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3
Editor : Contents
Lt Col J J White,
Reg1mental Headquarters, Dates to Remember page
Howe Barracks, Colonel of the Regiment's Preface 8
Canterbury, Kent Editorial 9
Mainly About People 10
CTI \JU Canterbury Freedom Parade 10
Regimental Badge 1st Battalion
2nd Battalion 12
Co ll ar Badge 3rd Battalion 15
5th (Volunteer) Battalion 24
Button 6th/7th (Volunteer) Battalion 31
8th (Volunteer) Battalion The Queen 's Fusiliers 36
Printers : Depot The Queen's Division
Geerings of Ashford Ltd Regimental Bands 40
Regimental Information Team
Cobbs Wood House The Flying Dragons 44
Chart Road News from ACF Badged QUEENS 44
Regimental Headquarters 45
Ashford, Kent Officers' Club 48
Forthcoming Marriages, Marriages and Deaths 50
Correspondence 52
Regimental Associations
Alliances and Affiliations 57
Arti cles 60
60
62
63
67
68
The paper for this Journal was kindly donated to the
Regiment by Maj John Fowler TO.
COVER PICTURES
Front: Sobraon Day in the 1st Battalion . The Sobraon Sergeant , 10
February 1988, Sergeant Fisher with the Colour Party , and the Com -
manding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel C G F Charter. outside the
Officers' Mess, Tidworth .
Back : The 3rd Battalion leave Canterbury, the Home of the Regiment.
A scene during the Farewell Service in the Cathedral.
(Picture by Ben MayI
The Journal of
THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT
No63 Ju ne 1988
Unconquered I Serve
Battle Hono urs born e o n Th e Co lo urs
The Regim ental Colo ur :
" Tangier, 1662-80," " Namur , 1695," " Gibraltar, 1704-5," " Bienheim ," " Ramilles ," " M alplaquet ," " Dettingen ," " Louisburg ,"
" Guadeloupe, 1759," " Quebec , 1759," " M artiniqu e, 1762," " St Lucia , 1778," " Seringapatam ," " M aida," " Vimiera," " Corunna ,"
" Douro ," " Talavera," " Aibuhera," " Aim araz ," " Badajoz ," " Salamanca ," " Vittoria ," " Afghani stan , 1839," " Punniar ."
" Mood kee ," " Sobraon ," " lnkerm an ," " Sevastopol," " Luckn ow ," " Taku Fort s," " New Zealand ," " South A frica , 1879 ," " Nile ,
1884-85," " Burm a, 1885-87 ," " Chitral," " Relief of Ladysmit h," " Relief of Kimberley ," " South Africa . 1899- 1902," " Korea ,
1950- 51 ".
The Queen 's Colour :
" Mons," " M arn e, 1914- 18," " Ai sne, 1914," "Ypres, 1914-15-17- 18," " Hill60," " Festu bert , 191 5," " Somme, 1916, 191 8," " Al bert ,
1916, 1918," "Vimy, 1917," " Cambrai , 1917- 18," " Hindenburg Line," " Ital y, 191 7- 18," " Macedonia, 191 5- 18," " Gallipoli, 1915,"
" Gaza," " Jeru salem ," " Palestin e, 1917- 18," " Defence of Kut al Amara," " M esopotamia , 191 5- 18," " NW FrOQ_tier India , 1915,
1916-17," " Dun kirk , 1940," " Normand y Landi ng ," " North West Europe, 1940, 1944-45 ," " Abyssinia , 1941 ," " Omars, " Alam el
Half a, " " El Al amein ," " Longstop Hill , 1943," " North Africa , 1940-43 ," " Sicily, 1943," " Sangro ," " Salerno ," " Anzio ," " Cassino ,"
" Italy , 1943-45," " Malaya, 1941 -42," " M alta, 1940-42," " Hong Kong ," " Def ence of Kohima ," " Burma , 1943-45".
All ied Co lo nels-in-Chief
HER RO YAL HIGHNESS PR IN CESS JULIA NA of the Net herlands
HER M AJ ESTY QUEEN M A RGRETHE 11 of Denmark
Co lon el of t h e Regim ent
Brigadier H C MILLMAN , OBE
Deputy Colo nels of t h e Regiment
Brigadier R W ACWO RTH , CBE , Colonel J C HOLMAN , CBE , Brigadier M RI CO N STAN TI NE, O BE , Brigadi er H N T AR V ER, CBE
Ho no rary Colonels o f Terri torial Army Battali ons
Colonel The Rt Hon Robin LEIG H-PEMBERTON Colonel R R St J BA RKS HIRE , T D, JP , DL
(5th (Volunteer) Battalion) (6th /7th (Volunt eer! Battalion )
5
CIVIC HONOURS
The ' Privilege' of the City of London. The Freedom of Arundel , Ashford , Barnet, Belfast, Brighton , Canterbury , Chichester .
Eastbourne , Folkestone , Guildford , Hove , Kingston -upon -Thames, Lewes, Maidstone, Ramsgate. Reigate and Banstead,
Tonbridge and Mailing , and Worthing .
ALLIANCES
The Canadian Armed Forces The New Zealand Army
The Queen 's York Rangers I RCAC) 2nd Battalion (Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough and West
The South Alberta light Horse I RCAC) Coast)
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
The Hastings and Prince Edwa rd Regiment The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regim ent
1st Battalion The Royal New Brunswick Regiment 5th Battalion (Wellington , West Coast and Taranaki)
The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
ICarleton & York)
The Essex and Kent Scottish
The Australian Military Forces The Pakistan Army
12th , 14th , 15th and 17th Battalions, The Punjab Regiment
The Royal New South Wal es Regiment
The University of New South Wales Regiment Hong Kong
The Royal Western Australia Regiment The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers)
AFFILIATIONS
HMS Nelson, HMS Kent and The Ro yal Anglian Regiment
HMS Leeds Castle The Ki ng 's Own Scottish Borderers
The Royal Marines lA ' Bond of Friendship ') No . 3(F) Squadron Royal Air Force
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers The Royal Danish Life Guards (an 'Unofficial Alliance')
The W orshipful Company of Haberd ashers
AFFILIATED UNITS OF THE CADET FORCES
CCF School Contingents
Alleyn's School, Dulwich ; Ardingl y College ; St . Aloysius College ; Brighton College ; Caterham School; Chichester High School ;
Collyer's VI Form College IHorsham) ; Cranbrook School ; Cranleigh School; Dulwich College; Eastbourne College ; Epsom
College ; Haberdasher's Aske's School I Eistree) ; Hampton Grammar School; Highgate School ; Hurstpierpoint College ; Judd
School (Ton bridge); King's School (Canterbury) ; Kingston Grammar School ; Lancing College ; Mill Hill School; Reeds School ;
Reigate Grammar School ; Royal Grammar School (Guildford) ; Sir Rog er Manwood's School (Sandwich) ; St Edm und' s School
(Ca nterbury); St John's School (Leatherh ead); St Lawrence College I Ramsgate); Skinners School ITunbridge Wells) ; Sutton
Valence School; Tonbridge School ; Whitgift School ; William Ellis School ; Wilsons Grammar School.
ACF Units / Sub-Units Cadet Coys Nos 25 and 26 .
Greater London : Cadet Coys Nos . 194, 195, 205, 211, 216, 217 .
NE London Sector Cadet Coys
Middlesex and Cadet Coys Nos . 25 26.
NW London Sector Cadet Dets
NE London Sector Cadet Bns No. 72.
SE London Sector Cadet Bns
SW Lond on Sector Nos 133 to 136, 141 , 143, 147, 149, 151 to 153, 155 to 158.
Cadet Pis
Surrey : 1st I Red hill ) and 2nd (Farnham) The Queen 's Regiment (Surrey ACF) .
Kent :
1st (Canterbury) , 2nd (Sandgate) , 3rd ITunbridge Wells) and 4th (Maidstone) Th e
Sussex : Queen 's Regiment (Kent ACF).
