RAOC Gazette - page 284
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 |
notes. It thus appears thaL a new Unit Scribe has been appointed. What stunning news do we have with which to regale our waders'? Not much I am afraid! W& are all pleased to be back in " dear old Blighty' after our participation in Exercise Arrow Express, We all en- joyed the sea trip over especially Second Lieutenant Kevin Marshall who only emerged from his cabin with great reluctance, and certainly not at meal times. The rest of us faired only slightly better and we were pleased to put our feet back on ' Terra Firma.' Once in Denmark problems were few and far between. During the tactical phase the enemy were nowhere to be seen, although Moses was spotted on the last day leading his vehicles to the promised land, fortunately tac signed all the way. Several recces were made to Copenhagen and in particular to the Carlsberg Brewery. The speed with which CSM Barney Appleyard and merry men toured the brewery was something to be admired. Possibly it was connected with the free samples at the end of the visit. But, alas, all good things must come to an end, unless, of course, you are Second Lieutenant Marshall, Lance Corporal Swatton or Private Brockie who managed to remain behind with, the rear party for a further two weeks. Thes^ past few weeks the Workshop Stores Platoon have been busy training in preparation for their Northern Ireland tour. Captain David Rees and W02 Jim Innes are rarely to be found at the end of a telephone these days (or any other days come to think of it). A further twenty one men of the Company are also enjoy- ing the delights of Northern Ireland training, they are attached to the Life Guards in an infantry role. The 18th and 19th October saw the remainder of the Company out on Ash ranges for their APWT. Despite early morning mist the practices proved successful. Corporal Sandy Wilson who had not operated an ETR console before proved a very competent * butts party.' We were also assured by W02 4 Keith Watson that the Unit has some born naturals* on the pistol and SMG, and coming from the army pistol champion we feel hopeful for the Corps shoot next year. Mention must also be made of Corporal Barry Whitebread who was the last to fire on the SLR and on a final practise of fifteen rounds needed thirteen hits to equalise the highest score of the day and fourteen to become high scorer. He missed the three hundred metre target on the first shot (just to lull the MTO into a false sense of security) and then proceeded to dispense with the remaining targets with consummate artistry. Congratulations to Captain David Rees and his wife Patricia on the birth of their son. Also, to WO2 Keith Watson and Corporal Ian Bowen on achieving maximum score in their APWT. Postings Out: Sergeant Pete Morrison, Lance Corporal John Holmes and Private Jock Brown (to civvy street). Postings In: Private Frangos and Lance Corporal Rees. GAZKTTE 3 Division A HEADQUARTERS Jump at Oberstdorf and Ihe King Ludwig II Palace near Fussen. The courtesy and hospitality of the local populace during the ten days we were in Bavaria was superb. Plans are already in hand for further * expeditions' to that Area during 1978, We arrived home with our duty free goods, tired but with lots of happy memories. Life for the Staff Clerks in G and AQ has been very quiet as the Headquarters prepares for its move to BAOR. Our new ( arrivals Corporal Glyn Davies from Porton and Privates Max' Maxwell and Ron Conway from the Apprentices College must think they are in for an easy time but they should be warned, it can't last forever! Our congratulations to Lance Corporal * Taff' Humphreys on his recent marriage. This is positively our final contribution from the UK, our next edition will be from our new location in BAOR. 19 AIRPORTABLE ORDNANCE FIELD PARK BLOCK leave over and hopefully, everyone recovered from the traumas of the Colchester Tattoo and we are ready to settle down to the mundane tasks of day to day work. Captain Mike Biggs and the men of the C Sups have also returned to the fold after a very efficient job as Ordnance Detachment at the Royal Tournament The big cry on everyone's lips at the moment is * Reorganisa- tion * and to this end we welcome Captain John Withers along with all the * hangers on * from the