Bassingbourn, Hertfordshire, UK.
Created | Updated Mar 29, 2002
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<BODY> Bassingbourn is an unassuming village near the town of Royston, and it hosts one of the British Army's training camps. For years, these recruits have been referred to as "Owja"s. Until now, nobody in the area would say why... maybe because of the shame, maybe because nobody bothered to ask. Now it's time to tell the tale.
To get the recruits into the area, the army uses the rail network. Thousands of soldiers every year pass through the town of Royston and pass through again on their way home. The memory of their trip to Hertfordshire is hidden in a haze of alcohol, and the teenage cannon-fodder can't remember how to get home. So they form a queue out of the door at the railway station and ask "owja get to Newcastle/Liverpool/the off-licence?" whilst the civilian population misses their trains.
Owjas cheer when their trains arrive. A train arriving at a railway station close to the time they were told it would is more excitement than an Owja can bear. Nobody knows why. Not even the Owjas.
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<REFERENCES></REFERENCES>
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<INTRO></INTRO>
<BODY> Bassingbourn is an unassuming village near the town of Royston, and it hosts one of the British Army's training camps. For years, these recruits have been referred to as "Owja"s. Until now, nobody in the area would say why... maybe because of the shame, maybe because nobody bothered to ask. Now it's time to tell the tale.
To get the recruits into the area, the army uses the rail network. Thousands of soldiers every year pass through the town of Royston and pass through again on their way home. The memory of their trip to Hertfordshire is hidden in a haze of alcohol, and the teenage cannon-fodder can't remember how to get home. So they form a queue out of the door at the railway station and ask "owja get to Newcastle/Liverpool/the off-licence?" whilst the civilian population misses their trains.
Owjas cheer when their trains arrive. A train arriving at a railway station close to the time they were told it would is more excitement than an Owja can bear. Nobody knows why. Not even the Owjas.
</BODY>
<REFERENCES></REFERENCES>
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