RAOC Gazette - page 55
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1978 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1978 |
| Late date | 1978 |
| Transcription |
C O R P S S Q U A S H TOUR OF HOLLAND AND GERMANY IORPS SQUASH in UK added another first to its run of ichievements with a ten day tour of Germany and Holland under he leadership of its Chairman, Colonel John Skinner. The touring players were, in order of merit, Sergeant Robbie Robinson of the AG Secretariat MOD, Major John Woodliffe of ZVD Ashehurch, Sergeant Dave Bradley of the Employment raining School, Captain Seamus Kerr of the School of Ord- nance and Lieutenant Colonel Bob Cannons, Commandant of We&t Moors. To ensure early nights for all and instant reserves tvere Colonel John Skinner, ably assisted by the Secretary Major Lance Brett. The tour started when a bleary eyed team arrived at Zebrugge after one of those typically sleepless night crossings and gratefully took advantage of Ordnance Depot Antwerp's generous hospitality to brush up and breakfast, before setting off on the long journey to Paderborn. At Paderborn we were warmly welcomed by our host Lieutenant Colonel Cliff Jefferies, himself a Corps Squash colour, of 1 Combat Supplies Battalion. We were to stay in Pader- born for three days, playing matches against 1 (BR) Corps teams in the evenings and coaching players during the day, Our first test came in Bielefeld with the match against Head- quarters 1 (BR) Corps and Signal Regiment, BAORs Champion Unit. Ironically their No. I was WOl Frank Linnane our own Corps No. 2. However, he was no match for the English seeded No, 11 Robinson and lost in three straight, WoodtifTe beat WOl Roberts, an APTC Corps player three to one in a beautiful display of precision play and Bradley scored a three to two win over the energetic Lieutenant Colonel Payne with a good demonstration of controlled shots. Cannons played what is usually described as a blinder to also win three to two, which gave us a splendid four to one win. Our next match was against a 1 (BR) Corps invitation side. We had the pleasure of seeing a superb exhibition of squash at its best in the game between Robinson and ex-Captain James Beattie, last year's Army No. 3. Robinson, Woodliffe and Bradley all won to ensure a three to two win. The third and last game was arranged by Lieutenant Ccionel Jefferies at the magnificent Paderborn indoor tennis and squash centre against a 1 (BR) Corps RAOC team. They all put up a strong fight, led by Major Ted Champion, but had to concede a five nil win to the superior tourers. Kerfs violent return of service and attacking approach earned him a three nil win over Attrill. Our stay in the Corps area had sadly come to an end, but we could look back on three good wins; a lot of coaching of both young and not so young players and the hospitality of Majors Peter Freeman and Ian Walker in Bielefeld, and of course our hosts 1 Combat Supplies Battalion in Paderborn. Major Ted Champion talking to Colonel John Skinner after his hard game against Major John Woodliffe (background) at the Paderborn Squash Club. The Corps side at W u l f e n just before the match. Left to right Sergeant Dave Bradley, Sergeant Robbie Robinson, Colonel John Skinner, Major Lance Brett, Major John Woodliffe, Lieutenant Colonel Bob Cannons, Captain Seamus Kerr (squatting). Packed into the minibus the team took the autobahn for Wulfen with our intrepid driver David Bradley at the wheel and Colonel John up front with him, ostensibly map reading from the second of two BAOR road maps. The first road map came to a sad end when it was twisted into a funnel the day we ran out of fuel and had to refill from our jerricans. Mention of refuelling the minibus recalls the burning ambition of our two Sergeants to achieve the distinction of getting the Com- mandant of the Petroleum Centre, under one pretext or another, to refuel the minibus from our jerricans and within camera range. Needless to say Colonel Bob Cannons was far too wiley for them, but it would have made a good picture for this article! We coached and played a match during our one night stay at Wulfen against the local station team led by WOl Des Fontaine. The gallery was packed by those who had come to" see the skill of the Corps players in action and they were not dis- appointed. Our final destination next day was Rheindahlen where we expected to meet the big guns of BAOR and RAF(G), To prepare ourselves we embarked on some intensive training under our chief coach Major John Woodliffe. The courts echoed to his repeated exhortations for ' m o r e effort'! and * sharper!, sharper I / The two Colonels didn't realise they had so many muscles that could ache; Seamus Kerr lost even more hair off his thinning pate; Dave Bradley was nearly fit to drop (shot) and Lance Brett had to put his pipe away to conserve his puff. Tn peak condition we took on BAOR in the presence of Brigadier Crawley, DOS BAOR and defeated them three to two. Woodliffe's patience and endurance was tested in a particularly tenacious five setter against Scullion, With, the match poised at two all, WoodlifTe took the last game with his disguised back- hand and tactical play. This was followed by a quick trip to Holland to take on the Maastricht Squash Club, who proved too strong for us, and then back to Rheindahlen for the final match against RAF(G). Robbie dealt with their No T 1 in an easy three straight win, finishing the tour with only the one dropped game against Beattie. Both WoodlirTe and Bradley went on to win fairly comfortably to clinch the match three to two. Needless to say our Army colleagues in Rheindahlen were delighted with this result and readily joined in our celebrations. Looking back now we feel it was a highly successful tour from all points of view, with resounding victories against the best BAOR and RAF(G) could produce. We thank all our hosts who received us so well wherever we went and we trust our coaching was much appreciated by all who came along to the sessions. |
| Book number | R0247 |