RAOC Gazette - page 152
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 |
readiness for the forthcoming season and has already shown the yellow card to several Units infringing the ammunition indent rules. In a variation of the busmans holiday Captain Nigel Smellie has taken off from Lisburn to Lisbon in search of sun- shine and senoritas, but not necessarily in that order leaving the rest of us to stem the tide of muck and bullets. 2 SECTION. It's ' all change' at 2 Section in Fort George. Not only have the ATO and SAT changed over but also the [escorts, drivers, RESA, QRF and the fruit machine. The latter being the most important Since his arrival our new ATO, Captain Trevor White, has accelerated the pace somewhat. Room inspections, hair- cuts. kit checks and organised sports are now the order of the day. Oh yes and a parade or two has been held. Can any past members of 2 Section remember Parade? The Section has almost completely settled-in at Fort George with only a few outstanding ventures needed to make our lives more comfortable. Murmurs of " we're getting there " and. " it's coming " can still be heard but much less frequently. Ah, we almost forgot, a word about our detached team. Magherafelt is it? That's correct—a sleepy hollow where EOD teams retire for periods of R and R (or something like that). Staff Sergeant Ken Allen has taken over and can't under- stand what he has done to deserve solitary' confinement. Never mind Staff we'll keep the Red Cross parcels flowing. 3 SECTION. The highlight of this months work was a three hundred pound car bomb in Banbridge and three blast incen- diaries at Castlecaulfield. Staff Sergeant Nick Nicholson made an ' explosive' start to his tour when he allowed a car bomb to project his wheelbarrow into orbit. In the middle of the month we had a lull in activity which enabled us to close shop at Lurgan and move to our new base in Portadown. The new accommodation is a big improvement and with the many facilities on our doorstep our stay should be an enjoyable one. Headquarters Scotland SATO HEBRIDES. This month has seen the formation of the SATO Light Air Defence Detachment. Armed with our .50in Browning Machine Gun members of the Section have been firing, somewhat haphazardly, out into the Atlantic. This new ' t o y ' is probably the reason why SATO, Major Gordon, has been on the island all of this month, one for the record books. 521 EOD Boat Section has been waterbound again. The RCT Boat Team took SATO and the SAT, W02 Dave Moor, across the waves to the Monarch Isles. The SAT then spent the day following the SATO from birds nest to birds nest! The Lance Safety Team from SATO Department, RA Range Hebrides, shown fully kitted out and ready for action. The 'cam is, left to right, Corporal Partridge and Sergeant Oakley on the Bedford, Sergeant Pullcn in the turret and W 2 Moor driving. We are almost at the end of a very successful Lance firing camp; we all managed a ' c a b b y ' in a Lance Trans- porter and, had Sergeant Dave Oakley not put it into Work- shops, could have driven a launcher as well. We hope for an improvement soon as Dave is off on a driving course next month—RCT beware. Someone else on the move is Sergeant Bill Pullen. Now that he has finally found out where the Hebrides are he has received a posting order to Kineton in September. As the saying goes " out of the frying pan into the fire." The final mention must go to the SATO Department ' lecture' at the dining in of the new RSM. After much preparation of sound effects the lecture did not go with a bang, just ' phutt.' South W e s t District HEADQUARTERS TRANSFEREES are lining up outside CRAOC's office for interviews to come to the Corps. At the risk of boasting, we are working hard at the recruiting game and are having some modest measure of success. So far this month we have interviewed two NCOs and accepted them and rebadged a young NCO from RCT. Our wandering S02 (Combat Supplies), Major Ray Vincent, managed an indulgence flight to Cyprus only to be caught out for his return trip by finding that the way home was difficult as the aircraft had been diverted for operational reasons. However, it seems Freddy Laker came to the rescue with a DC9 and our gallant Major was not AWOL. We would like to welcome Captain Roy North into ASU SWDIST, Lance Corporal Jarzembski into the Corps from RCT and our new Chief Clerk W02 Bond. We wish Major David Humphries much success in his new job in civilian life with the Welsh Forestry Commission—we shall miss him at Warminster. We are also sorry to say farewell to our Chief Clerk W02 Ian Read who, with his family, are off to join the British High Commission's staff in Kuala Lumpur. How our girls will get on without him is mystifying. We shall miss him, his sense of humour and ' shaggy dog' stories. Major Bob Bracken currently on leave in Crete, has been keeping the tennis flag flying and Major Jim McLachlan still does his bit on the golf course. CRAOC has also just returned looking tanned and very relaxed from his three weeks holiday in Rome. He was last heard to say " cheap vino, blissful sunshine and beautiful women—what more does one want?" Penny and Rachel (two members of Ordnance Branch) are currently on a course at Bicester learning the tricks of the Ord- nance trade—come home girls, all is forgiven. SUPPLY DEPOT BULFORD SUPPORT for exercise Units gained momentum in June with all the permanent and temporary camping locations being used by visiting Units. Undoubtedly the most interesting one was a Regiment of Dutch Marines; they bivouacked in the fields behind the Depot, quickly adopted us as their sponsor Unit and proceeded to take us to the utmost. Some of the services we were called upon to provide were the provision of camp beds for their advance party, safe storage for their beer, spirits and continental foodstuffs and the use of a Fork Lift Truck and operator one very wet Saturday morning. We were not too pleased however, to be called out at nine o'clock on Saturday night to hear that they had run out of beer and required replenishment, and again at eight o'clock on Sunday night, when they discovered they had consumed all their bread and had none left for breakfast. Fortunately we managed to contact a local baker who arranged a delivery at five o'clock Monday morning. Imagine our faces when two coach loads of Italian Soldiers drove into the Depot on the following Tuesday! A great sigh of relief went up when we learned that they had lost their way and it was just a question of redirecting them to Kiwi Barracks. On the eve of his departure for a six months' tour to Belize Lance Corporal Royston Tillman was approached by Records to see if he would accept a twelve months' tour and he accepted with alacrity. Another member of the butchery department, Private Dave Needham, who has recently been itching for a more energetic life, has joined the Joint Services Parachute Association, Nether- avon and is spending his week-ends parachute jumping. — 119 — |
| Book number | R0404 |