The Army cadets have long fulfilled a number of functions, as well as offering structure and adventurous training to young lads, they are also seen as a useful feeder into the British Army proper and so it was quickly realised that giving cadets a record book of what they had achieved whilst in the force would help the cadet when he transitioned into the world of work, or ideally the British Army. Today we have an example of one of these record books from the early 1950s when National Service was still ongoing where it would be of even more value. It is a simple A5 pamphlet, with a white card cover with the badge of the Army Cadets printed on the front:

As can be seen, this book was issued by the Berkshire Army Cadet Force’s Corps of Drums. Inside the cover are instructions on how to use the book to both the officers instructing the cadets and the cadet himself. The first page has space to record the cadet’s personal details:

Then comes space to record any courses the cadet might have been on:

Finally there is space to record any trade tests, weapons proficiency and other skills the cadet might have acquired:

This training set a cadet up well for life in the British Army and helped identify possible NCO candidates early, essential with the very limited time in the Army most National Servicemen had. The date of the record book can be seen by the printer’s code on the rear which shows it was one of a batch of 100 million printed in June of 1950!

I suspect with that number printed, they won’t have needed a second batch for a few years!