RAOC Gazette - page 26
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1981 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1981 |
| Late date | 1981 |
| Transcription |
6 Field Force A pleasant interlude took place recently when Captain J. G. MacDonald RAAOC, spent a day with us seeing what a real field force Unit does to earn its bread and butter. He absorbed a lot of detail —but may have lost some of the finer points at Happy Hour. One of the finer points he lost was his Australian battledress jacket which now sits alongside its New Zealand counterpart in the Company Club Trophy Room. Another notable event was the marriage of Lance Corporal Pat Knox to his lovely bride Joy. The Unit Club was taken over by the MT Section under Staff Sergeant Des Grumley and indeed was transformed. The reception was a fabulous affair, the food mouthwatering and the attention to the smallest detail was impressive. The Company has held Christening parties and other auspicious occasions in the Club, but never a wedding reception of this standard before. The Company is due to take part in a refugee control exercise this week. The Company characters have all been given roles to play which vary from Bank Managers to farm labourers. Some WRAC ladies will accompany us on this exercise as wives and girlfriends but some of them may take exception to the annotation ' pregnant' on the exercise instruction! The Com- pany 2IC Captain Dick Carman is responsible for this (the annotation—not the condition). If our visit to the Isle-of-Man this year was anything to judge by our part time Airline Pilots and Bomb Disposal experts will be able to get to grips with their roles as farmers and village idiots in some style! More of this exercise next month. Farewells: To Private Andy Hart to Kineton and Lance Corporal Sooty Sutcliffe and Taff Thomas to the Commandos, Jim Brady to Hong Kong on promotion, Private Geordie Gordon to Germany also Corporal Ian Roe on promotion. Lance Corporal Pat Knox and his bride to Devizes and Staff Sergeant Smith to Donnington. Arrivals: Lance Corporal Liddle and Privates West and Ovens from Germany, not to mention Corporal Hughes and family, Corporal Langley and family also Sergeant Henry Parker and family from Cyprus. Many congratulations to Sergeant Robbo Robinson on pass- ing his Provision courses, Corporal Lee (Simon) on passing his Unit fire NCOs course. Corporal Jock Brechin on passing his RPCI, Private Davies nee Aspey on passing his RPC2 and Lance Corporal Hulme on passing his Bl. 7 Field Force WE had a hectic time in preparation for the UAR and full participation in the Col- chester Kit Issue Centre. The Kit Issue Centre has been in operation to ' kit o u t ' members of the TA to cut down on mobil- ization time. Corporal Steve Owens watched. in blank amazement as civilians of ' most unsoldierly appearance' turned up at the Centre for their kit and annual bounty. CSM Mick O'Malley took a group on Exercise Sea Breeze (an adventurous/fishing exercise of dubious repute!) which aimed a challenge at the Icelandic fishing fleets off the English Coast. The traditional fishing stories echo around the Unit, but no actual proof has yet been provided. On the sporting arena the highlight must be the Unit seven-a-side rugby team, who, under the guidance of W02 Noel Barker, finished runners-up in the EDIST Sports Festival. The team included Captain Martin Hicks, Captain Paul Henwood, Staff Sergeant Paddy Brymer, Corporals Steve Hollinshead, Roger Bisson, Privates Billy Hampson, Garry Hudson and Paul Cheshire. Our congratulations this month go to the OC on his marriage to Suzzie Imer with us all wishing them every happiness for the future. Our only arrival this month was Private Kieran. The departure list includes: Lance Corporal Taffy Davies to Belize and Private Andy Hart to UNFICYP. COPY MUST REACH THE EDITOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH PRIOR TO THE DATE OF PUBLICATION — THE FIRST OF EACH MONTH *& W h o has been posted to BAOR and who has got a year to do in Colchester? Lance Corporal Hawksby and Private Balch reveal the 8 Field Force WE bid a hearty welcome to our new Com- mander, Brigadier Wilson, who joins us from MOD and we wish him and his family, an enjoyable tour here in Tidworth. Welcome also to our new Superintending Clerk, WOl Ralph McKee who joins us from Cyprus, Lance Corporal Terry McGovem from the UDR and Private Tony Haimes from the Training Centre. The moratorium has curtailed our usually very busy exercise programme, hence we are spending a great deal of time in barracks but judging by the number of smiling faces around the Headquarters, this is not proving too much of a hardship. Congratulations to Corporal Geoff Parker who having been married for over four years, and wondering if he would ever become a ' dad ' tells us that April could be the month. Well done Geoff, proves there is life in the old dog yet. We are pleased to announce that Lance Corporal Pete Conner has withdrawn his application to leave the Army, although we do wonder if his sudden change of heart has anything to do with the tales of Cyprus the Superintending Clerk keeps telling him. Our Wednesday afternoon Officers v Clerks sports fixture seems to have died a death. I wonder if the results had any- thing to do with it? Football six to one, basketball twenty to eight, both wins for the clerks. The PS to our Commander is Mrs Molly Rimell, wife of Major Jack Rimell RAOC (Retd). Molly and Jack would like to be remembered to all old friends in the Corps. Central Ordnance Depot- Chilwell COLONEL AUBREY WHENT has at last retired! Having packed his bags on a previous occasion, only to take up the reins of Chilwell Garrison again, we eventually said goodbye and wished him a happy retire- ment. John Dargavel, as a farewell gesture, has kindly produced the ' Birds of Chil- we is SS iV // ^ ' cartoon to remember Aubrey by w. ^/r // (See page 248). Talking of remembering, ^^^s=3<ssA^' as part of a recent Regimental Weekend we ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ held a Remembrance Day Church Service ^"""""^ followed by wreath laying and a march past where the salute was taken by our new Commandant and Commander Chilwell Garrison, Brigadier G. B. Berragan. We welcome him to Chilwell and wish him a happy tour. The previous morning, an orienteering exercise was held over an eleven mile course and ten syndicates of three men were set the task of visiting eleven checkpoints in a time of two and a half hours. The team of Privates Cawley, Moss and Price completed the course and were worthy winners and such was their achievement that only two other people, Sergeant Major and Private Morris completed the course but could not be placed as their third team member had to retire through injury. Earlier in the month, we were pleased to welcome the DGOS to Chilwell and during his brief stay, he presented the — 265 — |
| Book number | R0404a |