25 years ago, I would have shot you'. Time goes by and people change, hopefully for the better.

The one thing the 9/12th Royal Lancers Recce Squadron had over other squadrons was that we had RAF personnel and Royal Navy personnel attached to our regiment, as they were the maintenance crew for our Skeeters. Not only did Recce Squadron celebrate Mons/Moy Day, we also celebrated Trafalgar Day and Battle of Britain Day.

It was amazing what affect the Ferret had on different soldiers in Norway, Germany, Denmark and Northern Ireland. Everyone wanted to have a ride in one and even the Yanks thought 'it was a neat car' and I believe they are very popular in the States, even now.

A small reminder to all Ferret Crews - Quotations and Anecdotes

Quotations

'There is no such thing as bullshit in the Royal Lancers, only smartness and dash'. C.O. Lt/Col Brocklebank M.C. 1966

'The 9/12th Royal Lancers do not retreat, they make a tactical withdrawal'. This was the golden rule given to me on a TEWT by Major Maitland-Titterton 1967 after I had told him I would retreat if I saw Russian tanks advancing on my position.

Anecdotes

Ed: Did you notice that when our Ferret turned over, it did it in slow motion?
FG: No, I didn't notice that.
Ed: You would have if you had been inside!
Ed Smith (driver) to Frank Gray (Commander)
 

Ed (to driver Alan Bede) 'Stop, there's a ditch ahead'
Ten minutes later
AB: I knew you were hurt when you stopped swearing at me. How do we get it out of the ditch?
Ed Smith-Commander/Adam Bede-Driver

Maintenance test as a Ferret Driver

Jimmy Mitchell handed me a bent bit of metal, he asked me "what's this"?
Me: God knows, it looks like a leg of a camp bed.
Jimmy Mitchell: That will do nicely, thank you".

Would I swap any of this. The answer is NO. I had four great years in recce troop and also enjoyed being a driver and later a commander of Ferrets in so many different countries. Thanks to people like Mike Tebay, Frank Gray (deceased), Terry Stowe, John 'Slim' Watts and Jimmy Mitchell and my best mates Geordie Shinwell and Terry Rainer (where are they now?), I enjoyed every minute of it. Well nearly every minute! I would prefer to forget the culvert mine.

Ferret's had such an impact on my life that my house is named 'Ferret's Rest'. Thanks to Paul, Dave and my three sons for bringing back half forgotten memories and to Jim Webster for setting up the Ferret Heaven website. Thanks also to all the people I got to know in the 9/12th Royal Lancers. We all knew each other even though Col. Swindell's said my beard 'threw him'. Thanks to my old instructor Jimmy Mitchell who I last saw on the street of Portadown in July 1973 and then 27 years later at the Queen Mum's pageant. I wish them all well.