Stores Section who are now officially on our strength. (NB for all those who wish to play us at rugby we are still a minor unit.) The Unit fitness training programme is progressing well and to this end we all donned combats and webbing last week and went for a nine mile bash. It wasn't the most popular event of the week and it made some members of the Unit realise their limitations as far as fitness is concerned. Someone suggested that the Unit should run down to the Officer's Mess and raise the subalterns from their slumber but this idea was quickly ' nipped in the bud' by the second-in-command for fear of reprisal 1 A move to stop the morning coffee break being held at a certain piquant establishment in Colchester has been success- fully quashed. The leader of the party for the establishment of coffee breaks in town (PFTEOCBT), Captain Mike Biggs, said that in his opinion the loss of the unit officers custom would result in major losses of profit to the proprietor. The winter sports season has kicked off to a successful start. The cross country team who, under Corporal Dave O'Neill has been training hard this summer had a good win in the 19 Brigade competition, coming first overall. The team is Corporal Dave O'Neill (who also runs for the Colchester Athletic Club), Lance Corporal Tony Shoulders and Privates Bret Couling, Mark Stainthorp and Chris Keelty who were placed fourth, eleventh, seventh, twenty sixth, and thirty sixth respectively. We are looking forward to forthcoming meets with confidence. The Unit rugby players are also^ making a name for them- selves. Five of them led by the infamous loose head prop Second Lieutenant Russel Abson (who was playing with four broken ribs) and including Second Lieutenant Alan Inions, Privates Rick Ad kins, * Ginge * Anderson and Paul Cheshire, went to Blackdown for the Corps trials. Four of them made the team that played against the Metropolitan Police. The hockey team, which is an amalgamation with 8 Field Workshop played their first match of tile season against B Company 1 Staffs and gave a good account of themselves with a 3-1 win. The team was captained by Staff Sergeant Dougie Boshier, who has also had a Corps trial this season. Prize congratulations this month must go to Captain Mike Davison who has at last * cracked it' and increased his family by I x baby boy named Alan John. Congratulations also to Private Neil Lewis on the birth of his son Stephen Lee, Private Don Francis on his marriage (an- other one bites the dust!), Sergeant Paddy Conroy on pro- motion to Staff Sergeant, Lance Corporal Dave O'Neill on pro- motion to Corporal, Private 'Punchie' Giles on promotion to Lance Corporal and Private Chas Sloan on promotion to Lance Corporal and on passing his APTI Course. Staff Sergeant Frank Pratt and Ken Avery must have been well behaved for some time—they have both been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. The medals were presented by Lieutenant Colonel Venning, CRAOC Eastern District General Service Medals (Northern Ireland) were also presented to Sergeant Joe Dickinson and Corporal Dennis Fulford ACC SEPTEMBER being a quiet month, Exercise Loose Maul was designed as an Adventure Training Exercise in Bavaria, for RAOC personnel of Headquarters 3 Division, prior to their posting to The lucky ones under DOWO, WOl Gary Hawthorne, and including Lance Corporal Steve Farrow and Private Maurice Martin were air- lifted, courtesy of the Royal Canadian Air Force to Lahr in the Black Forest, The rest of the party, Lieutenant Colonel David Cornwell (CRAOC), Captain Rick Ginn (Adjutant), W02 Derek Red path (Chief Clerk), Corporal Alan Armstrong, Lance Corporal Chris Eades and Private * Nobby' Clarke drove the long way from Bremerhaven via Soest and Lahr (to pick up the air party) to our base camp situated in a wood about twelve kilometres from Kempten in the Allgau. The weather was fair throughout the period, except for one day of heavy rain. However, not even this restricted — our 215 — activities. These included hiking, canoeing on Lake Constance, and even an attempted ice skating session in the Olympic Ice Stadium Clarke places of is in No real Garmisch budding interest Partenkirchen. were John visited Curry including as Alas, we found Private the Olympic out ' Nobby Many Ski ' |
| Book number | R0246 |