RAOC Gazette - page 22
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1983 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1983 |
| Late date | 1983 |
| Transcription |
We doubled our Australian contingent for a few days at the end of March but have now resumed batting at one. Major Robin Apted has taken over from Major Gary Hugo who has departed, golf clubs at the ready, for sunnier climes down- under. The Proof Branch Golfing Society still has sufficient numbers however, as a set of clubs was seen to be put reverently into Major Apted's house. The rocket assisted seats of GM Branch are once again in the news as Major Nick Bell starts to take over from Major Ken England. Departures this month are Staff Sergeant Ken Allen for a six months voluntary tour in Canada, and W02 Paul Wharton at the end of the month to the Army School of Ammunition. One noteable achievement this month has been the gaining of parachute wings by Captain Bob Pettit. Not a bad achievement for a forty year old especially as he did the regular course with many only half his age. Directorate of Supply Management VEHICLE DIVISION A quiet month in Chilwell, mainly because our embryonic provisioners have returned to the fold, and have all been busy trying to clear the backlog of work that has accumulated, despite the valiant efforts of the few left behind. First away to be taught the complexities of Exponential Smoothing, Deviations, Review Forms etc, was Captain Bruce Collett, to be followed by Sergeant John Blake, Corporals Joe McDonough and Ian Pickersgill. At the end of the course, Sergeant Blake was so upset he propmtly went on leave, whilst Corporals McDonough and Pickersgill are still in a state of shock, though showing signs of recovery. Quote of the course, delivered in Yorkshire dialect so here loosely translated; ' I spend twenty seven years learning English (?) and you lot try and teach me Greek in a week!' First indications are that all four were successful, and they are now awaiting posting orders on the basis that they are now surplus to requirement in a provision post. Rumours that Vehicle Branch have already moved to Andover are untrue. Captain Bob Manners has been seen run- ning around, and recently accompanied ' Marathonman' W 2 Graham Whittington on one of his training runs. Well, part of it anyway. After the halfway mark, Captain Manners had to content himself with watching a pair of stubby little legs disappearing into the distance. Other members of Vehicle Branch have been spotted but no news is forthcoming. Can it be pressure of work? Brigadier Turner, the new Director of Supply Management, has visited Chilwell, spending a full day touring the different departments. Finally, having said farewell to Major John Downing last month, we say welcome to Major and Mrs Stuart Jones this month. Hope you and your family enjoy your short stay with us, and remember, it's only a computer that really fouls things u p ! Training Centre SCHOOL OF ORDNANCE THE major problem for the dons of this establishment is the student body. Before Easter the possibility of pitching tents was considered in order to provide sufficient instructional space. It was probably that situation which led the don of Health and Safety to carry out fundamental He is now a qualified galley slave or some research at sea. such thing. This month appears to be all change in logistics: General Log has lost Captain Stuart Addy to the land of (limited) LOA and Major Mark Blatherwick has replaced Major Bob Atkins in Field Log. Training Support has also lost Sergeant Steve Allott to a building supplies company in Woking—much to the pleasure of our DIY house owners looking for discounts. Recently the Blackdown Hash had their fiftieth meet. Started by 99 OO's Course last year about fifty people and three dogs turned up for a 1 misguided tour of the local training areas. As ever, the final work comes from the department of Bursorial Duties: a welcome to RQMS Mac McGavin. A farewell to RQMS ' Pete the P a r a ' Hodgkinson on retirement from the university, the Parachute Regiment—and the Army. — Northern Ireland HEADQUARTERS THIS month's main extracurricular event for the Lisburn based RAOC population has been the ' triple sporting challenge' between ourselves and Ordnance Depot Kinnegar. On three successive Sundays, soccer, rugby and hockey teams representing RAOC Lisburn and the Depot battled for the honour of avoiding the ' Wooden Spoon' provided by the Kinnegar con- tingent. After three enjoyable hard fought matches Lisburn emerged victorious, managing to win all three by seven three (Soccer), eighteen six (Rugby) and four nil (Hockey). Many hitherto unknown Lisburn stars emerged to augment our already well known gladiators in these contests and we congratulate our three winning captains Staff Sergeant Mick Moran (Soccer), Corporal Tom Wright (Rugby) and Staff Sergeant Pip Pittaway (Hockey) on the success of their teams. As well as these three, who like all good captains excelled on the field, notable performances were turned in by Lance Corporal Trevor Berry, scorer of a soccer hat-trick; Major Jack Ewart, who emerged from ' retirement from active rugby service * to lend his experience and hefty shove to our rugby pack; Sergeant Alan Simkiss who progressed from beginner to expert in the art of hockey goalkeeping in the space of eighty minutes and Lance Corporal Dave Morris with a brace of fine hockey goals. All three games were played in an extremely friendly spirit, the 'third h a l f of each match being especially enjoyed as an opportunity for RAOC personnel in the Province to meet informally, and in many cases renew old friendships. Lisburn were pleased to return the ' Wooden Spoon ' to Kinnegar and both communities now look forward to further sporting contests in the future. Next month will see the start of a ' new approach ' from Headquarters Northern Ireland towards our Corps GAZETTE contributions with Supply Branch, G2 Branch, G3 Branch and ' the rest'.—that is those individuals who are attached to a variety of organisations in small numbers, contributing in turn each month. You will therefore have the thrill of reading about the coming and goings, hatches and matches, promotions (but hope- fully not the opposite!) of each of these four groups once every four months as their turn for GAZETTE notes comes round. Readers may therefore look forward to an unprecedented standard of journalism from us from next month onwards— whether this means it will be worse than ever before or better than ever before we will soon find out—watch this space! EOD Branch and Headquarters 321 EOD Company THE only interruptions to the quiet month have been the Units' ARU, in which the Company received some good comments from the Inspecting Officers. The Director Land Service Ammunition (DLSA) visited the com- pany as well in April to say goodbye to EOD in Northern Ireland. Even the fairly regular departures and arrivals from Headquarters have run dry, almost. Corporal Chris Wade returned to the Province after a lengthy absence, (well three weeks actually) to take over from Lance Corporal Robbo Roberts, much to the relief of the LAD and many lamp posts all over Northern Ireland. NO. 1 SECTION. High spot of the month was the farewell visit of the DLSA, Brigadier Smith. Low spot of the month was the occasion when a missile lobbed over the fence, and smashed one of our windows. We bid farewell to Sergeant Dick Travers MIV (Men- tioned in Visor) and welcomed splashcat boss Staff Sergeant Dave Swainland. NO. 2 SECTION. This months main event has been the visit of DLSA Brigadier Smith to Fort George. The visit went very well (we hope) and was rounded off by an enjoyable lunch at- tended by RESA, the number 2s, and the Boss. The choice of wine was complimented by the Brigadier, at last Corporal Lilley has got something right. After lunch Captain Inshaw was heard to say that he's never seen the No. 2s so quiet for so long. The other high spot of the month has been a three hundred 17 — |
| Book number | R0406 |