September 1972

''Lctters"-Continued. 45

From: J . C. Van den Berg From: L. H. Bodensieck
D eputy H ead of the Netherlands 16 Seth Ward Drive
Military Mission Bi sh o p d o w n
I Berlin 15 Sa lisbury, Wilts.
7 M eierottostrasse 7 28th Jul y 1972
14th June 1972
To: M ajor G. U. Weymouth, MBE
T o: Lt. -Col. B. A. M . Pielow Dear Sir,
1st Bn . The Queen's Regiment
M on tgomcry Barracks It may be of interest to you and to readers of
the Journal, that about ten yea rs ago H .R.H. Princess
Dear Colonel Pielow, lAargrethe II visited Salisbury Cathedral with a party
of D anish Archreologists. I am a voluntary guide at
Through your invitation for Farewell Cocktail s the Cathedral, and I had the honour of shewing them
and Beating of Retreat on Friday 7th of July 1972, rc.und and was introduced to H .R.H . who remarked
I learned of yo ur coming departure. 011 my D anish name. On leaving the Cathedral she
said the tour had been made more enjoyable by being
As my Vice-Consul, Mr. H eijnen, has been trans- eocorted by a fellow countryman .
ferred to Brussels and his successor has not yet arrived,
ond as I myself will be in the Netherlands for the It is now with great pleasure that I see in the
v;edding of our son on July 7th, there will be no June issue of the Journal th at H er Maj est y has been
JOCSsibilit y to express to yo u and the Officers of the appointed Allied Colonel-in-C hief in succession to
I!!. Bn . The Queen 's Regiment in person how much her late father.
we regret yo ur departure.
Yours sincerely,
I would therefore like to write yo u and express to L. H . BODENSIECK
you how much we enjoyed your friendship and hospi- (Ex: Queen's Own- 1914/ 18)
tality which was so clearl y demonstrated when the
children of the Netherlands community were received From: Lt. N. F . Russell
by yo u and had such a marvellous day on yo ur 21 Siemmerer Grove
W eeton Camp
grounds. Kirkham
With our confident hope for ever closer bonds L ancs.
2nd Sept. 1972
tetween yo u and the Netherlands, we send you and
)OUr men our very best wishes for a happy future. T o: M aj. G . U. W eymouth, MBE
D ear Guy
Yours sincerely,
( Signed ) J . C. van den Berg. May I be allowed a small space in the Regi-
mental Journal to thank all the Officers of the R egi-
From : Capt. R . T. W. M ellotte ment for our superb wedding present of the silver
1st Bn . The Queen's Reg iment cigarette box?
Montgomery Barracks
You can be assured Liz and I will put it to good
BFPO 45 use !
22nd June 1972
Again my thanks to everyo ne.
To: M aj. G. U. W eymouth Yours ever,
Reg imental Secreta ry NIGEL RUSSELL

D ear Guy, From: Ca pt. S. C. Thorpe
5 Green Lane Close
Thank yo u so much for the splendid cigarette Ford
box which Marybell and I are really thrilled with. Salisbury.
30th August 1972
Please pass on our thanks to all officers for a
present which will always serve to remind us of our To : M a jor G. U. W eymouth, MBE
v·edding at which we were pleased to see so many of Dear Guy,

our friends in the Regiment. May I thank, through you, all of the officers of
The Regiment very much for the handsome cigarette
Yours ever, box I have been given as a wedding present.

RODDY Lynne and I will treasure it always.
Yours ever,
From: Lt. J . N. C . M yles STEVE THORPE
2nd Bn. Queen's R egt.
BFPO 106
25th June 1972

T o. The Regimental Secretary

D ear Guy,

I would be most grateful to yo u if you would
~;rant me a few lines in the Journal to say thank you
to all my brother officers on behalf of Marianne and
I for the splendid cigarette box presented so gener-
ously to us on the occas ion of our marriage.

It will always be a pleasant reminder to us of
hnppy days in the Reg iment .

Yours sincerely,
JAMES MYLES

46 In Civilian Life

®rbmi of t!Jr ~O IUie of ®r~ n ge •Enjoy

During the State Visit of Queen Jul iana in April Service and
(sec June issue, page 21 ), H er M ajesty honoured the Comradeship
3rd Battalion by presenting the following member< in the
with rhe O rder of the H ouse of 0"angc:
ROYAL
M aj. ] . R. Stephenson- ( C ross wi th rosette) BRITISH LEGION
WO! B. M . M orris - ( Gold meda l )
Sgt . C. W. Garton - ( Si lver medal ) Your service to Queen and Country
Cpl. R . ]. Baker - (Bronze medal ) needn' t stop when yo u leave the Forces.
The British Legion has as much interest in
H.M.S. BRIGHTON and responsibility for young ex-servicemen
and women of today as it has for those of
(See " Affiliated H .M . Ships" on page 29 of the two world wars and looks to them for its
June 1972 issue.-Ed. ) leaders of the future .

H .M.S. Brighton is an anti-submarine frigate. Th e Roya l British Legi on 49 Pall Ma ll SW I
S he is 370 feet in length, has a beam of 41 feet and
Jisplaces 2,500 tons. H er two steam turbines give her und to bring them to a high standard of fighting
a top speed of 30 knots. The ship is armed with a efficie n cy .
twin 4.5 mounting, a quadruple Seacat mi ssile mount-
ing, a rhree barrel Anti-Submarine mortar and two In November, the ship is due to deplo y to the
smgle 20mm Oerlikons. She carries a Wasp helicopter Far East via the Cape for eight months.
ar med with anti-submarine torpedoes.

The ship was built on the C lyde by Yarrows and
( o. Ltd. She was laid down on 23rd Jul y 1957 and
was launched on 30th October 1959 by the late Lady
Reid, wife of Admiral Sir P eter Reid, K CB , CVO,
Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy. She was
completed on 7th October 196 1.

Between 196 1 and 1968, she served with distinc-
tion on the Home, Mediterranean, Middle East and
Far East stations and for six months in 1968 she was
the Briti ~h contribution to the NATO Standing Force
Atlanti c. From 1969 to 1972, she was in C hatham
Dockyard for a major refit and conversion,

After very successful post-refit trials, H.M .S.
Rrighto11 is now at Portland doing an eight week
\Vork U p to make the Ship's Company into a team

HMS Br ighton.

THE REGIMENTAL 47

ASSOCIATION British Arm y Christmas Gift Stall at the P ark L ane
Fair on 7th November. As in the past all proceeds
THE WARMINSTER BRANCH wi ll go the Forces H elp Society and Lord Roberts
Workshops. As I am sure you know, the Lord Rober ts
Just a reminder to all our readers that we shall Workshops are particularl y helpful in training di sabled
be holding our next socia l evening at the Imber C lu b, servicemen whilst those who are incapacitated or sick
School of Infantry, W arminster on Thursday, 2nd are kept in Prin cess C hristian Homes, Convalescent
November at 2000 hrs. H omes, etc. Added to that, thousands are aided each
year by the Forces H elp Society.
It is hoped that events taking place in a certain
part of the United Kingdom will have sorted them- I am anxious that we should make a splendid
selves out so that we may have the pleasure of seeing effort thi s year, particularl y in view of the Army's
old and new fri ends from our regular Battalions. heavy commitment in Northern Ireland. You will wish
to know th at the annu al total required by this Ch arity
' Here at the School of Infantry we have a fairl y exceeds £50,000. This is a very high challenge.
strong contingent of Queensmen who are only too
anxious to impart their experiences in the Regiment Would it be possible for yo u to make it known
to sympathetic ears. Our President, Col. " Duggie" to your officers and thei r wives that it would be tre-
Snowdon, along with the committee, look forward to me11dously appreciated if they could con tribute to th e
seeing a bumper turnout in November. British Army Stall -either by a gift (new, suitable as
a C hristmas present) or a do nation, however small. I
REGUL AR FORCES EMPLOYMENT w ill, of course, acknowledge all contributions, so please
name the source.
ASSO C IATIO N
If you have received this appeal from me through
(National Association for Employment of Regular a different arm y source, please forgi ve me-1 am tr yi ng
S ailors, Sol<liers and Airmen). to make sure that I make contact with as many unit <
as possible.
This Association is part of the Forces Resettle-
ment Service and its object is to find suitable employ- Yours sincerely,
ment for men and women when they leave the Servi ces (Sgd.) BETTY PAGE.
and in the years thereafter. It is registered as a charity
and dr aws its income from Publi c Funds and from SERVICEMEN- D O N'T LOSE
the Services Benevolent and Welfare Organisations.
YOUR VOTE!
THE ASSOCIATION GIVES ALL ITS T o vote at parliamentary or local government
elections yo u must be registered as electors, and service
SERVICES FREE declarations have to be completed every year. A great
many servicemen fail to register as electors and conse-
Its services are available to all who have not take n quentl y not eligible to vote.
commissioned rank in the Regul ar F orces and who T o get on the next register (which comes into
leave with character assessments of "Good " or better force on 16th F ebru ary 1973) yo u must make a service
after more than three years service, or have been in - declaration on F orm F / Vote/ 33. You must sign this
valided from the Services before comp leting three declaration and date it not later than I Oth October
years. 1972. When completed, send it to the electora l
registration officer at the local town hall or county
The Association works in close co-operation with offices for your home address to reach him not later
th~ Services, the Ministry of D efence and the D epart- than 16th December 1972.
ment of E mployment, and operates through 43 Make sure you obtai n the form and explanatory
Branches covering the United Kingdom, each of which leaflet from you r unit. If yo u are serving outside the
is run by an Employment Officer who has been in the U nited Kingdom and your wife is wi th you she should
Service himself and is in close touch with loca l complete the form for wives (F / Vote/ 34) which is also
emp loye r s. avail able at yo1,1r unit.
Look into the matter NOW. Your right to vote
The Association is at your servi ce. The addresses de pends on it.
and telephone numbers of its Branches can be obtained
from Corps and Regimental Associations, from Post APPROX. 80 % of the Regiment are S ubscribing
Offices and from Employment Exchanges. a DAYS P AY each year to the Reg imental
Benevolent F und.
THE FORCES HELP SOCIETY AND
THE OTHER 20 '7< ? - We also need YOUR
LORD ROBERTS WORKSHOPS S upport!

F rom : Mrs. Charles P age
c/ o Maj .-Gen. C. E . P age, MBE
DCD (A) Ministr y of D efence
Whitehall SW!
28th J une, 1972

T o: Lieut.-Gen . Sir Richard Craddock,
KBE, CB, DSO,
Colonel The Queen's Regiment

Dear Sir Richard,

This year I have been asked to organise the

48 REGULAR ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS
Class II
The London Gazette
Lt. ( Q.M .) R. P . White, from TAVR
Extracts from Supplements QUEENS to beLt. ( Q.M .), 1st April 1972.
Class Ill
The Queen has been graciously pleased to order
tht appointment of Her Majesty Queen MAR- M aj. E. J . R . Ludlow from TAVR 6 QUEENS
GRETHE 11 of Denmark as Allied Colonel-in-Chief. to be M a j., 1st April 1972 .
The Queen's Regiment (27th June 1972 ). Short Serv . Commn.

