EIGHT young men waved goodbye to Civvie Street when they became Bolton's first recruits of the year to enlist in the Army.

They swore an Oath of Allegiance to the Queen at the Great Moor Street Army Career information office.

The lads, aged between 16 and 22, battled it out through a rigorous selection process to qualify for training where only one in four applicants will succeed.

Army recruitment figures this year are the highest since 1991 and Captain Danny McGeechan, Army Careers Officer for the Armed Forces Careers Office in Manchester, is confident for the future

He said: "The message is finally getting across that the army is very much a job of first choice."

Recruits

Captain McGeeghan explained what it takes to be the best.

He said: "Individuals must have commitment, enthusiasm, endeavour and be willing to put the effort in. The lads here today are excellent recruits."

Hopes are high amongst the youngsters, many of whom had become restless and keen to tackle new challenges when they decided to apply to join the army.

From Bolton were Roy Yates, aged 16, an ex-welder and Chris Morris, 20, a landscape gardener.

Chris Morris, 20, a landscape gardener, missed out on recruitment the first time when he was on tour playing cricket for Lancashire and former department store employee Stace Hughes, 22, was also applying for the second time due to injury.

Determined Jason Psaila, originally from Rochdale, flew all the way from Malta to sign up for the Army:

He said: "I used to get letters from a friend who's already in the army and I really liked the sound of it."

There to give the new recruits first hand insight into Army life were two previous applicants, Private Steven Halliwell and Christopher Fielding who both grew up in the Bolton area and are stationed in the office for a week, having just completed their basic training. Also on hand were experienced Privates Kevin Gornall, 24, and David Southern, 20, already based in Germany.

"We're here to let the lads know what it's really like," says Kevin, "I used to work at the Nynex in Manchester and I've stood in the dole queue so I've seen both sides. I know now that this is the career for me." Steven, an ex-sales assistant, now a Royal Signals Telecommunications operator, was enthusiastic about his new career: "I really enjoy my time here and would recommend it to anyone," he said. Christopher, also a Telecommunications operator, was encouraging to the new recruits: "I feel as though I have learned a lot more than I would in Civvie Street," he says. "The pay is good and I will get to see the world - what more could I ask for?"

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