Nos 2 ISeaford) , 3 (Hastings) , 4 I Lewes) , 5 I Haywards Heath) , 6 ICrawley) , 7
(Chichester) , 8 ICrowborough ). 9 !Worthing) , 10 (Eastbourne) , 11 I Horsham) , 13
IShoreham) , 14 (Bexhill ), 16 I Hurstpierpoint ). 17 IBognor), 18 llittlehampton). 19
I Hailsham) , 20 (Lewes OGS) , 221Southwaterl .
6
REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS
Howe Barracks, Canterbury , Kent CT1 1JU (Telephone 0'127 7634341
Regimental Secretary Col J W Francis (ext 42951
Lt Col J J White (ext 42501
Deputy Regimental Secretary
Maj A Martin , MBE (ext 4251)
Finance, Chattels, QUEENS Assn Ben evolence
and R SUSSEX Liaison Lt Col L M Wilson, M BE (ext 42531
Museum, Archives and QUEEN'S SURREYS Maj H C L Tennent (ext 42521
Assn Affairs
Maj R Waite (ext 42541
Chairman Welfare and Benevolence Committee, Maj S C Thorpe (ext 4255)
QUEENS OWN BUFFS Assn Affairs Capt GB Moss (06'12 671241 ext 2921
RHO Admin, Asst RCO, Regtl Assn and MX Capt P D Beat (0763 4'1271 ext 3021
Assn Liaison
Regimental Careers Officer
OC Regimental Information Team
OC Regimental Free Fall Team 'The Flying
Dragons'
REGULAR BATTALIONS TA BATTALIONS
1st Battalion 5th (VI Battalion
Leros TA Centre , Slurry Road , Canterbury, Kent CT1 1HR
Mooltan Barracks , Tidworth , Hampshire SP9 7EN
CO: Lt Col P L Pearce
CO : Lt Col C G F Charter
6th/ 7th (V) Battalion
2nd Battalion Norfolk TA Centre , Denne Road , Horsham , Sussex
West Belfast, Northern Ireland, BFPO 801
CO : Lt Col R E Lowans , TD
CO : Lt Col M C Willis
8th (V) Battalion The Queen 's Fusiliers (City of London)
3rd Battalion TA Centre, St John's Hill , Clapham Junction , London SW11 1TT
Alexander Barracks , Aldergrove , BFPO 808
CO : Lt Col N J Brunt , RRF
CO : Lt Col R M McGhie
REGIMENTAL REPRESENTATIVES
Depot The Queen 's Division Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst
Bassingbou rn Barracks , Royston, Herts , SG8 5LX RMA Sandhurst, Camberley , Surrey , GU15 4PQ
Maj J P S Mills Capt J E Cameron
Denmark Junior Infantry Battalion
HQ BALTAP , Naval Party 1004, BFPO Ships Sir John Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe , Kent CT20 3HE
Maj J C Acworth Maj PR P Howe
7
DATES TO REMEMBER JUNE TO DECEMBER 1988
June 'Glorious First of June' (1st Bn .). October
1 Regtl Cricket Match v Tonbridge School. 1 Freedom Parade, Worthing (6th /7th (V) Bn)
2 Regtl Cricket Match v HMS Nelson. 4 Regtl Golf Match v King 's School , Canterbury.
4 Queen 's Surreys Regtl Assn Service, Guildford 6 Queen's Surreys Golfing Society Autumn
5 Cathedral . Meeting, Richmond .
Royal Sussex Stakes, Goodwood.
7 Regtl Golf Match v RMA Sandhurst . 14 Regtl Golf Match v Haberdashers' Livery
8 Official Birthday of HM The Queen . Company.
11 Regtl Cricket Match v Eastbourne College.
12 Freedom Parade, Guildford (1st Bn). 15 WOs' and Sgts' Past and Present Dinner,
15 Freedom Parade, Reigate (1st Bn). Bassingbourn.
16 Freedom Parade, Ramsgate (1st Bn).
17 Freedom Parade, Maidstone (1st Bn) , followed 20 Regtl Golf Match v Liphook GC .
18 at 1800 hrs by Free Fall Display and Beating 22 6th/7th (V) Bn Official Opening Brighton TA
Retreat in Mote Park, Maidstone.
19 Regtl Cricket Match v Cranleigh School. Centre by C in C UKLF.
21 Regtl Cricket Match v King's School , Canter- 27-31 2nd Bn contingent and Albuhera Band to Italy
bury .
23 Regtl Golf Match v RRF and R ANGLIAN . for 70th Ann . of Battle of Vittorio Veneto .
25 5th (V) Bn Officers' Cocktail Party and Sgts ' 28 Royal Sussex Officers' Luncheon , Duke of
BBQ. York' s HQ.
July Depot Queen's Div Open Day (50th Anni- November
2 versary) . 10 Regtl Assn - Field of Remembrance
Regtl Grand Reunion, Bassingbourn.
10 6th/7th (V) Bn Beating Retreat and Cocktail Ceremony , Westminster, 1130 hrs .
16 Party, Christ's Hospital , Horsham. 12 Middlesex Regtl Assn Field of Remembrance
Regtl Cricket Match v Haberdashers' Livery
16 Company. Ceremony, Westminster, 1030 hrs.
Regtl Golf Match v Kent County Constabulary. 13 Remembrance Day , with Regtl participa-
22 Regtl Tent, Canterbury Cricket Week .
30- tion at Cenotaph ceremony, Whitehall.
Queen 's Own Buffs Remembrance Service 13 Middlesex Regtl Assn - Remembrance Day
5 Aug and Reunion , Canterbury .
31 Regtl Golf Match v Royal Marines. Service, lnglis Bks, Mill Hill (1030 hrs) ,
Reunion TA Centre Edgware.
19 14- 18 A Company, 2nd Bn, on Ex ODIN GRUNT in
Denmark .
September 25 Regtl Cocktail Party , Banqueting House.
1-20 1st Bn on Ex BOLD GROUSE in Denmark. Whitehall .
3- 16 5th (V) Bn Annual Camp, Wathgill. 29- Platoon, C Company 2nd Bn on Ex LANG
3-17 6th/7th (V) Bn Annual Camp, Okehampton. 7 Dec BERET in Denmark .
8 Sevastopol Day (2nd Bn).
9 Salerno Day (1st Bn). December
9 Queen's Surreys Officers' Ladies Luncheon , 17 5th (V) Bn Officers' Mess Ladies Dinner.
Clandon Park. 20 British Battalion Day.
9 Regtl Golf Match v QUEENS OWN BUFFS. 31 22nd Anniversary of The Queen 's Regi-
11 Queen 's Own Buffs Remembrance Service ment.
and Reunion, Maidstone.
12 2nd Bn returns to Minden .
13 Quebec Day (3rd Bn).
STOP PRESS
REGIMENT WINS GOLFING COMPETITION
Many congratulations to the Regiment's 'A' Team which won the inter-regimental Argyll and Sutherland
Bowl Competition on 19 and 20 May . The team consisted of Col John Davidson (Captain) , Brig Stuart
Anderson OBE, MC, Maj Reg Ford and Capt Ham Whitty. They beat RGJ ' B' in the first round , R IRISH ' A' in
the semi-final and RGJ 'A' in the final . A full report in the December edition of the Journal.
8
COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT'S PREFACE
'Change is inevitable since change is constant'
Disraeli
After 10 years, first as the Single Deputy and later as your Colonel, I shall be handing over the reins to
another at the end of the year . lt will have been a very long innings at the crease, sometimes wearing , often
tiring but always enjoyable - and occasionally productive I hope! I have also just been issued with a Senior
Citizen's Rail card! Had the Colours of BQF(V) been avai lable for presentation and the Divisional Massed
Bands been back on Horse Guards next year then I might have sought your approval f or a year's extension
of tenure. For I was personally deeply involved in the conception of both . Since neither event will now take
place till the early to mid- 1990s I have recommended that Major General Michael Reynolds succeed me as
Colonel of the Regiment on 1 January 1989. In the same context I am equal ly happy to report that the
cu rrent Lord Mayor of London , and another ex- HAC recruit , Colon el Sir Greville Spratt , has kind ly agreed ,
subject to HM The Queen's approval, to accept the Honorary Colonelcy of BQF(V) .
