RAOC Gazette - page 92
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 |
hinking of manpower in terms of crews of six men to be jioved across charts at the will of the controller. We are without RSM cover at the moment, RSMs Ron vfiller and John Wheeler are attending No. 1 Induction Course formerly known as the knife, fork and spoon course) at School of Ordnance in preparation for their commissioning later this year. Captain Tony Browne, W02 Peter Rix and the catering staff, arc Lo be congratulated on their efforts in providing sup- port for troops on fire lighting, buffets for Christmas parties and feeding the many hundreds from other units who attended fire training courses at Employment Training School. Because of Operation Burberry recruit training programmes had to be amended and Passing Out Parades postponed, result- ing in our first Passing Out Parade for two months being held on 20th January, when Brigadier Dennison took the salute as the eighty recruits on parade finished their basic training. During the parade the Commander presented Long Service and Good Conduct Medals to W 2 J. Barratt and Sergeant M. Easton and medals to the following recruits: Gibraltar Delhi Malta Platoon Platoon Platoon Best at PT Pte Martin Pte Clarke Pte Barry Best Shot Pte Cunningham Pte Walker Pte Baxendale Best at Drill Bdsm Goodwin Pte Ridley Pte Wilson Best Recruit Bdsm Goodwin Pte Squires Pte Placzek Congratulations to the young and not so young. TRAINING SYSTEMS ADVISORY BRANCH LIFE is coming back to the Branch, after the extended Christmas and New Year break. The balding Warrant Officers of the Branch {who wish to remain anonymous) have been seen hanging around a certain ladies hairdresser, with the intention of disguising their premature loss of hair. I have it on the best authority (WOl Graham Jones) that, in medieval times, all Inns in England were called * The Bush.' It is therefore no coincidence that last month's misprinting of W02 ' B o b ' Bush's name as 'Bob Busa ' is rather nearer the mark than first meets the eye. Stop Press. Welcome back to our OC, Major * Colin' Beet, who has been commanding a Green Goddess Flying Column, in K e n t Congratulations to W 2 ' Jack * Barratt on being awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, one of the last people to have to complete eighteen years before being awarded the honour. Northern Ireland HEADQUARTERS THOSE who have at sometime served in Headquarters RAOC will be interested to learn that we have been switching offices again, this almost biannual game presen- ted its usual problems and at one time we thought we would be forced to use CRAOCs office on a * Cox and Box * basis, who-ever was to be Cox or Box was never decided as we solved the problem by moving Lance Corporal Ben our BOWO (the ' Brown' big black dog), who accepted the move with a canine grudge, illustrating this by falling into a deep sleep in Q Operations. We are pleased to announce that Lieutenant Colonel O'Dea is now back to good health and once again steering the CRAOC ship, a bit tricky when you never know when someone's going to blow off the rudder, ORDNANCE DEPOT WE bid a fond farewell to the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Start, and wish him and his wife the best of good fortune in the future; he was •* Dined O u t ' by the Warrant Officers and Sergeants Mess in the traditional manner at a Regimental Dinner where superb cuisine and pleasant company made it a memorable night for everyone there. We now extend a warm welcome to our new Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Watts, and wish him a happy and peaceful tour. The retirement of our Second in Command, Major Dan Vassar, and his departure for warmer climes (where we wish him well) means the impending arrival of his successor Major Andrew Dexter. Captain John Sustins, our Regimental Officer, has left us for Ashchurch and Captain Alastair Shackleton now sits in his place. There is no doubt that both the sign * Under New Management * above the front door is justified and the first — class service to which our customers have grown accustomed over the past years, will continue. The rugby gladiators are the only members of the sporting fraternity that have dared to venture out into the rain, wind, snow and frost which has served as weather this month. It is a pity that their courage was not rewarded with a victory! The number of new arrivals with the subsequent increase in issues of Northern Ireland Specialist Kits has led to a short- age of size eight wellies (Bicester, please hear our cry). It is the turn of Supplies Sub-Depot to explain how they survived the Christmas rush, SUPPLIES SUB-DEPOT DECEMBER is always the busiest time of the year for the Supplies Sub-Depot in Northern Ireland since it is not only the quantity of supplies that have to be issued but also the social events that are always in abundance over the period. The Supplies Sub-Depot held their annual Christmas Draw and Dance in the Issues Shed which was completely redecorated and refurbished to house a buffet, dance band and over one hundred and fifty guests and iheir partners. All members of the Unit worked extremely hard to make the evening a success and special thanks are due to Sergeant Gary Divers, Staff Sergeant John Bishop and WOl John Over for their combined efforts. The star prize in the draw was a £200 travel voucher which was won by Staff Sergeant Reagen of Headquarters Northern Ireland who was suddenly posted to Bracht the following day! ! MRO must have heard! With the number of prizes won by the Unit it was surprising the cries of * fiddle ' were not louder. We, indeed the Corps, have lost another member to that state of trial and tribulation, namely marriage* We must con- gratulate Lance Corporal Chris McKinnon on his marriage to Caroline Stewart and also for the fact that he, at last, managed to turn up on time. The * Ins * are Lieutenant Colonel Watts, Captain Shackle- ton, W 2 Bailey, Staff Sergeant Drake, Corporals Bannister and Castillo, Lance Corporals Bell, Frend and Robinson and Private Riley. The ' Outs' are Lieutenant Colonel Start, Major Vassar, Captain Sustins, Warrant Officers Class 2 Rowlands, Staff Sergeant Barnes, Corporal Martin, Lance Corporals Connell and Broomhead and Private Anderson. United Kingdom Land Forces HEADQUARTERS IN an endeavour to introduce a little polish into the Branch letter we hope to encourage different branches to contribute the main content. This month we start with G Operations/Planning, m a s t e r m i n d e d by W 2 Barry Morgan, supported by Sergeants Neil Jamieson and Phyl Cross and (pend- ing movements and promotion) Lance Corporal Kevin. They report the arrival on probation of Sergeant Dacey of the Parachute Regiment and confidently predict his eventual transfer to the Corps. A like story also concerns Guardsman J. Breach of the Grenadier Guards and, obviously, the Corps must benefit enormously from such a variety of ' recruits' to our Staff Clerks roll. It is also reported from G Intelligence/Survey that our representative Sergeant Syd Bell is still propping up the Sergeants Mess football team, mainly based on a diet of Phyllosan and Dextrose ORDNANCE BRANCH BY the time this deathless prose appears in print Christmas will ]?e history and only the agony of the January bills is still fresh in the mind. We suffered no major casualties but one painful memory lingers on inasmuch as we understand that our local ' Belted E a r l ' is still seeking the individual who savaged his stately domain with a ' maxi' under the delusion that a bumper bar can compete with bricks and mortar. This behaviour may seem odd even by Ordnance UK.LF standards and there- fore we offer no firm policy but if anyone seeks to press the point we can put them in touch with an authority on the subject. The end of an era approaches. Our one and only Benny Lynch is contemplating retirement next May. Obviously more of this will be said and written at a later date but as Benny says himself—" for one who never had a mind he now finds himself in two minds about the event/' Another departure is Brian Allen, our Operation and Planning Expert, who transfers his energy to Blackdown. Brian achieved both Corps and local honours on the golf course during his tour of duty at Wilton, There are those (peasants) who 315 |
| Book number | R0246a |