up about a quarter of the Armed Services workforce. Respect for the forces, based on personal links, seen as a possible route out of poor job prospects, may mean that the militaristic element is simply seen as smart and organised. Where there are good job prospects the intrusion of a military structure can be seen as disruptive (Osgerby 1998:21). Drill? Drill was an important feature of Boys' Brigades. However, as McFarlen put it, 'The rifles caused the biggest offence'. Drill was part of Williams Smith's training and 'it seemed only natural in those days that the only good drill was one that included the precise thud and slap and smart control of rifles exercised in precision. Some of the earliest manuals available from the Boys' Brigade were: Infantry Drill, Manual Exercises for the Rifle and Carbine, and Firing Exercises' (McFarlan 1983: 37). William Smith took what he was familiar with and what had by then been developed. It is certainly the case that there was an anxiety about the fitness of recruits for the Boer War (Black and MacRaild 2003:95), but there is a more long-standing quest for health and fitness in work with young people. It is also the case that William Smith's own background would predispose him to think highly of the army's approach and requirements, but why did it attract others so effectively? In part it is that people wanted to develop their ideas about physical activity. Drill of various sorts (such as Swedish Drill, devised in