"Finally, I broke through and hit the steep track on the far side of the forest, and spotted the lone DS tent, silhouetted against the skyline. The routine when arriving at a checkpoint was rigorously enforced. You approached the checkpoint, crouched down on one knee, map folded tightly in one hand, compass in the other, and weapon cradled in your arms. Then you announced yourself. Name. Number. The DS would then give you your next six-figure grid reference, which you had to locate rapidly on the map, and then point out to him with the corner of the compass or a blade of grass. (If we were caught pointing at a map with a finger, instead of a blade of grass or something sharp, we had been threatened, by the unforgettable Sgt. Taff, that he would "Rip that finger off and beat you to death with the soggy end!" It's a threat that I enjoy passing on to my boys when we are reading a map together nowadays.) As soon as the grid reference was confirmed, it was time to "pack up and f*** off," as we were so often told. That was your cue to get moving."