RAOC Gazette - page 228
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 |
gFBS, He wrote a song called li Going Away " himself, and , j w r l went to the recording studios in Cologne to sing and play. i-j he day, faulty equipment meant that he had to make ten l }1 ' tt e;r.pts t before the recording was satisfactory, by which time he e e tne be<::m f " ^ strain* However, his entry made the semi- tintil, and was judged by a panel of celebrities in London. Considering that a great many of the entries were from estab- lished folk singers, he did very well. More recently, we had two successes in the Division Autumn lf meeting at Sennelager, when Mr Bill Rogers, our Fire tt0 Adviser, won the Handicap B division, and Staff Sergeant George W'illerton came second in the Scratch. Finally, avid readers l this column will be interested to learn that the Adjutant has now demonstrated his complete mastery of map reading German style, by coming fourth in a local Anglo German car rally, which made him the only British entry among the prize winners. Others in the news include Lance Corporal Bob Cummins, ho left for his RPC with the threat from the Chief Clerk w " Don't come back until you pass" ringing in his ears. On his arrival at Bracht T he was told that the course had been cancelled suddenly. He seemed somewhat reluctant to return! However, once he had done, he soon left again to help out during an adventure training exercise for teenagers from the Division. This turned out to be a mixture of hard work and holiday, and he says he would jump at the chance of doing it aaain. It won't count towards RPC, Bob. Private Alex Meldrum also achieved unwanted publicity when he became a reluctant helper in the Garrison Fete earlier this month. Two pirates, complete with eye patches and sinister looking cutlasses, descended upon him during the afternoon. They dragged him off to the stocks, locked him in, and charged little boys 50 pfgs for the opportunity of throwing custard pies at him. He was heard muttering strange Scottish sound- ing oaths upon his eventual release; we think it was probably a threat to re-grow his moustache. There were two births this month. The first was Catherine Anne Harnott on 9th September, at 7-lbs 3-oz, and then Sharon Welboum on 16th September, at 5-lb 13-oz, Mothers and children (and fathers for that matter) are all well, and we send them our good wishes. Congratulations, too, to Lance Corporal Chris Rhodes, who was married at the end of August, and we welcome his wife Ingrid to Germany. WOl Wally Upton has had a stay of execution, and promotion to go with it, and we welcome our two new typists, Mrs Pat Gladwin and Mrs Janina Kufluk-Thackery, 87 SUPPLY DEPOT PRIDE of place this month must go to Heinz and Waltraut Mathes. Illness has unfortunately compelled both of them to lake early retirement. Between them they served the RASC and RAOC for over sixty five years, Heinz joined the Supply Depot then known as 503 Supply Platoon in 1945 at Neu- immster in the far north of Germany and moved with the Unit in 1950 lo its present home in Munster. Heinz learnt his trade the hard way filling every supervisory position in the Depot until he emerged as the Chief Clerk Supplies. Waltraut worked with the various Corps Units that have occupied Winterboume Barracks over the years before joining the Supply Depot where she worked at the right hand of her husband. They will be sadly missed but we are thankful that they are both convalescing well and hope that they will enjoy many happy years of retirement. Another departure is that of Sergeant * Geordie' Harker the Master Butcher. He is now back in his beloved Newcastle and our latest news is that he is settling down well, in his place we welcome another member of the North East Mafia, Sergeant Brian Scott. W02 Keith Williams has been to Cyprus to instruct divers. We are not sure just what he instructed them in, but his tan gives proof of a fair amount of time spent above the waves. A recent strange sight was the ' Roaring Twenties * night in the Club. Staff Sergeant Tony Arkle and wife Val organised this superb fancy dress party. The prize went to Corporal Bob Sidgwick as a waiter. Wife Pauline even produced handmade spats. There's devotion for you! We have also had a day trip to Fantasialand. CQMS Tug Wilson tried to drown wife Mary whilst shooting the rapids and the Second-in-Command, Captain Lawrence Burr, spent most of the day