RAOC Gazette - page 73
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1977 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1977 |
| Late date | 1977 |
| Transcription |
In spite of the weather, business was brisk and our photo- 'niph shows the very popular Dip the l.ady, manned by military iviliecmen but with ladies provided by our indefatigable WRAC. knockout was a great success. The competition has been won for the last two years by the Workshop senior team, ' The Wonders/ and they were determined to make it three in a row and stake a claim to permanent ownership of the trophy. All other teams were, it seems, equally determined that they should not do so, and although much depended upon the result of the marathon and even more upon the last game, it was the DSM Fliers under Max Plimmer who won the day (and gave them the entry to the Telford Knockout in August), closely followed by The Cannonballs' led by Lieutenant Roy Curtis and ' Beazley's 1 Bouncers, captained by Second Lieutenant Helen Beazley. A total of over £850 raised for service charities during the afternoon. To all those who helped so freely and gave so generously, your correspondent offers his public thanks. The afternoon would not have been complete without the draw for our annual Mini Raffle which is held to raise funds for Garrison Amenities. This year, organised by Major John Grainger, the affair made a profit of almost £800. The Mini winner was Miss Betty Roden from our telephone exchange md what the agents would probably call ' highly desirable 3MIX Mini 1000, Mileage 00004, Sand, no previous owner, snip at £1.00 * was hers. The next day we exercised our right to celebrate St Barbara's Day ' whenever convenient and decent * by holding a most successful and well-attended Church Parade. With four padres and a most inspiring address by the Reverend Peter Sharrocks, the local Methodist Preacher and Youth Worker, it was not surprising that reaction to the service was excellent and this was reflected in the March Past afterwards, to which again the Royal Corps of Transport Corps of Drums contributed ; ignificantly. This was the best marching seen at Donnington •or some years, even if there was some uncertainty in the identification of the Parade Commander. For the doubters, it really was Major Pincher! Our list of arrivals and departures constitutes a Part II Order clerk's nightmare, and since we would wish our reader(s?) to sleep soundly, this is omitted yet again. Our good wishes go with Corporal Run below, who for so long carried out all the 1 bits and pieces * jobs around Donnington, on his posting to 10 Battalion. We must also make public our congratulations u> the Hodgsons, the McCallons and the Chestermans upon • •'•i arrival of Barry, Helen and Samantha respectively during •"••e month. We note, however, that the names do not coincide ^ith the popularity polls published recently in the Colour Sup- plements, but are not quite sure what conclusions to draw from this. Next month: Prospects for keeping a thirty year old Pledge; how not to rally in the Army. DEAD-LINE DATE FOR RECEIPT OF COPY WILL ALL contributors kindly note that the deadline date for receipt of copy at THE GAZETTE Office really is 'he 29th of the month for publication a month later. Central Ordnance Depot Chilwell THE last month has been a very busy one in both the official and the social calendar, It started with a visit by Herr Blum, the Swiss Army Purchasing Officer, who came to see how an Ordnance Depot functions. He was closely followed by the Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council, Councillor Mrs B. Sharrard, OBE, JP, who was making her farewell visit to us prior to the County Council elections. Our social calendar started with a visit to the theatre by a party of Officers and their ladies led by Brigadier Iain Macdonald. Being gentlemen we won't men- tion the opera—enough to say that illusions of youthful, radiant lovers are sometimes best maintained by sticking to sound radio I The Officers held a Regimental Dinner Night on 5th May at which Lieutenant Colonel Bill Bailey was finally dined-out on retirement after thirty seven years in the Service. We under- stand he is taking up a post with NAAFT at the end of the year, in Nottingham, and wish him well in his new career. The Sergeants, continuing a well established tradition, held another of their Boxing evenings, and staged a very enjoyable function with their usual panache. Guests of honour were Brian Curvis, a former Corps boxer, and Wally Swift On 14th May, as the first part of a Regimental Weekend, the Unit inter-platoon athletics meeting was held. The Red Star novelty race, organised by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Watts, gave light relief to the serious business of training for Travers Clarke. Lieutenant Mike Murphy was shown a yellow card and T sent back to the start for * interfering with the Sergeants team! The 'A' Sub-Depot team won the Team Trophy, but Private (Jesse Owens) Marsden RPC was the individual cham- pion. Major Frank Piggott (Retd) won the old soldiers race having, it seems, a start of about fifty yards over everyone else— he swears it was only nineteen yards I! The prizes were very kindly presented by Mrs Macdonald. Following the sports the Officers held a Pub Night, the Sergeants held a Social Evening, and the Junior Ranks held a 1 disco ' in the Pedro Club. The Representative Colonel Com- mandant, Major General A. R. Cornock, the Director of Supply Management, Brigadier B. R. Biggs and their ladies, and the Reverend D. B. Dougall, Deputy Chaplain General, were present at the Officers Mess. General Cornock also visited the Junior Ranks 'Disco' to have an informal chat and a drink. Sunday 15th May was devoted to St Barbara's Day and a Church Parade was held following a service in the flower- bedecked civilian canteen. The Reverend D. B. Dougall officiated and the- band of the South Notts Hussars (Yeomanry) TAVR provided the musical accompaniment. The service was followed by a march past at which the salute was taken by the Representative Colonel Commandant After the parade, luncheon parties were held in the various messes. By the time the week- end was over many were resting wearily on their chin straps, but whether from physical exertion or too much partying remains an individual secret. Having the Deputy Chaplain General as our guest was not only a pleasure but a blessing, because * someone up there * smiled on us and provided the first decent spell of weather for weeks. Returning to mundane matters, our cricket team did well and won their match against RPO Nottingham by ninety runs. Lance Corporal Wonsall scored forty seven and Sergeant Scott thirty eight. Private Scott took three wickets for three runs and Sergeant Scott two for nine. As briefly reported in our last newsletter, the sporting highlight of the month was achieved by our Rugby team who won the Eastern District Rugby Sevens competition, in the process beating 47 Light Regiment RA B team 22-0, 1 RRF 6-0, Queens Division 6-0, and in a thrilling final defeating 47 Light Regiment RA 14-10 after being down 0-(0 at half time. Winning the Eastern District Sevens competition qualified us to play in the Army Sevens at Aldershot, This competition was of a much higher standard and unfortunately we were eliminated in the qualifying rounds, coming joint third with 1 RHA and HMS Collingham and going out of the com- petition on the number of tries scored. Nevertheless it was a splendid effort to have got thus far. A good day's Rugby was enjoyed by all the team who were: Lieutenant Murphy, Sergeant Kelly, Corporals Dunne and Austin, Lance Corporals Hill and Jones, Privates Wright (Capt), O'Shea and Hutchinson. |
| Book number | R0246 |