I ONCE broke a record. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was Sugar Sugar by the Archies. But it wasn’t that sort of record at all.

The record was the lowest score ever achieved by a member of my school’s Cadet Force in the Army Proficiency exam.

With all the other ’Orrible Little Men in our unit, I sprinted eagerly to the first task which involved the stripping of a .303 rifle and putting it back together again.

The others, having successfully reassembled their weapons, then shot off to other exam tasks involving map-reading, assault courses, shooting ranges and the like.

Meanwhile, I spent the rest of the exam trying to work out how to put that damned .303 back together again. Don’t tell the Regimental Sergeant Major but I was close to a dishonourable discharge. Tears.

Although clearly not proficient, I was genuinely interested in the Army yet, despite that, do not remember showing much interest in Remembrance Day. Nor did the other lads I knew. It was something that we youngsters observed without thinking too much about it.

Today, everyone should remember the cost and sacrifice of war. And so let us applaud Poole for proposing to grant the freedom of the town to the Rifles regiment.

And let me salute today’s young people. Research has shown that 93 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 observed the Two Minutes’ Silence this year, compared with just 73 per cent of 45-55-year-olds.

Perhaps it’s time certain middle-aged people learned some respect from the youth of today.