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RAOC Gazette - page 37

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Corps RAOC
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Full title RAOC Gazette
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Publication date 1980
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Colour Yes
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Early date 1980
Late date 1980
Transcription STORES PLATOON
22 AIR DEFENCE REGIMENT
WORKSHOP
THINGS have been hotting up here. BFTs and PT each have
caused a few heart attacks! (No names no pack drill!) and with
the ARU approaching, Lance Corporal Dave Shirley has at-
tacked the vehicles with a paint brush! He baffled the REME
recently with a stunning piece of maths—three by two inch
letter will not go into a four inch square to paint TAC signs!
After a swift modification REME accepted a six inch square.
We welcome ' Taff' Williams from Kineton and he made his
mark by being interviewed by a reporter from BBC Wales for
a Christmas programme. Private Wycherley arrived and moved
into the Regiment soccer team . . but they still lose!
Meanwhile in our darts/table tennis competitions W02
Kevin Ashworth defeated Sergeant Graham Seymour and Lance
Corporal Mick Pays beat Lance Corporal (I'm posted) Newman.
Private Georgie Purkins has returned from grape picking,
Private Oggie Matthews from Rhine Ramble and Private
' Winker' Watson has gone off ski-ing. Which goes to show
that life isn't dull.
STORES PLATOON 15 FIELD WORKSHOP
NOMINATION for super soldier of the month goes to Steve
Prowen who in the space of four weeks gained his Class 2
Trade, promotion to Lance Corporal and passed HGV 1. Well
done Steve! His last achievement was thanks largely to the
expert instruction of Corporal Tom Povey, who will hopefully
now do the same for our latest arrival Private Paul Tonks.
We were also privileged to receive a visit from Brigadier
Whalley whose arrival was somewhat overshadowed by a
Wrecker catching fire. The Stores Platoon was to the fore in
the fire-fighting with Corporal Phil Moreton and Lance Corporal
Steve Whittaker managing to cover each other with foam, and
still have enough left to put the fire out. REME did their best
to help but our heroes Phil and Steve displayed great skill and
earned a pat on the back—and some new trousers from the
QM.
Staff Sergeant Kevin Reardon is at present in Berlin flash-
ing his red card at the BAOR referees conference. I feel sorry
for all the poor maligned referees having to travel all the way
to Berlin for three days of non-stop conferences! I'm sure they'd
all have enjoyed it much better in Osnabruck!
Composite Ordnance Depot Hong Kong
THE main event of the month must be the RAOC Corps Shoot
which was held on Stonecutters Island. RAOC personnel from
all over the theatre come to take part and thanks to the com-
bined efforts of CSM Barney Appleyard and Sergeant Jess
Ogden who organised and directed the event a good time was
had by ( all. A mention must be made of our two stalwart
ACC members Corporals George Laidlaw and Bill Williams
who produced an excellent buffet lunch. One point to note
which was overheard in the Sergeants Mess tent after Lieu-
tenant Colonel Brian Fox had won his second game of Poker
Dice: ' Custer was right when he said—one does not play
around with the SOO!'
The Vehicle Group continues to be overloaded with vehicle
receipts and issues. Straining nerves but never once losing
the magic of humour the VS is so renowned for. A one
hundred per cent pass in the fitness test proves we can cope
with both work and play. Army life's so funny, Corporal
Smithers our NCO IC Stores Section recently demanded an
item which was extracted from ICP to CICP Bicester land of
knowledge and wizardry! Bicester received and checked our
demand and dispatched a dues out note (AFG 8418) very
efficiently. However, when it arrived here in Hong Kong it had
attached a memo note from our friends in the Outer Hebrides
saying " T h e attached AFG 8418 was received by this Unit in
error! How anyone can confuse the Outer Hebrides with
Hong Kong defies our imagination. Hope your weather is better
than ours." Thank you Hebrides for dispatching our mail
efficiently, correctly addressed and the added note of great
humour. We in Hong Kong, wish the sun shines full of luck,
happiness and prosperity for you and yours in 1980.