Commonsense has finally prevailed over the ' Stable Army' paper though I, and several other Infantry
Colonels, would have been happier to see a shorter
stint in BAOR . A tour in Celle , Lemgo or W erl is one
thing -one in such as Fallingbostel is quite another!
However the Director of Infantry fought hard on our
behalf and w e are very grateful to him for the con -
cessions gained .
Our affiliation to the Worshipful Company of
Haberdashers is now in its fifth year. Due to the
stirling efforts of a succession of highly supportive
Masters the relationship has become truly meaning-
ful . For we have now gone beyond exchange
interest visits (and those needle Cri cket and Golf
matches!) into the realms of positive mutual projects
and favours . We , for example, were deeply grateful
for their most generous donation towards our Dove r
Museum Appeal and we hope that our shortly to be
established Venture Project Award at th e excellent
Haberdashers' Aske's School at Elstree will assist in
developing character training - besides, of cou rse ,
producing another Cambridg e Golf Captain or two
for the Regiment! In short, th e affiliation is now a
proper working partnership.
We have recently approached the Royal British
Legion with a view to the Regimental Association
taking its place in the annual Rem embran ce Day
Cenotaph Parade in November . I am sure this is right
and proper for a truly London Regiment and
especially in our coming of age year. I hope many
will join me on this first occasion.
Finally we are still hopeful that we may yet
manage to arrange an informal visit of HM Qu een
Margrethe to 1 QUEENS at Tidworth at the end of
the year wh en she will be in London to mark the
125th Anniversary of the Danish Club. This is in
addition to the visit the Queen will be making to the
Battalion during their BALTAP Exe rcise this
autumn .
By the tim e this hits your breakfast table we shall The Colonel of the Regiment, after rece1vmg the
be approaching the Annual Reunion at Bassing - Royal Order of the Dannebrog (Commander 1st
bourn. Let's hope for a very good turnout once again Class) .
and this time on Sunday 10 July - I' ll see you there!
CHARLES MILLMAN ,
Brig adier
9
EDITORIAL
Our congratu lations to the Colonel of the Regiment who has recently received the Royal Order of
the Dannebrog (Commander 1st Class) (shown on page 9) and an invitation to become a Freeman of
the Haberdashers' Company . These honours reflect the Regiment's strong links with the Danish Royal
House and our affiliated Livery Company . The association with Denmark , which next yea r will date
back three centur ies , will be underlined when our 1st Battalion exercises there this Autumn.
Coincidently our free fall team, The Flying Dragons, while searching for a sponsor to succeed
Prudential in 1989, has been booked to give six displays this summer for Danepak .
As we go to press two of our Regular battalions are again serving in Northern Ireland, the 2nd on a
four month tour and the 3rd as a ' Resident' unit. We wish them every success in dealing with this long -
running commitment which demands such professionalism and patience. lt is a duty which cannot be
shirked as the Dean of Canterbury so eloquently said in his sermon (reprinted on page 11) at the
Service in his Cathedral after the 3rd Battalion had exercised the Regiment 's Freedom of the city. This
memorable day rightly receives full coverage as does news of battalions and other branches of the
Regimental family. These detailed records of events are important as they not on ly provide interesting
reading now, they also form the basis of our future historica l records.
We also co ngratulate on sporting successes the boxers of the 1st and 2nd Battalions , the 6th/7th
(Volunteer) Battalion team that won the UKLF TA Orienteering Championships and Pte Ray Cauldrey
of the 3rd Battalion , the British Sombo Wrestling Champion whose skills are described on page 73 .
Among the Articles , two on mountaineering and an account of the Regiment' s Investment Sub
Committee are of particular note and it is hoped that the others are entertaining and of interest.
Two innovations in this edition are more large pictures and increased space for articles. Both are due
to incorporating in the recently published Regimental Directory the location lists which normally fill
several pages of the Journal. Whereas previously, excellent cont ributions frequently had to be
omitted, more articles, preferably with a Regim ental connection, will now be welcome.
The Regiment's Freedom will next be exercised in June by a 1st Battalion contingent under Major
Robert Knight and the Quebec Band in Guildford (15th), Reigate and Banstead (16th), Ramsgate
(17th) and Maidstone (18th), while on 1st October the 6th/7th (Volunteer) Battalion with our recently
renamed TA Band , the 'Kohima (Volunteer) Band' , will march through Worthing . These parades bring
up to date the programme of exercising our Freedoms once every 5- 10 years .
Finally our congratulations and best wishes to two new Commanding Officers. Lt Col Merrick Willis
has taken over the 2nd Battalion from Lt Col Peter Cook and Lt Col Phi lip Pearce has succeeded Lt Col
Charles Joint in command of the 5th (Volunteer) Battalion.
MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE
The Colonel of the Regiment was awarded the Lt Col A F SLing MBE has been made an OBE in the
Royal Order of Dannebrog (Commander 1st Class) by Northern Ireland Gallantry Awards .
HM Queen Margrethe 11. The decoration was presented
to Brig Millman by HE The Danish Ambassador in Maj M D Montgomery and Maj P A D Storie-
London on 18 February. Subsequently, on 6 April, the Pugh TO were mad e MBEs in the New Year's Honours '
Colonel of the Regiment was made a Freeman of the List.
Haberdashers' Company.
Maj M P Rayner has received a 'Mentioned in Des-
Maj Gen C M M Man CB OBE MC , former Colonel patches' in the Northern Ireland Gallantry Awards .
of The Middlesex Regiment, suffered a 'stroke' three
years ago. On the 19 April he was admitted to the Kings Col N B Knocker OBE was appointed County Emer-
Cross Hospital , Dundee, where his right leg was ampu- gency Planning Officer for Wiltshire , in November 1987.
tated just below the knee. He is making a good recovery
and all members of the Regiment wish him a speedy Capts G F Bourne. P R Corden. P T Crowley, J
return to good health. Dixon, S T B Duggan , S P B Kilpatrick and I D
Raynes have all passed the PQS 2 examination at Staff
Brig M R I Constantine OBE. Deputy Colonel C, level.
has been selected for the Royal College of Defence
Studies 1989 course. Maj 0 S Scull MBE spoke on the BBC1 TV pro-
gramme ' O. E.D . - Glimpses of Death ' .
10
Maj P J Chapman, 6/7 QUEENS (V), has been Capt J J Farrell, 3 QUEENS , was a prize winner in
awarded the TD. the Junior Office rs' Military History Prize Essay Compe-
tition 1986/ 87 .
W02 A Lawson and Sgt C Harper 6/7 QUEENS (V)
were awarded Army Colours for Orienteering . Lt G P Jones , 2 QUEENS, won the Infantry Prize on
his Platoon Commanders' Course at the School of
CSgt lrwin 6/7 QUEENS (V) ac hieved a Grade A Infantry.
(Outstanding) on his Unit Documentation Short Course.
Pte R Cauldery, 3 QUEENS , represented UK in the
W02 Skoglund , CSgt lrwin and Sgt Watts, all 6/7 world SOMBRO Wrestling Championships in Milan ,
QUEENS (V) have been awarded Territorial Efficiency Italy. He held the British Open Gold Medal in the
Medals. ESPOIR Class (under 21s).
CSgt Devaney and CSgt Coote , both 6/7 QUEENS Sgt 0 Harper, 6/7 QUEENS (V), has been awarded
IV) have been awarded Lord Lieutenant's Meritorious TA Sports Colours for Orienteering .
Service Certificates .
CSgt P Devaney, 6/7 QUEENS IV), and SSgt R
W02 (RQMS) T R Farrow, Depot, gained an 'A ' Taylor RAPC and Sgt P Gql REME both attached to
grading on his RQMS course. 6/7 QUEENS (V) , have all been awarded the Lord Lieu-
tenant of Surrey's Meritorious Service Certificate .
Capt S Dafford TO , formerly 5, 6, 6/7 and 7
QUEENS (V) was Team Manager of the England Team CSgt W Sharp , Team Leader of The Flying Drag ons
for the Commonwealth Shooting Federation Champion- Freefall Team, has passed Part I of the British Parachute
ships in May and plays a leading part in TA co mpetition Association Examine r (of Instructor>) Rating .
shooting.
