RAOC Gazette - page 298
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 our absence we were joined by WOl Dave Cochrane from Balmy Brunei, he takes over from WOl Frank Kirkton who is off to perishing Perham Down on the hill of the Mosel within walking distance of Bernkastel. The week- end just happened to coincide with the wine festival, good r inning boss! Plenty of fresh air, exercise and active partr- ,. ]>ation in the wine feast ensured a successful weekend. We , c now back and our latest challenge being the restructure of the Workshop. Farewells to two of our Storemen, Chippy Wood to COD Donnington and Lance Corporal Tony Horan to CAD Kine- ton. Private Terry Bentley leaves us for Civvy Street with fond memories of Lost Weekend. We welcome to the Section Mrs Caroline Woodford and Mrs Lorna Owen who have joined the Control Cell, sorry, the nerve centre, as our technical clerks term it. Stag Sergeant Tom Lattimore is our new Chief in the Storehouse. 2nd Armoured Division ^•^^^••H ^^FJ^^By^H ^ £ J^B^L ^ 1 H^^^^^^^H ^I^V^^^^I^H ^^Ti^^^^^V Iflft^V^M • ^ v M ^ | U HEADQUARTERS RAOC SINCE your author last put pen to paper, e een *^ ^ k Quite hectic. During British Week the Headquarter and Signal Regi- ment was granted the Freedom of Lubbecke- This branch provided four stalwart men for the parade: * Right Marker' Private Charlie Welbourn, S B M ^ I H ^ ^ H Corporal John Scott and Lance Corporals m ^^^^^^^^^^ j o r m Moore and Sebastian Paterson. Congratulations are in order for Lance Corporal Moore who has been selected for promotion next year. The last week in September provided some glorious weather for the Headquarters to lurk in dry woods for a change on Exercise Queens Crown III. This was a work-up for the Corps CPX which followed in October. On the drive to the Startex location Lance Corporal Moore very kindly offered to drive the Padre and was then grateful for * help from above * when a car with trailer tried to cross the main road* in - the middle of packet five. There was an even longer ' approach march * for Exercise Autumn Sales, down to the area of Bitburg just north of the Mosel valley. The weather was again kind to us and over the first weekend most members of the Headquarters were given a guided tour of the US Air Force base at Bitburg where we were warmly welcomed. One US soldier who was not so kindly disposed toward the British Army, remarked to Private Alex Meldrum, who was musing on the banks of the Mosel in Trier at the time, What's it like to be in the smallest army in the world? The reply of What's it like to be in the second best army in the world crushed him and he slunk away. Meldrum was also party to another curious incident in the course of driving CRAOC around during the exercise. CRAOC swears he saw a camel and an elephant in a field in the middle of no- where, Meldrum of course supported the sighting. We sent off Second Lieutenant Chris Gwilliam, who was attached to the Headquarters for the exercise with camera to confirm or deny the sighting, we now await development of the film to see if the animals in question were pink or not! 87 SUPPLY DEPOT THE mad season has started in BAOR and the Supply Depot has begun its long list of Inspections with PRE, a visit from CSIT, the Ordnance Ancilliary Inspection and the Defence Auditors all crammed into a period of six weeks. On top of that there has been a final flush of logistic exercises that have worked the MHE, and our ingenuity, into the ground. How- eve r, there still appears to be time for the occasional period of relaxation as our games night with 15 Field Workshop Stores Section certainly showed. Ably organised by W02 Keith Williams and Staff Sergeant Tug Wilson, the party swung into the early hours and provided an extra boost for the club profits just before the audit! On the sports side, Sergeant Dave Baker is in his element with the start of the football season and pops off regularly to referee matches and test budding new stars. The shooting team has started, although the PRE placing our only two No. 8 rifles out of action has slightly hampered training. Neverthe- less, there are some able shots in the Unit and though not yet up to the standard of last year, we should give other RAOC teams a good run for their money. Sergeant Geordie Harker has gained his redundancy and has already started collecting safety pins for his * punk rocker' outfit. We have also received news of our errant desert war- fare expert—Lance Corporal Tony Billington who returns to the reality of the butchery. Our numbers will then be com- plete for the first time in a year! 2 ARMOURED DIVISION ORDNANCE COMPANY ANOTHER very busy month__ with much coming and going, The Unit returned from Exercise Queens Crown III with good reports and a host of ' War Stories,' tired but triumphant. A series of moves from one location to another without getting lost became routine. Captured enemy muttered about fifth column. Sleeping by roster is a new one, two on four off for guard duty, during the four off you issue, receipt etc, etc, then sleep. Simple Our communications set up under Sergeant Dennis Price proved an ace. Controlling six locations from his control box made the life of a runner less arduous, the Unit more aware and gave the OC his first audition for Radio 2. Staff Sergeant Phil Marriott has now mastered his puttees and really looks the part. Private Stephen Davey is recover- ing in hospital after the unpleasant experience of seeing the trailer he was towing pass him on the autobahn, while the * backbone' of the Unit Staff Sergeants Wes Braithwaite and Ron Bridgmount are on the mend. All of our efforts are now directed to the Technical In- spection. Who said Clerks could not wash walls!! We have despatched no less than forty eight men to courses over the last two months without a fail between them. Worthy of special mention is Corporal Ollie Farrell who gained an ( A' Grade as a POD Instructor. Our sporting scene is taking a turn for the better with Corporal Cornelius Van Nuil captaining the rugby side to a narrow defeat at the hands of Wulfen with the promise of things to come. The footballers turned it on in the league and beat 16 Squadron RE by six goals to three with Private Tony Cope knocking in a hat-trick. All are in furious training for the forthcoming cup rounds. Our stars this month must be the canoeing team who with little opportunity for practice competed in the BAOR Cham- pionships. We did not win but did well enough in raging wild white waters to earn a trip to the UK Championships at Richmond in November. Second Lieutenant Paul Wilson excelled to come second in the Novice Competition and must have high hopes for the future. The team was made up of Corporal Pete Sharpe and Sergeant Dennis Price. Our congratulations to Sergeant Les Rogers and Lance Corporal Jock Barber ACC on their substantive promotion. We welcome Privates Rob McFarlane and Alan Speed to the fold and farewell to Lance Corporals Steve Sugden and Paddy Doran. This month we highlight: By the way, the exercise was to practise the Corps in the advance and we made the Rhine in twelve hours fewer than 1 Iron Pants Patton ' did twenty two years ago. After the break- out from the bridgehead we had an early Endex and returned home rejoicing. - 227 STORES PLATOON 12 ARMOURED WORKSHOP REME. Under normal conditions the Stores Platoon of forty personnel are commanded by Captain John Barrow, located with 12 Armoured Workshop. Being one of nhe first Stores Platoons to be affected by |
| Book number | R0246 |