RAOC Gazette - page 21
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1980 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1980 |
| Late date | 1980 |
| Transcription |
to Bovington on a Long Armoured Course. Also we had a belated Company thrash to say farewell to Lieutenant Ken Ferguson who moves to Bordon and Sergeant Paul Wilkic who goes to Headquarters Company. The never ending round of camps and exercises continues with Arnhem Platoon returning from a wet platoon camp in Nottingham and an equally wet platoon ELT camp in North Wales, their platoon sergeant Sergeant Fred Keogh having successfully dodged both in order to go on his Supply Specialist Upgrading Course in Bicester. The Platoons themselves have been doing very well especially the recruit platoons. Arakan deserve a special men- tion for winning inter-platoon cup which helped 'A' Company to win the College Cross Country outright. Congratulations to A/Private Martin (Ardennes) and A/Private McGill (Arakan) for coming first and second respectively. At this moment 'A' Company office has been reduced to rubble by Captain Doug Matheson who reckons his next job is with Weetabix the Builders! B COMPANY. This has been a hectic month, apart from the numerous platoon camps we have managed to send two parties of Apprentices to Cyprus. The first party, ably led by Captain Mike Parsons, went on a sailing exercise and the second were attached to RMAS for Exercise Golden Star. The Company went to St Martin's Plain for the annual Sk'ill-at-Arms Camp and spent five days on Hythe Ranges using various weapons; each member of the Company taking his personal weapon test. The recruits of only ten week's service did very well, about thirty per cent passing and most of the results were satisfactory. The weather was cold but clear and overall it was a most successful week. In addition to training, those left behind have been heavily involved in the Training Centre Annual Bazaar. ' B ' Company were responsible for the bar (of course), White Elephant Stall, Thrift Shop Stall, Book Stall, Roll-a-Coin Stall and all the humping and dumping that is required for this type of event. We also raised the grand sum of £287 for the Army Benevolent Society in street collections throughout Sandhurst and Crow- thorne. However, we still found time to socialise. A successful 'B' Company permanent staff social was held when we said our farewells to Captain Mike Parsons and to Lieutenant Iain Cassidy. We wish them well for the future. Only one posting in this month, Captain Andy Jelly. STOP PRESS I INTER COMPANY BOXING STOP NIGHT STOP WINNERS B COMPANY STOP RING COLLAPSED STOP DETAILS NEXT GAZETTE NOTES STOP The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst THE corridors of New College, resound to strange noises as Staff Sergeant George Fraser tries to fathom out how to work his new photo-copier. He thinks Father Christmas has given him an early Christmas present for his good work as chief clerk. D o w n in Space H e a d q u a r t e r s , (as it is affectionately known) Staff Sergeant Dave Beynon is looking perplexed, trying to get his kit to- gether and ascertain how his newly issued webb- ing fits together. Let's hope he gets it assembled before his standby starts. We already had a senior rank on six months standby (ask Sergeant Ron Carr) how come Dave is permitted to desert? Faraday Hall has been silent this month, no explosions. Cap- tain Andrew Simpson our ATO is looking for stores rather than EOD. He is a member of a stocktaking board and all his time has been taken up looking for stores hidden around the large complex of the Academy. Major Jim Houseman bound for Northag has been hard at it to find the hat size of his replacement, Captain Tony Lever ex-3 BAD, to see if his fire officers white helmet will fit, not to mention his riding boots and saddle. Down in the Technical Quartermasters our second longest serving RAOC soldier, (next to Sergeant Ron Carr, still in Victory College) Staff Sergeant Brian Wicks wonders whether RAOC Records think he is too good to leave Sandhurst as with less than four months left of his tour he still has no news. With all the nice postings the staff clerks get from the Academy we hear he will accept no less than Honolulu—and not even that unless promoted as well. A mention must