CSgt B F Reader of The Flying Dragons has qualified
W02 Mallam. 1 QUEENS , has been selected to as a British Parachute Association Instructor and LCpl
represent the Army Team in the Inter Service Gliding I P Cashman and Pte D S Cooper, also members of
Championships at Bicester in August 88. the Team , have passed the BPA Potential Instru ctors
Course .
Cpl Thompson, 1 QUEENS , achieved a distinction in
EPC communication ski lls. Capt D G Strutt, 2 QUEENS , was selected as a
member of the British Services Everest Expedition 1988.
Cpl President, 1 QUEENS , was awarded the Long
Service and Good Conduct Medal by Maj Gen A S Maj J C F Gamlin is now cycl ing from New York to
J eapes OBE MC, GOC South West Distri ct. San Francisco (5,500 miles across the United States) on
a bicycle made for 3, with two Junior Soldiers from JIB
Pte D A J Bray, 8 QF IV) was awarded GOC London Shorncliffe.
District's Certificate of Commendation on 12 May for
saving the life of a man who had been knocked down by
a car on Tulse Hill.
Maj G C Brown will take over from Maj J C
Acworth as Regimental Representative in Denmark in
the appointment of S02 Ex HQ BALTAP in mid 1989.
Pte White, 2 QUEENS , was selected to represent the
Combined Services Under 21s Rugby XV against the
Welsh and Scottish Under 21 sides , having played regu -
larly for both the Army and Combined Services Under
21 XVs.
Pte Marquardt, 2 QUEENS , came third in the BAOR
Individu al Small Bore Championship, Sgt Kirkaldie
came 7th . 2 QUEENS came 4th in the team event.
2Lt Gavin Jones, 2 QUEENS , was awarded the
Commander's Binocula rs for the Best Student on the
Platoon Commanders Battle Course .
Cpl Popman, 2 QUEENS , was selected to represent
the Infantry in the BAOR Inter Corps Squash
Championships .
W02 A P Lawson , 6/7 QUEENS (V) , achieved an
'Outstanding ' grading on the Map Reading Instructors
Course.
S Sgt Bob Small , ex 1 QUEENS , and now RAOC , Cadet RSM Darren McDonagh , 211 Edgware
serving at SHAPE, presented two drawings (shown in Cadet Company QUEENS , has won the distinction of
the picture) at a recent exhibition there. He sends his Lord Li eutenant's Cadet in Greater London . (See also
best wishes to his many friend s in the Regiment. page 52) .
A (Salerno) Company 6/ 7 QUEENS IV) won the
South East District TA Orienteering Championships ,
with five individuals in the first nine places.
11
CANTERBURY'S FREEMEN ON PARADE
7JANUARY1988
Canterbury Freedom Parade - General Salute. !Gazette picture )
A SPECTATOR'S REPORT memorable accompaniment, the Commanding Officer
read the Lesson and the Dean did the Regiment the
The January sun shone on the 3rd Battalion as it exer- honour of preaching - the text of his sermon is printed
cised the Regiment's Freedom of Canterbury - the below . After the Service, the VIPs , including the Mayor,
'Home of the Regiment' - in the traditional manner the MP for Canterbury Mr Julian Brazier, Major General
with 'Colours Flying, Drums Beating and Bayonets Fergus Ling, the Vice Chancellor of Kent University and
Fixed'. The ceremonies were a sad farewell to the City the Chief Constable of Kent, proceeded to the Westgate
by this fine battalion before its departure for service in Hall for a civic reception and luncheon most generously
Northern Ireland, and marked the 40th Anniversary of given by the City Council for the Regiment . This happy
the Freedom, first granted to The Buffs in 1948. occasion was concluded by speeches made by the
Mayor and the Colonel of the Regiment.
Led by the Corps of Drums and the Quebec Band,
and under command of Lt Col Bob McGhie carrying the Also participating in the ceremonies were the Canter-
Wilkinson Sword of Peace, the parade marched proudly bury Branch of The Queen 's Regimental Association
from its base in Howe Barracks down St Martin 's Hill (The Queen 's Own Buffs) who were especially wel-
and through historic Longport, Burgate and Mercery comed by the Mayor after the parade, cadets from the
Lane to the Beaney Institute. There, in front of a large 1st (Canterbury) Battalion ACF The Queen 's Regiment
crowd, the Mayor, Councillor Kim Nicholls, accompan- who formed a smart Guard of Honour at the West Door
ied by the Colonel of the Regiment, was received at 11 of the Cathedral and the Regimental Information Team
am with a resounding General Salute before inspecting which provided an interesting display on the Regiment
the immaculate battalion parading for the first time with in the Longmarket and organised a street collection for
their new SABO rifles. Short speeches and an exchange the Army Benevolent Fund .
of shields bearing the City coat of arms and Regimental
badge followed before another ' Present Arms' and an lt was a happy and suc cessful day for the Regiment
impressive march past the Mayor as the battalion and particularly for the 3rd Battalion , thanks to the
escorted its Colours to a great Service at 12 noon in the kindness and consideration shown by the Mayor and
Cathedral Church of Christ . Here the Quebec Band with City Council, and the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury
fanfare trumpeters provided magnificent and Cathedral . Judging by the number of spectators , their
generous donations to the ABF , the outstanding press
coverage and the letters received following the parade ,
the occasion was also mu ch apprec iated , generally, in
th e 'Home of the Regiment '.
12
AN ACCOUNT BY CPL SIGSWORTH, WHO went, especially amongst the somewhat bemused
Thursday morning shoppers! lt was also a pleasure to
WAS ON PARADE see so many 'old so ldiers' from our form er regiments
turn out to see us . Our presence had generated con-
. As a farewell to the City of Canterbury after two years siderable press interest and we found ourselves staring
1n Howe Barracks, it was decided that the battalion down the lenses of TV came ras. After the inspection ,
would exercise the Freedom of the City which was first the battalion was granted permission to exercise the
granted to The Buffs . Regiment's Freedom Rights and we proceeded to
march on a route around the City Centre led by the
After a number of days of very mixed weather, during Commanding Officer who carried the Wilkinson Sword
which we drilled intensively to master the new move- of Peace . After marching past the Mayor and the
ments with SA80, it was with great relief that the day of Colonel of the Regiment we headed for the Cathedral
7 January dawned bright and clear . With the Colours Precinct where the Colours were marched off and the
marched onto the square, the battalion was ready to battalion fallen out. The forma l part of the day
start the march down into the City. All four companies concluded with a memorable Service in the Cathedral
were on parade and the route we were soon to take led where the Quebec Band displayed its versati lity by
us down Barrack Hill into Canterbury's narrow streets. accompanying the organ in a selection of hymns and
Naturally we had not been able to rehearse down in the
city and the march down presented us with some novel playing a dramatic fanfare .
problems. However, we coped well with both the diffi-
culties of marching on the narrow, cobbled streets and After the Service, which was conducted by the Dean ,
the echoes from the buildings giving each company a the battalion divided, with some returning to barracks
different drum beat. whilst a selected cross-section of all ranks were enter-
tained to lunch as guests of the Mayor and City Council.
Th e Mayor of Canterbury took the sa lute and inspec-
ted the parade outside the library. Although there had For all who had taken part this was a memorable day.
not been much advance notice of the parade, we lt was however tinged with sadness for we were also
attracted large crowds of spectators everywhere we saying farewell to the City of Canterbury and to the
Quebec Band , for this was the latter's last public
appearance with the battalion .
THE DEAN'S SERMON
Christmas is barely past, and the words which have
been ringing in our ears are:
Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth.
His name shall be ' Prin ce of Pea ce'.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there
shall be no end.
And then yesterday in Church we ca me down to earth
with a bang. The Church ce lebrated the coming of the
WISe men , and as a result of that visit, Mary, Joseph and
the babe became refugees, and there was a bloody
massacre of children, and the peace of Christmas
seemed to have vanished . Or has it? Surely it is nearer
the truth that the peace of Christmas always has to be
fought for and strived for - and when in some small
way it is achieved , then it has to be defended, or else it
1s lost.
