RAOC Gazette - page 123
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1980 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1980 |
| Late date | 1980 |
| Transcription |
22 AIR DEFENCE REGIMENT WORKSHOP STORES PLATOON ANOTHER hectic period has just passed for the Regiment and the Stores Platoon, which supports their very busy Workshop. At times the Platoon has been thin on the ground (which Unit hasn't) and indeed there has been a great changeover of Staff. Q Davis has replaced Q Ashworth who has gone to Hong Kong. The Platoon owes a lot to Q Ashworth and we wish him and Vera all the best for the future. Lance Corporals Pete Hockaday and Shirley have also gone and in Lance Corporal Hockaday's case, he has literally gone in a blaze of glory with a fire in his quarter. Luckily little damage was done. Lance Corporal Taff Brock, Corporal Morgan, Privates Brad- bury, Percival and Garbutt have all arrived and were in the thick of it immediately. Our troops in the Hebrides, Sergeant John Taylor, Corporal Steve Thompson, Privates Scouse (please wake me up) Wycherley, Smithson and Garbutt all saw firing and the repair of equipment at first hand and they all had a great deal to do in the struggle to keep the spares rolling. Exercise preparation saw vehicles being ripped apart and at one stage it was doubtful whether the OCs Landrover would make it; but, unfortunately, it did! The Exercises themselves had the troops busily involved, mainly digging out heavy vehicles, but Sergeant Graham Seymour's MT group had a high issue rate. At one stage he boasted of an eighty per cent avail- ability, ie out of five requests he had four! The drivers really earned their pay and even our newest one, Private Aitchison surprised himself by driving a big ' wooffer' out of the mud. But all is not work. 22 Air Defence Stores Platoon had an excellent (very) friendly cricket match against 12 Air Defence Stores Platoon. With the help of a stunning thirty eight by Private Chalkie (cousin of the famous) Greenidge who kept everyone running (rumour had it Q got tired and knocked his own wicket down) and the superb three wickets of Private Kermit Conway who specialises in daisy cutters, we won by about (no one is sure) four runs. 12 Regiment supplied a good buffet and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Congratulations to Sergeant Seymour and Linda on the production of Philip and also to Corporal John Walsh and Jean on the production of Victoria. Well done also to Sergeant Samuel on a B in his provision course. Privates Bradbury and Burgess finished a ' blowing u p ' course and have volunteered for more! (Look out 22 Regiment). Privates Heaton, Percival and Bradbury have also been busy sailing with OC Workshop. Lots have happened in the Regiment and we are now in a relatively quiet period, which means that if I start writing now, I might get the article ready for September! STORES PLATOON 94 LOCATING REGIMENT MAY and June have been busy months for the Stores Platoon, with plenty of courses, adventure training and exercises, allow- ing most of us to spend some time away from camp routine. Lance Corporal ' Budgie' Bamford returned tanned and happy from an enjoyable ten days rock climbing and abseiling in Norway, while Sergeant John McConnell, Privates Mick Daly and Pete Gaskin spent a fortnight on Battery camp in Denmark practising Carl Gustav, Carlsberg and Tuborg. Military qualifications have not been forgotten in the midst of all our present bustle and activity; Corporal " H ' Hart has passed his EPC(A), Corporal Graham Harvey, his Supply Clerk B2-B1 upgrading and Corporal Colin Brothwell and Private ' Geordie ' Bartram both obtained driving licences after a month's course in Antwerp. Small as we are, we are represented this year at Bisley, Lance Corporal Dave German being a member of the Regi- mental shooting team which travelled.to UK to compete. We all congratulate our OC, Captain F. R. W. Brewer and his wife on their marriage and wish them both future happiness. Congratulations are also due to Corporal 'Geordie' Hutchinson on his promotion. Welcome to our fold Corporal Vince Banton, Lance Corporals Pete Staniforth and Lofty Wilson. Headquarters Hohne Garrison WELL after Exercise Hurst Park, one lost typewriter and sixth place in the Hoogeveen Marches in Holland we're all ready to dive in to Exercise Javelin. However, a slight limbering up phase seems the best idea for an