IT has long been said that the army "makes a man out of you".

These days, we'd have to say man/woman, of course, but the idea is the same. Take someone -- anyone -- off the street, put them in the armed forces for a year, and they will return to civvy street an upstanding, decent and disciplined member of society.

Wayward teenagers, especially, stand to benefit from a spell of being a soldier, according to advocates of re-introducing conscription.

But does spending 12 months dressed in green, eating in canteens and polishing your boots really make a difference to your outlook on life?

Irma Heger met up with 18-year-old recruit Bruce Commons from Little Lever, who was somewhat of an "underachiever" at school, did some work as a roofer and then signed up for a career with the Royal Signals six months ago.

He is now an ambitious young soldier, has passed all his exams with flying colours and "smartened" up his appearance, much to the delight of his parents.

"It's something I always wanted to do," said Bruce, who got a taste for army-life after a week's work placement at school.

"I couldn't wait to get away from everything, and it has been better than I thought."

Bruce was a Little Lever School pupil before he joined up -- "always having a laugh, because school was boring and I tried to cheer it up," he recalled.

"I was hyperactive, always loud and I was always late, because I was more interested in making money with my paper round and milk round and planning my weekend."

Although he never got into serious trouble, Bruce said his parents stopped going to parents' evenings in the end, because he was "that bad".

"I could do the work, but I was always bothered about something else.

"I used to get C's and D's, I wasn't a bright lad but looking back, I feel I could have done better than I did."

Six months later -- which saw Bruce running six miles with a 24 kilo rucksack, learning to drive within a week and sharing a room with three others -- he admits he has "changed" and "thinks more about things".

"The army does make you grow up, but you still have your sense of humour as well," he said.

"I should do well in the army, there's no reason why I shouldn't.

"I'm willing to put in the effort."

Bruce also talks about his new-found enthusiasm to learn, with him and his army colleagues "egging" each other on to do well.

"At school you can't be bothered," he said.

"In the army, you don't have to do it, but you want to do it."

At the moment, Bruce is at the Army career's office on Great Moor Street for a few weeks, talking to the youngsters who are interested in joining.

The questions they ask amuse him -- "Do you have to eat worms?" "Do you have to get up at 4.30 in the morning?" "Is it like prison?"

"One lad was sent home from school because he was so stressed out about joining the army," he laughed.

"But I couldn't wait to get in." ABOVE "I couldn't wait to get into the army" Ref: H1367/14a

RIGHT Bruce Commons at high school,

circled Ref: H1367/4a

BELOW RIGHT "I should do well in the army" Ref: H1367/22a Lads from Bolton are pictured joining the army in 1953. Just 14 days separate the two shots!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.