Blanco No. 61 Buff

The Blanco came in a solid block, the paper wrap was marked “Blanco No. 61 Buff”. I only needed it during my stay in the basic section. The hierarchy was: recruits’ platoon, basic section, then either Army or Navy sections. I was a blue job so used (on rare occasions, not much Blanco in the Royal Navy!) Meltonian whitening. My school, Dunstable, was a public school when I started but was absorbed into the state system. The CCF closed in 1961 through lack of support as once National Service finished, the prime reason to join the CCF (a National Service commission) disappeared. Buff 61 was not a common colour as I remember. Many other schools used an olive green shade. Our CCF was affiliated to the Beds and Herts Regt, and presumably we used the regt’s colour.

As I mentioned, I was destined for a naval career so joined the naval section. I suspect the fun we had then would cause today’s elf and safety brigade to have kittens. So be it: I don’t recall many injuries. We had a miniature range on the school grounds and all CCF members had the opportunity to shoot. We learned to handle them, care for them and respect them. I was a decent shot in those days, did my Empire Test and got a ‘possible’ (100%). When I joined the Royal Navy I shot for Dartmouth the year we smashed Sandhurst. That was the first time I had used a Martini; the CCF of course used the Rifle No. 8 which was a sleeved-down version of what would have been the Jungle Carbine if the Army had adopted it.