Canterbury justly is proud to be 'The Home of the
Queen's Regiment', and today that pride has grown as
you the Third Battalion have exercised your privilege of
the Freedom of th1s C1ty. But the root of that pride, if it
1s 1n any sense genuine and good , ought and must lie in
the fact that you, as a force , are committed to the
achievement and defence of Peace . Remember those
words of the Act of Commitment you have just used :
Lord God our Father
We pledge ourselves
to serve you and all mankind
in the cause of peace .
For the work of the Battalion in Belize you have
received a S':"'ord of Pea ce - and who amongst you will
forget that s1ght, last September, as the Flying Drag ons
bore that sword through the air that it might be pre-
sented to you. And now 1t 1s to seek to achieve and give
defence to the cause of peace that you go to Northern
Ireland .
13
The bloodshed and the strife in that land have Canterbury Freedom Parade - The Colonel of the
appa lled us over the years , but if we are committed to a
peace which is real and lasting , w e dare not capitulate Regiment and M ayor, with the shields exchanged ,
to terrorism and bla ckmail: we dare not shrug our
shou lders and withdraw . Only by wh at you do to estab- following the ceremony. (Gazette picture)
lish order and safety and justi ce wi ll the rea l quality of
peace be achieved - and when it is achieved, will still
need defending .
This Cathedral Church - the Moth er Church of the
whole of England - is dedicated to Christ, the Prin ce of
Peace. We have just celebrated the birth of the Prin ce of
Peace . Yo u leave your Reg imental home to perform a
task of achieving and defending peace. Go in the spirit
of those wise men who sought to give what they va lu ed
most to that Prince of Peace, so that He and all He
stands for can conq uer men's hearts, and thereby
conquer the world.
GAZETTE COMMENT and Northern Ireland . And now they are leaving for a
two-yea r tour in the troubled province.
Reprinted from the Kentish Gazette
of 15 January 1988 While in the city they have been well behaved and
have added a we lcome splash of colour on ceremonial
Sad Farewell occas1ons.
Canterbury is the Home of the Queen's Regiment and
it is with sadness that we say farewe ll to the 3rd Th ey have also raised considerab le amounts for
Battalion which has been based at Howe Barra cks for chari ty, notab ly the Cancer Ca re Appeal, and after the
the past two years. hurricane they turned out all over the county to help sort
out the devastation .
During that time the Queensmen have served in
Belize, where they won the Wilkinson Sword of Peace, Th ey wi ll be missed and we wish them a safe and
successful tour coping w ith t heir difficult task in
Northern Ireland .
THE JOURNAL OF THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT
lA half-yearly publication - June and December . Price £2 .00 per issue or £4 per ann um - post free withi n the UK )
To The Editor , The Journal of The Queen's Regiment , Howe Barracks . Canterbury , Kent CT 11JU Dat e .
Please supply to me each half year with . . copy / copies of THE
JOURNAL OF THE QUEEN ' S REGIMENT , commencing with the next number , for wh ich I enclose:
•(a) £ or *(b) a Banker's Order
PLEASE W RITE IN BLOCK Cl\PITALS
Initials and Name . Rank ... ... ........... .. ...
Address
*delete as applicable
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No . (for offi ce use)
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Please pay now and th ereafter on 1st January annually to THE QUEEN ' S REGIM ENT JOURNAL ACCOUNT (No . 05792401 with
LLO YDS BANK LTD . 49 HIGH STREET , CAN TERBUR Y, KENT , the sum of FOUR POUND S sterling , being my ann ual
subscripti on to The Journal of The Queen 's Reg iment.
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14
1st BATTALION
Th e Divisiona l Co lonel , Col John Holman CBE, meets the Recce Platoon during his visit.
There are many striking aspects to Infantry life and as With the paperwork exercise of reorganising the
one reflects back on the past six months two of them battalion completed in the quieter hours of the South
seem particu larly relevant . The first is that if the Armagh tour we returned from post tour leave in
Infantryman attempts to carry every item that the November to blow a whistle, change Commanding
various Infantry manuals state that he should , there is a Officers and reshuffle the battalion into its new
fair chance that he will fail to stand up . As we complete establishment. The result was a considerable gain for
our packing for Spearhead this seems only too appar- Quebec Company (or some would say Quebec Batta-
ent. The second is that if a battalion attempted all the lion) who now have M ILAN , Mortars and Recce Platoon
mandatory and essentia l training expected of it in any as well as the Corps of Drums, and an inevitable loss to
year, someone ca lculated that it would require at least 3 the rifle companies who are always the losers on such
years to complete it. On that reckoning it seems that at occasions. Headquarter Company appeared to accept
least 18 months has passed since the last half year the principle of losses but by some clever trickery seem
editorial. A cynical view perhaps but one which illus- to have ended up with just as many as they started .
trates the pace of life. In reality since returning from With a busy programme ahead and an enormous enthu-
South Armagh we have had a fascinating 6 months siasm to get to grips with honest to goodness Infantry
relearning conventiona l skills and converting to SAXON soldiering the new look organisation quickly settled
for our role in the United Kingdom Mobile Force
(UKMF). down .
Perhaps the first and most pressing priority was to
15
1st Battalion
train our newly formed Recce Platoon equipped with traditional style on Monday 9th November to start a
eight Fox Close Reconnaissance Vehicles (wheeled) period of local leave before departing to his new job . To
which had remained garaged since our arrival from him and Ann go fond farewells and our thanks for his
role in returning the battalion safely from South
Gibraltar and lovingly maintained by CSgt Potts and a Armagh. In his place we welcome Lt Col Chris Charter
team from our REME detachment. No one in the batta- already well ahead of us in his knowledge of the UKMF
lion had any experience of wheeled recce except Cpls and ready to steer us through the next phase of
Smythe and Beale who had qualified as instructors in battalion life. Looking back on that period it was a relief
gunnery and vehicle maintenance respectively before that there were not too many changes of emphasis for
going to NI. From that baseline the platoon had less the changes in role and organisation were quite
than three months to prepare for the UKMF Recce suffic ient to keep us all busy. Worthy of mention , and in
Concentration at Castlemartin. To their credit, under an attempt to avoid any future confusion (or create
the direction of Capt Mike Scott, and with excellent more!) , was the new CO's welcome decision to drop A,
assistance from the Bovington travelling team , they B, C and Support from each Company's title. From now
achieved commendable results and were deemed opera - on, for examp le A (Tangier) Company will be known as
tionally fit. In three months they had all comp leted Tangier Company and the remaining compan ies
gunnery, driver and maintenance courses, the comman - Holland, Sobraon, Quebec and Albuhera Companies
ders had been trained in tactics and had carried out both respectively. Now - just to ensu re even more clarity,
conversion firing at Lulworth and recruit firing at Castle- the winner of each year's inter company competition
martin. They even found time for Christmas leave. will be entitled Kirke's Company which in the current
period means that Sobroan Company is not known as
For the remainder of the battalion , November proved Sobroan but Kirke's Company . Within the battalion
an ideal time to comme nce individual training . Tidworth most, except newcomers, are familiar with the titles but
Garrison was blissfully quiet as the rest of the U KM F the Brigade Commander did remark that the map
were doing their bit on the west coast of Scotland marking symbols on his operations cell exercise map
playing an umpiring role to 5 Airborne Brigade and the denoting company locations would cause a fair amount
Royal Marin es on Exercise ' Purple Warrior', or as some of confusion . Needless to say no further reference to
cruelly described it ' Purple Haze'. The change of the old titles will be made in this editorial.
command was undoubtedly the main event of the
month and for most of us symbolised the change of From a company and platoon commander's point of
role. Much of that first week was devoted to ensuring view November through to February was a fairly frustra-
that Lt Col Mike Ball suffered a hangover well into his ting period. Individual training for the new role involved
tour in Zimbabwe, with parties held in his honour in all not only Saxon driving courses and cadres but a pro-
fusion of other cadres to catch up on ca reer needs and
the messes. He was finally towed out of the barracks in to teach new skills. Concurrent running of Milan ,
Mortars, Saxon driver, Signals, Potential NCOs , Recce
and upgrading cad res meant that, at the height, about
2/ 3 of the soldiers in each company were outside the
grasp of their co mpany commanders. On top of that,
the boxing team were quite properly in full time training.
