RAOC Gazette - page 137
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 |
Our ladies did remarkably well considering this was their iirst outing in the big time! Despite the acute changes in the weather of late, the sound of wood striking water can still be heard in the Kineton area as our small band of enthusiastic canoeists begin to prepare for the coming season. The Unit has recently purchased three new slalom boats as well as a racing K2 and a canoe trailer. W02 Dave Young is busily planning the Army Canoe Union Suriing Championships in early May, an event for which he has been responsible over the past few years. Meanwhile in Planning Branch, WOl Mike Haslam is surrounded by coloured pennants and foreign stamps, from all over the world, as entries for the International Canoe Racing Regatta, to be held in Nottingham in June, arrive with every post. Plans for the year include basic and instructors canoeing courses at a local reservoir, adventure training trips to the rivers of Wales and competitive attempts at surfing, racing and wild water racing. It is hoped that by the end of the season the canoeing element of both men and women will have increased sufficiently to put one or two Army trophies in the Headquarters cabinet. Time will tell?! The Unit football team has been doing extremely well this season although the League programme was badly hit by the Firemen's dispute and had to be suspended^ for over two months. At present we are top of our Division but can be overhauled due to having played more games than the opposition. We were narrowly beaten four to three by RAF Stafford First Eleven in the League Cup. The Richards Cup is still within our grasp however, after a walk-over against the Petroleum Centre RAOC and a seven to four victory against CAD Bram- ley. We are to play either Training Centre or 10 Ordnance Support Battalion in the semi-finals, The change around happening in the Company Office, at present and in the near future, is so unbelievable that the Officer Commanding reserves the first half hour of each Monday to welcome his chief clerk of that week. Sergeant McCarthy is wandering around with a bemused look about him as this is the first time in twelve years he has been employed in a technical role. He has been known to awaken suddenly asking for the user hand book for an account card. Private Smith's sporting hero ' Meadowlark Lemon * is out of favour for a while, at least until he stops hobbling about on crutches. Bore Shooting. Longest serving in the Branch is Staff Sergeant Alan Franklin, who will be moving on in the not too distant future. We trust that when his command wire finally breaks, his flight path will not become too erratic. Congratulations are due to recently promoted Staff Sergeant Frank Smith, readily identified during the rugby season by swathes of bandages covering various parts of his anatomy. Sergeant ' M o ' Allen has recently acquired the nickname of ' stand-in * as he has been called upon to carry out instruction on a variety of missiles whilst covering for other instructors on leave. Sergeant John Bassett, as might be expected with such a name, is the Branch ' Dogsbody,' making tea, buying coffee, loading WOl Pugh's rifle and occasionally instructing. He also throws a mean dart and plays a hard ten minutes of football. Staff Sergeant Mick O'Neill has arrived and is at present getting himself up to date in matters of Guided Weaponry prior to taking up instructional duties. We hope he and his family will have an enjoyable tour at Kineton. Our photograph shows members of the Branch with some of the tools of their trade. We have said farewell to the 1977 ATO Course and our best wishes go with them for successful first tours, and to their SATs for patience and self-control! WOsl Morling and Murphy have been absent from the School on various Resettlement Courses trying to discover the secret of job-hunting success. Are civilian employers really that gullible? W02 Dave Greenaway and family have now left these shores and are settling in for a two year tour in Canada. Corporal Gordon * Jock' Drummond moved out to the Royal School of Artillery, a case of * out of the frying pan, into the fire,' In his place we welcome Corporal Peter Fletcher and trust that he also will have a happy time in the School. W 2 Nick Browning has left us for higher things at Donnington and we welcome W 2 John MacDonald from Blackdown in his stead. Staff Sergeant Dennis Leadbeater having success- fully completed the Lance Technical Course has taken up occupation with 1 Combat Supplies Battalion* He will be missed for his sporting prowess and enthusiasm in the Unit, and in the School for his dry sense of humour. Central Ammunition Depot Longtown TWO of the stalwarts of CAD Longtown, Mr Jimmy Johnston, SOG * C* and Mr Jimmy Johnston, CO, have left us after serving in the Depot since 1946; we wish them well in their retirement and thank them for their loyalty and hard work over the years, A , Ministry of Defence Police report on a sighting of a UFO proceeding at great speed on the Depot perimeter road caused great excitement until we discovered it was our Unit Fitness Officer (UFO) keeping himself in trim. Fitness is the ' i n ' thing at the moment and the local store has sold out of embrocation fluid. Our CAO, Lieutenant Colonel Upton has passed the DGOS Challenge for over forties and gets very shirty indeed if any doubts are cast on the measured distance. We offer our heartiest congratulations to Captain Bob Holliday on his marriage to Myra Hutchinson and wish them every success for the future. Arrivals: WOl Paterson and W 2 Dedman with their families, and hope their stay here will be enjoyable. Departures: Corporal Gritten to Training Battalion, Army School of Ammunition THIS month's featured Branch has been variously described as ' The Whiz-Kids,' ' Gollywogs * and ( Post Steam Ammunition.' Guided Weapons Branch is the smallest of the Instructional Branches employing a total staff of six instructors, two of whom are sometimes called upon to instruct at the same time. Head of this Branch is Captain Mike Coldrick of whom much has been written in previous editions as well as other publications. He combines with his technical appointment the sporting ap- pointment of OIC of the Unit Full Bore team. His chief prop in the Branch is WOl Mick Pugh, whose * Control' of the Branch and ' Guidance * of his instructors ensures that all runs smoothly. WOl Pugh also represents the Army at Small Central Vehicle Depot UK THE ARMY SCHOOL OF A M M U N I T I O N — C . W . HEADQUARTERS BRIGADIER DALTON paid an initial visit to Headquarters, where he was briefed on the role of Vehicle Depots. After a tour of the Station, he met the members of the Station Sergeants Mess and then was entertained to lunch in the Officers Mess. The Sergeants Mess held a Dinner Dance at the Tewkesbury Park Golf and Country Club. A very successful enterprise during which WOl D. Carpenter Derr was presented with a clock to mark his retirement from the Army. We wish him well in his retirement. He is changing his uniform for a more elaborate one—that of Beefeater at the Tower of London—a move from Foden sixteen tonne to the Crown Jewels—the mind boggles t VEHICLE DEPOT ASHCHURCH NOW that we have shrugged off the Firemen's Strike and all its associated perks and drawbacks, we can settle down again to the more mundane life that we all once knew. Everyone is trying desperately to squeeze in the last few days of their leave entitlement, and applying for upgrading and courses etc, etc. BRANCH Captain Coldrick, W O l Pugh, Staff Sergeant Franklin, Sergeant Bassett, Sergeant Allen, Staff Sergeant Smith, Staff Sergeant O'Neill. 351 |
| Book number | R0246a |