RAOC Gazette - page 313
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 |
appears he will be here to guide yet another Gibraltar Platoon through the turmoils of instruction. Training Company as usual make up the back bone of unit rugby and hockey team. Great things are expected of the unit rugby team who recently beat the cx-army champions The Welsh Guards seventeen nil. It is hoped many from Training Company will represent the Corps in their respective sports this season. Exercises Stonewall and County Fair were two activities which took place over the weekend 24th and 25th September in which we practised our Mob roles (Yes, we do have them!) Three platoons were deployed to the Long Valley area to guard ' key installations,' meanwhile Lieutenant Adrian Wilkinson and his team from the MTW provided enemy action that en- abled few to get any sleep. Those in the Battalion who were not involved in Exercise Stonewall, took part in Exercise County Fair—a scries of manned static displays devised to test military knowledge and skills. Part of the Vehicle Display from Ashchurch. ' B ' COMPANY. Berlin Platoon seemed to have achieved a number of first places this term. They won the Recruit Platoon Drill Competition for their intake, took first place as a platoon in the Inter Company Cross Country and raised over £500 for the White Lodge Spastic School for Children. Individual per- formances of note were A/Private Ellis, second in the cross country, A/Private Petrie, selected for the under nineteen Army hockey team, A/Private Adams for winning the Corps Junior badminton prize and A/Private Anderson on his selection for the Junior Army football team. Benghazi Platoon had a steady third term although just missing out in the inter platoon competitions. A/Corporals Mc- Kinney, McMurtrie and A/Private Cooper all did well to be selected for the Army Junior football team. McMurtrie re- inforced his position by scoring ten goals in a league match against the RAMC Apprentices College. Balaclava Platoon has been very quiet this term and obviously is planning to take the College by storm. A/Private Jones was surprised to hear that he had won the Best Recruit prize for PT— such modesty! A/Private Muir was highly praised for his efforts in offshore sailing during the recess. The platoon was only just pipped in the College cross country and took second place to Berlin Platoon. The Company was actively involved in the Blackdown Five's Youth Competition. The highlight of the day for the Apprentices was the vehicle display from CVD Ashchurch arranged by Lieutenant Ehvell, who provided, amongst other things, a Scorpion CVR(T) and a Saboteur ' Moon Buggy.' Burma Platoon has virtually completed their trade training and are looking forward to its fourth term Military Training Programme which culminates in Exercise Final Trial in the Brecon Beacons. A/Corporal Dallaire found time to train for Cross Country to win the College Cross Country. Having mentioned the inter-Company Cross Country it would be remiss of the writer if the overall result was not mentioned. The Company reclaimed the Cup with the points score of 521 to 'A' Company and 351 to ' B ' Company. Our only error was to let an 'A' Company Platoon in at third place! TRAINING BATTALION AND DEPOT ONE of the events foremost in everyone's minds last month was the marriage of the Company 2IC, Captain Peter Simmonds to Sally, the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence of Andover. The blessing of their marriage took place at St Barbara's Church, Deepcut. The Guard of Honour was made up of officers from the Battalion, the AAC and various Naval chaps from the South Atlantic Task Force. A reception was held after the blessing at the Headquarters Officers Mess. Training Company continues on the theme of changing faces amongst the platoon commanders. Lieutenant Simon Lovegrove has decided that his destiny lies as a civilian and will be suitably occupied as the Battalion's duty subaltern (audit boards here I come) until he leaves at the end of the year. Lieutenants Derek Phelan and Mike Hobday are new arrivals to the Company having completed their YOs course. Lieutenant Phelan has taken over from Lieutenant Lovegrove as Gibraltar Platoon Commander and Lieutenant Hobday as Delhi Platoon Commander. Sergeant Alan Somerton of Gibraltar Platoon has been under the misapprehension that he was leaving, however, it RAOC STAFF BAND SINCE you last heard from the Band we have been extremely busy. As I'm sure you all realise the summer months arc our busiest time of year. Everybody seems to be holding a function of some sort and of course a ' do ' isn't a ' d o ' unless we're there. We've been to cocktail parties, summer balls, barbecues, beating retreats and of course our regular annual engagements such as our week on the bandstand at Bournemouth and our bi-annual appearance in the Wembley Military Pageant. On our return from summer leave we departed for BAOR, staying with 3 BAD in Bracht, Forward Ordnance Depot in Dul- men and 5 Ordnance Battalion in Paderborn. We celebrated the freedoms of both Bruggen (Bracht) and Dulmen during our visit and performed for both civil and military audiences. As usual the band were looked after extremely well in all locations and it was nice to meet up with some old friends and to make many new ones. All in all a most successful and enjoyable tour. Sadly this was Captain Parker's (DOM) final tour with us. He is soon to be moving on to slightly warmer climes. Hong Kong to be precise. On arrival he will take up the post of Director of Music to the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas. He leaves with all our best wishes for the future and we look forward to seeing him again when we visit Hong Kong our- selves in March of next year. Our next Director of Music will be Captain Roger Swift who is coming from the light Division. Let's hope that he doesn't try to get the Band to march at one hundred and sixty paces per minute. We will be welcoming him in mid-November this year when he takes up his new post of Director of Music RAOC. Northern Ireland HEADQUARTERS SO there I was in my nice hot bath, settling down to read my favourite magazine—THE RAOC GAZETTE (honest Mr Editor); I turned to the back page to see which lucky so and so was going to sunny climes when it hit me—your little reminder, Mr Editor, to have all contributions in by the 28th of the month. Oh dear, I thought, too late again! So those who noticed the absence of a Headquarters Northern Ireland contri- bution last month—it was my fault! However, this month features a double bumper thrill packed edition with not only G2 Branch, but G3 Branch as well! Work in G2 has virtually come to a stand still as Private Maureen Tempest and Corporal Tad Thomas sit dreaming of their future postings—Cyprus and Hong Kong respectively. Playing squash with the Colonel helps, and letting him win is even better. Corporal Sam Clegg recently returned tired and bedraggled from his RPC2 course. He must have been bad as he still hasn't had his result. W02 John Leggett drops in occasionally, between resettlement courses, leave and whatever other skives he can find. Best wishes go to Lance Corporal Brian Baskerville who left us to join Headquarters AFCENT and greetings to Lance Corporal Nick Neilson who replaced him from Bicester. G3 has been fairly quiet since the last report, perhaps because the Scribe (Chief Clerk G3) is soon to complete his twenty two years. He's done eleven of this in the Head- quarters Northern Ireland Compound and is awaiting the arrival of W02 John Lee in November with pleasure. The post offers complete job satisfaction and a unique insight into the Northern — 260 — |
| Book number | R0406 |