Highlight of the QMs department must be the return
of the CQMS Staff Sergeant Pete Fellows from his RQMS
course at the School of Ordnance and looking very white (we
don't know if this was due to the weather at Deepcut or the
price of petrol for his hire car). The staff and civilians had
a junk trip to relieve the pressure of work, all agreed it was
a great day and the Quartermaster found time to interrupt his
fishing to cook the Bar-B-Q. The forces of good triumphed
over the forces of evil and the Quartermaster did get away for
a weeks leave recently travelling to such exotic places as
Macau and Stonecutters Island.
ASD has had a very enjoyable ' Chinese Night' which was
held at the Sheraton Hotel, they joined members of 415
Maritime Transport RCT (the organizers) for the evening.
One person deserves special mention, Pat Lawrence who decided
to go for a swim between two ' Walla' boats fully clothed, but
thanks to the strong hands and quick thinking of Corporal Willy
Morton she didn't disappear completely, coming out of her un-
expected trip with just a few heavy bruises. A one hundred
per cent pass was attained by all ASD in the recently held
BFT which proves that the odd run beforehand is well worth
making. In between all this we have earned our extra dollars
this month by working two weekends to unload and load the
annual resupply ship.
Farewells this month go to: WOl Stewart Hudson and
his wife Valerie, Sergeant John Hood and his wife Janet,
Sergeant Paddy Organ and Corporal Andy Brightmon. We wel-
come in their places WOl Ian Powell and his wife Doreen,
Corporal Paddy Bailie and his wife Glynis, and Corporals
John Aldridge and Owen King.
Finally our congratulations go to Sergeant Brian Tomlin
on passing his Service Funds and Accounts course and Corporal
Ron Audrain on passing his education and Privates Wan and
Ho on passing Trade courses—well done and a special con-
gratulation to WOl Fred Woolhouse on attaining a mention in
nine out of ten GAZETTE issues—well done Fred, we only men-
tioned you this time because you forgot your GAZETTE Notes.
Gurkha Field Force
1 THE RAOC Annual Shoot took place again
this month and the Gurkha Field Force
were waiting to try out the ' new look' team,
consisting of Staff Sergeant Ritchie Warner,
Sergeant Dave Turner, Corporals Kevin
Mills and Ross Hale, Lance Corporal Tony
,
Redfern and captained by Captain Ron
Gray. The setting was again the tranquil
Stonecutters Island, made even better by the glorious weather
which anyone would have considered as a good omen for the
day's events.
Without going into much detail, the Gurkha Field Force
team were delighted to see Captain Ron Gray win the In-
dividual Pistol and Best Shot awards thus setting the example
for the Team Pistol event.
Some may remember that balloons were used last year
which resulted in some unusual scores in the Team Pistol. So
this year Fig 14a targets were used. A thirty metre run followed
by six rounds at the targets in under thirty seconds. With our
confidence running high the Field Force team won this event
in a style that made our Captain buy us all a beer out of sheer
joy!
On a more personal note we congratulate Lance Corporal
Redfern on selection for promotion next year. Also, at last,
Staff Sergeant Dave Beadsworth has received his posting order
and he now admits it was worth waiting for and is looking for-
ward to Berlin. Sergeant Winstanley and Corporal Hale have
both received posting orders, to Rheindahlen and Soest respec-
tively and are brushing up their German.
X
Headquarters Brunei Garrison
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THE highlight of the month was the visit
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of the Inspector and his presentation of
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* e *- on S Service and Good Conduct Medal
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to Sergeant Alan Owen, well done Taff.
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We were pleased to receive a visit from
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YM Colonel Lloyd-Jones and to know that our
( r n ^ ^ ^ P ^ ^ t W presence in this isolated Garrison is not
l|n Jj^nf^tf w] forgotten by our masters in UK. We hope
\ S H ^ _ J [ ^ 3 W O T he enjoyed his stay and realize that jet lag
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does affect ones handicap! The Inspector
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was accompanied by our new SOO, Lieu-
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tenant Colonel Fox to whom we extend a
welcome and hope that he will be back again for a longer stay.
Our rugby team, ' The Kukris' are going from strength to
strength under the task master/coach Staff Sergeant Graham
Manders. We have won the State seven-a-side cup with a score
of one hundred and twenty six for and six against. This
was followed by another win in the Shell Recreation Club seven-
a-side; we won that cup by one hundred and twenty eight for,
eighteen against. The team then went on tour to Kota Kina-
balu in Sabah for four days.
— 262 —
Book number R0403a