M aj. (H on. Col. ) The Duke of NORFOLK , Lt. C. F. G. P arkinson from Active Li st, to he
KG, P C, GCVO, G BE, TD, is appointed H onorary Lt., 12th August 1972.
Colonel, 5th ( Volunteer) Battalion, The Queen 's
Regiment, TAVR, 1st April 1972, in success ion to T & AVR
The Right H onourable Sir Robert MENZ JES, KT, The Queen has been graciously plea sed to confer
P C, CH, QC, FRS, LLM, LLD, D CL, D .Sc., the awa rd of the Efficiency D ecoration (TA VR ) upon
tenure exp ired. Capt. B. M . S idwell - 6 QUEENS .
The fo llowing 2/Lts. (on probation ) are con-
REGULAR ARMY fi rmed as 2/ Lts., 8th J anuary 197 1:
N. C. Walker, C. M . Bellingham and D. S .
D . R. P ollard ( University Candida te) to be 2/ Lt. Mitchell (5 QUEENS ) .
(on probation ), 1st M ay 1972. 2/ Lt. ( on probation ) G. G. Andrew, 6
QUEENS , from TAVR General List, to be 2/Lt. (on
Short Service Comm. probation ) 1st M ay 1972, with seniorit y 24th Septem-
ber 197 1.
0 / C dt. I. 0. Robson from M ons OCS to be Lt. ( A/ M aj. ) A. J . C ummings ( K ent ACF ) has
2/ Lt., 13th M ay 1972 ( Direct Entry). been awarded the Cadet Forces M edal.
Lt. ( A/ M aj. ) C. E. T aber ( K ent ACF ) has been
WOII J . R . Bass to be 2/ Lt. 15th M ay 1972. To awa rded the I st Clasp to the Cadet F orces M eda l.
be Lt., 15th M ay 1972. 2/ Lt. P . M. Duke, 7 QUEENS (Res. of Offrs.,
Class I, Scottish Division ) to be Lt., 15th F ebruary
Lt. M P . D . Eastap to be Capt ., 9th June 1972. 1972.
Lt. R . F . H ai nes-Nutt, 7 Queens, from TA VR 3
Special R eg. Comm . RRW to be Lt., 1st April 1972 wi th seniority 8th
Lt. B. D . Thompson to be Capt ., 4th June 1972. March 1972.
2/ Lt. P. R. Hitchcock to beLt. 19th July 1972.
Lt . M . H yatt resigns his Comm., 15th June 1972. OCLEE
2/Lt. J . B. Sterling to be Lt., 18th June 1972.
Lt.-Col. J . S. Fletcher, OBE ., to be Brig., 30th to t he Kent Co unty
Regi men ts fo r over
June 1972. fifty years .
Lt.-Col. D . E . Blum, OBE., to be Col., 30th
35 SANDGATE ROAD,
June 1972 .
Lt. A. N. Armitage-Smith from Short Service FOLKESTONE

Comm. to be 2/ Lt., 18th M ay 1972, with seniority Telephone 52654
29th October 1969. To be Lt., 18th Ma y 1972 with
seniority I Oth August 197 1.

Col. P. S . Newton, MBE, retires on retired pay,
19th August 1972.

Lt.-Col. A. C hristmas, retires on retired pay, 2nd
August 1972.

The following Lts. to be Capts ., 29th July 1972:
R . G. White and R . N. Colbourne.
Lt.-Col. E. W . Macdonald, OBE, is appointed to
the Special List, 6th August 1972.
Col. M . T . N. Jennings, C BE, retires on retired
pay, 27th August 1972.
Maj . M . B. Rickcord retires on retired pay, 28 th
August 1972.

Special R eg. Co mmn.

Lt. J . N . C. M yles from Short Serv. Commn .,
to be 2/ Lt. 2nd June 1972 with seniority 30th Novem-
ber 1970. To be Lt. 2nd J une 1972 with seni ority 30th
September 1971.

S hort Serv. Comnm .

WOI B. M . Morris to be 2/ Lt. 7th Jul y 1972.
To be Lt. 7th July 1972.

2/ Lt. P . H . Dragonetti relinquishes hi s commn.
21st July 1972.

Births, Marriages and 49

Deaths BUTC HER- On 3 1M M ay 1972, to Sgt. and Mrs.
M . F. Butcher, a son, ! an Michael.
BIRTHS
LAKER- On 1st June 1972, to L/ C pl. and Mrs. A.
MILLER-On 12th April 1972, to Cpl. and Mrs. B. Laker, a daughter, Jul ie Antonia J ane.
W. Miller, a son, Adrian .
\VIALTER-On 7th J une 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. H
WATSON-On 18th April 1972, to L/Cpl. and Mrs. Waiter, a daughter, Michelle J ane.
P . W atson, a son, Philip Douglas.
NORTON- On IIth June 1972, to C pl. and Mrs. J .
WHITALL-On 20th April 1972, to L/ C pl. and Norton, a daughter, Sadie Ann.
Mrs. C. Whitall, a son, Andrcw George.
LAKER-On 12th June 1972, to Cpl. and Mrs. C.
JAMES-On 30th April 1972, to Sgt. and Mrs. D . Laker, a son, C hri stopher D avid.
T. J ames, a son, J ason Lee.
UR ICKMAN- On 14th June 1972, to Pte. and Mrs.
ROBBIE-On 5th M ay 1972, to Sgt. and Mrs. T . D . A. Brickman, a daughter, Amanda J ean .
Robbie, a son, Nicholas.
HARRIS-On 15th June 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. P .
WOOD-On 14th Ma y 1972, to L/ Cpl. and Mrs. P .
Wood, a son, M ark Anthony. Harris, a son, Bri an Peter.
AKEH URST- On 21 st June 1972, to L / Cpl. and
MELLOTTE-On 15th M ay 1972, to Capt. and Mrs.
R . T. W . M ellotte, a daughter, G eorgina M arie. Mrs. R . Akehurst, a son, Paul Richard .
PULLEN- On 24th June 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. D .
WOODROW-On 15th May 1972, to Pte. and Mrs.
R. Woodrow, a son, Wayne J ason. Pullen, a son, M ark J ames.
REYNOLDS-On 25th J une 1972, to Cpl. and Mrs.
DOWSE-On 19th M ay 1972, to Capt. and Mrs. S .
M . Dowse, a daughter, Susannah M arie. B. Reynolds, a daughter, Patricia Ann .
kNIGHT-On 30th June 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. D .
HOWARD-On 19th May 1972, to Capt. and Mrs
M . F. Howard, a son, James M eredith. Knight, a daughter, Allison J ane.
P.ROAD-On 1st Jul y 1972, to L/ Cpl. and Mrs. M .
BROWN-On 22nd May 1972, to L /Cpl. and Mrs.
A. Brown, a daughter, Angela Clare. Broad, a daughter, Tracey Karren.
FINNELLY- On 2nd July, 1972, to Pte. and Mrs.
WRIGHT-On 22nd M ay 1972, to C pl. and Mrs. R.
Wright, a son, C raig Michael. G. Finnell y, a son, D arren John .
SHARP-On 6th Jul y 1972, to Bdsm. and Mrs. G .
RYDER-On 23rd M ay 1972, to Cpl. and Mrs. D .
R yder, a son, D onald Owen. Sharp, a son, William George.
CHAPMA N- On 7th July 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. N .

Chapman, a daughter, Emma J ane.
GOR ING-On 8th Jul y 1972, to M a jor and Mrs. G .

Goring, a daughter, Fiona M ary.
WALKER-On 8th Jul y 1972, to C pl. and Mrs. P.

W alker, a daughter, Suzanne Patricia.

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50 FORTHCOMING MARRIAGES

COLE-On 9th July 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. S. Co!e, Flt./ Lt. K. D. R. Mans and Miss R. M. McCann
a daughter, Patricia Ann. The engagement is an nounced between Keith

MICA LLEF-On 14th July 1972, to Cpl. and Mrs. e!dest son of Brig. R. S . N. M ans, C BE, and Mrs:
J . Micallef, a son, Warren John . Mans, of Amersham, Buckinghamshire, and Rosa lie
cnl y daughter of Mr. J , A. M cCa nn, FR CS, and Mrs:
SMITH-On 14th July 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. P. J . A. M cCa nn, of Liverpool, Lancash ire.
Smith, a daughter, Elita Mary.
Capt. D. C. F. Gouda and Mile. C. G . R. Lugol
WINTER-On 25th July 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. D . The engagement is announced between D av id
Winter, a son, Timoth y Glcnwright.
C harles Francis Gouda, Queen's Reg iment, son of Mr.
GOSBEE-On 27th July 1972, to Pte. and Mrs. M . and Mrs. W . W . F. Gouda, of T otteridge, London,
Gosbec, a son, Raymond Stcven. and Colette Georgette Rose, daughter of M . and M me .
J . Lugol, of Oyonnax, France.
MARRIAGES
DEATHS
TRAILL-FORD. On 22nd February 1972, at Can-
terbur y, Pte Traill to Miss Evelyn Ann Ford. LAMB-On 28 th M arch 197 1, M a j. Charles Michae!
L amb, aged 53. Served in The E ast Surrey Regt.
RI C HARDSON-BURNS . On 25 th M arch 1972, at from 1928 to 1948. ( See Obituary ).
Vaynon, Brecon, L/ Cpl. Rich ardson to Miss
Bronwen Non•en Burns. ATTWOOD-In November 1971, Pte. J ohn Att-
wood, aged 72 . Served in The Queen 's Roya l
HODGETTS-TREGONING- WATSON. On 3rd Regt. from 1921 to 1925, having served in The
April 1972, at St. M ellion Church, Cornwall , Roya l Sussex Regt. in the 1914-18 War.
Lt. D . P . L. Hodgetts to Miss C hristina Lilah
Louisc Tregoning-Watson . BRADFIELD-On 19th F ebruary 1972, CSM
George Alfred Bradfi eld, aged 65. Served in The
RELTON-MARSTER. On 15th April 1972, at Queen's Ro ya l Regt. from 193 7 to 194 8, having
Stakeford, Pte. Relton to Miss Pauline Marster. previously served in The Lancashire Fusiliers.

l•ERNS- ANDREWS . On 15th April 1972, at Ham- Y ALDEN-On 4th March 1972, Ada , aged 76,
mersmith, Pte. Ferns to Miss Rita Andrews. widow of Ca pt. T. H . Yalden, MC, The E ast
Surrey R egt.
ROLFE-BALL. On 22nd April 1972, in Belfa st,
Pte . Rolfe to Miss Ruth Elizabeth Ball. STONE-On 29th M arch 1972, Sgt. George Lloyd
Stone. Served in the 2nd Bn . The Queen's Royal
PERKINS-GRAINGER. On 5th Ma y 1972, at Regt . from 193 7 to 1942 when he was transferred
Chichester, Cpl. Perkins to Mrs. Yvonne M ar- on medical grounds to the RAOC.
garet Grainger.
RUSSELL-On 31 st M arch 1972, at Bassi ngbourn ,
AYLWARD- CHIVERS. On 6th M ay 1972, at Richard Andrew Victor Sean P atrick, son of Cpl.
Salisbury, C/ Sgt. Aylward to Miss Ann Marie and Mrs. P . S. Russell.
Chivers.
DAV IES-On 28th April 1972, Pte. Willi am Noah
rEARCE-HODGE. On 6th May 1972, at W ands- Davies, aged 61. Served in the 2nd Bn. The East
worth, Pte. Pearce to Miss Dorothy Elizabeth Surrey Regt. from 1939 to 1946, during which
Hodge. time he spent 3-!: yea rs as a POW of the J apa nese.