Of course this was unavoidable but it was very encour-
aging and commendable that OICs sport still managed
to get battalion teams together to a full , if not always
successful, winter sports season. While waiting the
opportunity to get soldiers under their wing the 'chiefs'
were being introduced to the new role and fo cusi ng into
ways of operating with Saxon.
In mid November the staff of HO UKMF gave all com-
manders a very useful presentation on our role and likely
1st BATTALION TRAINING
1. Lt Fotheringham directing his platoon on Exercise
Saxon Queen .
2. Cpl Bromige and LCpl Bailey of Kirke's Company at
the Start Line on Exercise Snow Queen . '
3. Cpl Wall and members of 7 Platoon - winners of the
March and Shoot Competition .
4. The Mortar Platoon supporting a Royal School of
Artillery course.
5. The Paymaster, Capt Phil Hazell, winner of the
Snowden Trophy 1988.
6. And also shooting. the Wives .22 Shooting Club in
action .
16
1st Battalion
areas of operation involving some enticing slides of R HAM PS the local experts in Saxon, (they are exactly 4
what awaits us in Denma rk this summer . I refer to the months ahead of us in experience), presented to the
cou ntry and coastline of course! Later on in January, 1 same group their ideas on how to operate with the new
17
1st Battalion leave date without our knowledge , we had returned a
vehicle. The tips on movement, camouflage and Zulu day early! A nuisance admitted ly, but at least it gave us
musters provided by CO 1 R HAM PS and his team were a head start on the rest . January was very much a con-
most valuable and were to avoid many hours of wasted tinuation of late 1987 with a second phase of cou rses
training on our first exercise later in February. and cadres being run . lt was not a wise time for casual
driving in Tidworth area, for it was a period when most
A 'Saxon' Armoured Personnel Carrier .
of our relatively inexperienced drivers learnt to handle
Saxon loca lly . Fortunately there have been no seriou s
accidents to date and for this credit must go to our
Saxon instructors und er CSgt Easton for their role in
converting the drivers. Accidents of course are more
likely if comp la cency sets in and this we must guard
against in the future. While our drivers were getting to
grips with their new vehicle our new assault pioneer
sections were learning engineer skills in a 6 week course
run on our behalf by 22 Engr Regt . Under the new
establishment each rifle company has its own section
who double up as rifleman and assault pion eers . As fate
would have it, nearly all the old hands from Canterbury
days were now in Support Company and so the new
pioneer organisation contained few experienced hands .
On the plus side Sgt Ri ce remains as assault pioneer
platoon commander and proved an invaluable link with
22 Engr Regt throughout the training . The training wing
staff of 22 Engr Regt laid on a superb course and provi -
ded resources for teaching minewarfare, field defen ces,
explosives and watermanship which we could not have
hoped to equal. lt was altogether excellent training
much appreciated by the students.
One of the real bonuses for a battalion serving in the
UKMF is that it operates the block leave system, some-
thing that 1 QUEENS has not benefited from for many
years. In December, therefore, after the annual run of
pre-Christmas festivities were over we had two weeks
leave to look forward to. Earlier in the month, as a
climax to cadres and with the annual ammunition year
drawing to a close, the Recce , Mortars and Milan
Platoons conducted live firing at Lulworth , Salisbury
Plain and Otterburn respectively. In the same period
Capt Powell , a temporary stand-in for Lt Owen who had
mumps, took the potential NCOs cadre on their final
exercise to Dartmoor and put them through a testing
exercise in conditions worthy of a Siberian winter. The
exercise provided a suitable end to a challenging cadre,
in which ' Best Student' went, not to a member of 1
QUEENS , but a Pte Elsie of the 3rd Battalion .
Christmas was a particularly special period for the
battalion. The four previous occasions, spent in Omagh
followed by Gibraltar, had been very much battalion
affairs with only a short break and only a few able to
return to families in England . This year all but the Rear
Party were able to be at home with their families to
enjoy the reunion of a traditional family Christmas. To
ring the changes, the CO agreed that when in England
companies could hold subsidised company parties in
lieu of the soldiers' Christmas lunc h. This proved a
popular change and certainly saved on expensive dry
cleaning bills.
With Christmas over we returned once again to an
empty Garrison but on this occasion , because our
superior headquarters had cha nged the return from
18
1st Battalion
Also in January the sound of marching music returned
to battalion life as the Quebec Band announced their
arrival from Canterbury . Their move and settling in
seemed to go very smoothly and was made easier by their
earlier visits to us in the previous year. Several friendships
had already been formed and to the ' longer in the tooth '
amongst us there were several familiar faces from
previous postings. The changes of working environment
from the custom built band practice rooms in Canterbury
to what are fairly primitive barracks must have been
disheartening but not a complaint was heard and it was
not long before the practice rooms looked brighter and
workable and the Quebec Band sign placed to mark their
arrival. it brings great pleasure to have them with us in
Tidworth.
Looking back over the previous months, February Cpl Else carries a casualty in the March and Shoot
stands out as particularly challenging and one where
companies were faced with so many conflicting tasks Competition .
that the need to apply priorities seemed the only answer.
There was much to be done to prepare for the first Saxon Plain . This was not a full battalion exercise but a period of
exercise at the end of the month and there was Spear- field training to practice the use of Saxon at platoon and
head preparation to be started. If that wasn't sufficient, company level in conventional operations . As the eo-
there was almost a year's worth of mandatory tests to be writer of the exercise, I would of course admit that it was
completed before the GOC's annual report on unit IARU) a resounding success . In fact the pace and objectives
inspection in March. Somehow, amidst a frenzy of seemed to be about right and all seem agreed that
activity, companies managed to complete preparations valuable lessons were being learnt or relearnt through-
and by late February drivers and commanders had out . 2Lt (Pathfinder) Burnett in particular learnt that
gleaned just enough knowledge to gain value out of navigation at speed requires special attention! Much of
Exercise Saxon Queen. Earlier in the month the f1rst of the exercise was devoted to movement, hide and harbour
several reminders that backs cannot be turned on NI drills and running replenishment techniques, with a
soldiering came when Tangier Company went to assist40 defence and attack phase to practise conventional skills .
Cdo RM with their rural training at Stanford . The chance Most importantly the initial reaction to Saxon is favour-
to play civilian population was obviously enjoyed and the able and, in spite of its limitations, particularly across
professionalism and initiative of all , particularly the country, it beats the hell out of marching!
terrorist team led by Sgt Bushby, drew pra1se from the
Northern Ireland Training Advisory Team (NITAT) and With the priority of the exercise behind us attention
umpires alike. Clearly a lucrative job awaits him when he turned to Spearhead preparation and the inevitable last
leaves the Army! minute run for passports and innoculations . Cries like
DAC (Dangerous Air Cargo) , AUW (All Up Weight) ,
While companies continued to chip away at comple- and other such abbreviations were being banded about
ting annual shooting, first aid and NBC tests the Battalion by the Adjutant, Capt Deakin , who was also unfortun-
and Company Headquarters elements and support1ng ate enough to be unit emplaning officer, and his team of
arms were carrying out their first work up training at the experts . The work up to Spearhead gave us our second
Battle Group Trainer IBGT), Bovington. For most this reminder of the NI priority when most of us sat through
was a first opportunity at war gaming and an excellent our second session of NITAT Presentations in the last
opportunity to practise battle procedures , orders and 12 months . At least they could have refreshed the ' Alas
high speed BATCO before departing on the considerably Smith and Jones' video clips. We now realise how 3
slower pace of Exercise Saxon Queen . To denve maxi- QUEENS must have felt within an even closer time
mum benefit we also dragged the platoon commanders frame .
and sergeants into deepest Dorset on the middle day for a
TEWT , which although not conducted inside a pub as
they had hoped, seemed to be enjoyable as well as bene-
ficial.
