RAOC Gazette - page 186
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1981 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1981 |
| Late date | 1981 |
| Transcription |
>* -necutters island held a ' Ifs a Knockout' competition > d by our O C Major Chris Ahearne and the SAT, W02 night. U was a great day and the eventual winners ' c ;e team "led by WO I Frank Lawrence. The team con- Jd of three members of ASD, two ASD wives and two ASD ildron. Work still continues at a steady pace with ihe co-located mrnercial explosive factory producing explosives six days a rek. l\ OlC Provision (Captain Stuart Duff), having now com- bed his snorkelling course is now qualified to tackle the staff ^motion exams. ; r X E GROUP. Congratulations to Corporal Fred Scar- ce ^h and Lance Corporal Nigel Coole on their timely rescue a young lady drowning in the harbour. There is no doubt eir actions saved her life—young Nigel on his swimming lility and Fred on his artificial resusitation. British Forces Belize YOU have not yet heard from the Staff Clerks. This team of Spartans is led by W02 Steve Shear the Force Chief Clerk who came to Belize on an eighteen month tour, has com- pleted nineteen and still has at l e a s t f o u r months to do. He is isisted by Sergeant Brian Skidmore, well someone had to do the >tes. who is, he hopes, on an eighteen month tour that will r eighteen months. The warriors consist of Corporal ' Q 1 •/am the overworked and, according to him, underpaid G ps. ; Trg clerk; Corporal Paul Ashton the A (J clerk, who has ist volunteered for a full tours—he must like it here, and bring- ig up the rear in Force Headquarters Private Ian Ward straight om the factory who is the GSD/PR clerk, In Force Troops, our admin unit, we have Lance Corporals avid Connolly and Rick Hoare. We almost forgot Corporal Steve Bird the Force photo- -apher. who by the time these notes are published will have carted to BAOR and will have been replaced by Corporal • Hawkins. He will do very well here as there are plenty of L.rots. Here endeth the puns. Besides he might well publish ie photographs! In the last three months we have said goodbye to Sergeant ill Gray from Force Troops, Corporal Geordie Lane our G lerk, Corporal Kev Smith the AQ Clerk and Lance Corporals olin Chapman and Alan Frodsham from Force Troops. By the time these notes are published we will have been irough our half yearly FTX Exercise Montezumas Revenge ir which the warriors are slaving at their typewriters and ••• plica ting machine. Once that is over we can prepare for the U one in December! Life is full of fun here in Belize. As the typewriter is now overheating due to its prolonged se, we will finish except to say it is a bit cool here at the moment it has dropped to eighty five degrees and is just right for the brce Headquarters clerks to go jogging round training for FT, although we did go for one training run in a tropical lin storm. You couldn't tell the rain from the sweat! FORCE ORDNANCE COMPANY ^NCE more the calm and tranquillity of our particular corner ihe Caribbean is about to be shattered! Although it seems . ' »•• yesterday that we entertained the MGA the paintbrushes nd brooms are out again with a vengeance. This time we are re paring for the visit of Brigadier Berresford. All this is quite nough for most of us but the OC, whose capacity for work as we 11 know is enormous, is wearing three hats in addition to his wn at the moment; CO Force Troops, DAA and QMG and tuff Captain Q. To cap it all (please excuse the pun) he is aptain of the Force Cricket Team so no wonder he's looking arassed. We seem to be on a good run of luck at the moment • M i St Barbara, the unit boat. She is to be seen plying - veen Belize City and San Pedro, the holiday centre of - .ze, on most weekends. The NCO tC St Barbara, Lance orporal Colin McBride, wasn't Royal Marine trained for 'Mhing. This month we say farewell to Staff Sergeant Wade and Sergeant Long. We welcome Staff Sergeant Creasey, Sergeant Ritchie and Private Featonby (again!) We congratulate Lance Corporal Ted Fenney and his wife Julie on the birth of a son, Alan John. Headquarters Brunei Garrison BRUNEI, a Muslim Sultanate, situated on the north-west coast of Borneo is a sovereign state with an area of five thousand seven hundred and sixty five square kilometres and a population of a quarter of a million people. It is an important source of oil for the expanding markets of Asia and the Far East and now, having, been an oil exporter since 1932 has become wealthy enough to afford rapid modernisation. Brunei and Britain have enjoyed an Association since 1847 and in 1906 Brunei accepted the first British resident, a representative of the British Government. The Ajiglo-Brunei treaty of 1959 was revised and updated in 1971 and following the signing of a new treaty of friendship and co-operation in 1979 Brunei set on a course to achieve full Independence by the end of 1983. Until that time Britain has a responsibility for the external affairs of Brunei and maintains a Military presence in the State. The British Garrison is located in the west of the State at Seria, close to Brunei's main supply of oil, It consists of logistic support provided by RAOC, REME, Royal Signals, AAC, RCT and others, training expertise from the British Army Training Team and one Infantry Battalion detached from the Gurkha Brigade in Hong Kong* Currently half way through a two year stint of duty as the Resident Battalion are the 2nd Battalion 2nd (KEO) Gurkha Rifles commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Jackman MBE MC, brother of the Surrey and England opening bowler. Colonel Jackman has the double responsibility of acting as the Garrison Commander, no easy task, at which he is ably assisted in the daily running by the Garrison Adjutant, Major Paddy Wilson RAOC. W 2 Kevin Reardon, ASU and Staff Sergeant Ben Carr, CQMS are the other two Corps men situated in the Garrison Headquarters, while the number is completed by Staff Sergeant Mel Hamilton and Corporal Henry Cooper who spend their working day running the RAOC Stores Section a mile or two down the r o a d Having now introduced our small but efficient team the time is nigh to say farewell to one of them, Staff Sergeant Ben Carr who with his wife L Matty' have nailed down the final MFO lid and are soon to depart to CVD LudgershalL As with every departure there is also an arrival, in this case Staff Sergeant Thompson may your tour be a happy one. One final note, we can hardly close without mentioning W02 Kevin Reardons * Hole in O n e ' at the Panaga Golf Course recently. The ecstasy he felt was short-lived. It was a shot for which he paid dearly in champagne! Royal Brunei Malay Regiment BY the time these notes are printed we shall have said farewell to our Superintending Clerk, WOl Allan Braithwaite, and WOl George Hendley our man with the Garrison Engineers. We welcome in their places, still looking a little confused and bewildered by it all, but l banyak chakap Melayu,' are WOsl Joe Tidmarsh and Guy Adams respectively, A further welcome is extended to Major Mike Harris who is to take over the DAQMG reins in the RHQ. All three were successful on the Malay Language and Jungle Course which all Loan Service Personnel attend on arrival. As it is now Bulan Puasa (Ramadan) we only work morn- ings—WOl Andy Meachen our man at Flotilla can now have a clear conscience about taking his troops water ski training every afternoon. Sam Talakuli is overjoyed at the news of the increase in establishment of RAOC WOs in Logistics, his hair line has now stopped receding, perhaps he'll have time to go to Singa- pore for that hair transplant and rinse. We've already booked a place for Joe Tidmarsh in anticipation of his involvement with the planning and execution of the move of the RHQ to the new purpose built Formation Headquarters building later this year. — 155 — |
| Book number | R0250 |