WEBB-CHATFORD . On 6th M ay 1972, at Ton- SMITH-On 8th May 1972, as the result of an
bridge, Pte. Webb to Miss J anet Ann Chatford. accident, Robert R. Smith, late 5th Buff s (TA ).

THURMAN-DUNN. On 13th May 1972, at Ket- SMITH-On 8th May 1972, Mrs. Nina Smith, aged
tering, Pte. Thurman to Miss K athleen Agnes 68, widow of Pte. Benjamin Smith, who served
Dunn. in The Queen 's Royal Regt. from 1919 to 1926.

WOLOHAN-DUDDY. On 20th Ma y 1972, at Roe- DAVIS- On 16th M ay 1972, Col. Francis Joseph
hampton, Cpl. Wolohan to Miss Rosa leen Davi s, OBE, aged 72. Served in The Queen's
Malvina Duddy. Ro ya l Regt. from 191 8 to 1936. ( See Obituary).

CLIFFORD- BENNETT. On 20th May 1972, at .TACOB-On 17th May 1972, M aj. M aurice Alex-
Liverpool, Pte. Clifford to Miss Susan Bennett . ander J acob, aged 68. Commissioned into The
Middlesex Regt. ( D CO) from R .M .C. Sandhurst
COLE- ARMSTRONG. On 26th M ay 1972, at on 30th August 1924, he served with the 2nd Bn .
Ealing, Pte. Cole to Mi ss Eilizabeth Armstrong . until J anuary 193 8 when he was posted to 1st
Bn. then stationed in Hong Kong. H e retired on
GELLAZ-CROSS. On 27th May 1972, at Enfield, 7th January 1952.
Pte. G ellaz to Miss Josephine Sandra C ross.
MILLS-On 2 1st M ay 1972, in Folkestone H osp ital,
7ERRY- BYRNE. On 3rd June 1972, at Wood Mr. A. Mills, late The Buffs.
Green, Pte. Terry to Miss Patricia Byrne.
DANZEY-On 22nd M ay 1972, CQMS J ohn Jerard
WAKEMAN- McCANN. On 3rd June 1972, at Danzey, aged 65. Served in The E ast Surrey
Kingston-upon-Thames, Cpl. Wakeman to Miss Regt. from 1924 to 1945. A keen sportsman, he
Helen McCann. pl ayed football for the 1st Bn . in India. During
the 1939-45 War he served in the 2nd/ 6th and
LAKE- WALLIS . On lOth June 1972, at Battle, lOth Bns.
Sussex, Pte. Lake to Miss Jane Christina W alli s.
RUSSELL-On 24th Ma y 1972, Lt.-Col. F. Russell,
nROAD-HEALEY. On 26th June 1972, at M aid- late The Queen's Own Roya l West K ent Regt.
stone, L/ Cpl. Broad to Miss M artha Mary
Healey. CA RVELL-On 25th Ma y 1972, ex-RSM W aiter
Roberge Ca rvell, aged 85. Served in 2nd Bn . The
FENSOM-BLOOR . On 3rd July 1972, at Uxbridge, Middlesex Regt. from April 1903 until August
Sgt. J . Fensom to Mrs. Lesley Belinda Bloor. 1912 when he transferred to the newly-formed

DUNCAN- COLE. On 22nd July 1972, at W erl,

L/Cp. D . Duncan to Miss Thelma Pauline Co le.

LOW-C ANTER . On 27th Jul y 1972, at W erl, Lt.

R. M . M . Low to Miss Patrici a Victoria Leslie

Canter. ·1

GERELLI-PHELPS. On 30th Jul y 1972, at C raw-

ley, L / Cpl. Gerelli to Miss Linda He!en Phelps.

51

Signals Branch of the Ro yal Engineers. H e even- WEBB- On 6th J uly 1972, Sgt. C harles Victor
tua ll y transferred to the R oyal Corps of S ignals Webb, aged 84. Served in The East Surrey Regt.
and was discharged to pension on 6th D ecember from 1911 to 191 7 and subsequentl y in Th e
192 5. At the time of his death he had been an M anchester Regt.
In-Pensioner of the Royal H ospit al, Chelsea, for
ORGAN- On 7th J uly 1972, CSM Erncst H enr y
some years. Organ, aged 78 . Served in The Queen 's Ro ya l
COOKE-On 28 th M ay 1972, Mrs. Ann Cooke, Regt . from 19 13 to 1934. ( See Obituary ) .

widow of Sgt. Thomas Arthur Cooke who served GAYWOOD- On IIth J ul y 1972, M aj. Frede rick
in T he E ast Surrey R egt. from 1925 to 1941. J ames Gaywood, M C, aged 80. Served in The
WHITE- In M ay 1972, CS M Albert Newman White, East Surrey Regt. from 191 6 to 193 7 and from
aged 84. Served in The Queen's Ro ya l R egt. from 1939 to 1944 . ( See Ob ituary ).
1908 to 1929. ( Sec Obituary ).
H OUSEGO- On IIth J uly 1972, at Canterbu ry,
P. D CO C K- On 3rd June 1972, Pte. William Adcock, H arold Lconard H ousego, aged 50 yea rs, late
· aged 75. H e was the third of four brothers who The Buff s and Treasurer of the Canterbury
Branch of the R eg imental Associa tion .
served in The East Surrey Regt. Bill Adcock en-
listed as a R egular soldier in 1913 and was pos- KNOCKER- On 14th J uly 1972, at the K ent and
ted to the 1st Bn . H e sustained multiple gunshot Canterbury H ospital, Lt.-Col. H arold (" N ed" )
wounds at Richebourg St. Vaast the following Sewell Knocker, aged 72 yea rs, late The Buff s.
yea r which terminated his military ca reer.
PANTON- On 25 th Jul y 1972, Gerald Richard
PENTICOST-On 7th June 1972, at the Infirmary Vivian P anton ( late Lt.-Col., The R oya l Sussex
R oyal H ospital C helsea, In-Pensioner J ohn R egt .) of Mill Fa rm H ouse, Swanmore, H amp-
Charles Albert P enticost, aged 74 yea rs, late The shire.
Queen's Own Royal W est K ent R egt..
GATER-On 29th Jul y 1972, Sgt. Frede rick Waiter
BATTEN-On 15th June 1972, M aj.-Gen. Richard Gater, aged 8 1. Served in The Queen's Roya l
Hutchinson Batten, C B, CBE, DSO, DL, aged R egt. from 19 14 to 1928. ( An Obit uary will be
63. Commissioned into The Middlesex R egt. published in the next issue).
( D CO ) on 31 st J anuary 1929, he was trans-
ferred to the Royal H ampshire R egt. in 1936. ROPER-On 1st August 1972, Lt.Col. Kenneth
Trevor-Roper, The Dorset R egt.; aged 63 . H r
(See Obituary). commanded the 2nd Bn. The East Su rrey Regt.
MAITLAND-On 20th June 1972, Col. John K en- from June 1943 to Jul y 1944.

neth M ai tland, MBE, M C, TD, DL, JP, aged PAI N-On 12th August 1972, after a short illness,
79. ( See Obituary ) . Lt.-Col. Edward (T eddy) Thomas P ain, The
TURK-On 23rd June 1972, M aj. Ernest J oseph Middlesex R eg iment.
Turk aged 69 . Served in The Queen's R oya l
Regt.' from 1923 and was RSM of the 1st 9ueen 's C OATES-On 18th August 1972, suddenl y at Va le
when commissioned into the Ind ian Army m Jul y Cottage, Henstridge, T emplecombe, Somerset,
Daniel Chri stopher, L t.-Co l. late The Buffs, aged
1942. 72 years, beloved husband of Aud rey.
AGUTTER-In June 1972, Pte. William Alfred
MACKENZIE-On lOth August, 1972, at H ythe
J ames Agutter, aged 53 . Served in the 2nd Bn . Hospital, near Southampton, Brig. Hugh Fraser
The Queen's Royal R egt. from 1940 to 1946. Mackenzie, C BE, aged 63 , yo unger son of the
GEA RY-In June 1972, in Ontario, Canada, Joan, late Co l. H . F . and Mrs. M ac kenzie and formerl y
wife of M aj. B. H . G ea ry, VC, The Ea st Surrey of The Middlesex Regi ment and RAO C.

R egt.

O b i t u a r i e s - - - - - - - - -.

The late Col. V. S. C larke, MC. ( See Obituary notice
~ on pages 37 and 38 of the June 72 issue ).

MAJ. C. M. LAMB

C harles L amb, who joined The E ast Surrey R egt.
in 193 8 had a lively and cheerful personality. H e was
the first officer of the Regiment to be wounded in the
1939-45 W ar, when the 1st Bn. were on the M aginot
L ine. Soon after discharge from hospital he was t ake n
prisoner. After the W ar he served in the 2nd Surreys
iP.. E gypt and retired in 1948 to join the Colonial
Service. H e was for everal years and until the time
c f his death, a District Commissioner in Botswana.

