RAOC Gazette - page 134
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 |
STARS TO MARKL DUNKIRK ANNIVERSARY A star-studded cast, headed by Harry Secombe, is to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation at a special concert in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund. To be called 'Star Parade 1940—1980' it will be held at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Sunday 18th May. The Prince of Wales will be in the audience. Although the list of stars is not yet complete it will include many ex-soldiers and personalities associated with the Army through the roles they have played. The show will open with newsreel coverage of the evacuation from the beaches and a specially struck commemorative medallion will be presented to the one thousand five hundred people buying the most expensive seats. Tickets will cost from £5 to £20. DRAMATIC RESCUE AT BLACKDOWN STAFF SERGEANT LEN MOORE of the Employment Train- ing School, rescued two young children from the first floor of a burning quarter, helped to save the mother's life—and then went off to work without saying a word to anyone! It was some hours before he mentioned what had happened / was worried about the baby, so I thought I ought to say some- thing he said later. Staff Sergeant Moore, who himself lives in quarters at Blackdown, left home for the office that morning and was walk- ing along nearby Dominica Terrace when he heard a woman shouting for help. Up at a first floor window he saw twenty three year old Mrs Julie James with her baby, seven-month-old Timothy and two year old son Paul. She was shouting for help and was panic stricken; black choking smoke from a fire downstairs was engulfing the whole house. Staff Moore said: — She broke a pane of glass in the window and squeezed out her baby wrapped in a shawl. She said to me catch him. I managed to get him as she dropped him out. It was a very near thing. The baby landed head first and almost slipped through my fingers. I couldn't see whether it was a shawl or a baby coming I was lucky to get him. The fire started in a down-stairs sitting room where a sofa, with foam filling which gives off highly toxic fumes. caught alight. Mrs James and the family in panic, fled up- stairs to avoid the suffocating smoke. Lance Corporal Taffy James, Welter Weight Winner. While all this was going on Mrs James' husband, Corporal Ronnie James, better known as Taffy, was away on boxing train- ing. He was a member of the Army team in a match, a few days later, against the Navy. He celebrated the lucky escape of his family with the only win the Army clocked up in the match. Well done Corporal James—and Staff Moore! LOGISTIC SERVICES CONVENTION F O R HEADMASTERS AS part of the sustained and very determined efforts now being made to recruit officers and soldiers to the Corps highly successful Conventions were held in London and York at which a total of eighty four Headmasters were entertained and briefed on the Logistic Corps. The picture shows Brigadier Bernard Biggs DDGOS and Major Keith Mentzel talking to the Headmaster of Lindisfarne College at the Reception in London. Photo courtesy of the Camberley News. Staff Sergeant Moore with Mrs James and her sons Paul and Timothy after the rescue. He then told a woman nearby to call the fire brigade while he turned his attention to rescuing the rest of the family. He climbed up a drainpipe and clung to the gutter as he edged his way to reach Paul and brought him down to helpers waiting below. He also managed to smash the window panes with a brick so that Mrs James could get her head and shoulders out of the window to breathe clear air. He then talked to her and tried to calm her until the fire brigade from Camberley arrived. Mrs James was later taken to hospital for treatment for shock and cuts; the children were also checked, although none the worse for their ordeal. Brigadier Biggs and Major Keith Mentzel talk to one of the Headmasters at the Reception. 335 — |
| Book number | R0403a |