in Fairyland. He claims that young son James insisted on this* but we are not entirely convinced. The OC, Major Gary Smith, returned from leave clutching the manuscript of ' Cinderella' the pantomime he has written for the Munster Players Christmas Production. He claims he stayed in the caravan to write it, but remembering the top- less ladies of Cannes, and reading the script, we don't believe him. 3rd Armoured Division HEADQUARTERS A RAOC THIS month saw two introductory visits from the new management at Head- quarters 1 (BR) Corps. Firstly we received the new Commander Lieutenant General Sir Peter Leng who made some most en- couraging remarks about the future, specifically on manning levels, new equip- ment and accommodation. He was followed a week later by the new DDOS, Brigadier Whalley, who stressed that his was an introductory visit only and that he would be back in six months with the questions. Leave applica- tions to the Adjutant please I Nearer home, we have had a month, in barracks, preparing for the Division's Autumn Exercises. The difference between the C Supplies and the Mat Cells is particularly evident at such times. Prior to a major exercise, C Subs strain at finding rations and fuel to keep men and machines operating, watched by Mat, quietly confident that nothing will break down and that all will be well. On exercise, C Sups sit in peace watching RCT doing the work while Mat run amok trying to find and grasp BAOR's TN 12 Gearbox. There has to be a better way than this. Sports are also on a quiet period during which summer sportmen are engaged in action replays and recriminations whilst winter sportsmen (in the broadest sense) are tuning up and nursing muscles which have been underemployed during the alleged salad days. The local farmers forecast a hard winter, so the winter sportsmen (in the narrowest sense) are looking forward to some early ski-ing. It must be admitted however that the same farmers forecast a good summer. We hope they cannot be wrong all the time. The months initiative-prize goes to Lance Corporal Eades. In what is assumed to be a frenzied drive for promotion, he * handed over a carefully selected Land Rover to Sergeant Delamont. The latter drove away in the Land Rover and a wheel forth-with fell off. Sergeant Delamont survived this event and went on to discuss the matter with Lance Corporal Eades. It all ended happily. If Lance Corporal Eades* pro- motion prospects did not improve, at least he remained a Lance Corporal. This month sees much packing and unpacking of MFO boxes, with Corporal Neil Cox almost down to single figures on his ' Days to D o ' Chart. (Nobody seems to know what he found to do with his time before he made the job of keeping his chart up to date his life's work) and Lance Corporal Tom Orrock moving on to British Forces Antwerp on his recent promotion. Lance Corporal Phil Walker plans to go home to be married before moving on to his new job at Headquarters UNFICYP. Corporal Mike Langston has recently arrived from Hong Kong and Private Geoff Hoare joined us from the Apprentices College. Corporal Steve (Jethro Tull Rules — OK) Farrow has acquired himself a new motor bike and it is believed that he is now saving up for a new leather jacket to match the gleam- ing machine. We hope that he will finally hang up the long- serving and well-worn * Leather* which has been his standard dress since arriving here! The Superintending Clerk, WOl Bob Skennerton, has been to Switzerland on leave (and there is no truth in the rumour that no-one noticed his absence for the first fortnight), while W02 Ged Mead and Staff Sergeant Mike Dawson have been busy organising a Divisional Headquarters marching team and have plans for entering some of the International Marches next year. Judging by their map reading skill in their training walks so far, it is to be hoped that there will be no orienteering require- ment in these marches! Footsloggers of a much tougher variety are Staff Sergeant Alan Jensen and Private Jock Conway who make up half of the Division Headquarters Marathon Team* They nave been very successful in recent marathons in Bavaria and Berlin. Twenty six miles three hundred and eighty five yards takes a lot of running—there must be an easier way to save on bus fares.' ORDNANCE COMPANY had a seven good to sporting month with it the team 185 WE beating — have 15/19H, one (well alright, was football only Head- |
| Book number | R0247 |