A member of the M inistry of Local Government
and Lands, Botswa na, w rites:

'M ajor L amb was District Commissioner in

52

O B I T U A R I E S - c on t i n u e d

T habong District, in the extreme south-eastern corner the Regimen t at hockey and fenci ng whenever he cou ld
of Botswana, which is remote and arid and character- often travelling long d istances to do so. Frank wa s ;
i,ed by the fact that camels are used for transport. prosaic, down-to-ea rth sta lwart of whom it could aptly
H e was highl y respected and upheld h is regi mental be sa id, " H e was my fri end, fa ith ful and just to me."
tradi t ion in a te rra in notable for its lack of ordi nary
amenties. His fun era l serv ice at Gaboronc was at tend- M emories of him recall that his ch ief characteristics
ee' by ma ny of his fr iends of all races'. v.ere pa tience, tolerance and good humou r though he
was by no mea ns placid- far from it-nor was he
A. N. WHITE stodgy or d ull. H e took pleasure in simple th ing> and
\vas accord ingly "fu n", part icul arl y devoted to chil-
Albert Newman White, who died at the age of dren and loved by the m. There we re few people wi th
84, joined the 2nd Bn. The Queen's R oya l R egt. in whom he cou ld no t get on and he was idea ll y suited
1908 and served with them in G ibraltar, Berm uda, to train the young sold iers during his wa rtime appoin t-
South Africa and France . H e was wou nded in the ments'.
F irst Battle of Ypres and aga in on the Somme in 19 16.
In 19 17 he was appointed R SM of the 7th Bn . A fter ' While serving in I reland, Frank met and mar-
the W ar he had a tour at the R egimental D epot and n ed M ollie H arvey of M alin H all, Co. D onegal; they
his last ap pointment was as P S I to the 8th Bn . T he had two da ughters. M ollie d ied ea rl y in 1963 . In the
Middlesex R egt. A fter retirement, Mr. White took the Autumn of 1963 F rank married M ollie Kiln who
licence of the Good H ope Inn, Hilfield, wh ich he held survives him . T o her and to his two da ughters we
c.fler our sincere sympath y'.
fo r 42 yea rs.
Lt. Col. L. S. Sheldon writes: ' H e was a quite E. H. ORGAN

r<markable 84 when he died and had kep t h is small Mr. Frank P au l S honfi eld contri butes the follow-
~ub going to w ithin a few weeks of his dea th. I be- mg ap preciat ion of his fri end and colleague :
iieve he h ad been a PT instructor in his younger days
which may have contributed to his upright, brisk and ' Some weeks before h is first illness, the prelude
ro three yea rs of suffering, Ernie Organ gave me a
spring y manner'. manuscript he had written as far back as 194 6 in
"' hich he described at length the events of his Army
MAJ. F. J. GAYWOOD life and saying he thought it might be useful for in-
clusion in Th e Braganza, of which he and I were
Nea rl y all ' Birdie' G aywood's service in the j0int Edi tors. Before I could use it for that purpose,
19 14-1 8 W ar was in the 8th Bn . The E ast S urrey Ernie's illness developed r apidly with a series of heart
Regt., although he was attached to 55 Tren ch M ortar nttacks and strokes whi ch resulted in permanent hos-
flt y. during 19 16 and 191 7. H e had the dtstmcuon of pit alisation, so I marked his m anuscript--entitled
teing awarded the M C and two bars, the first two ''M emories"- fo r a future edition in the Journal. U n-
awa rds whilst with 55 TMB and the last as a ntl e h3ppily, Braganza ceased to exist shortl y after owing
company commander in the_ 8th Bn. Birdie was a to m y own ill-hea lth , but I still possess the man u_
c uiet unass uming m an and hiS g rea t love and accom - "cript. Therefore I attempt to add in my own wo rds
plishment was music. ~ e n stationed at the D epot my appraisal of this man, so self-eff acing, dignified
?.fter the 1914-1 8 W ar he often played at servtces at • nd withal noble in his idea ls, peace-loving ye t deter-
St. P aul's, Kingston Hill . When he retired to D evon mined-and loved.
he was organist at his parish church and a few yea rs
ago played for the Sunday H alf H our programme It was in 1920 when the 4th Bn . The Queen 's
Roya l W est S urrey R egt . formed its own Old Com-
broadcast by the BBC. 1ades A ssociation and Ernie was not onl y a F ounder
M ember but one of the few who had conceived thi s
COL. F. J. DAVIS hrilliant idea. And this O C A is still active to-day!
In 1970 we celebrated its Golden Jubilee- 50 yea rs
Frank D av is joined The Queen's R oyal R cgt. in old-first with a Grand Reunion in April which
A pril 191 8 and was wounded in France shortl y after- E rnie was just able to attend (for his health was then
wa rds. While serving in Ireland with the 1st Bn ., he begininng to fail ) but he was in hospital at our
2ttended an Instructors PT course at Alde rshot which closing fin ale in the N ovember of that great yea r. It
ctetermined his military ca reer. Although he served \>as an inspired suggestion made by him that resulted
with the 2nd Queen 's from 1927 to 1930 and then as in the production of the splendid Souvenir Book,
J' djutant of the 24th L ondon R egt., the grea ter part "sued during the Jubilee Year and which photo-
of his service was in Ph ys ical Train ing appointments. graphicall y told the story of nearl y sixty glorious
H e had been awarded a ' Blue' fo r Association F oot- yea rs of h istory of the 4th Bn. The Queen's Royal
ta ll at Sandhurst in 191 8. H e played soccer for the R egt. and its successor, the 4th Queen 's O CA '.
Army and hockey for the Combined Services. H e re-
presented Middlesex, H ampshire and Wiltshire at ' In his hea lthier yea rs Ernie had served on the
l:ockey and he was an Army boxer and fencer. . Committee of the O C A and eventually became Secre-
tary, a post he held for many yea rs. During this time
Frank retired in 1936 but was reca lled for servtce he forged the bonds of friendsh ip in the Association
in 1939 and appointed GSO ( PT ) Southern Com- still closer than they had ever been ; this link was fur-
mand. H e became a member of the Directorate of ther strengthened when he and I bega n producing
Physical R ecreation and commanded No. 1 and later Braganza in which he published so many vivid articles.
No. 3 Physica l D evelopment Centre with the rank of Production of the J ourn al was a dream he h ad envis-
C olonel. H e was appointed OBE in June 1944 and aged for a long time and he was rea lly proud when ;t
finall y ret ired in March 1949.
became a reality in April 1965.
Col. L. C. E ast, DSO, OBE, h as contributed So much could be sa id to the credit of Ernie

the following note: O rgan, but the feelings of many who knew h im can be
' In spite of his affili ation to PT, Frank always

looked upon himself as a Queensman and represented

53

OBITUARIES-continued.

summed up in the words of Col. K. A. Oswald who, Lieut.-General Si r Richard C raddock; Capt.
writing to me on the occasion of Ernie's death, sa id: W ale; Brigad iers F. W . B. and R. F. P arry; Colonel
" He was a Queen's man through and through in the Tuft; Lt.-Col. C larke; Lt.-Col. and Mrs. Alexander;
finest sense of the word and we shall miss him, but Brigadier D ewa r ; Mr. K ennard; Mr. and Mrs. M an-
the name of Ernie Organ will be remembered for a thorpe; M a j.-Gen . and Mrs. T albot; M aj. Pouhen ;
long time".' Lt.-Col. and Mrs. W arner ; M aj. Browne; Mrs. D erek
Willows (a lso representing her husband ); M aj.
' But it is still more fitting that I choose Ernie's Thorneycroft; M aj. Blaxland ; Lt.-Col. R eid ; M aj.
own words from the last paragraph of his manuscript Faulkner; Lt.-Col. Grove; Lt.- Col. ffrench-Bl ake;
'jM emories" to be quoted here as hi s own epitaph Lt.-Col. and Mrs. H ews; M ay R avenhi ll ; M essrs.
T urmaine, Neaves and K inder (a lso representing the
' . and perhaps, at the conclusion of opera- Canterbury Branch of the Association ); and Mr. and
tions, when I am ca lled upon to report to the Great Mrs. Tupper (a lso representing the Sandwich
G eneral, H e wi ll take into account agains t m y man y Branch ); Miss An ne Friend ; Lt.-Col. and Mrs.
sins of omission and commission the fact that since I i\rgles (a lso representing Maj . and Mrs. Cox); and
was 19 yea rs old, wi thout pay, without rewa rd and Col. and Mrs. Grace (a lso representing L t. -Col. Court
nea rly always in spite of my own interests . . . I've
had a Go! ".' and Cap t. D avison ) .
P erhaps, when all's said and done, Ned's pass ing
MAJ.-GEN. R. H. BATTEN, CB, CBE, DSO, DL -which was peaceful and without suff ering-was the
M aj.-Gen. Dick Batten, who died suddenl y at happiest answer. H ad he recovered he might well have
bren a semi-invalid, something he would ha ve in-
the age of 63, was commissioned into The Middlesex tmsely disliked, and he had, there is little doubt, been
Regt. (DCO ) from the RMC, Sandhurst, on 31 st a lonely man since the death of J o, his wife, in J anu -
J anuary 1929 and served with the 1st Bn . until 1936
when he received accelerated promotion to Ca ptain and r. ry 1968.
was transferred to the R oya l H ampshire Regt. H e And so another of the old brigade has gone on
served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and hi> way and the trumpets have sounded for him on
Germany during the 1939-4 5 W ar, and in K enya in the other side. Those of us left to struggle on will not
1953 when he was made a C BE . H e was C hief of forget Ned, of the cheerful face and roundness of
Staff at HQ Eastern Command during 1959 and 1960, R .G.
Dnd at HQ Northern A rm y Group from 1960 to 1963. figure.
From 1964 to 197 1 he was Colonel of the Ro ya l
Hampshire R egt. In 1967 he was appointed a D eputy LT.-COL. F. RUSSELL
Lieutenant for Hampshire.
Lt.Col. F. Russell, The Queen's Own Royal W est
COL. J. K. MAITLAND, MBE, MC, TD, DL, JP K ent R eg iment, passed peacefully away after an ill-
John K enneth Maitland, who died at his home ness lasting several months, on 24th M ay 1972 . H e
had resided in M awgan P orth near N ewqua y for many
in H ertfordshire at the age of 79, was granted a T .A . y<·ars, and one of his many appointments was with the
Commission in 7th Bn. The Middlesex R egt. (D CO ) famous R.A.F. Squadron, commanded by Wing Com-
on 17th October 1912 and, except for a short period mander Cheshire, during the last war. A very kindl y
during the 1914-1 8 War when he was a Company and shy man, he was respected very highl y by all the
Officer at the RMC, Sandhurst, served with that bat- C.W .B.
talion until 18th February 1928 when he gave up men wi th whom he served.
command. H e always maintained close contact with
h1s old battalion and from 1953 to 1957 he was Hon- MAJ. D. J. WAKEFIELD, M.C.
orary Colonel. H e was High Sheriff of Hertfordshire
in 1954 and wa s appointed a D eputy L ieutenant for M ajor D esmond Wakefi eld-"Wakkers" to every-
Hertfordshire in 1963. one in 6 RWK was much larger than life. At his
brilliant best when commanding a rifl e company in
LT.-COL. H. S. KNOCKER Italy, he demanded courage, enthusiasm and loyalty,
There wa s scarcely a seat to be had in Wingham and got all three because he gave more in return.
Parish Church at 2 o'clock on Thursda y afternoon, When his Company attacked, they did so with rea l
20th Jul y, for the Funeral Service of Ned Knocker verve; when in defence, his attention to detail and his
who, after a severe heart attack on Tuesda y 4th , i:naginative approach prevented boredom and ensured
fcllowed by a week of unconsciousness in the K ent a high level of effi ciency. H e could also lose his tem-
and Canterbury Hospital, died during Friday night, per imperiall y and sulk in an equall y grand manner :
14th July, at the age of 72 . Such a great throng bore but he had infinite patience when required, real
~itness to Ned's diversity of interests, to his concern hu mani ty and a love and understanding of his subor-
for others, to his wide fri endships and, above all, to dinates.
his kindl y, cheerful, self-effacing and lovable person-
f1 1ity, for he was a man whom many knew and whom His energy and resource fuln es brought him con-
'' ll respected. There are few, if any, to whom Buff s, siderable success in business life, but his deeply-held
as individuals, and The Buff s as a R egiment owe rcligous convictions and his natural sympathy with his
more, particularly during the last twenty yea rs or so staff led inevitably to friction with his superiors. As
of his life. a consequence, much of the last yea rs of his life was
Amongst that big congregation the following had C:evoted to the wo rk of the South L ondon Industrial
come, some from grea t distances, to pay their last re- Mission . In a va ledictory address, the Senior C haplai n
spects to a brother-Officer, a friend and a true Chris- of the Mission spoke at length of Wakkers' qualities .
t ian gentleman, whose pass ing we all deeply deplore : and also of his bewilderment in the complexities and
distorted priorities of modern industrial and urban
life. "W akkers", he sa id, Htried hard and sometimes
failed hard in things that many of us would not even



