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Welcome to National Service

Eight lads, from very different backgrounds, arrive at Bleakley marsh training camp at the start of their two-year National Service. From the moment their feet touch the ground they are barked at, their hair is cut and they exchange their civvies for the scratchy uniform of a British Army Private. But one of them, Keenan, only wants to fight with Lance Corporal Hobbs. Another conscript turns up, Private Lomax, dressed in a home-made uniform and speaking only in the dialogue of films of the time, to add to the disperate group. Together they experience the assault course and the bayonet range, and learn to get on with each other, some more successfully than others. Keenan still has an axe to grind with Hobbs and chases him out of the camp, receiving a heavy blow from the sentry for his pains.

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4 minutes

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