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RAOC Gazette - page 18

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Corps RAOC
Material type Journals
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Full title RAOC Gazette
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Publication date 1977
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Colour No
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Early date 1977
Late date 1977
Transcription I reckon Mr Muscat must have earned
the prize for'the longest sentence (his
third paragraph) ever written to a govern-
ment department, unless, in the words of
a welt-known television programme, you
know better
!
SAVK
I have been wholly deprived from further
doing any kind of business, as f have not
been allowed to touch same, although I
have been having the burden of rent for
stocking said material, custody from being
stolen or diminished plus myself being
kept idle, as my rrade, is by utilising the
material for my business, while now I
have no alternative than having a direct
detriment of having to stock the material.
IT is some while since I put pen to paper
its capital is idle, not accrueing anything
for these pages. This has been due to a
not even a penny, and myself I have now
happy marriage of circumstances: our
to look for work elsewhere, while I have
Editor has received a mass of eminently
ever been as a charge-man of blacksmiths,
publishable material some of which might
in my business enterprise at the said ad-
have had to be rejected to give me room,
dress, so, being this the case, that / have
while for my part I have been engaged
left no other alternative, than to pray
in moving house and then in taking the
unto Your Excellency's to kindly cause
air overseas to recover. If you did not the proper Authorities concerned to send
miss my jottings, I am sorry to disturb
and collect the stock, which I have been
your reverie; if you did, [ hope you will
ordered to keep at disposal, and so at
be interested in what follows.
Better
least I be then able to recover the cost,
still, please do write in to keep the flow
and thus have the equivalent in cash to
of material going.
live with to cut down the shop rent, etc.,
and, in the meantime, I pray also that I
be employed even as chargeman in some
SAVE IT—I
Military Workshop, so as I be then able
IN time of war, anything of value in the to minimise the draw-back I found my-
self into.
manufacture of munitions is at a pre-
mium and so you may be amused to read
I have the honour to be,
the following letter which fell into my
Your Excellency's,
hands the other day.
It is written in
Most obedient servant.
Malta, at that time a Crown Colony, and
(Sgd) J. MUSCAT
illustrates the problems that a campaign
To:
to save resources can produce:
His Excellency,
The Officer administering the Government,
A ddress: Joseph Muscat
The Palace,
54 High Street,
VALLETTA
Naxxar.
28th December, 1940
HS-'H-*
Your Excellency,
May Your Excellency, be so ever
gracious as to allow me, the undersigned,
to very respectfully submit the follow-
ing, with the ardent wish and hope that
Your Excellency may be so ever gracious
and gentle to well entertain same and be
thus duly approved by Your Excellency^
—to wit:
2. Whereas, I> the undersigned, being a
blacksmith by trade, residing at the above
address, and prior to hostilities in Malta,
/ used to carry on my business enterprise
at the said premises, but. owing to the
fact, that the recent Government notice
published with the direct purpose that
whomsoever has in his possession, or
under his own care, any iron material,
this should be reported at once, according
to the said notice, so far so good.
3. So, since about a four month period,
the Military Authorities called upon me
to deliver a small part of the said iron
material. I had at the time, and for which,
I been duly paid, but, the purport of the
present, is owing to the direct fact, that
the remaining stock, which is over 26/27
tons of iron material / have been ordered
TO keep for the disposal of the Military
Authorities while, this I am keeping, while,
•II!
IT—H
I CANNOT publish it because it is
marked fc RESTRICTED * but I thought
you might like to hear about a piece of
paper t was given the other day. It is an
amendment to Ammunition and Ex-
plosive
Regulations
(Land
Service)
Volume 2. It contains the usual caution,
Army Code No, and signature but the
amendment itself consists of twelve
words, including the title and the in-
struction 'manuscript*; the page on which
this is printed is eleven and a half inches
by eight and well over three quarters of
it not to mention the back is quite blank,
Here is a case where officialdom could
surely have helped itself in the current
campaign to save paper?
OLD
SOLDIERS
IN the January GAZETTE, I published a
photograph sent to me by Mr Tomms of
the RAOC team which won the Hong
Kong Garrison Tennis League and
Doubles in 1924. I asked if anyone knew
members of the team apart from Lieu-
tenant Colonel Bill Gillow, The answer
has come from Mr Jim Chalkley of the
Corps Museum. Left to right, back row:
Lance Corporal Hawkins, Staff Sergeants
Wright and Davies, Private Redfearn,
Lance Corporal Randle; front row:
SQMS Tomms, Major F. H. Phillips, Staff
Sergeant Gillow. Do they ring any bells?
This photograph is of the team which
won the Mulcahy Shield in 1932, 18
Section RAOC Didcot. Thanks to Major
Bill Glazier the Unit has featured in this
column before and here are the names of
those in the group. Left to right, back
row: Lance Sergeant H, Tstead, Corporal
C. Griss. Private A. Wood. SQMS N.
M~'-,-:&
Book number R0246