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RAOC Gazette - page 160

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Transcription became head of the Training School still gave his personal
attention and instruction to the Army courses, up until his
retirement date in 1977. When it was known that he was to
retire, Petroleum officers serving and retired, decided to contribute
to a gift in recognition of his services to the officers' long petro-
leum course and to the Army in general over many years. Many
Australian officers also contributed to the gift which was
eventually purchased, this was a crystal decanter with silver
wine label on an inscribed salver. British Petroleum kindly
supplied the facility of the Sports Club at Llandarcy, known to
many RAOC officers, and also provided a lunch.
Tony
Morseman came back from retirement to attend the presentation
which was made by Lieutenant Colonel A. R. Newcombe
GSOICW) (Petroleum) on the staff of Headquarters DGOS }
Lieutenant Colonel R, M, Cannons the Commandant of the
Petroleum Centre and Major K. [. Mentzel from the School of
Ordnance who has organised the last three OLPCs. As a back-
ground to the presentation, No. 29 OLPC, the current course
were present as they happened to be finishing their period of
attachment and instruction at the Refinery. All past and present
serving officers of the Officers Long Petroleum Course in the
British and Commonwealth Armies wish Tony Morseman a
happy and long retirement and are extremely grateful for the
dedication which he showed in the past to his students.
Major General N. H . Speller, CB.
COLONEL
Mr Tony Morseman w i t h the presentation party which included
Lieutenant Colonels New com be and Cannons, Major Mentzel and
officers of 2 9 OLPC,
COMMANDANT
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, as Colonel-in-Chief of the
Royal Army OTdnance Corps, has graciously approved the
appointment of Major General N. H. Speller CB, as a Colonel
Commandant of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps from 1st
October 1978,
END OF
AN
OFF FOR A LOOK AT THE
ANTIPODES
ERA
A SMALL ceremony took place recently at the British
Petroleum Oil Refinery Llandarcy in South Wales. It was a
presentation to Mr Tony Mors em an who was head of the British
Petroleum Training School at BP Llandarcy, (formally National
Oil Refinery) for many years.
This was of particular importance to petroleum qualified
officers because of the long association the Army has had with
British Petroleum. Tony Morseman was unique as far as
Officers Long Petroleum Installation Courses were concerned
for as far as records can trace he has been involved with every
Army course since 1951. This puts him back to starting with
the second or third course, in other words, beyond the span
of most serving PI Officers. In the 1950s and early 60s the
greater part of the officers' long petroleum installation course
(then RASC) was based upon Llandarcy and students spent
periods of nine to twelve months there. Tony Morseman was
given full responsibility for looking after the Army course and
instructing it. He became very well known, not only to British
officers, but also to those from the Commonwealth and Australia
in particular.
Although the technical content of the OLPC has changed
and the length of the course reduced, the portion spent at
Llandarcy still played and indeed still plays an important part
in the overall training requirements, Tony Morseman, when he
ONE hundred and twenty British Soldiers from the United
Kingdom and the British Army of the Rhine are, until Christmas,
serving with Units of the Australian and New Zealand armies
in an exchange exercise called Long Look.
The British contingent, all volunteers from different Units
and branches of the British Army, will disperse on arrival
' Down-under * to various parts of their host countries.
This is not just a one-way exercise. While the British
contingent flies southwards, ninety Australians and thirty New
Zealanders have travelled in the opposite direction for a four-
month attachment to British Units in the United Kingdom and
BAOR.
The aim of the exchange is to broaden the military know-
ledge and experience of those selected and promote wider co-
operation between the three Commonwealth armies,
All Arms and Services are represented in the exchange.
Most range in rank from Captain to Junior NCO; all will
undertake duties suited to their particular skills, and some will
be involved in straight swaps with their opposite numbers.
Australian locations extend from Townsville in the tropical
north to southern bases where at first it will still be winter
Three thousand miles will separate Britons based in Western
Australia from their colleagues on the eastern seaboard.
New Zealand destinations include a base on the sheep"
farming Canterbury Plains, beneath the snow-capped Southern
Alps, and another three thousand feet up on the c&ntrm
North Island plateau, overlooked by the volcanic Mount
Ruapehu.
130 —
Book number R0247