also be made of another fellow Corpsman Staff Sergeant John Stone who is at the sharp end of the Academy training officer cadets in the Skill-at-Arms Wing. Readers may notice that there is a distinct lack of news from Junior Ranks. This is due in the main to two reasons, firstly that Corporal Paul Harrison has done so well as Secretary of the Junior Ranks Club and Messing Representative that he seems to get lumbered with everything and is therefore too busy, secondly, Junior Ranks are in such short supply that we don't seem to have any to write about. Northern Ireland HEADQUARTERS RAOC SOMETIMES when commencing the monthly task of producing THE GAZETTE notes our mind goes back a few years (note few) to our schooldays when we were instructed to ' Write an essay on so and so;' So we gazed blankly at the wall and wondered how to start and what to say! Things arc not made easier by the fact that due to the publicity we have freely given in the past, our colleagues tend to hide their light's under a bushell, in fact it took quite a long period of research to find that Staff Sergeant Harry Hibbert's success in the badminton is confined to being regularly beaten by a young lady who makes no claims to being an expert; then there is Major Rod Brown who successfully knocked our FTOWO WOl Mike Allen out of the squash league and has failed to beat him since; mind you the Major is a keep fit fanatic. We know this because he sometimes comes into the office in running kit and wearing a red and white ' noddy hat' in fact looking like a lost Manchester United supporter looking for the Liverpool ferry! Ordnance Depot Northern Ireland ON a frosty morning during the latter part of November the Depot was over-run by twenty two schoolboys from two local schools who had been invited to see how the Army works and what prospects the Corps might have in store for them. Lance Corporal Dave Taylor and Private ' Wheels * Russell who has recently passed his Class I Supply Specialist, demonstrated combat rations while Corporal ' R o b ' O'Byrne had to keep a watchful eye on his ammunition exhibits. Sergeant Mick Sharkey gave the boys a conducted tour of PC and A intro- ducing them to pretty girls and microfiche technology. Corporal ' Ben ' Gunn allowed them to play with his HYAB crane in the Vehicle Sub-Depot while a team from 321 EOD demonstrated Wheelbarrow. The Ammunition Sub-Depot can rest assured of excellent treatment from Mrs Burtney, Miss Fitzpatrick and Corporal ' R o b ' O'Byrne who were very creditably placed on a First Aid Course at Lisburn. W02 Tony Bailey asked one of the trio for a demonstration of the ' Kiss of Life'—but we're not telling you which one! Sergeant Dave Udall at the Supply Sub-Depot on the other hand has qualified for the high jump team quite by accident when he discovered a mouse putting in an impromptu appearance in the butchery. While the Interdepartmental sports competition began this month tragedy struck WOl John Kenwright when he injured his shoulder playing volleyball. Even Geordie Duthie can now beat him at squash! Lance Corporal Almond, may soon earn his Parachute wings at the ASD since he can be found every morn- ing padding along the range roads at Ballykinler, while every- one else maintains a hull down position during the Para PT periods. Congratulations to Private Robinson on his marriage to Anne at the beginning of the month and welcome to Lance Corporals Murphy, Burgess and Carter, also to Private Patten. 321 EOD Unit THERE have been several notable changes this month. Staff Sergeant Taff Johnson has gone to enjoy the sunshine in Cyprus, he is replaced by Staff Sergeant Russ Edwards. 1 The ' voice' of the Inspectorate Sergeant Pete Wormley is now in BAOR and Sergeant Spook Anderson has taken his place. Sergeant Pete Dimmock is now installed as the Chief Clerk, on the day his family arrived the opposition laid on a Province- wide welcome. Thirty nine bombs, twenty two exploded, seven were cassettes, ten were neutralised, all teams were fully em- ! ployed for several hours—thus boosting the morale of all and ensuring the clouds of boredom have been blown away for a while. Sadly though, we report the loss of two faithful Wheel- barrows, one is now in orbit over Omagh and the other was cremated in Belfast. — 248 — |
| Book number | R0403a |