RAOC Gazette - page 22
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1978 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1978 |
| Late date | 1978 |
| Transcription |
On 11th November, General Service Medals earned for tours i>f duty in Ulster were presented to Privates Jones, Ingham, King and Thornhill by the Commandant, Colonel Blakemore, The Sergeants Mess big occasion in November was a Ladies Dinner Night which was a very pleasant occasion at which seventy members and guests attended. We have bid welcome to CSM J, L. Chalmers and said farewell to Staff Sergeant Scott who leaves the Army after twenty two years for a Local Government appointment in Sevenoaks. Any complaints about the cleanliness of Seven- oaks streets can in future be referred to Mr Scott at the Town Halt! We say welcome to our new arrivals from distant lands and hope your stay will be happy and worthwhile. They are Private Donaldson from Moenchengladbach, W02 Jones from Antwerp with Lance Corporals Justin and Roberts from 2 Armoured Division Ordnance Company, and Private Taylor from Moenchengladbach. Farewell and adieu to old comrades on posting and return to civilian life, namely: Sergeants Humphries and Glasgow and Corporal Wood to civilian life. Lance Corporal Jeffers, Privates Parrott and Lamb to Moenchenglad- bach, Lance Corporals Allen and McKay to BATUS, Corporal Farrelly to Recklinghausen, the luckless Private Quinlivan to the Y List and not forgetting Private Randell, who purchased his escape. Good luck to you all, Our heartiest congratulations to Private Paul and Joanna Dearden on their marriage on 5th November. Congratulations also to Lance Corporal and Mrs Twohig on the birth of their daughter Jennifer Louise on 23rd October. VEHICLE DEPOT LUDGERSHALL AS is becoming the custom at Ludgershall these days, we have * persuaded' some of our junior ranks to take an active part in the compilation of THE GAZETTE Notes, and also to highlight some of them in the notes themselves. As a result, this month's notes were drafted by Lance Corporal Ned Kelly and highlight Private Bob Durrant, as follows: Bob has served now for eight years, and quite apart from military activities, numbers trampolining and carpentry amongst his interests. He became interested in the trampoline while serving with an Army Youth Team, and is now a qualified in- structor, helping out at the Andover Sports Centre and Crick- lade College in his spare time. He is using his carpentry skill to good effect giving the unit social club a face lift, having already fitted new doors and having repaired the bar. He is hoping to complete the fake ceiling by Christmas. To touch on more general unit activities; the Guy Fawkes Night bonfire was a roaring success. The Entertainments Com- mittee having decided to stage the event for the children and parents, sited the bonfire on the test track and, within a few days, had coliectetd an impressive pyramid, much being donated by DMED (Defence Medical Equipment Depot) across the road. Lance Corporal Ozzie Ozols constructed a Guy, who with much effort was mounted on the top of the fire (the Guy, not Ozzie). On the night, despite a torrential downpour, the fire went like a bomb and Staff Sergeant Alec McGrattan to- gether with his team of Private Dave Izzard and Lance Corporal Alan Bateman kept the proceedings alight with their firework display. A welcome buffet of hot dogs and roast potatoes was cooked in situ by Mrs Howard and Mrs Halpin to round off a good evening. For the first time, Ludgershall was represented in the RAOC Squash Championships at Blackdown. Our team consisted of Lance Corporals Ron Audrain, John Tait and John Hounsell, who, although knocked out in the first round, put up a good show against more experienced opposition. Finally, we say goodbye to Captain Mike Parsons who is finding life ' different * at the Apprentices College, Staff Sergeant Jim Somerville and Lance Corporal Brian Peterson who have both reverted from, tracks to wheels at Ashchurch. At the same time we welcome Captain Jim Ritchie, fresh from his OOs Course, and a batch of immigrants, Sergeant Grant and Lance Corporal Nugent from Antwerp, Lance Corporal Gavin from Berlin and Private Eckersley from BATUS. back to the old faithfuls, parchment and quill not forgetting the Chiefs crystal ball. Colonel Lloyd-Jones recently paid us a visit on the occasion of the Technical Inspection, and as inspections go, a good time was had by one and all. Remembrance Sunday found the Centre out in force on parade in the village and we succeeded in getting a round peg in a square hole by means of cramming three hundred people into the West Moors Memorial Hall for the main service. The Parade Warrant Officer W02 J. Chandler, found the beat of the Scouts band somewhat moving, other comments are not printable. We said farewell to one of our old soldiers of the Centre: Mr Don Strachan on his retirement after forty four years service, in and out of uniform, (he enlisted when the Dead Sea was only sick). He was suitably wined, loaded with gifts and eventually towed out of camp on a Scorpion Tank, rumour has it this was due to lack of fuel! We all wish him a happy and a healthy retirement. Mr Don Strachan being towed out of the Petroleum Centre. A force eight wind welcomed the ladies to the dinner night held in the Sergeants Mess, and many bird-nest hair styles could be seen rushing from the car park to the mess, but as the evening progressed, things brightened up and many were found to be glowing before the end of the dinner. Congratulations are in order to: Lance Corporal and Mrs Holmes on the birth of their daughter Fiona, Lance Corporal Duff on his marriage to Maria, Lance Corporal Howarth, ACC, on his marriage to Linda and Private White on his marriage to Maureen, we wish them every happiness for the future. We welcome Privates Bateson, Keenan, Packham and Woodcock from the Depot and Privates Berry and Hanna, RPC, from Bicester. Private Findlay, RPQ departs to civilian life and we all wish him- and his family the best in the future. TO CORRESPONDENTS I AM constantly trying to improve THE GAZETTE by putting more general interest material and articles in the front section. However, this needs more space—and more material In size we are already the largest monthly journal and we cannot afford more pages so, without wishing to inhibit correspondents too much, it would be appreciated if newsletters could be kept fairly short—yet interesting. Editing down to make space is always unsatisfactory—and can also result in a loss of context, There is often material in newsletters well worth writing up for the front of the magazine under such headings as ' People in the News' and * For the Record.' It would help considerably if such stories could be sent in with the newsletters—or, of course, separately. In this way your copy would get far more prominence and, at the same time, the format of THE GAZETTE would be improved. Try it. Send in extra notes on people, places and events worth reporting. The Petroleum Centre IT was hoped to produce our notes this month in braille, so our fans and readers could ' get the feel' of things at West Moors, but unfortunately this * type * of course has not yet been organised within the Centre, but we are working on it, and it could even be said that we are playing a blinder, so it's 251 — |
| Book number | R0246a |