February was not all training. This year Sobroan Day
was commemorated in a rather special way for the parade
and day's activities were filmed by BBC and can be seen
later in the year as part of a series called "In the Highest
Tradition". On this occasion Sgt Fisher of Kirke's Com-
pany carried the Regimental Colour joining the role of
SNCOs honoured to carry the Colour . Guests 1n the
WOs' and Sgts' Mess on the occasion included in the
CO and the very welcome faces of Lt Col Les Wilson
and Maj Alan Martin .
As the month drew to a close we embarked on Saxon
Queen -our first tactical outing with Saxon on Salisbury
19
1st Battalion
In the midst of their preparation came the Kirke's As we returned from Dartmoor the thoughts of Easter
March and Shoot Competition organised by Capt leave were becoming increasingly more attractive .
Bourne, the Training Officer, and involving a ten mile There were , however, still three days to go entailing
yomp and navigation across Salisbury Plain finishing some rapid reorganisation and repacking of personal kit
with a shoot on the Bulford Ranges. The Kirke's shield for Exercise Fast Ball , the test exercise for Spearhead .
was carried off by Kirke's Company after a nail-biting The exercise, well known to the battalion , involves a
tussle with Tangier Company, with 7 Platoon under 2Lt simulated call-out to test the recall system and state of
Wright winning the trophy for best platoon. Elated from preparation. In the event, the will to get the job done
their second victory in a row (they also won the Boxing) and go on leave was obviously strong for it was unusual
Kirke's Company then sensibly escaped the administra- to see such enthusiasm and efficiency for what was
tive preparations for Spearhead by slipping down to such a tedious exercise. The UKLF air movements team
Cinque Ports Training Area for a week 's tactical training seemed very satisfied and we were allowed to depart for
and range work . The long road- run down was a useful
dress rehearsal for future NATO road moves and a salu - a well earned break .
tary lesson that pork pies issued to soldiers in the rear of
Saxons can, if aimed correctly, make useful projectiles. By the time this edition of the Journal is published the
At least the lady who owned the vehicle claimed it did. battalion will have completed its first exercise with HQ
Training in the narrow lanes of SE Kent was quite a dif- UKMF and be preparing for movement to Denmark on
ferent experience to that of Salisbury Plain and it was a Exercise Bold Grouse . Whilst we still have much to
credit to our drivers that so little damage resulted . achieve the revision of basic skills and initial experiences
of Saxon gained in this period will bear us in good stead
The last major event in this editorial period was our for the future . As summer approaches Exercise Bold
ARU test exercise. Set by GOC South West District, Grouse is not the only priority . 1 QUEENS are the
Maj Gen Jeapes, this exercise was very much an out-of - nominated Infantry battalion to represent the UKMF and
area operation within a scenario not unlike events in the British Army in the Northern European Command
South Atlantic . After a Chinook and coach move to Infantry Competition taking place in Norway in late
Dartmoor we marched some 18 kms across the boggiest September, and a training squad is shortly to be
parts of the moor on a pitch -b lack night to reach a series selected. This will undoubtedly assume a higher priority
of FUPs by first light. On arrival, companies had to than any other activity including Bold Grouse . We also
shake off the night fatigue, orientate themselves qui ckly hope to send a team to Bisley and be represented at the
and assault 'Yes Tor' and ' High Wilhays', the two
highest peaks of Dartmoor . The task involved several Nijmegen Marches.
assaults and enabled Kirke's Company to record their
last aggressive assault before collapsing out of the sight Finally the observant amongst readers will note that no
of cameras 10 minutes later . The ARU test was a great mention has been made of our boxing successes, as a
success and earned a favourable report from Maj Gen
Jeapes . full report has been included elsewhere. Suffice to say
we are proud of their achievements and see 1987/ 88 as
the start of a return of the battalion to the boxing scene .
Our message to the Depot is " Please keep sending us
boxers" for good Grade 3 novices are the basis of future
success . Next year could be our year!
20
1st Battalion
SAXON - FIRST IMPRESSIONS
by Pte D J Andrews
'Saxon' arrived rather abruptly at the end of 1987 after
our tour in South Armagh . Few people could predict
what these recently introduced vehicles would be like,
let alone the amount of time and effort required to train
on and maintain them. Fresh off the production line
they were a whole new experience for so ldiers whose
service had been limited to Gibraltar and South
Armagh, although we were able to get some tips from
the Royal Hampshires, our neighbours in Tidworth , who
had received their fleet several months earlier.
At first sight the Saxons looked daunting - not to Pte Andrews on board a Saxon APC.
mention large! Inside they seemed fairly comfortable ,
even spacious, with such luxuries as soft seats, seat Our first exercise with Saxon had been different from
belts (soon to be proved vital and not at all a lu xury) and anything the majority of us had done before. We made
even a sort of air conditioning . Overall the general so me mistakes and learnt a lot of lessons . Saxon can
feeling was that the vehicle was quite impressive and save a lot of walking , although it only gets us to the
would be warmly welcomed by weary troops more back of the battle area . lt is not a fighting vehicle.
accustomed to walking . A few more experienced voices Although basically simple it still takes time and effort to
suggested that time would tell. maintain . Saxon has its bad points but it is a new piece
of kit and many problems will no doubt be put right in
Those trying to form a mental picture of Saxon should time . Overall it is a good vehicle .
try to imagine an armoured steel box based on a lorry
chassis. lt has double rear doors and one on the driver 's BATTALION BOXING -"BACK ON
side. lt is normally crewed by a section of nine men ,
including the commander and driver. Kit is stored in THE SCENE"
large external bins or in a " basket" on top of the vehicle.
The commander is usually to be seen peering over the by Capt (QM) V D EBBENS
top of his cupola, or through one of his four vision
Having been out of the country for the last five
blocks. seasons , the absence of opportunity to fight in non-
Army competitions has made it impossible to achieve
The first people to get to know our " taxi " a little the high standards set by most novice teams entering
better were our company instructors . They disappeared the championships. Last year the extent of our training
on a course to learn all about Saxon in preparation for was somewhat hindered by the Northern Ireland tour
the vehicle driving cadres. Soldiers, some of whom had and meant that serious training co uld not commence
only recently passed their driving tests in a Leyland until after block leave in early Novem ber . Nevertheless
Metro found driving an 11 ton armoured vehicle on the we entered both the grade 3 and grade 2 Army Cham-
public road to be a different proposition . Gradually they pionships hoping that the draw would favour us and
became more proficient, and the instructors less that we would not have to box until this January.
nervous until finally the "Trojan Horses" were ready for Unfortunately this was not to happen and we were
their passengers - well almost. As with any new drawn to box 1 IRISH GDS in Tidworth on the 8
vehicle there were teething problems - not least the Dece mber.
absence of much of the internal radio harnesses . Mu ch
hard work by the Quartermasters and some improvisa- The Kirke's Inter Company Boxing Competition had
tion followed until we were ready to launch into the field already been planned for the period 16 to 26 November
on the Commanding Officer's Exercise Saxon Queen. which only left two weeks before the first bout . With the
knowledge that the Irish Guards had been training for
Equipment packed and camouflage nets prepared and some time the first hurdle at grade 3 seemed a little
stowed, we formed up on Mooltan Barracks square in daunting . The Inter Company Competition was a huge
the dark under the direction of the MTO, Capt Anthony, success and produced an injection of young talent into
and then we were off to the far side of Salisbury Plain. the already estab lished squad from the previous year.
The first couple of days were spent in company training , What was not known at this stage was what a tremen -
learning and practising harbour and zulu muster drills dous performance these young so ldiers would put on
amongst other things . We rapidly came to realise the over the next two months.
difficulty of camming up at night - the Saxon is
" blessed" with hundreds of things on which to snag the
netting . The first night passed with much swearing
under the breath as we fought with unhelpful cam nets
in the dark .
The next two days of the exercise were spent in prac-
tising defensive positions . We experienced a light
mobile digger which worked well - as long as the petrol
lasted anyway . And then it was the last day, advance to
contact on foot, finishing with a co mpany attack and
those magic words " END EX".
