simply shouting at them. But basic training does not start well and he struggles to take his platoon through it. They include failure Herbert Brown (Norman Rossington), upper-class cad Miles Heywood (Terence Longdon), rock 'n' roller Andy Galloway (Gerald Campion), delicate flower Peter Golightly (Charles Hawtrey) and supercilious university graduate James Bailey (Kenneth Williams). His attempts seem doomed. Mary is determined to spend her wedding night with her husband and smuggles herself into the depot to get a job in the NAAFI, a situation Charlie is eventually able to legitimise. Strong spends most of his time complaining to the Medical Officer, Captain Clark (Hattie Jacques). It is only the adoration of doe-eyed NAAFI girl Norah (Dora Bryan), which he initially rejects, that makes him realise his potential and inspires him to become a real soldier. On the eve of the final tests, Grimshaw is in despair, but he is overheard bemoaning his lot to Copping. The squad decide to win the best platoon prize at all costs. On the day, they indeed beat the other platoons at all tasks and Grimshaw is awarded the cup for best platoon. On Grimshaw's last day, the men present him with a cigarette lighter as a thank you/retirement present. Cast Production In 1955, film producer Sydney Box approached author R. F. Delderfield to write a screenplay about National Service in the United Kingdom. The project was shelved until 1957 with Delderfield planning to write the screenplay of an ensemble cast film with the working title of The Bull Boys. Delderfield's planned screenplay was to have been "one third laughter, one third documentary one third exciting incident leading up to the climax" with the virtues of National Service shown as giving the young men "pride in their regiment and uniform", similar to Carol Reed's 1944 film The Way Ahead. Events overtook the film producers when the War Office White Paper of 1957 recommended the end of National Service. Box approached his brother-in-law Peter Rogers then the head of Beaconsfield Film Studios with the pair agreeing that the route to take was making fun of National Service, particularly due to the success of the 1956 Boulting brothers film Private's Progress and the 1957-1962 television series The Army Game. Unlike their disapproval of Private's Progress, the War Office provided assistance to the film makers by providing a Company Sergeant Major to the film. Sequences were shot at