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RAOC Gazette - page 180

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Corps RAOC
Material type Journals
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Full title RAOC Gazette
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Publication date 1983
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Early date 1983
Late date 1983
Transcription out 12 Dental Group in the first round of the Rhine Area Sail-
ing Comp, which was held at Roermond. (PS.—If Geordie
Holliday is reading these notes, Andy did the same as you,
by trying to defy gravity and as the boat went out, he fell in head
first)
WOl Terry Stroud has just returned from a golf course at
Sennelager and after all these years knows now that it's the white
thing attached to the elastic that you have to hit.
After three weeks of Driver Training, Lance Corporal Gary
Westmoreland passed his test, and is now purchasing a car.
We will all wait at the Depot gates until Gary has parked
his car before any of us will enter, and hopefully all depart
before Gary.
We welcome to the unit the following: Corporal Pete
Ramsbottom, wife Angela and son Kevin. Corporal Dean Mc-
Carthy, wife Yasmin, son Carl and daughter Laura.
Finally we bid farewell to Corporal Eric Beattie, wife Violet
and their sons, William, Alexander, Andrew and Lain on post-
ing and promotion to Garrison Catering, Rheindahlen.
1st British Corps
HEADQUARTERS
G l / 4 / 5 (PLANS), or AQ Ops to the uninitiated,
hosts the ' Corps Spot * this month. We begin at
the top by welcoming the new Chief Log Plans,
Lieutenant Colonel Gilbertson and his wife,
Pauline, to Bielefeld and wish them a very
pleasant tour. The Boss is an Orienteer so our
BFTs will take on a new aspect in the future we
suspect! A run down the Branch sections reveals
the following worthies: Chief Clerk—Sergeant
Phil Jeffery is the man in the (W02) post, Phil has now
recovered from the ' culture shock ' since his move from Moscow.
Registry—Sergeant Jim Shanks is SNCO IC; he plays a mean
camera, speaks fluent Dutch, passable German and under-
standable English! Corporal Colin Tye has discovered that
scheduled moves to exercise locations, though mundane, are
less eventful and not as expensive as moving by individual
' free-runner' means.
G\ PLANS—The Branch 'starlet' is W/Lance Corporal Shicla
Molloy WRAC, who brightens up an otherwise grey, loggie
landscape. G4 LOG PLANS—By the time these notes are in
print. Major Charlie White and his wife Diane, will be packing
their kit. our fond regards will go with them. Corporal Jim
McCartney has now held down the Sergeant post for over
eighteen months and, with a couple of courses under his belt,
we'll all be ' watching that space.' This also applies to his
assistant. Private Chris Johnson, who does a sterling job in the
Corporal post when not learning to ski and sail.
GA MOV PLANS—Private Mick Downic is rarely stumped in
his job, which is just as well now that he has been selected to
represent the Corps at cricket—well done! G5 PLANS—The SA
is W02 John Thomson and clerical support is provided by
Corporal Bob Adams. John is patiently awaiting notification
of his SSM and has just been short-listed for a commission in
RAMC—fingers are crossed for the final board. Bob Adams
gained much kudos and many brownie points by gaining second-
j place in the high jump at the Corps Athletics—once again,
well done!
SUPPLY
BRANCH
THE highlight of the month was a visit by the DGOS, Major
General W. L. Whalley, who spoke informally to all RAOC
staff officers and WOs of the Corps Headquarters during his
recent visit prior to our departure on exercise.
Summer means that the seasonal Coc Cup Competitions are
underway. Our second cricket match is imminent, and we hope to
do well, the hockey tournament takes place shortly, (with our
Chief Clerk, Staff Sergeant Dave Craze, being the official umpire
for the whole competition wc must be in with a chance!), and the
Pistol Shooting section in which wc have great hopes. Un-
fortunately, we were knocked out of the swimming com-
petition in the quarter final.
We should mention here that the teams for the Coe Cup
are made up from all branches of Headquarters 1 (BR) Corps
and Supply Branch is grouped under Team 'A' which is formed
not only by us but also Comms, Med, Maint, Pro, Fin, OfTrs
Mess and Spearhead House.
New arrivals in the branch are W02 John Wallis and
Sergeant Bernie Morgan.
W02 Wallis joins us from the
Training Centre and it is rumoured that he has been posted in
to improve our chances in the Coe Cup Squash Competition
which starts soon! He is unaccompanied at the moment but we
look forward to meeting Janet in about two weeks. Sergeant
Morgan's last unit was AFNORTH but he left them some
time ago and was on the held strength of the Depot. During his
time on the held strength he caught up on all the leave he
couldn't take in Norway, which is no bad thing because he
won't get much here! We welcome also Marion who, at the
moment, is struggling to sort out their quarter with an injured
hand—hope your hand is better soon!
Finally, it cannot go without mention that Staff Sergeant
Craze's daughter Lyndsey, who was seriously ill in BMH Rinteln
but has now recovered, required a blood transfusion. Captain
Ward's wife, Melanie, just happened to be on duty and gave a pint
of blood for this purpose. Staff Sergeant Craze and Captain
Ward are now somehow related and the question is—how?
Answers please to Supply Branch, Headquarters 1 (BR) Corps!
PS. Nearly forgot, Sergeant Bruce Watson in the Falklands!
Come home soon, we miss you.
1st Armoured Division
G1/G4 are following in the footsteps of
G2/G3 with three mile runs in an effort to
keep fit and pass those dreaded BFT's.
Private Yvonne Magill WRAC kept the
turnout standard high by parading in full
make-up.
After thirty minutes the heat
proved too much and her make-up began to
L
run faster than her. Now that the appetite
JjpSCs"-—jaJjSg? has been wetted and the muscles built up, it
"© "VJSIS--''*? jt hoped that there will be more entries for
this year's Verden Marathon?
The Headquarters will never be the same now that W02
Ray Pett has packed his bags for pastures new to Rheindahlen.
Ray came to us almost four years ago and started off as the
Staff Sergeant MS before taking over as Chief Clerk G1/G4
on promotion. Both he and his wife Cath were dined out
(twice) at local guesthouses and good nights were had by all.
We wish them the very best on their new tour.
In Ray's place we welcome W02 (Jim) Bond from South
West District, who arrived just in time to go on exercise for a
week. Jim made his social debut by showing everyone his skill
at bowling when he won the coveted ' booby' prize. He has
been advised to stick to acting!
Exercise Summer Sales 1983 once again clashed with
Wimbledon (G EPS at Headquarters 1 (BR) Corps obviously
paid no attention to our plea in last Octobers GAZETTE to have the
exercise dates changed). The star of the exercise was Sergeant
Joseph Charlpot nee Charleson who won both the ' Golden
Blanket' and the ' Silver Pillow ' awards for dedicated service in
' Soldiers' Sleeps.' Well done Charlie, you certainly deserve
them.
Screams of ' Head em up, move em o u t ' could be heard from
the G I / G 4 LO and DAPM's 'Sleeps' when Captain Chris
Englishby and Staff Sergeant Ralph Jackson were rudely
awakened by the munching of cows eating the camouflage
netting on their vehicle. They were last seen ' herding' into
the sun.
A
During the exercise, an RA officer was heard saying to his
Brigadier, " Would you like to come and see the piglets sir."
Unfortunately, the Brigadier—who had been told the ' Pink List'
was published—misheard and duly followed the officer to the
Pig farm. On their return, the officer's face was noticeably
— 149 —
Book number R0406