The Dragons (Heathercrest National Service Depot) Regiment
Encyclopedia
The Dragons Regiment is a fictional regiment of the British Army
featuring in the film Carry On Sergeant
. The regiment serves as a training unit, based at Heathercrest National Service Depot near Leighton Buzzard
, for National Service
men undertaking their 10 weeks of basic training. The regiment is divided into training companies, each of which has four training platoons - each company is responsible for the training of a separate intake of National Servicemen, with no two companies at the same stage. While all of the recruits are National Servicemen, the officers and NCOs are all regular army. The action in Carry On Sergeant centres around the company commanded by Captain "Perfect" Potts (played by Eric Barker
), which is responsible for Heathercrest's 60th intake of recruits - the four platoon sergeants in his company are Sergeant Grimshawe (William Hartnell
), Sergeant O'Brien (Terry Scott
), Sergeant Russell (Edward Deveraux) and Sergeant Matthews (John Mathews). At the end of the ten weeks basic training, each platoon is subjected to various tests of all they have learned, with the platoon gaining the best results is named Champion Platoon. Once the recruits have passed out, they are posted to various regiments and corps, no longer wearing the cap badge
of The Dragons.
Note: The name of the regiment is never mentioned in the film - the only indication of what the regiment may be called is the shoulder titles worn by all ranks which bear the word "Dragons".
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
featuring in the film Carry On Sergeant
Carry On Sergeant
Carry On Sergeant is the first Carry On film. Its first public screening was on 1 August 1958 at Screen One, London. Actors in this film who went on to be part of the regular team in the series were Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott...
. The regiment serves as a training unit, based at Heathercrest National Service Depot near Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Buzzard
-Lower schools:*Beaudesert Lower School - Apennine Way*Clipstone Brook Lower School - Brooklands Drive*Greenleas Lower School - Derwent Road*Dovery Down Lower School - Heath Road*Heathwood Lower School - Heath Road*Leedon Lower School - Highfield Road...
, for National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
men undertaking their 10 weeks of basic training. The regiment is divided into training companies, each of which has four training platoons - each company is responsible for the training of a separate intake of National Servicemen, with no two companies at the same stage. While all of the recruits are National Servicemen, the officers and NCOs are all regular army. The action in Carry On Sergeant centres around the company commanded by Captain "Perfect" Potts (played by Eric Barker
Eric Barker
Eric Leslie Barker born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, was an English comedy actor. He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British Carry On films.-Career:...
), which is responsible for Heathercrest's 60th intake of recruits - the four platoon sergeants in his company are Sergeant Grimshawe (William Hartnell
William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell was an English actor. During 1963-66, he was the first actor to play the Doctor in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
), Sergeant O'Brien (Terry Scott
Terry Scott
Owen John "Terry" Scott was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven Carry On films. He also appeared in BBC1's popular domestic sitcom Terry and June with June Whitfield...
), Sergeant Russell (Edward Deveraux) and Sergeant Matthews (John Mathews). At the end of the ten weeks basic training, each platoon is subjected to various tests of all they have learned, with the platoon gaining the best results is named Champion Platoon. Once the recruits have passed out, they are posted to various regiments and corps, no longer wearing the cap badge
Cap badge
A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as well as uniformed civilian groups such as the Boy...
of The Dragons.
Note: The name of the regiment is never mentioned in the film - the only indication of what the regiment may be called is the shoulder titles worn by all ranks which bear the word "Dragons".