introduction to a major FTX so the Headquarters are tabbing on the sixty five kilo- metre Langemannshof March two days before Exercise Javelin. A belated farewell to Private Scouse Scott who left us last month to go to SHAPE. His posting Was on promotion — 96 so all the best Scouse, hope your car keeps well! We never do things in one's up hero so we'll also say farewell to the longest serving clerk in the Headquarters, Corporal Tcs Hayward. He's loved it here we know the past two and a half years and we wish Tes, his wife Sue and children Nicki and Michael a happy and most of all peaceful tour in Northern Ireland. For AQ to retain their full strength we say welcome to Private Taff (Eric Clapton) Powers who has joined us from the Depot. Private Dave Davis, wife Christina and their son Peter Andrew who travelled up from 3 BAD Bracht. Last but not least Corporal Dave Frampton (new CC AQ) who has managed to tear himself away from Cyprus to come to another paradise Hohne! Headquarters Land Forces Cyprus >s^ ^s*^_ .>* AFTER a couple of false starts the Cyprus i eja I Summer is now upon us, with the tempera- l 5: I turcs soaring each day. \_^\%JjQt_l Our gladiators still continue to shine. ^•v/fiJBB Sergeant Hugh Ward gets his moment of ^Up^^W power over the Headquarters Officers when i ^^Ek^y organising the LFC tennis team. Corporal ^^E^W Rick White is still endeavouring to win his ^^^^ first game of tennis and squash. Sergeant ^^ Bill Roche is still trying to teach his teanr the rules of volleyball—you never know we may yet achieve a one hundred per cent improvement over last season (we won one game). On the cricket scene W02 Ralph McKee and Sergeant Dave Seddon play for Episkopi Garrison and Staff Sergeant Wilbur Wright and Sergeant Paddy O'Rourke are assisting the Headquarters BFC team. Corporal ' K C Smith is canvassing for someone to train with him for the Cyprus Walkabout, as yet he has had no takers—psst, use a different kind of soap K C ! And last but not least well done to Staff Sergeant Phil Gadsden on recently passing the Cricket Umpires Course—at least we may now win a game. On the 21st June we saw the wedding of Lance Corporal Wendy Bowyer WRAC, and Signalman Peter Cunningham. We offer them both our very best wishes for the future. Lance Corporal Jacquie Dowsett will be the next one to go down the aisle in August. It must be the Cyprus air or the dreaded Kokkinneli! Farewells have been said to Corporal Keith Cammack on posting to the Ministry of Defence in the rank of Sergeant- congratulations. Lance Corporal Bernie Nickels also to the Ministry of Defence in the rank of Corporal and Lance Corporal Dee Brown to the RAC Training Centre. We welcome Sergeant Ginnette Spicer, Corporal Geordie Naisbett, Lance Corporals Denise Higgins and Clark. Finally we welcome into the Corps Corporal Tony Craw-. shaw of the Headquarters Signals Branch who has just been rebadged as an elite Staff Clerk. Our loss is Royal Signals gain! RAOC In Oman SINCE our last notes to THE GAZETTE, the temperature has risen to one hundred ana twenty degrees fahrenheit, which makes il more or less impossible to stay in the sun for long. Even on the beaches w« tend to spend more time in the water thari on the sand, although the old hands out nere still insist that the weather is still lukewarm and we are told to wait fol the dreaded months of July and August when it really gets hot. WOl Dusty Stone does not seem to mind the heat as he disappears to Salalah every so often. Salalah being on the edge of the monsoon belt is having weather just like a hoi summer's day in UK—oh, what dreams are made of. The squash season is now over; the 'A' team had to with- draw from the league, but the ' B ' team finished a good third in the 'C Division of the National League. To show the standard of squash played here, the No. 1 of the Army ' B * team, Sergeant Paul Holohan, when playing the Navy met Gulbar Khan, the ex No. 8 Amateur in the world, who sportingly let him win a game but it was still a case of Gulbar walking from the court and Paul Holohan crawling from it. Water sports are in now — water-ski-ing, diving and snorkling, but the few sharks and barracuda now seen just off the coast line tend to restrict the numbers willing to take part. In the last two months we have said goodbye to all our ^ • p ^^ A /r >^v JiL J*r ^aJ£KjKf = s | ^ ^ ^ ilgCEijitfy-li aCfgpfek ~Qf ^ ^ s . jfif ^\£v &r ^% |
| Book number | R0404 |