~[ ____r_H_E_Q_U_E_E_N_'s__c_A_D_E_rs____ 55

I tem s of news about th e R egim ent's affiliated A CF No. 16 G roup, Sou th W est London ACF won
U11its are very welcom e. Th ey should be sent to M aj. the Su ther la nd Bowl and No. 14 G roup, Sou th West
] . H . Eas t, A dministrative S ecretary, Army Cade t London we re ru nners-up. The teams were:-
Force A ssociation, SB Buckin gham G ate, L ondo n,
S WIE 6A N.-Ed. Wi nners (16 G roup): C pl s. M . Rogers and
M artin, L / C pl. S . J olley and Cadet A. Plan t.
SURREY ACF
C pl. R ogers was also the r unner-up in the Cham -
The Surrey Army Cadet Force are to be congratu- pion S hoot Benham Trophy.
lated on the fir st issue of a N ewsletter called " The
Surrey Cadet" . The Editor is Maj. D . T. Hunneyball Runners-up ( 14 Group ) : Sgt. S. Coll ins, Cpl.
and it is understood that the intention is to produce S. T yler, L / C pi. M . Stanfield and Cadet A . Dw ye r.
the Newsletter twice a year.
In the Adult Shoo t S.W . Londo n achieved first
People (Lt. N. Benton), second (S . M . I. L each), and thi rd
Maj. W . H . }. S ale, MBE. , M C., has been ap- places ( S . I. Blunden ).

pointed Honorary Colonel of the I st Cadet Bn. The Vacancies
Queen's R egt. ( Surrey ACF ) in succession to the late The Queens R egiment AC F South W est L on don
Col. }. F. E . Goad. Maj . Sale, form erl y a " Sharp- still ha ve vaca ncies for Offi cers and Adult Instructors
Shooter", commanded the 1st Cadet Bn . The Queen's in their detachments. If an y ex-serving members of the
Royal Surrey R egt. f rom 1959 to 1964 . R egiment are interested in pre-service training, will
they please get in touch with M aj. R . L. Cooke at
Capt. L. F. Spiers of the 5th C adet Bn. The South West London AC F , Du ke of Yorks HQ,
Queen's Regiment is to be heartily congratulated on C helsea, Londo n, SW3.
the award of the MBE in the N ew Year's Honours
Li st; and so is RQMS T. Dunkley of Surrey ACF ***
Headqua rters on the award of the BEM in the Birth-
day Honours List. FERNDEN
Preparatory School
Shooting
HASLEMERE
The Leatherhead Detachment of the 1st C adet
Bn. attained sixth pl ace in the final stage of the Admin istered by the Governors of
"News of the World" Small-Bore Competition. This Fernden School Educational Trust Ltd .
is a national competition open to the ACF throughout Hea dm as t er : C. A. G . Brownrigg.
the U.K.
BOARDERS AND DAY
Training BOYS

The Surrey ACF and the Sussex ACF share the The sc hool has extensive playi ng
same Cadet Training Team under the command of fields , grounds and woodlands of
Capt. Tom Bullock of the Royal Anglian Regt. Both
Counties run inter-detachment training competitions 90 acres
which include full-bore shooting, orienteering, section
attack, fir st aid, assault course, camp craft and night Enquiri es to:-
patrol. In Surrey the competition has a code name, The Secretary,
" Scidcomp", whi le in S ussex its name is " Scidape11•
This year the eight leading teams in " Sidcomp" are FERNDEN SCHOOL,
to compete against the eight leading Sussex teams in Haslemere, Surrey.
" Scidape" on the 7th/8 th October. It wi ll no doubt
be a very competitive and exciting weekend . Te le ph o ne : Haslemere 3836

Publicity Stand

Those who have seen the Regimental publicity
stand used by 4 QUEENS Albuhera Company at
various fetes and county shows m ay have noticed that
they now also have a special ACF publicity stand
slanted towards the cadet detachments of the Regiment.

LONDON DISTRICT ACF RIFLE MEETING

18th JUNE 1972

The meeting was conducted at the Guard D epot
Pirbright Camp and the teams that competed repre-
sented the North East, North W est South East and
South West London ACF and Junior Guardmen from
Pirbright.

56 Her Majesty the Queen

By Appointment to

~

FOR

INSPECTION

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cap, the best quality cap made today-but how are

you 'halted' off-parade ? Our new fully illustrated

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coupon below.

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Appointed Tailors and Outfitters to th e
Queen's R egim ent

57

AROUND THE COUNTIES

The Queen's Surreys
Office

Deputy Lieutenant GOLF SOCIETY

We congra tul ate Co l. D. B. Pullen, O BE, T D, Royal Marines Match, 18th May
on his appointment as a D eputy Lieu ten ant of the
County of K ent. Members of The Queen's Royal S urrey Regimen t
Golf Society, under their Captain, Lt.-Co l. Jim
Regimental Service L asbrey, were entertained to di nner at the Officers
M ess, Ro ya l Marines D epot, D ea l prior to their An-
At the annual Service of the Regimental Associa- nual match which took place this year at the Royal
tion held in G uildford Cathedral on 18th June, the Cinque P orts Golf Club.
congregation, lar gely composed of old members of the
Regiment and their families, was larger than usual. W e U nfortun ately although our opponents were held
were delighted to see so many of the offi cers and cadets to a draw in the morning, the Queen's Surreys went
of the Surrey AC F in uniform at thi s Service, making under in the afternoon, no doubt helped by the excel-
it a ' par ade' occasion . Ushers were provided by 6 lent lunch, the wea ther and the staying power of the
Queens (V), ably organized by their RSM, Mr. C. R . yo unger members of the Royal M arines team. W e hope
Shinn and the Servi ce was conducted by the D ean of this result wi ll be reversed next year at S udb rook
Guildford, the Very Reverend A. C. Bridge; the P ark.
sermon-a stirring address on courage-was preached
by the Rev. Jocelyn P . Grundy, Rector of Shere. 4th Queen's Old Comrades Association

Therea fter, many members repaired to the refresh- The Association suffered a sad loss, on 7th July,
ment tent where A (Queen's Surreys) Coy. of 7 Queens in the death of Mr. E . H . Organ, a Founder M ember
(V) ran the bar with effi ciency and good humour, and one time Secretar y. Ernie Organ enlisted in the
under the direction of Lt. Will Newbold. 4th Bn. The Queen's (Royal W est Surrey) Regt. (TA)
in 1913 and after service in India and U K , retired as
*** a CSM. In 1939 he formed a unit of local D efence
Volunteers (later the H ome G uard) and in 1942 was
appointed to a H ome G uard Commission. A tribute
to Mr. Organ will be found in the obitu ary co lumn.

(Left) : Maj.-Gen. Kay,
D e p u t y Commandant
General, Royal Marines
drives off and is watched
by Col. Wreford-Brown

and Maj. Crutchfield.

(Right) : Col. Wreford-
Brown's putt is closely
watched by (I to r) Maj.-
Gen. Kay, Maj. Crutch-
field and Col. Bristowe,
Commander of the Depot,

Royal Marines, Deal.

