RAOC Gazette - page 246
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 |
by our guests. Our registered German speakers are certainly earning their qualifications pay. After lecturing for a whole afternoon, in German, W02 Bob Cockburn considers that he has not only earned his cash but that of Captain Andy Williams as well. Headquarters BAOR OUR resolve had been not to mention Exercise Crusader in these notes but the lack of any other gossip has forced us to weaken. I wonder how many times it appears in this issue of THE GAZETTE? Provided BAOR Units in the field have time to submit their news to reach this issue, perhaps it will get thirty mentions? Who's going to count anyway? Not me! Very few members of the Corps in Head- quarters BAOR have not been involved in some way with the exercise. The Staff Clerks are seen scurrying around the basements day and night and many have said that the weeks of preparation were harder than the exercise itself. Wait till they get back to their peacetime in trays! Army Fire Service staff who have served in Ord 10, Head- quarters BAOR will be interested to learn that Herr Leo Mueller who has been the Fire Section clerk since 1971 left us on retire- ment on 3rd October. He has worked for the British Army since 1947, most of the time with Field Records going back to the Bad Oeyenhausen days. We wish him happy days ahead. f Management Services Unit BAOR BLOCK LEAVE has come and gone and so now we can get down to the serious business of planning for next year's holiday! At some stage, everyone was involved in Exercise Crusader; the majority of the Warrant Officers were employed as monitors of outloading in the Depots. One was heard to comment that he had finally achieved an unfulfilled schoolboy ambition. " I always wanted to be a monitor at school." Staff Sergeant Majors Pete Bath and Jim McLarty were grateful to the Corps Com- mander for allowing them to watch the exercise at first hand from Hildesheim. Staff Sergeant Majors Dave Haugh and John Dawson were similarly grateful for the opportunity of seeing how simple the CDP operation really can be through the trial of a Stores Transit Section—they were each able to practise their skills on Fork Lift Trucks. We welcome Staff Sergeant Major Dave Down and his family from CAD Kineton and hope they have an enjoyable stay with us. Ordnance Depot Antwerp IT has taken Exercise Crusader, or to be more exact Exercise Jog Trot, to bring the attention of this part of the world to the national press. From some accounts, the press were not over impressed with the Grobbendonk area, describing it as flat, boggy and inhospitable. Obviously the reporters concerned came into contact with the Belgian mosquitoes. For those of us who over the months have become immune to the mosquito bites, Grobbendonk training area is normally used for our continuation courses. After Exercise Poltrek, (a Unit exercise to stock Grobbendonk with the fuel required for the passing Crusader convoys),, everybody now associates the place with jerricans! Lance Corporals Bill Docherty and ' Shooee' Clark will testify to the jerricans' inflexibility: both are now sporting heavily bandaged fingers! Exercise Poltrek was planned to take all week- end, but with the incentive of a day off, the inloading was com- pleted in a day. Teams were organised and a competitive spirit ensued. WOl Brian Maynard became an expert at controlling the motor of a Budda conveyor. I would be biased in stating that' Sergeant Jeff Williams' team including the Adjutant, Lance Corporal Steve Jeffers, and Privates Jock Morrow, Paul Hop- craft and Harold Kerstein could load a ten-tonner quicker by hand, than W02 Dave Barraclough's huge team using a Budda conveyor! Q Alfie Hinds with his heavies ie Corporal Mick Lowrie, Lance Corporal Neil Flesher and Private Geordie Pow, volunteered to load the heavier dieso. By Saturday evening, there were many hunched shoulders and blistered hands. Over the Exercise, Headquarters BFA have had their normal com- plement of two staff clerks, namely Corporal Jim Nelson and Lance Corporal Tom Orrock, supplemented with Lance Corporal David Rigley and Privates Adrian Blackburn, William Shanks and Mark Kyner. These added numbers have given weight to Corporal Nelson's complaints about not being mentioned in the notes. Well, to make amends: Corporal Nelson arrived seven months ago, crashed his car, but is still in good humour. We welcome the following: Corporal Geordie Nugent, Lance Corporal Jock McGarry ACC, Privates Tony Fox, John Robinson and Ian Metcalfe. Congratulations to Corporal and Mrs Dave Rowe on the birth of their son, Corporal and Mrs Kev Bacon on the birth of their daughter and Private and Mrs Steve Brooks on the birth of their daughter. Wouldn't sneeze at i t . Corporal Maisie Atherton of the Australian Army accepts a pinch of snuff from Colonel Brown. Maisie is attached to Headquarters BAOR on Exercise Longlook. Ammunition Inspectorate BAOR THE main event has been the unofficial Unit convention at a tertain campsite in Austria. A quaint little backwater, away from the hurly burly of modern living, ' running water' meant a jog back from the ablutions in the rain. The childrens play park failed to claim any victims as it was all but destroyed in the early Stages. ' What do you expect if the little monsters will try to bse it.' Stalag 17 never had so many active WOsI in it all at the same time. However, taking a turn on the duty roster as canteen cowboy proved a vain attempt to reduce camping fees. Further destruction was carried out by a quartet of Am- munition Technicians Corporals from the Headquarters end joining the Detachment for a burst of demolitions up at the Hohne ranges. On the constructive side Corporal Dave Scullion's wife Debbie presented him with a baby girl. Our congratulations to the proud parents. All that judo and running about must be a new method of easing pre-natal tension in expectant fathers. The recent issue of Railcards is now complete but as they are not valid on the German Bundesbahn a comparison has been made to ! giving out luncheon vouchers on exercise! Someone did say that as that meant they only saved half as much on their rail warrants could they please have twice as many. Our good liaison with the local German police was greatly enhanced by their visit to the Unit on an EOD Training day. The furtherence of friendly relations continued into the evening eased by copious quantities of German Alt beer kindly donated — Headquarters 15 Ordnance Group THE majority of readers will be aware that civilian employees of BAOR are awarded certificates on completion of specified periods of service. At the twelve year point they receive a BAOR certificate signed by the C-in-C. After twenty five years they get a British Forces Germany Certificate of Service signed by the C-in-C of both BAOR and RAF Germany. Normally these are framed and are proudly displayed in the recipients office or at his/her place of work. The Group has now introduced its own certificate for thirty years service, which is signed by the Commander. 1 |
| Book number | R0404 |