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RAOC Gazette - page 108

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Corps RAOC
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Full title RAOC Gazette
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Publication date 1978
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Early date 1978
Late date 1978
Transcription Jordan, Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar, LAE and the Far East by
\talaya, Brunei and Jamaica representing the Caribbean.
We hope that ail the students on the above courses benefited
from their stay at Kineton and had an enjoyable time with us.
A sincere welcome is extended to Major David Furness-
Gibbon who has taken over the mantle of OIC TD and C
Branch from Major David Hourahane and we wish him and his
family a pleasant stay in Kineton.
Welcome also has been extended to Sergeant Lee Hayter who
has joined CLA Branch from the wilds of Longtown.
Congratulations have been made to Major Frank Steer on
his promotion and selection to the 1979 Army Staff Course.
The inside of the School has had a face-lift in the form of
pointing throughout, a result of which was that some in-tray
contents received a gloss finish others merely a mat finish!
Guided Weapons Branch organised an excellent evening in
the form of a Barbeque/ Disco at which copious quantities of
ale were quaffed by staff and students alike resulting in that
below par feeling the following morning,
We have said farewell to Sergeant Glyn Kay who has left
the Service to take up employment in Scotland and our photo-
graph shows a presentation to him by Major David Hourahane
in the Prince Rupert Club. We have also lost Corporal John
Hall to BAOR and Sergeant Tony Corr who has entered civilian
life in the Wolverhampton area to work for an explosives
c-imolition firm.
by the total holding of all natures in either of the remaining
CADs. Ah well! Old men reminisce and young men say
' Rubbish ' in five letters and so it will ever be.
The Sergeants Mess at least went out on a tremendous note
with a very well attended Closing Regimental Guest Night on
5th May, The DGOS was guest~of-honour; other guests in-
cluded all the current officers of CAD Bramley and many,
many former members of the Mess imported especially for the
occasion. And what an occasion it turned out to be; there
was certainly no funereal atmosphere at that function—though
there may well have been one or two people wishing they were
dead the following morning! General Callan regaled the
company with a witty after-dinner speech which he rounded off
by presenting a handsome clock to Cedric Squibb marking the
iatter's forty seven years at CAD Bramley.
Congratulations are very much due to the Unit Smallbore
Team, whose swan song was a clean sweep of the Home and
Baker Team Competitions.
In the Baker Cup, the 'A* Team
l
won Division 1 and the B ' Division 2 ; the Home Cup was
won by the *A" team with the * B ' team as runners-up. Bramley
has always produced a good shooting team and it was indeed
gratifying to end on such a strong note,
Congratulations, too, to Major Steve Goldring on promotion
to that rank and to Mr W. C Jepson on the award of the ISM,
which was presented to him by the Commandant on 23rd June
in what was probably the last formal function to be held in
the Unit.
One would now normally end by listing personnel who have
left since the last letter. However, they number nearly fifty
so individual mentions clearly are not possible- To one and all
good fortune wherever you go, whether it be to a new Unit or to
the doubtful pleasures of civvy street
And what better way to end this final CAD Bramley letter
than with a hearty welcome to Captain David Dickerson and
Mr Ron Summers of the United States Army, who are already
in post ready for the formal change to Ammunition Depot,
Bramley. We wish the new depot well and may its association
with the' Corps be a long and happy one.
RVP
Regional Depot RAOC Thatcham
Photo Sergeant D. Crocombe BEM
Sergeant Glyn Kay receives his farewell presentation from Major
Hourahane.
Central Ammunition Depot Bramley
ALAS, this will be the very last newsletter from CAD Bramley;
the Unit virtually ceases to exist after 30th June when all
military other than a small rear party and all civilians other
thsn those required for the new American Depot are due to
disappear. On that day, too, both the Officers Mess and
Sergeants Mess close their doors: The Pheasant Club is already
closed and deserted. Apart from the MOD Police, quarters
are fast emptying and everywhere there is an air of unnatural
quiet,
30th June also is the last day of service for the very
familiar figure of Lieutenant Colonel * Tiny * Wordingham, for
many, many years the Unit MO. Thousands who have passed
through Bramley will know him well and will, I am sure, join
with me in wishing him well in his final retirement Again, it
alio marks your scribe's last day of service after a total of forty
years with the Corps and a personal association with CAD
Bramley going back into the war years. How things have
changed in every possible way during that period. One remem-
bers one single repair task—the refuzing of twenty five pounder-
embracing a greater weight of ammunition than is represented
THE summer migratory season is here and members ' un-
willingly ' leave the home nest for temporary flights to far
flung regions.
Major Eric Foster (OIC PC and A) to BAOR for the
purchase of much needed and * essential * adventure training
stores.
Major Ian Campbell (SSO) to Cyprus for a week of para-
chuting and swimming.
Captain Rod Ling (MST) to Suffield for four weeks. W.02
Eddie Bullock (MST) just returned from three weeks, in
Belize.
Captain David Moore has been out and about, though not
to duty free regions* and has visited over forty five AES and
MQES in South East District in an attempt to understand
intricacies of the Accommodation Services World- The civilian
members of MST, Mr Roy Kibblewhite and Mr Albert Bowyer,
also have been visiting the far flung UKLF Units 'efficiently
attempting agreement?".
The CO, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Underhill, did not
appear at work as usual one morning last month and a search
found him to be in the Radcliffe Infirmary in the Coronary
Care Unit. It turned out, thankfully, to be a false alarm and
he was back on duty two days later. He should really get a
motor mower and not try and do all his grass cutting within
the half hour with the issue push job.
Though not so fortunate is Mr Bob Borchard, the MST
man in York, who is residing with a heart complaint in
Harrogate Hospital. We hope that he will be discharged soon
and after a suitable period of convalescence rejoin us.
Major Bob Nesbitt (OIC RSG) left us, after only seven
months, for the corridors of power in MOD and now works
for the QMG. Bob did not really wish to leave us as he had
just got his feet firmly under the table and was enjoying life
at Thatcham. Nevertheless, life goes on and he handed over
to Captain Jim Lynam who joined us from the Petroleum
Centre,
Major Stephen Roberts is studying for an accountancy
qualification and contemplating an Open University Course.
Conductor John Woods is studying for his ONC in business
studies. To WOl George Mawson and W02 Dick Cheesman
congratulations on being selected for substantive promotion to
WOl in the near future.
Book number R0247