The Queen's Own Buffs
Office

FROM FAR AND NEAR which include postage and packi ng :-
"The Buffs", in the 'M en-at-Arms' series
13,000 MILES TO TURN THE PAGE
: £1.25p.
On Thursday, 6th July the ceremony of the "The Buffs", in the 'Famou s Regiments' series
Turning of the P age of the Book of Life in the W ar-
riors' C hapel was performed by a visitor from New : £ 1.75p.
Zealand, Capt. R alph McC leary, who served with The Where the latter publication is concerned it is the
Queen's Own Roya l West Kent R egt. for two years on ly complete histor y of The Buffs and it also con-
during the Second World War. He and his wife had tains much fresh information that does not appear in
been entertained to Luncheon by M aj.-Gen. and Mrs. the Histroical R ecords. Fresh evidence has come to
D ennis T albot, at their home at Barham, on 19th light and new theori es are advanced by the author on
June, the party also including Col. and Mrs. D erek a number of points.
Willows, Col. and Mrs. Raymond Grace and Maj . and
Mrs. Guy W eymouth. On his next visit, on 6th Jul y, Why, for example, did King Charles II show such
and at hi s own request, Capt. McC leary carried out r eluctance in the recall of hi s troops from H olland ?
the 11 o' clock ceremony, under the eagle scrutin y of Or why was a R oyal W arrant required for recruiti ng
the usual large crowd of visitors, many of them school- in the C ity of L ondon ? The first ceremonial exerci se
children. The McC learys stayed wi th Lt.-Gen . Sir Wil- of the "ancient privilege" is described, as is also the
li am and Lady Oliver for the week-end of the Maid- background and former career of Private M oyse (or
stone R eunion. Captain M cCleary has been the Moyes). Which arm-hi s right or his left-did Lt.
Queen's Own Buffs uman on the spot" in New Zea- Latham lose at the Battle of Albuher a?
land since 196 1; he and his wi fe returned to their
home in Timaru early in September. The coinage of the word "Buffs" as a nicknan1e
and of the expression " Steady The Buffs" and its con.
A DINNER TO THE LORD LIEUTENANT text in the works of Kipling-whi ch incidentally
gained its entry into the Oxford Dictionary of Quota-
T o celebrate L ord Cornwallis' ei ghtieth birthday tions- are two other matters which receive a new look
and to mark the end of his wonderfully long and suc- in this book. Light is thrown on regimental life in the
cessful term, of 28 years, as Lord Lieutenant of K ent, 18th Centur y, as gleaned from the recentl y acquired
the Vice-Lieutenant and 37 of the D eputy Lieutenants Nicholson di ary and on what C hristmas D ay in the
invited him to Dinner at D ouce's Manor, West M al- trenches in 1914 was like.
ling, on Monday, 17th July. Amongst those 37 D eputy
Lieutenants were, strictly in alphabeti ca l order, the And fin ally the story of the heroism of Private
following : - Lt.. Co l. U . H. B. Alexander, MBE ; Lt.- Lungley in 1940 and of the tribute paid to his memory
by French vi llagers is told for the first time. Alto-
Col. H. L. C remer, MBE, JP ; Col. D . J. D ean, VC, gether, therefore, there is a lot of what's new in this
latest addition to the "F amous Regiments" seri es .
OBE, TD, JP ; Lt.- Col. A. O ' B. ffrench Blake, TD ;
M aj. Sir H enry d' Avigdor Goldsmid, Bt., DSO, M C, In the same series the history of The Queen's
TD; Col. H . R . Grace, OBE, JP ; Lt.-Col. Sir Doug- Own Ro ya l W est K ent R egt. is in course of prepara-
tion, so uwatch thi s space" in a later issue of this
las P ercy Iggulden, CBE, DSO, TD ; Brig. J. G . J ournal for furth er news of it.

Nicholson, C MG, CBE ; Lt.-Gen. Sir William Oliver, THE PUNNIAR COLOURS
GBE, K CB, K CMG; Maj.-Gen . D. E . B. T albot, CB,
C BE, DSO, MC; M aj.-Gen. C. H . T arver, C B, CBE, A rescue operation has just been completed on
DSO; Col. F . K. Theobald, MBE, TD, ACII; Col. two irreplaceable R egimental treasures, the 140-yea r-
A. R . H . Waring, TD ; and Col. D . A. Willows. old Punni ar Co lours of The Buffs.

'MEN-AT-ARMS' The Colours, made of silk embroidered with gold
thread, were badly frayed and faded with age and it
The title of the most recent publication in the was feared they might disintegrate. Now they should
above-named series, published by Osprey Ltd ., of last indefinitely, for they have been enclosed in special-
Reading, is " The Buffs". The text, by Gregory Blax- ly-made double glazing units.
land, is as readable as are all his other writings, and
the illustrations, in colour and in black and white, con- The sea led units are filled with dry nitrogen, an
nect well with the story he tells. Thi s book, together inert .gas which prevents the growth of destructive
with the same author's work, under a simil ar title, in
the (Famous R egiments' series, are two useful additions orgamsms.
to any military histori an's book-shelves, and both can The Colours were presented to The Buffs in 1830
be warml y recommended as suitable and appropri ate
C hri stm as or Birthday presents in 4th Centenary Year . and were carried during the Battle of Punniar in India
Copies of both can be obtained on appli cation to the in 1843 . They were laid up in Canterbury Cathedr al
County Office; they are available to members of the in 1848 and were moved to the Tower of London in
Association at the following special prices, both of 1864 and have remained there.

The greatest care had to be taken in handling the
fr agi le Colours during this "one-off" operation. Staff
at the Ro yal School of Needlework h and-stitched them
on to Holl and, a strong linen fabric, and then mounted
them on to a rigid moisture-free backing.

At the St. H elen's works of Pilkington Gl ass they 59
were pl aced on a speci al table while the double glazin g
units were built around them durin g a deli ca te three- i> invariab ly a success fu l and enjoyable week-end, win
or lose.
hour operation .
Because of the large size of the Colours, diffu se The second ma tch, against Li phook on S unday,
refl ection glass used for the front pane of the units had 16th Jul y, showed what too good a lunch can do to
Tills glass cuts down surface sume of the Societ y's members. T wo matches all, after
10 be s pecia ll y processed. can be clearly seen. the morning round turned into a de fea t by six matches
refl ec tion so th e Colours to two at the end of the proceeclings. But it was a per-
The Colours have been framed and will now hang fect summer day- a r arity this year -and everyo ne en -
in the C hapel Ro ya l of St. P eter-ad- Vincula in the joyed himself. Those members of the Societ y who took
T ower of London, where they will be on di spl ay to the part, in addition to "Rabbit" H oarc, the m atch M ana-
ger, were H aml yn Whiny, G eorge P otter, D ennis
publi c. Boyd, Reggie Browne, Jim W aters, Hugh T arver ,
Ri chard D endy and, of course, the Captain, H arold
FOUND Co lton.
The medal of the Volunteer D ecoration with the
Cypher of King Edward VII awarded to Lt.-Col. G. The third match, against the K ent Constabu lary,
Morphew, who served in the 2nd Volunteer Bn., The had regrettably to be cance lled at short notice owin g to
Queen's Own Ro yal West Kent Regt., has been for- Ned Knocker's Funeral coinciding on Thursday, 20th
warded to this Offi ce, having been found in a train Jul y. Of the eight members du e to pl ay at least three
between Orpington and London . WIShed to attend the Service, and finding repl acements
Will an yone knowing the name and address of an y for them at short noti ce presented too large and in-
of Lt.-Col. Morphew's descendants Jet the Secretary soluble a problem for the acting match manager, the
know, at the County Office, in order that the medal Hon. Secretary. P erh aps T om P age will arrange tllln gs
may be returned to its rightful owner. better in I973. ( Th e postponed match will now take
piace on 19th October 1972 ) .
THE ROYAL HOSPITAL, CHELSEA
We have been informed that the following were The fourth and fin al fixture, against North H ants
admitted to the Ro ya l Hospital, Chelsea, as In-Pen- Golf Cluh at Fleet, was played on S aturday, 22nd
sioners, on the date shown:- 6334321 Cpl. Willi am Jul y and ended the Society's list on a happy note. An
Thom as Dixon, late The Queen's Own Royal West advantage of 2t matches to It at lunchtime was im-
Kent Regt. , 9th August 1971 ; 6279999 Pte. Victor proved in the afternoon to one of 6t matches to 2t
Donald Wilding, late The Buffs, 1st M ay 1972; 270 at the end of the day. The match manager, Bobby
Cpl. Cecil Harvey, late The Buffs, 17th April 1972. Flint, although present, was alas not fit enough to take
part himself. The Captai n pl ayed, as clid also D avid
THE STAR AND GARTER HOME Montgomery, Richard R ave nhill, Eri c Scott, D avid

A former member of The Buffs, ex.Pte. 628 11 8 1 obb, Ken Dodson, C harles Burn, G eorge Potter, J ack
Patrick R yall, has recently been admitted to tills well- W aters and Peter Buckle.
known home for disabled ex-Servicemen at Richmond-
upon- T h ame s. So the Society fini shes its 1972/7 3 Season with
one win, two losses and one postponed match, and a ll
CONGRATULATIONS concerned will wish to thank most sincerely the match
Congratulations to Col. Ronnie G ardner-Thorpe, managers concerned for all their hard labours.
who some years ago commanded 5 Buffs (TA), on his
election as an Alderman of the City of London, on M embers will wish to know that next year's
18th July. All very suitable in 4th Centenary Year. Spring M eeting, at Ro yal St. George's, will be held
on Sat. / Sun ., 24th/ 25th M arch, the annu al Dinner
THE GOLFING SOCIETY being held at The Bell on S aturday, 24th ; and that at
least two teams will be entered fo r the Argyll &
The first of the Society's matches in Fourth Cen- Sutherland Bowl Competition, pl ayed for during the
tenar y Year was against Rye Golf Club and was A.G.S. Spring M eeting to be held at Muirfield from
played on Sat./ Sun ., 20th/2 1st May with Charles 19th to 25 th M ay. Accommodation for all those mak-
Tarver as Match Manager. The result was a somewhat ing the trip has already been arranged.
crushing defeat for the Society by 18t matches to 3t,
but the week-end proved to be one of the most cheer- THE BUFFS MUSEUM ENDOWMENT FUND
ful that the Society has ever had and, in the words of by Col. Raymond Grace.
the R ye Ca ptain : " No one ever bothers about the
score". In the M arch issue of thi s publication a bare-
faced appea l was made for donations to this Fund .
In addition to the Match M anager the following To date, the sum of £ 570 h as been donated, by 60
members represented the Society : Harold Colton (the former members of The Buffs, one former Officer of
Captain), Harold and Eric Scott, K en Dodson, D avid The Queen's Own and one Branch of the Association.
Cobb, Rufus Parry, Tony Gay, Hugh Tarver, 'Lanky' When one recalls the vast numbers, the great majority
Richard Ravenhill, Guy Weymouth, Tom Page, Micky of them ex-Buffs, who were present-in the Cathedral,
Bollon, Richard Knox, Hamlyn Wrutty and H arr y on the line of march and at Luncheon--on 29th April
Wenban. this year such a sum from such a number is seen in its
right perspective. There must be literall y scores of
Ton y Gay h as kindl y agreed to become M atch form er Buffs, readers of these p ages, who h ave as yet
M an ager for this contest in future, in succession to done nothing whatever about their old Regiment's
Charles Tarver whose business commitments prevent Mu seum. SHAME ON YOU, WHOEVER YOU
him from giving the time to organising what, first MAY BE!
under Michael D ewar and then under Charles T arver,
P erh aps some of them-indeed perh aps all readers
-would wi sh to know more about the Museum. H ere
then, briefl y, are a few facts about it.

