England, 1959. The Swinging Sixties are a long way off. National Service is still compulsory: all healthy males at the age of 18 are expected to register for two years’ military service.
But some men join the army out of choice and make a career out of it. These regular soldiers are the heroes – using that word very loosely indeed – of The Khaki Pride.
The men of Troutbone Barracks are up against it. When the training battalion’s trainees vamoose on the eve of a major inspection, it falls to the permanent staff to bluff it out till the buggers return. But bluffing it out is far from easy when you’re led by a pilfering CO, a Regimental Sergeant Major who claims to have never fallen over, a Quartermaster Sergeant who regularly sets himself on fire and a giant Chief Clerk who is prone to punch his colleagues in the face. To make matters worse, the inspection team is fronted by a vindictive, pint-sized Major-General who hates old soldiers and who underlines his authority with the help of a monstrous, lion-eating dog. Meanwhile, the threat of compulsory redundancy hangs over them all. Well, maybe not the dog.
With its surreal, farcical, fast-moving plot and its cast of insane foul-mouthed characters, The Khaki Pride is one of the funniest – and most expletive-laden – novels ever written about the British Army.
Author Alan C. Taylor has been a regular soldier, a printer and a full-time professional copywriter. His acclaimed short stories have featured in many magazines, while two of his plays were produced on the London stage, a third on BBC television.
But some men join the army out of choice and make a career out of it. These regular soldiers are the heroes – using that word very loosely indeed – of The Khaki Pride.
The men of Troutbone Barracks are up against it. When the training battalion’s trainees vamoose on the eve of a major inspection, it falls to the permanent staff to bluff it out till the buggers return. But bluffing it out is far from easy when you’re led by a pilfering CO, a Regimental Sergeant Major who claims to have never fallen over, a Quartermaster Sergeant who regularly sets himself on fire and a giant Chief Clerk who is prone to punch his colleagues in the face. To make matters worse, the inspection team is fronted by a vindictive, pint-sized Major-General who hates old soldiers and who underlines his authority with the help of a monstrous, lion-eating dog. Meanwhile, the threat of compulsory redundancy hangs over them all. Well, maybe not the dog.
With its surreal, farcical, fast-moving plot and its cast of insane foul-mouthed characters, The Khaki Pride is one of the funniest – and most expletive-laden – novels ever written about the British Army.
Author Alan C. Taylor has been a regular soldier, a printer and a full-time professional copywriter. His acclaimed short stories have featured in many magazines, while two of his plays were produced on the London stage, a third on BBC television.
