RAOC Gazette - page 112
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 |
t hc woods near Viersen. The Vehicle Sub-Depot was invited 'jlonii too, in fact their jntrepid CO, Lieutenant Colonel Maurice Y-.jng who picked up the bug quite badly on a recent spoil Rumour [ n \ ' K , showed our youngsters how to do it in style. jjas it our CO, Lieutenant Colonel Derek Yeats has been stung into a crash course to put things right, Another beginner Cap- tain Bob Willox put in a very good performance indeed as the overall winner. Viersen results were in the age bracket thirty five to forty five: first Captain Wiliox, second WOl Pratt, third Sergeant Cowell. In the under thirty fives, first Corporal Bertram, second Corporal Pearse and third Corporal Charlton* The winning departmental team was Printing and Stationery Group combined with 608 Signal Troop. Hello to Sergeant McGill, and goodbyes to Sergeants Truss and Roche, Corporal CofTils and Staff Sergeant Dufiy to civilian life. Congratulations to Lance Corporal Walton on his promotion to Corporal and to Lance Corporal Hooper REME on his marriage to Miss Belinda Mattocks. fitting occasion for marking the departure of an officer who had worked so hard for the Unit. As he would say—" Good news Robin." Perhaps those of us who have already left for Antwerp had less time or inclination to dwell on the emotional aspects of a closing Unit. Twenty two of our military staff have already been 1 transferred to ODA and another seventeen are " on their way some of them having taken over quarters there. After July there are growing indications that Manning agencies are going to be even more predatory as we take on the character of a carrion prone carcass but there are still flashes of life and our calendar bears not the slightest hint of a close of business. This will be apparent in our next newsletter when we report on the events of the last few days which will include Orienteering at Viersen, the JRC Summer Ball and the Officers /Senior Ranks versus Junior Ranks Cricket Match. Arrivals and Departures: Welcome to: WOl Miles (REME), WOl Moncaster. Farewell to: Corporal Millership, WOl Siviter, Private Woodruff, Sergeant Cradleton, Privates Little- john and Sanders, Corporal McMullen. Births: Congratulations to Private' and Mrs Kennion on the birth of a daughter. Marriages: Congratulations to Private Jepson on his marriage to Miss Roswitha Fretzen. Rhine Area Lieutenant Colonel Young presents the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal to Sergeant Thomas Cradleton now with the TAVR in Glasgow* VEHICLE SUB-DEPOT MOENCHENGLADBACH ALTHOUGH some nine months have elapsed since the official announcement of Depot closure it is only in recent weeks that tangible manifestations have started to occur and it is now apparent that even our military personnel are beginning to believe it. The signs are curiously unnerving as a sense of nostalgia and a desire to recapture the past add a subtle bleak- ness to the atmosphere and foreshadow the echoing emptiness which we will leave behind. Photographs and memorabilia which have been ignored for years are now lingered over with almost mawkish sentiment as if the viewer were trying to visualise the faded patch of wall which will remain after their removal In our closing newsletters over the next nine months we will foster Th^s sense of history and before we all disperse to ' the four corners * we will remember our predecessors from the moment they set foot in Europe as they struggled across the Normandy beachhead in 1944. Tangible manifestations take many forms but there can be few more vivid than an empty parking space and now only intrepid interlopers park their cars in the cobbled space in front of Block 9 marked 'Planning Officer/ We no longer have a Planning Officer because Captain Robin Sider has been posted to Donnington and no re-info re ement will be provided. As the principal activist in most fields of sport, fitness training and Unit publicity he leaves behind a void of massive proportions which we can never hope to fill. Characteristically his departure coincided with his last major event—the Seven-a-Side Inter Department Soccer Tournament which by a curious twist of fate was won by our embryonic successors—the Willich Detach- ment. It was a memorable and thoroughly satisfying day and a STORES SECTION WILLICH WORKSHOP THIS is probably the first time that a contribution to THE GAZETTE has ever been notified by this Unit. However, for those Corps readers who have never heard of us before, we do assure you that we are very active although small in numbers. We support the parent Workshop and have a very good record for courteous efficient service. The Unit is located within the RE Depot which is off Route 57 between Krefeld and Moenchengladbach. Our present staff is as follows:—W02 Jim Caldwell (WOIC), Sergeant Bob Waller, Corporal Bob Roberts and Herr Wolf K Todt—German civilian clerk who has been with RAOC fot twenty six years and has seen the Unit change titles many times, Small though the Unit may be it is not all a bed of roses here. PT is carried out with the Workshop every Monday and Thursday. Every Friday is Regimental day and this helps to keep us up to date with the current aspects of all subjects on training, From an establishment of three military we manage to produce a team of four in the twenty two shooting. How is it done? Well, the wives take an active part and it is through their efforts that this is possible and they have acquitted themselves very well. Corporal Bob Roberts is our marksman. To date the team have produced some fine scores and shocked many a larger Unit. The latest story here has it that the * white hunters * can also account for good provision in the form, of rabbits for 21 Squadron RE meals whilst they were on exercise. The focus at present is on the forthcoming * Schiitzenfest.' The RE Depot always provides a silent drill squad for this occasion and it is much admired by the local population and proof of this is in the order of free beer for the day. Our own Stores Section can claim some free beer also in the form of W02 Caldwell playing his bagpipes which are very popular with Willich locals, Farewell (belatedly) to W02 John Williams who left on redundancy via Headquarters Wales, Wulfen Station f SPRING has attracted many garden lovers to the Depot patch and it has also attracted many German civilians into the camp for the annual fete which was a great success. All the stalls did extremely well. Of course, the big attraction was the tank ducking, probably due to the at- tractive targets in the shape of Captains Brian Crawley, Paul Henwood, SSM Brian Hosband, Mrs Patricia Jones and Mrs Isobel Hewitt. The Wulfen ladies are striving to become the shapliest in the land, now that keep fit classes are held weekly by Mrs Sandra Desfontaines. The classes are taken in the school, the |
| Book number | R0247 |