Until his untimely death towards the end of July,
Lt.. Col. N ed Knocker had been, for some years, the
senior Trustee of the Museum, a mantle whi ch h a

60 petuit y. Subsequent temporary loan, or even disposal
by sale, is the responsibility of the Trustees. All items
now fallen upon the shoulders of the Association's in the Museum are, in fact, on permanent loan to
Chai rman, Lt.-Col. Argles. With him, as eo-Trustees, Canterbu ry City Counci l. This august body is re-
are Lt.-Col. ] . R. Willows, Co ls. Grace and D . A. sponsible for the insurance of every item in the
Willows, Majors Blaxland, Prestige and Faulkner. The Museum; for the secu rity, m aintenance and repair of
senior Trustee, in consultation with his eo-Trustees, is the building in Stour Street; for the costs of heating
empowered to nominate other Trustees as and when and lighting the bui lding; for the payment of telephone
necessary. cha rges; and for the issue of wages to Mr. ( ex-Sgt .)
Phillips, the Custodian.
The C harter of the Fund states, inter al ia, that
the Trustees shall "ho ld upon trust the contents of, Those are the facts. What is required now is a
any future additions to or any acquisitions by, The donation to this appeal, of no matter what size, from
Buffs Museum in order to maintain, preserve and every former Buff Branch of the Association and by
continue the traditions of the Regiment". At the every individu al ex-Buff who h as not already made
present moment the Fund is not registered under the one. The appea l h as as its obj ective the r aising of
C harity Commissioners, but appli cation has been made £ I ,000 by the end of 4th Centen ary year and there is
to them for it to be registered under Section 4 of the a long way to go yet before that objective is reached.
C harities Act of 1960. These things take time but, on The Fund will be used to keep in proper order and
the application succeeding-as it is bound to do- it repair the items already housed in the Museum and,
is anticipated that the United Services Trustees will be should the need arise, to purchase any item which
empowered to act as the Custodian Trustee. from time to time m ay come onto the open market
which 1t is the Trustees' intention should not be pur-
The Museum Funds, including the Endowment chased by others.
Fund, ar e audited annually and published; they may
be seen, by anyone interested, on application to the Please send your don ation to me, at the County
County Office. The Funds, being a sub- account of Offi ce. By doing so you will be helping to preserve
" The Buffs Charitable Account", are in no way amal- and prolon g the life of some of our treasured relics,
gamated with any Queen's Own Ro ya l West K ent the pri ce less treasures of the Regiment in which you
Regt. funds, neither h ave they been, nor can they be, once were proud to serve.
taken over by or merged with the fund s of The
Queen's Regt. This is a worthy cause. Don' t delay any longer.

D ependent upon the wishes and instructions of DO IT NOW!
the donor, any item given to and accepted by the
Trustees is, under normal circumstances, held in per-

The Royal Sussex Office

Aubers Ridge-Dunkirk Parade and Service sex Regimental Association on the W ar M emoria l. The
P arade was foll owed by tea at the Norfolk TA H all,
The Annual Parade was held this year at Hor- Denne Road, during which selections were pl ayed by
sham on Sunday the 7th May, sponsor ed by the Mid- tb.e T & AVR Band of the Queen's R egi ment.
Sussex Branch of the Association .
All were of the opinion that thi s was one of the
The Service was held at 3 p.m. in the P arish best Aubers Ridge ceremonies ever held and our thanks
Church of St. Mary the Virgin and conducted by the are due to Lt.-Col. H. M . MacNicol and the Mid-
Rev. Canon P . L. Gillingham, MVO, QHC, MA, Sussex Branch for all the arrangements; in particular
Vicar of Horsham assisted by the Rev. W . Greenfield, to Mrs. M acNicol, who put on a tea no caterers could
TD, MA, Vicar of Willingdon. Brig. R. E. Loder, possibly have bettered.
C BE, DL, President of the Ro yal Sussex Regimental
Association, read the lesson . THE ROYAL SUSSEX REGIMENTAL
DINNER CLUB
The Service was very well attended and during
the first hymn the Standards of six Branches of the Luncheon Party
Association Midhurst, Eastbourne, C hichester, Cinque The Club held its annual Luncheon P arty for the
Ports Association, Arundel and the Mid Sussex Branch
-were marched up the aisle and laid at the A ltar. L adies of the R egiment in the E lysee Room of the
L ater, a wreath was laid in the Regimental Chapel in Ca fe Roya l, Regent Street, W . l. on Friday, 9th June.
which the Colours of the 4th Bn. The Royal Sussex It was very well attended and Brig. Loder presided .
Regt. (TA) were laid up in 1960. Those present included L ady Whistler, Gen. Sir
Geoffrey and L ady Evans, M aj.-Gen. Sir Godwin and
After the Service, members of the Association L ady M ichelmore, Brig. and Mrs. ] . B. Ashworth,
formed up together with a detachment of 7 Queens ( V ) Brig. and Mrs. ] . R . Anderson, Col. and Mrs. B.
and the T & AVR Band of The Queen's Regiment to
march past the Chairman of the Horsham Urban Dalton, Lt.-Col. and Mrs. J. R. G. Stanton, Lt.-Col.
District Council, Cllr. A. H . Windrum, who took the and Mrs. E. G . Hollist, Lt.-Cols. J. S. Magrath and
Salute. Prior to thi s, Brig. Loder accompanied by Mr. C. F. A. Nix, M aj. and Mrs. C. R. P eckitt, M aj. J. F .
Windrum placed a wreath on behalf of the Royal Sus-
Ainsworth, Maj . and Mrs. N . H . Ormerod, Capt. E.

W. N. S . Clarke, Capt. E . H . Vaux, Mr. and Mrs. D . 61
Brown. M esdames Ca lver, F azan, Foster, Gorringe,
H arrison-Stanton, Orme, P aterson and Wilson. Specu lation suggested that the Duke had a for-
midable side- particu larl y strong in batsmen-and
The Dinner since the Regi ment were to bat first, it was essenti al
that a sizeable score should be made. All went well
At the Dinner, which was held at the Ca fe Roya l from the start, with Longfield (ably supported by
on the same evening, Brig. Loder again presided and Brown) playing a strong innings, and between them
H. E. B aron W . J . G. Gevers, CVO, The Roya l they had 37 on the board in the same number of
Netherlands Ambassador, was the Principal Guest. minutes before Brown was bowled. P yemo nt came in
and, together with Longfield, took the score to 65 for
The following also attended: Bri gs. Ashworth and two before the latter was bowled, just missing his 50
Anderson, Col. G . J . L angridge, Lt.-Co ls. H olli st, by two runs.
MacNicol , Prince, Stanton and Thompson, Majors
Ainsworth, Courtenay, Johnson, Loewe, Oliver, After lunch, Stephcnson played an attacking inn-
Ormerod, P eckitt and Prince, Capts. Bedd ard, Bever- ings of 35 taki ng the score to 147 for 4. H owever,
idge, C larke and Eliot!, and the Rev. W . G reenfield. when he went, wickets fell fast ; onl y O ' Brien ( 10, not
out ) made a stand . At 3.5 0 p.m., The Regiment we re
The Royal Sussex Regiment Museum all out for 171 , leaving the Duke's side just over two
hours to get the runs.
Through the good offices of Maj. M . J . D . Brad y,
two interesting officer's white waist be lts have been ac- With Thacke ra and C lover-Brown ap pearing un-
qui red for the museum. One h as a buckle with " 35" beatable, it looked as if they would succeed in this
surmounted by a crown and is pre-1 88 1; the other has without loss. H owever with the score at 112, Stephen-
a buckle with the Officers' collar badge in the centre son had Thackera bow led and ten minutes later,
as worn after 1881. C lover-Brown who had scored a very useful 75.

Mrs. Roland P aget has presented a number of Wickets then began to fall and it now became a
items including two attractive framed pai ntings in question of whether the Duke's side cou ld get the runs
water colour on parchment, one of the 3rd (Mi liti a) in time; with half an hour to go it was anybody's
Bn . badge and the other of the R egimental Colours. match and in an atmosphere of intense exci tement,
with every chance bei ng taken to get the runs, the
Capt. E . W. N. S. C larke has presented a set of end came with three runs required to win and two
silver cuff links engraved with the badge of the Royal ba lls left! In fact onl y two runs were scored so the
Sussex Light Infantry Militi a which had been worn match was a draw, both sides havi ng scored 171-a
by hi s gr andfather, the late Col. S . R . C larke, CB. most suitable result !

The Royal Sussex Regiment Cricket Match versus Once again we are all indebted to the Duke of
The Duke of Norfolk's XI Norfolk for inviting us to pl ay this match and for his
generous hospitality. It is sur ely a day of leisurely
This very popular fixture was played once again sport pl ayed in the true Briti sh tradition in unsur-
on Sunday, M ay 21 st at Arundel Castle by kind in- passed surroundings. The gently waving st andards of
vitation of His Grace the Duke of Norfolk. the Duke of No rfolk and the Royal Sussex R egiment
on ei ther side of the pavi lion (which the Duke designed
The weather threatened in the morning with cold and built ); this beautiful ground with the shadows
wi nds and a drizzle, but by the start of play, it slowly ltngthening under the great trees, surely conjure up
turned into a warm spring day, showing off the memories of those more gracious days of a passing era.
beauties of thi s delightful ground to perfection .

The Middlesex Office ~
~

Benevolent Cases wreath in regimental co lours was laid at the R egi -
mental War Memori al in Inglis Barracks by Col. F .
During the qu ar ter ended June 30th, 1972, the Walden, who was deputising for the President.
sum of £526.8 9 was expended from the Charitable
Fund in making grants to 29 ex-members of the R egi- Annual Reunion
ment, or their dependants.
The reunion was agai n held this year at Por-
Albuhera Day chester H all, Queensway, on Saturday, M ay 13th, 355
members attended which, in spite of the railwa ymen 's
Arrangements were again made this yea r for the work to rule, was a considerable increase on last year's
annu al Service of R emembrance to be held in the figure of 290.
R egimental Memorial C hapel in St. P aul's Cathedr al.
The Service took place on Saturda y, M ay 13th and was Derby Outing
attended by approximately 350 Old Comrades, their re-
lations and fri ends; the sermon was preached by the A part y of 36 O ld omrades, their relatio ns and
Rev. P. L. P earce Gou ld, OBE, MA . friends went by coach to the D erby on June 7th, when
all had a most enjo yable day; for some it was also a
At 11 a. m. on Albuhera Day itself, a beautiful financia lly profitable one. A special wo rd of praise to

