RAOC Gazette - page 335
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 |
month we were delighted to have the Civil Commissioner Sir Rex Hunt CMG, the Quartermaster General, and the Supplies Director NAAFI Mr Webb Bourne all of whom put a consider- able amount of time touring the Battalion area and seeing at first hand the conditions under which we operate and the sterling work our soldiers do. BATTALION HEADQUARTERS. Portacabin camp continues to flourish and with spring the RSMs fancy turns to flowers. Gardens have been dug and the odd spare body has been seen painting the stones along the edge. Who we wonder will be the first to introduce a garden gnome. This month we have said farewell to WOl RSM Flowers, Lance Corporal Stafford, Corporal Blanks, Sergeant Lecuirot, Private Edwards, Corporal Nicholson and last but not least Captain (QM) John Cross AAC who goes back to his model aeroplanes. In his place we wel- come WOl RSM Bloor from RPC, Sergeant Jerat, Corporals Brocklesby, Furness-Roe, Private Wright and our new QM Major Nobby Hall RCT. SUPPLY COMPANY COMPANY HEADQUARTERS. This month has seen the OC Major Tony Rowe buying the NAAFI out of cigars and busy scanning the horizon for the sight of the MV Keren. He showed remarkable restraint in not dashing out to check the passenger list. He finally welcomed his relief Major Ian McKinnon to the Falklands. Section, under Staff Sergeant Bob Roadnight, are looking after the demands of REME. WOl Pete Coull has settled down to running the technical side of life, and occasionally he puts the world straight on a few matters. Staff Sergeant Colin Brooks arrived with dismayed cries of " Where's the cricket pitch?". He is formally offering a challenge to the officers mess of the FILOG Battalion for a cricket match against the SNCOs of the Tor Caledonia on Christmas day. Anyone for cricket? , Among the large number of new arrivals lately is a new boss, Major Terry Glen and we say our goodbye to Major Tony Hayward. ASU. We welcome Sergeant Longergan to the fold and hope he finds all the containers, we have said farewell to W02 Hassall who has returned to sunny Bicester and shortly we must bid bon voyage to Private Clissold, W02 Steen and Captain Hawkins, almost the whole of the ASU complement will have changed by the end of October. The pace continues with a great deal of DAS being backloaded to us from ships and private accommodation -within Port Stanley as most of the military move on to the third of the floating coastels ' Pursuivant.' The incredable humour of the British soldier in general and our own Corps in particular is something we will all remember in the future when thinking of these ' The Islands at the edge of the world.' The ASU in Scotland is beckoning, so with EPNS mustard pots handed over I bid you all farewell. PETROLEUM PLATOON. In their spare time the YPF team have been seen gardening and it is rumoured they are actually trying to redecorate their office. This month has seen the departure of the Rangatin which has been our home on the water and we have transferred to the cabin. Privates Hills and Fensome had a spot of R and R at Hill Cove while an 'AWT' trained soldier Private Thomas has gone to South Georgia to make friends with the sea lions. We have said farewell to Staff Sergeant Edwards, Corporals McDonald and Plunkett, Lance Corporal Fletcher, Privates Fensome, MacDonald 743 and White and welcomed the arrival of Sergeant Francis and Corporal Stephenson. If the out's beat the in's again we shall soon all be home! BRITISH ARMY WEST GREENLAND EXPEDITION (.Continued from page 254.) RATION PLATOON. Old rats will be pleased to know we have finally garnered all the compo and stored it in our new Romney in the Canache site. Hopefully this will result in easier control and less mysterious wanderings. Numerous arrivals and departures this month : W02 Treen, Staff Sergeante Baxter, Inskip, Sergeants Cope, Hutt, Corporals Browne, Sedgewick, Lance Corporal Field and Privates Brown, Hanes, Scott and Beazley. The out's are WOs2 Scott, Utterson, Sergeants Fleck, Watson, Corporal Badey, Lance Corporal Pritchard, Privates Hoare and Vernon. AMMUNITION PLATOON. The exercise season is upon us and we have been directly involved monitoring firings of the first of five live firing exercises at Hornby range. Our own recent exercise had us outloading ammunition from the depot. Our next excitement is the deep sea dump, for which we are draw- ing lots. Corporals Pickersgill, Clark, Davidson and Private Langhorn are enjoying life and independence somewhere near Kelly's Garden—actually they are doing a grand job. W02 Thynne has left us, smiling broadly. The SATO told him some good news and just wanted to say goodbye. All that could be seen was a cloud of dust heading rapidly towards the airfield and the one spare seat. The twist? The airbridge was cancelled that night, but our man got away the next day, having shed a few pounds. We also said goodbye to Staff Sergeant Honeysett, Sergeant Pritchard and Corporal Heddon and thank them for their sterling work during the very cold winter months. We welcome the new team — W02 Strachan, Staff Sergeant Blakely, Sergeant Williams and Corporal Banks, who are all looking a bit dazed—they'll learn! STORES COMPANY. "Summer is on the w a y " says the weather man. The only evidence so far is the number of spectacular sunsets and the longer days. The Falklands wind still whistles into parts other winds cannot reach. The Vehicle Platoon, under Staff Sergeant Colin Brooks and Corporal Stu Davies, have finally got their vehicle park ship shape. A few ' liaison visits' to the sappers brought forth PSB tracking and hardcore to stop the vehicles disappearing into the peat. The Laundry Sections are working hard at keeping the garrison sheets, pillow cases and clothing clean. CDP are de- stuffing containers ad infinitum, whilst 2 Field Workshop Stores Lieutenant Harris and Corporal Burns on top of point 1,450m. (three), ie, cleaning and packing the equipment ready for our move back to the USAF airbase at Sonderstrom and for our flight back to the United Kingdom on 11th August. In addition to the exploration aspects of the expeditions aims we made a record of the general weather conditions in the area (our readings basically for the overall period was six inches of rain with temperatures of minus ten to plus fourteen degrees centigrade). We also collected and pressed some fifty six species of plants found above six hundred and fifty metres for Lancaster University. Recorded sightings of eighteen birds, including: white fronted geese, ptarmigan and a white tailed eagle, details were collected for the RSPB in Sandy and for the Greenland Scientific Research Institute. Editors note: Sergeant King, the leader of the expedition spent a total of two and a half years preparing and planning this expedition whilst at Headquarters 1 (BR) Corps and at Head- quarters BFFI. He is at present stationed at Forward Ordnance Depot Dulmen. The expedition was run as an Adventurous Training Exercise for the Army Mountaineering Association and was sponsored by The Director of Infantry and Christian Bonington. — 280 — |
| Book number | R0406 |