L/Cpl Hermes Fagge was a 3rd Bn man, but was posted to AAJLR as a provost Cpl. (about 1960) He was a real tyrant, the boys did almost anything to keep out of his way.  He hated junior leaders, and would nick you as soon as look at you. The fact that I was the only Greenjacket in a camp of a thousand boys didn't help either, as he hated 1GJ too!

Stories of Fagge are legion. Every bloke at AAJLR had his own tale to tell of falling foul of him. The AAJLR website is full of it.  To us then, at that age ,he was the stuff of nightmares. It didn't help either that he wasn't the brightest shilling in the bank.

No one seems to know what became of him when he left AAJLR and returned to 3 GJ. If he's alive or dead, or what.  I often enquired about him during my time with 3RGJ, but no one remembered him, so he may have finished his service by then.

I would love to be able tell all those former junior leaders who were at Tonfanau what became of L/Cpl Fagge, through the medium of the AAJLR website. I know its a long shot, but if you know anything about the bloke, or anyone who does, could you let me know, so I can pass it on? I'd be grateful.

From John Astbury (obligobli@gmail.com)