Author royalties to The Soldiers Charity (ABF) and MPSC Association. Foreword by General Mike Jackson

From a German POW camp to HM Forces only remaining detention center the mere mention of Colly struck fear into the hearts of thousands of servicemen over the years. But what was it really like behind the forbidding barbed wire in those ancient Nissan Huts? How much has it changed since 1947?

Written in the words of those who were there, from the 1940s through to the present day, Commandants, Members of Staff, Detainees, Military Escorts, Padres and visitors have shared their own experiences to create a unique history that sheds light on an almost unknown area of military life.

At turns funny, sad and sometimes surprising, the accounts show how much the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) and the idea of military detention has evolved.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Military Punishments Prior to 1907
• Chapter 2 The Military Provost Staff Corp, Military Prisons and Detention Centres: 1907 – 1939
• Chapter 3 Military Detention: 1939 – 1947
• Chapter 4 Detention in Colchester – Camp 186
• Chapter 5 ‘It was a mad, mad world’: 1947 – 1950
• Chapter 6 ‘A bleak and dismal place’: 1950 – 1952
• Chapter 7 ‘I couldn’t hear myself think for all the shouting’: 1952 – 1954
• Chapter 8 ‘Everything at the double’: 1955 – 1957
• Chapter 9 ‘Quite harrowing’: 1957 – 1960
• Chapter 10 ‘Never again’: 1960 – 1965
• Chapter 11 ‘Bloody Red Caps!’: 1966 – 1968
• Chapter 12 ‘Don’t let this bloke get away!’: 1968 – 1970
• Chapter 13 ‘I was left holding the baby while the newly-weds had half an hour together’: 1970 – 1973
• Chapter 14 The Motor Cycle Training Centre: 1973 – 1976
• Chapter 15 ‘Let’s break the door down’: 1976 – 1980
• Chapter 16 The Rebuild: 1980 – 1984
• Chapter 17 ‘Where the f*** are your boot laces?’: 1984 – 1990
• Chapter 18 Changes: 1989 – 1994
• Chapter 19 Marching Towards Better Citizenship: 1995 – 2000
• Chapter 20 HMIP Comes to MCTC: 2000 – 2004
• Chapter 21 ‘Awesome’: 2005 – 2010
• Chapter 22 ‘There are no priorities’: 2011 – 2012
• Chapter 23 ‘I saw two very tall men in long grey coats just standing watching me’
• Chapter 24 The Last Words
• Notes
• Appendix 1: HMIP Inspections
• Appendix 2: Contributors
• Appendix 3: Commanders
• Appendix 4: Inspectors of Military Establishments