RAOC Gazette - page 202
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1979 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1979 |
| Late date | 1979 |
| Transcription |
Finally farewell to W 2 John Lloyd, Staff Sergeant Charlie mith. Sergeant Phil Bean and Corporal Geordie Bowen and ope they enjoy their new postings. British Forces Hong Kong HEADQUARTERS ITS been a hectic month full of incidents; the bright ones being overshadowed by the sudden death of Cap- tain Jim Bater who will be sadly missed by us all. I am pleased to say that the parts of the new Head- quarters British Forces build- ng in HMS Tamar which mattered were completed in time for he opening by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales on Uh March. The Corps was well represented at the large Govern- rient Reception and, as the photograph shows, Lieutenant "olonel Richardson had the pleasure of escorting HRH around he Officers Mess. The weather, as changeable as ever at this :ime of the year, managed to stay fine throughout the visit. means an afternoon off, and, of course, with the Royal Navy we still get happy hours; the only trouble is thai they only seem to last sixty minutes, Fortunately since the move we have only had two cases of sea sickness though several of vertigo. Incidentally, this is being written whilsL stuck in a lift, AGAIN! ! ! We bid farewell to Major Tony Winton and Sergeant Malcolm Berry and thank them for all their hard work in Ordnance Branch. Best of luck in your new postings. We welcome Major Mike Harris to Ordnance Branch and wish him and his family an enjoyable tour in Hong Kong, Headquarters Gurkha Field Force THE Headquarters is filling up again as people return from the recent spate of UAR inspections and everyone is settling down to write, and type, reports. Lunchtimes too are as they were with games of squash and runs rather than the ' bhats' (Gurkha curries) that have tended to fill out the figure. Sergeants Arnold and Beadsworth are still * swinging the lamp* with their stories of the jungle whilst on a UAR in Brunei. The S03 Ord, Captain Ron Gray, was recently involved in organising the Gurkha Field Force seven-a-side rugby tournament and specifically managing an Headquarters team. The competition was a great success and the final was eventually between 7th Gurkha Rifles and a team from the Royal Fijian Military Forces. The Fijians, currently training in Hong Kong, had throughout the competition displayed tremendous ability and they carried this into the final, winning forty three to nil. In fact not one point was scored against them during the whole competition. Sergeant Les Arnold and Corporal Kevin Mills are stiil regular players for the Headquarters and Signal Squadron soccer team and Sergeant Arnold has been selected for the Combined Services Hong Kong side, which unfortunately, (not his fault) lost its first match. This month we welcome Sergeant Frank O'Brien as FAACO to 660 Squadron AAC from Detmold and Corporal Ross Hale to the Headquarters from Ireland. Corporal Colin Watson has left us for the cold and hardship of UK. Royal Brunei Malay Regiment EGGED on by the efforts of our Brothers- in-Corps at the other end of the State, we are now trying to produce a regular news letter. Since Christmas things have been busy on work and sporting fronts. W 2 Appy Nanovo, whilst maintaining that he has hung up his rugby boots, is still fully booked up working as Secretary for the Rugby Club. WOl Tony Young and W 2 Terry Smith never seem to cease dragging their ageing bodies round the camp on training for orienteering or running, al- though Terry did manage a week in the bright lights of Hong Kong during February. Judging by his increased effort on his return he must have had a good time. In the Logistic Depot re-organisation always seems to be the cry, mainly due to the never-ending search for more storage space. At the moment the Depot stocks are spread out in locations as far apart as six miles (It's good for the Motor Mileage). There is little to report from the Stores Sections (Conductor Harry Ho wells with the ' Navy 1 and WOl Pete Osborne with the Garrison Engineer) although mutterings have been heard from the latter about the delay in the issue of his posting order. He says * anywhere with LOA will do,' by the way con- gratulations on the promotion Pete. W02 Steve Emerson our Ammunition Technician has been neglecting his ammo duties in favour of the rigours of the Sarawak 1st Division Jungle. He has recently returned from an expedition to find the grave of nine soldiers and airmen who were killed in a Belvedere helicopter crash in the Trusan valley during the Borneo con- frontation on the 4th May 1963, Glad to say they were successful and the grave although neglected in the middle of the ' hutan' is in good condition. The fact that he is now daring to take time off work can only mean that additional staff are on the way and by the time this is in print we wilt have welcomed W 2 Graham Lightfoot to the RBMR. >rince Charles signs the Visitors Book in the N e w Officers Mess -IMS Tamar accompanied by rhe Senior Ordnance Officer Lieutenant Colonel Richardson. The move of the Headquarters from Victoria Barracks to HMS Tamar has dominated recent weeks with much planning, discussion and hard work by all. The sorting, clearing, pack- ing and finally the move is behind us* At last we are all safely in HMS Tamar, although on coming aboard and being met by a stiff sea breeze, it still takes us a further ten minutes to arrive at our battle stations; that is providing the lifts in the Tower Block ^re working correctly. They seem to have a will of their own. The Supply Clerks have been stuck in many of them, the Staff Clerks have been stuck in most and the Officers have been stuck in all of them (probably because officers are renowned for not being able to work with machinery). For those that have never been attached to the Royal Navy it is quite a different way of life. The language appears so foreign, soldiers are now seen to be sprinting for the ' Heads * and at midday lurking around the * Galley,' People now open their skuttles (they look like windows to us) -and have their decks swept The Tower Block gives an excellent view to those who have windows, I mean i skuttles' and their work output seems to have been reduced. The Senior Ordnance Officer was seen to :lean his own windows recently; he now gets a further hours daylight in his office. Those of us who are not lucky enough to be on the outside of the block and therefore have no windows leed not despair Ordnance Branch is issuing * Wiiidows, Card- board Replicas * * NIV * (Whatever that means). The l Livers In * live in cabins but they don't sleep in hammocks, they sleep on bunks, which we used to live in! Of course, with there being Supply Clerks about, the Nautical phrases are not overriding everything. The Officers still have separate Heads Officers Gentlemen Mark IV Bullet Proof Anti Gas! All these terms don't worry us too much, particularly as we sometimes get a * make amends' day which we are assured — 383 |
| Book number | R0247a |