RAOC Gazette - page 267
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 |
The evening was another highlight, with the Disbandment Ball ending in the wee small hours of the morning. In all it was a day to remember. The drill and dress of the men in parade; RAOC, REME and ACC were a credit to their Corps. Many ex-members of the old 1 Guided Weapons Com- pany and 2 and 3 Guided Missiles Platoons returned to Wulfen to join in the celebrations and re-live old times with present members, Overheard a comment made by a very senior officer at the parade: We have seen disbandment parades before. Regi- ments, Brigades etc., none can or could have been better than this of 1 Guided Missile Company RAOC. Thunderbirds are gone. jfor tjje &ecorti THE DISBANDMENT 7 GUIDED MISSILE OF COMPANY THE Disbandment Parade of 7 Guided Missile Company was held at Wulfen Station on the 30th September 1977 before a large crowd of spectators, including service families and local residents. The Company marched on to the band of the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. The Parade Sergeant Major was W02 T. W. Eurey; the Parade Adjutant, Captain M, R. Oliver. The Officer Commanding the Company, Captain R. C Oldham, took over the parade just prior to the arrival of the Inspecting Officer, Brigadier P, G. Macdonald, DDOS 1st British Corps. THE RETIREMENT OF BRIGADIER J.H.LAWRENCE-ARCHER MAJOR GENERAL M. CALLAN writes: — At the end of this year Brigadier Jimmy Lawrence-Archer, the Director of Land Service Ammunition, retires from the Army after thirty six years service. He began his Army career with the Royal Engineers in 1941 and saw war service with them in India and in the Middle East. In 1951 he transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Very early in his career as an Ordnance Officer, Jimmy be- came interested in the technical side of ammunition work and within six months of coming into the Corps he was attending the lOO's Course. Since then, practically all of his appoint- ments with the Corps and as a Staff Officer have been very much ammunition and weapons orientated. He has attended the Technical Staff Course and the Guided Weapons Course at the Royal Military College of Science. He was appointed Chief Instructor of the Army School of Ammunition in 1967 and while there introduced the modern field type EOD train- ing, first with the Hong Kong Police and subsequently for our Ammunition Technical Officers, He later played an important part in the design and introduction of Complete Round Proof. It is entirely appropriate and proper that his Army Service should terminate with his being Director and head of our am- munition fraternity. His leadership in these difficult times, which has recently included the task of taking on new manage- ment responsibilities, has been an inspiration to all who have worked with him in and outside the Corps. Brigadier Macdonald inspects the parade. The inspection was followed by presentation of Long Service and Good Conduct Medals to WOl Jim Wood, W02 Terry Park, Staff Sergeant George Dooley and Staff Sergeant Tom Mclloney. After the presentation the Company marched past the dias to the tune of ' Thunderbirds * and so down to the Headquarters area of Wulfen Station, where a fully built Thunderbird II Missile was presented to Wulfen Station to commemorate the long association of 7 Guided Missile Com- pany with the Station. Lieutenant Colonel D, F. E. Botting received the missile on behalf of Wulfen and was asked to press a button to raise the missile into the firing position, where it will remain. As the missile was raised into the air it automatically un- veiled a plaque commemorating the occasion. After the presentation a piper from the 1st Battalion Royal Scots, The Royal Regiment, played a lament. For the last time the Company, followed by the band and the last Thunderbird Missile to be trooped on parade, marched past the Inspecting Officer in review order at the slow march; the presented missile dipping in salute. To the strains of the band playing Auld Lang Syne the Company continued out through the main gate for the last time, to be saluted by a Quarter Guard from 154 Forward Ammunition Depot RAOC, The Inspecting Officer, together with Brigadier Steele, Deputy Commander of the newly formed Artillery Division, was escorted to the Sergeants Mess for a small celebration, While in the Sergeants Mess, Brigadier Macdonald re-presented the Macdonald Trophy (which in circumstances unknown to many had been retrieved from CAD Bramley) to Wulfen Station, the place where is was first presented when Brigadier, then Major Macdonald, was in command. It will be competed for annually on the .22 range. I have always admired his modesty, keen sense of humour, enthusiasm, readiness to understand others' points of view, and adaptability. He displayed them all about three years ago. He had charged a member of his staff with organising an am- munition presentation for somebody or other's study period which had to illustrate DLSA's responsibilities for the move- ment of ammunition by road, rail and sea. The organiser thought that the introduction of a little humour into the pro- ceedings would not be amiss and suggested that DLSA should have his photograph taken dressed as a British Railways porter on Didcot Station in order to depict movement by rail. Characteristically, Jimmy agreed, and suitably disguised, prepared to pose. Unfortunately, just at that moment one of those " all- change " trains arrived and, quite unavoidably, he became deeply involved in collecting tickets and directing passengers to other platforms for connecting trains. The ensuing ten minutes or so — 202 — |
| Book number | R0246 |