62 The dinner, a t the C hevrons C lu b, was a Very
happy occasiOn w.hen everyone seemed to en joy them-
.VIr. Bank> fo r providing such excellent picnic lun ches, selves great ly. W1 scly, because of the 47 potenti al or
much a pprecia ted by every member of the part y. actu al ''Cm·dcn. 8/e u s~' i~ th e vis itin g party, w e had
as ked for a typ1call y Enghsh mea l w hi ch the Club d id
Founder's Day, Royal Hospital, Chelsea ve ry well indeed ( In the view of this scribe, the tex ture
a nd flavour of the roast beef co uld not have been
The F ounder's D ay Ceremony took place on bettered). We eventu all y broke up around 11. 30 p.m .
Thursday June 8th, when HRH The Princess Annc ~hen .most o f us repai red to o ur downy couches. An
was the Reviewing Officer. In add ition to o ur Vice- mtrep1d few~ ~owcv~r , were keen to stretch th eir l eg~
Chairman who, with his wife, were in vited as official and see the bnght h~hts but we learn ed nex t mornin g
guests, 24 Strollers tickets alloca ted to the R egimental that the s trongest dnnk they were ab le to obtain was
Association were used by members. black coffee! One hopes we can be forgi ve n for ou r
s trange li censing laws.
Belgian OCA in Great Britain
. At a ro u~d n<?on the nex t morning, we all me t
A detachment of 22 Old Comrades, with the aga1r. at Mill Hill where respects were paid and
Regi menta l Association Standard, was provided for the wrea ths lmd at our Reg1mental W ar M emorial. Our
Annua l P arade of the Belgi an O C A in Great Britai n, gues ts were de lighted to sec so m an y uM elons" (French
held on Sunday, Jul y 16th on H orse Guards. This for bowler hats) and after the ceremonies, several were
was followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the seen to borrow the said u M elons)} for pho tographic
Cenotaph, where Col. Walden laid a wreath on behalf purposes.
of all Di e Hards. M aj. R . W. J . Smith was the D e-
tachment Comm ander and Mr. H . W . Kent the Stan- W e then repaired to RHQ at Edgware where Mr.
da rd Bearer. and Mrs. Banks had arranged a splendi d buffet
luncheon a nd a well-stocked bar. I t was a most enj oy-
VISIT BY THE RESEAU SYLVESTRE able occasiOn wh1ch was enhanced when Ti ch M elior
2nd -4th JUNE 1972 suddenly appeared pushing a piano. H e also found a
spl endid and versa tile pi anist who seemed to know
The return vi sit by some 47 members of the ever y possible Fren ch and Engli sh song.
Reseau S ylvestre from the Lille and Gondecourt area
The coach was due to leave at 3 p.m. so, af ter
- where Capt. Michael Trotobas had led their resis- m any rousing me lodies, Auld L ang Syn e was pl ayed
tance with such distinction and gall antry-took place and our visitors gradua ll y m ade their wa y to their
coach, passing down a lon g line of Old Comr ades and
over the week-end 2nd/ 4th June 1972 and a ll the saying their farewe ll s and 11 thank yo us"; we under-
function s were well attended b y our Old Comrades . stand that the singing continued non-stop until the
coach reached Dove r!
Thi s vi sit was a resounding success.
It was a most memorable visit which will not be
The part y was led by M. Marcel F ertein and M . forgotten for m an y yea rs to come and we on ly hope
Julien G erekens and included M . Edouard Montaigne, our v1s1tors enJo yed themse lves half as much as we did .
Our thanks are due to Co l. W alden and M aj. Smith
M ayo r of Gondecourt, Col. Berman of the C RS, M . Without whose hard work and good planning, it would
Pladys of " La Voix du Nord", m any other distinguish- not have been possible. W e are also very grateful to
ed members of the Reseau and several of their wives. Mi ss Eileen Amos who had been D eputy Consul in
Col. Walden and Maj. Smith met the coach at Dover Lille at the time of our vi sit las t November and who
and conducted the party to L ondon ; here the y carried gave much practical help and advice both in Lille and
on thi s occasion .
out a "milk round", di stributing the party between the
six locations where they were to stay for the two nights Old Comrades of the Reseau S lyvestre and of the
of the VISit. Col. Clayton was awaiting their arri val at
their first port of call-the Special Forces C lub- Regimental Association gathered at the Regimental
where the y turned up eventuall y around midnight.
War Museum, Inglis Barracks, Mill Hill, for the
Thi s was the first visit to Engl and for m an y of
wreath laying ceremony on S unday, June 4th. ~
the part y and it had therefore been arranged tha t they

would have the S aturday morning free so that they

could browse around, shopping or sight-seeing.

(Rumour hath it that Marks & Spencer will soon an-

nounce an increased di vidend as a result of that one

morning! ) The party met up again soon after noon

and after luncheon, the coach set out for Bruce Castle

and our R egi mental Museum. Jud ging by the interest

displa yed and the questions asked thi s trip was more

than worthwhile. The coach then took the party to vi sit

our Regimental Chapel and Baptistr y at St. P al aunld's~
after which it did a tour of va rious inter es ting

m arks-mcludm g The Tower of London and Bucking-

ham Pal ace-before depositing our visitors at their

va rious locations to repair the ravages of the day

before the dinner arranged th at evening in their

honour. A ll went well , although M. Gerekens (Resis-

tance Code name- " J acky") h ad what can best be de-

scribed as " key trouble"; however this enabled Co l.

Walden to show hi s prowess as a locksmith!

63

BuftBersnap

aname to remember.

Crisp butternut toffee covered in milk chocolate.

--- - --- - . . //



65

The Unknown War: by Lt.-Col. N. B. Knocker, QUEEN S,
Dhofar Commanding The D esert Regiment

It is onl y recentl y that reports have appeared in l orm the basis of the fi re power. The Oman Artillery
rhe World Press abo ut the Dhofar wa r, and much of is now up to regimental strength and is eq uipped with
the scant y news is inaccurate and mis-repo rted. The 25-pounde rs, some 5.5 in. and 75mm P A K guns.
war has, however, been in progress since 1964 and SOA F is divided into three sq uad rons:
since then has grad uall y been esca llating in intensity.
The contestants are the S ultanate of O man and the Strike Sqn: Consists of BAC 167 Strikemaster
" Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied aircraft for FGA role.
Arabian Gulf" ( PFLO AG ); the latter is based in the
South Yemen ( the old E as tern Aden Protectorate), its Helicopter Sqn: Consisting of Aug ust Bell 205
lmes of communica tion go back to Aden and it also and 206 H elicopters. T he 205 is a large troop
has tentacles reaching out to other parts of the G ul f. carr yi ng aic raft capable of carrying up to 12
full y-equipped soldiers or approximately 2,500
Fighting in Dhofar is a tough business and, as lbs. of freight. The 206 ( J et ranger ) is a liaiso n
t~wa l, the tactics of both sides are dictated by the aircra ft and ideal for recce and air O P wo rk.
eround. The terrain ranges from Salisbury Plai n-type
wlling countrys ide in the east, to thick trees and pri- Transport Sqn : T his consists of Viscount, Ca ri-
mary jung le in the centre, to steep tree-covered moun- bou and Skyva n aircraft; the latte r two being
tr.ins and deep wadis with sheer cliff s in the wes t. It STOL aircraft are idea l for operating from short
i ~ wild country but in parts ve ry bea utifu l. It is and rough strips. SOAF own the largest Skyvan
offected by the E ast African monsoon ( from mid June fl eet in the world, n umbering ten in all.
to late September ) and the climate varies from being
cold enough to wea r a P arka in the winter, to being Operations in D oh far are mainl y aimed at :
t.: ncomfortably hot in the summer ; it is a countr y of I . D estroyi ng enem y personnel, stores and posi-
extremes. In the centre is the Salalah plain where t io n s.
the R AF S tation Salalah is situated; the RAF fea- 2. Disrupting and cutt ing enem y resupply routes.
tures much in the support of S AF.
3. Protecting R AF Salalah from which the bul k
PFLO AG aims to liberate the G ul f from "the of SOAF air operations are mounted.
gnerilla force equipped with both Russian and Chinese
Imperialist a". It is a Chinese trained and backed. SAF ground operat ions are usuall y mounted from fi rm
Wea pons include 75 mm R C L guns, 82mm M or- bases which are protected by arty. and mortars form-
tars, 12.7mm Sphag in heavy machine guns in both ing a fi re base and usuall y containing an ai rstri p.
ground ?nd anti-aircraft roles, and the usual selection Operations consist of patrolling, ambush ing, cordon
cf 7.62mm automatic weapons found in any Com- and searching and the rap id follow-up of information
munits bloc army. The enemy are mainl y loca l J ebalis abo ut enemy movements. Air strikes (Venoms) are
some of whom have been trained ab road, many of mounted as a result of information from SEPs. Con-
whom are hard core guerillas dedicated to the ca use side rable success has been achieved by the use of h eli-
nf Communism, and many others who are mil itia; copters which have revolutionised the mobility of
th at is to say the loca l population who have been troops and speed of response. During a recent nine
armed and trained by the hard core. They use t ypical month tour in Dhofa r, The D esert R egiment ca rried
guerilla t act ics based on the idea logy of M ao. They out no less than fourteen H elicopter-mounted opera-
are orga nised into " F iq ats" which vary in number tions, each one involving much deta iled planning. W e
from fift y to over a hundred men and are self-contained h ave become very profi cient at this t ype of operation,
units. Their soldiers fight well but have a tende ncy which culminated in the mounting of Operat ion
to be infl ex ible which ca uses them unnecessa ry casual- " Simba", designed to est ablish a pos it ion close to the
ties. When under pressure and away from thei r South Yemen border well inside enemy held t erritory
leaders, they also have a tende ncy to surrende r and a and to sever their main resuppl y route. This was
b rge num ber of them - surrende red enemy personnel mounted entirely by ai rcraft and involved the siezing
(SEPs) -have joined the forces of the Sultan . of a key pos ition by helicopter assa ult, an d the build-
up of the force by helicopter and fi xed wing ai rcraft
Enemy supplies, which play a big part in the using free and para. drop. It took us just two days to
"'a r, are normall y moved by camel from safe area to bu ild an airstrip and complete the fl y-in by fi xed
sa fe area, and are stored in some of the vast complexes wi ng, and the eff ect on the enemy was considerable,
ol caves which exist throughout the Province before causing sharp reaction.
teing distributed to the F irqats. The terrain lends it-
self to this type of resuppl y, wh ich is extremely A favou rite form of enemy attack is to use heavy
di ffi cult to fru strate without large num bers of t roops; weapons ( 75mm R C L and 82mm M orta rs) supported
regrettably, SAF does not possess such numbers. by mach ine guns. They will shell a position heavily
for short periods in t he hope of catch ing sold iers in
The S ultan's Armed F orces have developed con- the open . In the favou rable ( to the enem y) terrain, the
siderably during the past yea r, and now consist of a loca tion of these wea pons is d iffi cult and requi res
ba lanced, well-equ ipped and modem army supported q uick ca refull y planned reaction on the part of SAF.
by the first- rate Sultan of Om an's Air F orce ( SOA F ). T he value of artillery intell igence, Shelreps and M ar-
The Sultan of Oman's Navy ( S ON ) is also rap idly reps in pinpointing weapon positions and thus plan-
ck veloping. Infant ry battalions are orga nised and ning counter-bomba rdment, cannot be over empha-
equipped on British lines. GPMGs and 8 lmm mortus ( Continued overleaf)
sised.