Private Ends
Photo-story from Janus 116 Private Saffron James, 19, stands to attention with her bugle under her arm, nervously awaiting the arrival of a superior. When the door opens, the man is a stranger, drafted in from another regiment to conduct her disciplinary interview. Like the clothing, furniture and accommodation she has lived with for the past eight months, he smells of standard-issue army property: functional and unadorned. ‘Your cases are packed?’ ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because Sergeant Morris said I should be prepared for instant discharge, sir. He said I am not shaping up as a soldier and that if I only want to play pretty music, I should go to the Conservatoire, sir.’ Tears sting her eyes but she strives not to shed them. ‘So you want to be a musician?’ ‘Yes, sir. I joined the army to improve my playing and get real experience of life that I wouldn’t get at music college.’ ‘And has this been proven to be th...