RAOC Gazette - page 150
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 |
Privates Kirkwood and Cordon have also joined and we wish ihem a long and happy tour with us. There are no farewells this rnonlh as we have only just been posted to full strength* We would ask if we could have some storemen drivers the next time we say farewell and wel- come, otherwise we will find out if the Officer Commanding really has passed his HGV I or did he bribe his compatriots in Swansea to issue him with the magic piece of paper? • 5 Field Force HEADQUARTERS THE time has come to announce to the world t h a t hidden away behind iron bars in Quebec Barracks* Osnabruck, are eight weary members of the Corps. They are of course the clerks of Headquarters 5 Field Force. A major change of staff has recently occurred which started with the escape of Sergeant Brian Evans to MOD. He was replaced by Sergeant Brian Langman who joined us from BATUS. Then Corporal Tom Doyle (who thought he was going on leave to UK) was whisked away to Belize. WOl Harry Little had to be dragged out of the escape tunnel he was digging in the War Room, to be told his replacement WOl Alby Mullins had arrived, hot foot from Scotland. It only took Alby but a few hours to decide not to fill in the hole!! I think the real crunch for him came when it was pointed out that the only time he would be able to use his golf clubs would be as crutches during an exercise. The remainder of the staff are relative * old hands' and are: Corporal Steve Evans, (he will be leaving us in May for a lucrative job flogging cars here in Germany), Lance Corporal Mick Horner and Private Alan Irons. At the other end of the building are two more members of the Corps. WOl Geoff Marshall (FOWO) and Corporal Mac Mclnally. Geoff who is also an ex-BATUS man failed to pass on winter driving hints to Mac who recently altered the shape of his car with the aid of a local tree. Earlier this month the first of many exercises scheduled for 1978 saw this merry band hard at work attempting to make life ' in the field * as comfortable as possible. It is thought by some that commandeering a local farmer to peel potatoes (when compo was the order of the day anyway) was carrying things just a bit too far. But Alby, not to be outdone by FOWO cunning, made his nine by nine akin to a three star hotel. It was such a success that rumour has it he had to be awakened to be told of ' endex.' Alan Irons (who by sheer coincidence managed to find barns for his CP) spent most of the time dreaming of his past glory on the ski slopes. He actually got a mention on BFBS even if it was for completing a thirty five second course in seven minutes. Mick Homer, whose CP had six inches of mud and water as carpeting, became increasingly worried as time went on that the wet may cause him to grow web feet. Sergeant Bob Hooson has joined us for a few months and was understandably sorry to have arrived too late to take part in the exercise. He has been promised a jab on the next one though, and every effort will be made to ensure he gets the right amount of floor covering (just to make him feel welcome). WOl Harry Little having completed his handover leaves us for the UK. It is believed by many of us that he plans to reconstruct our War Room in the attic of his house just to make himself feel at home. Harry, who will be leaving the Corps l to become a part time * soldier even threatened to come back to join us for the Force FTX later in the year. (There's no accounting for taste.) 5 FIELD FORCE ORDNANCE COMPANY ,k IT ain't half cold mum " was the cry as the members of the Unit braved the elements for the first exercise of the year. On the first night the temperature recorded on the thermometer thoughtfully provided by CSM Ian Drew showed —13°C. Our two tame * Reems' were much in demand with their brazing kits! The cooks, Lance Corporal Pete Berry and Private Dennis Dominey, were the heroes of the exercise as they provided three excellent meals each day as well as hot soup and tea through- out the long cold nights. Well done the pair of you—don't forget to buy your own copy of THE GAZETTE. One interesting part of the exercise was when our local Aviation Flight sent us a helicopter piloted by Lieutenant Peter Adams RAOC to give members of the Unit a birds eye view of the Unit. If nothing else was proved we ail learnt that you cannot camouflage a Unit in a beech wood using cam nets woodland in February when there is a foot of snow around, I wonder if we could persuade the powers that be to let us have some old heavy drop para- chutes to use in snow conditions? Any offers to the Officer-in- Command Administration please. The exercise finished with a 8-km march (langlauf?) back to camp along the Dortmund- Ems canal. Private Jock McGuigan, currently on attachment pending transfer from the Royal Scots, came pounding in first. No mean feat as in a foot of snow it's past his knee caps. Other news this month is fairly sparse as apart from reach- ing the semi-finals of the DOS Cup, beating 1 Complete Surprise Battalion by the odd goal in nine after no less than two hundred and forty minutes of effort. Well done the football team—if you now win the Cup the PR1 will stand you all a shandy. Bring on the next Goliaths, we will eat them. We have a few farewells to say this month; notably to Corporal Barry Jones and his family, Private ' Shaggy * Shadbolt and a somewhat delayed departure by Staff Sergeant Mick Mullarkey, who decided to get his car overhauled before depart- ing BAOR. In turn we welcome Staff Sergeant Graham Chapman who arrived just in time to go on the cold weather exercise. His previous posting was in the Gulf! Thought for the month. If the Second-in-Command is SEAGULL, is a hungry subaltern who can eat three mess tins full, of stew at one sitting called GANNET? PS. Dear Editor, does 1 (BR) Corps British Army of the Rhine really only consist of two divisions and us! Photo Corporal Halls. Lieutenant General Sir Frank King, Commander-in-Chief BAOR talks to Private Whittaker and Lieutenant Evans of the Stores Platoon 5 Field Force Ordnance Company. STORES PLATOON 5 FIELD FORCE ORDNANCE COMPANY (15 FIELD WORKSHOP) PRIDE of place this month goes to Mrs Angie Whittaker who, on the 24th January at BMH Munster, gave birth to a bouncing eight pound four ounce baby girl, Yolanda Joy. Congratulations to Angie and Private Steve Whittaker. Staff Sergeant Reardon seems to have made his presence felt on the football scene in the short time since his arrival. He is busy at the moment forming a badly needed Munster Garrison side with promises already of fixtures against BAOR, Osnabruck Garrison and Preussen Munster, our local Bundes- league side. Lieutenant Evans our new Officer-in-Command, is proving himself more than adept at a couple of less tasking sports, he is away regularly at weekends ski-ing while during the week he concentrates his efforts as a member of the Unit squash team. On the working side we are at present in the process of in- scaling in support of our 5 Field Force dependency. This, as you might imagine, entails much re-organisation in the stores shed, needless to say our NCO IC, Corporal Woodcock, seems to have it firmly in hand. — 360 — |
| Book number | R0246a |