RAOC Gazette - page 266
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 |
We welcome Staff Sergeant Gary Willis RAAOC attached to us on Exercise Long Look and wish Sergeant Larry Taylor all the best for detachment in Australia. Congratulations also to Lieutenant Mike Parle and wife Ruth who were recently married, also to Private Steve Sayers and Lorraine on their recent marriage, and well done to Mrs Gartside on the birth of a son Graham. I'm sure Corporal Gartside had a hand in it somewhere. 5 Field Force Ordnance Company ^ ^ ^ ^HR^*^^^_ ^^EmM.^^^^^^^^^ ^HHQW^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^K999gz^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^KSmJ^^^^^^^^I^^^^^^* ON £xlfl.O$£ KSTtfQ^t saddened to learn of the death of Mr Chick Woodward, CASO at ASU Bielefeld, and send his family condolence from all RAOC members within Headquarters 2nd Armoured Division. ORDNANCE COMPANY THE Company had a large part to play in Exercise Certain Shield (RefoTger 78) when Sergeant 'Arry Hibbert and his motley crew, notably Corporal Brown and Private Kerry were attached to 4 Squadron RCT to operate the airhead for the Blue Forces. The heavy lift helicopters used for this purpose were CH 47s, or better known as Chinooks, These made two trips a day from Osnabruck to the exercise area east of Frank- furt carrying assortments of stores and personnel. One small incident occurred when a Chinook landed on the Landing Zone nominated by the RCT, it wrecked its SHQ. Cam nets were blown away, nine by nine were demolished, the signals lost a twelve meter mast and bodies picked up and blown away. Young Geordie Black spent the next two days in hospital. From this one lesson was learned, bearing in mind that the Army may be purchasing Chinooks, you do not put your Landing Zone in the middle of your SHQ location. The following week saw the whole company out on Exercise Keystone Charlie, this exercise went smoothly except for the very last move when the Unit went to its new location only to find a battery of Ml09s in situ. The Gunners had for- gotten their trace and pleaded ignorance. Oh well you have to make allowances for some people!! With End Ex only hours away, the OC used his initiative and found a new location, namely, Osnabruck t On the sporting scene congratulations go to Lance Corporals Bradley and Simmons in gaining their Corps cricket colours. Congratulations also goes to the Unit players who won the Osnabruck Garrison League. Special mention goes to Lance Corporal Bradley who won the best individual batting perform- ance. Captain Jack Eldridge and Private Dickinson had the best bowling averages and in the number of appearances made for the Unit side Captain Ian Johnstone, Lance Corporals Bradley and Simmons and Private Dickinson all had a possible seventeen out of seventeen. Well done. On the soccer scene the Unit is doing very well in the Minor Units Cup and last weekend the Unit came second in the Osnabruck Tri-Nation Competition. The Unit has also made its name in the tug-of-war scene. After its defeat in the Travers Clarke competition the Unit side under the watchful eye of Captain Bob Reid, came runners-up both in the heavy and lightweight groups to the 1 DERR (see page 196) in the Osnabruck Garrison Open Day. Two weeks later the Unit side went back to the 197S Dulmen Youth Festival where they pulled Dulmen in two straight pulls, Dulmen in return presented the Unit with a trophy. Top marks go to Corporal Avery for Anglo-Dutch relations. Along with Sergeant Frost he was driving through Osnabruck one evening in his private car, when he was stopped by a Dutch Captain who was lost, and asked Corporal Avery to show him the way back to the Autobahn. There were two minor problems, firstly the Captain had sixty military vehicles and secondly it meant going through Osnabruck Town Centre! Being the good NCO that he is Corporal Avery switched on headlights and escorted the convoy to the autobahn. WRSBJ^^^^^^^^^^^ readers) in twenty four •^^J3t^^^^^ hours (small hand ^^^^^ twice round the clock for non intelligent readers). This was the UNNA International Run/Walk, and congratulations to all who completed all or part of the course. Special mention must be made of W02 Lex Mootoo, Sergeant Carter, Corporals Dave Gould (REME) and Pete Learmonth, Privates Paul O'Hara and Elvis Biddell who all were awarded the Gold Medal for completing the distance well inside the bogey time. Well done. We all headed East to participate in Exercise Gryphons Galore. (The Gryphon being an obsolete beast whose part number has been superseded—presumably if we've got galores of them Stocktaking ought to do something). The * live * enemy was provided by a Bundeswehr Para Battalion who we saw nothing of and D Company, 3 PARA, who attacked us and were repulsed with monotonous regularity t Presumably this was some kind of forfeit for them as we could see them camping in the same patch of woods as us. Instead of ' Go to jail * it was 1 Go and attack the Ord Company *! The last lot of baddies were provided by 2 RTR, we only saw signs of them once— when Sergeant Mick Gannon, Lance Corporal Les Dick and Private Billy Morrison captured their Leader—Munster's In- trepid Balloonist who nearly crossed the Atlantic. Not his — 218 — r FIFTEEN members of the Unit recently set out to complete one hundred kilometres two and a to non RAOC Assurance Association 18 Chequers Square, Uxbridge, Middlesex Tel. (STD 0895) 53444 2 % Discount — special scheme Motor Insurance. Available to all Corps members. Life Assurance — protection for your family or saving for the future. House Purchase — buying now or in the future. Which Building Society to choose and how much to save. Preferential Interest rates available to regular savers. |
| Book number | R0247 |