21
1st Battalion
The bout against the Irish Guards was a nail biting QUEENS on Thursday 11 February 1988. Li ke all good
affair and from the onset the opposition looked a mar- sportsmen we congratulate 3 RGJ on their fi ve bout to
ginally better team in fitness and skill . After four bouts 1 four vi ctory but still reflect on what could have been our
QUEENS were trailing three bouts to one but with night.
determination and courage reduced the defi cit to four
bouts to three and meant that both remaining bouts had We could not have asked for a better start to the
to be won if we were to continue in the competition. The evening when Pte Roffey and LCpl Thompson produced
next bout was the turning point and although I would not points victories to give us a two bout lead . Cpl Barratt
wish to single out individuals for courage , Pte Moran, our had a very hard contest against Cpl Fraser who is at
heavyweight, would have put any " Rocky" film to present with the Army team and narrowly lost on a
shame . Both boxers were exhausted by the third round majority decision . The fourth bout was short lived when
and from the depth of his reserve Pte Moran produced LCpl Bushell stopped his opponent in the first round
the knockout punch which levelled the competition to giving 1 QUEENS a three to one lead at this stage. Cpl
four bouts all . Pte Birch went into the final bout with a Else had a tremendous battle against Rfn Martin which
great deal of pressure and a good opponent against him. ended in a points victory to the latter. The opponent in
Both young men boxed extremely well and there was the next bout was Rfn Lewis who some might recall is
complete silence at the end of the bout broken by a 1 brother of an ex 1 QUEENS heavyweight. He was also
QUEENS uproar when the majority decision was given to an Army Individual Novice Champion of last year . On
Pte Birch . this occasion however he almost met his match with Pte
Ollerenshaw but just won by a majority decision . lt was
Our next opponents in the draw were 3 RGJ from by the closest of margins .
Colchester. We were fortunate to win the toss for the
venue with an agreed date of the 12th January 1988. 3 The competition was now level at three bouts all and
RGJ were the only UK unit to enter the grade 2 competi - the atmosphere in the gymnasium was electric. LCpl
tion. We would therefore have to box them in the Challis went into the next bout with determination and
forthcoming round and again in the UK finals of the grade with confidence and it looked only a matter of time
2 competition at Colchester on the 11th February. The before he stopped his opponent. Within seconds there
grade 3 bout resulted in a victory to 1 QUEENS by seven was a cut over LCpl Challis 's eye, the doctor entered the
bouts to two and although the outcome indicates a one ring and we were behind for the first time that evening.
sided event, many bouts were hard fought . Three of our Cpl Pannell of Albuhera Company then renewed the
new novices, Ptes Roffey, Francis and Moran , produced balance in the next bout with a hard fought points
the goods that night by stopping their opponents in the decision and it was four bouts all with one to go . This
first round. unenviable task fell to Pte Francis who was in his first
year as a novice boxer and although upgraded to grade
This win put us forward to the UK semi finals (or Zone 2 had less than half the experience of his opponent Rfn
A finals) against 1 PARA from Aldershot . Luck was again Pike. The first round went very much against young
on our side and we won the toss to box again on home Francis and he was out boxed and well behind on
ground on the 4th February. 1 PARA had reached this points. With little to lose he went forward in the second
stage of the competition by beating 2 R IRISH eight bouts round and matched the Rifleman punch for punch. The
to one at Dover and their opponents were reckoned to be third round was the most courageous performance seen
one of the stronger teams in the competition . We entered to date and, had it not been for the final bell, Pte Francis
the event knowing we were in for a tough evening. The was in reach of stopping his opponent. The majority
evening produced what was considered to be the best decision was given to Pte Pike and 3 RGJ were UK
bout of the UK draw to date and the officials all agreed Champions. 3 RGJ went on to beat 1 RAW in what was
that the performance equalled that of an Army Final. reported to be an easy six bouts to three victory in the
Undoubtedly the winners would be favourites to win the Army Finals and we can only reflect on how wide a
championships . Sadly the battalion lost six bouts to three margin our victory could have been against the same
but the result did not truly reflect how close and hard opposition .
fought the contest was. 1PARA were a fit and aggressive
team but both teams fought with tremendous courage The boxing squad should be proud of their achieve-
and determination and were a credit to their battalions. ments this year . A special mention has to be made of
Each bout lost by 1 QUEENS went the full three rounds Cpl Norman Phillips ACC who has coached and trained
on a points decision. Our three wins were Pte Roffey, the battalion teams over many years . All success must
who stopped his opponent in the second round , Pte be credited to his hard work and total commitment to 1
Birch who knocked out his opponent in the first round QUEENS boxing.
and Pte Francis who won on a points decision . 1
QUEENS had acquitted themselves well throughout the Outside of military events the boxers have competed
grade 3 competition and it was no disgrace to be in many civilian tournaments and recently produced ten
eventually beaten by such a good novice team . boxers for a Lions Club Boxing Dinner in which the sum
of £1,500 was raised for local charities . The remaining ·
Following the excitement of grade 3 we had only seven military competition of the season is the Novice Indi-
days to recoup and prepare for the grade 2 UK Finals in vidual Championships at Aldershot in which LCpl
Colchester against 3 RGJ hoping to repeat our previous Bushell and Pte Roffey have been entered . Both have
performance against them . lt is recognised in all sporting the talent to do well . Although we failed to reach an
events that a certain amount of luck often influences the Army Final this season we have gained valuable experi-
results of a competition. Luck was not to be with 1 ence and have a sound nucleus of talent in which to
build a squad for the next championships.
22
1st Battalion
1. 1 QUEENS Boxing Squad with
ACC .
2. Cpl Else v Rfn Martin of 3 RGJ .
3. Pte Rickson v Rfn Motts of 3 RGJ .
4. Pte Francis beats Rfn Butler of 3 RGJ .
5. Pte Moran in heavyweight action against
Collins of 1 PARA.
6. Pte Ollerenshaw v LCpl Ashurst at 3 RGJ .
23
2nd BATTALION
During the past 18 months the constant phra se in the The ' hecti c' wa s qui ckly apparent, with a degree of
battalion 's notes, either for the Journal or the News- variety , as we embarked on a concentrated period of
letter, has been ' hecti c and va ried '. Varied can now be cadre training to achieve our required number of AFV
removed as w e concentrate on our forthcoming " OP drivers, signallers, support weapons specialists, snipers
BANNER " tour . However the arrival of SA 80, a last and junior NCOs. Additionally an adventure training
minute change in OP BANNER training dates, the camp was run in Bavaria using as a base our SNOW
training itself with the re-organisation to three company QUEEN Hut. B Company also went to Denmark .
Orbat by a distribution of Support Company, not to
mention a new Commanding Officer, have emphasized EXERCISE ODIN GRUNT
the ' hectic'. In amongst all this the Albuhera Band have
added their own much deserved adjective ' Excellent' , by Capt S Duggan
earned from their quinquennial inspection .
In early November, B Company and attachments from
the other companies spent ten days in Denmark, hosted
by 1st Battalion The Funen Life Regiment. After a boring
nine hour journey through the North Germany f latlands
we finally arrived in Odense on the island of Funen ,
situated just off the East coast of Jutland . Famous mainly
for being the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson, we
soon discovered its other claims to fame including beauti-
ful women, throbbing nightclubs and extortionately
expensive beer!
After Saturday night and Sunday spent in the City, on
Monday morning we headed for North Jutland and a
week on exercise with The Fun en Life Regiment . For the
first time in over a year we exercised without our APCs
and relearnt some of the lessons of dismounted warfare .
After several days of rain and nights when the
temperature dropped well below zero , one began to
appreciate that our ' metal monsters' have some positive
aspects too . Our Danish rations included lots of black
bread, livervvurst and a daily issue of toothbrushes! CSgt
Hills made up for this with daily helpings of scrambled
eggs and beef strogonof .
Knee deep in mud we practised joint defence, setting
up OP lines, withdrawal and the advance to contact .
Night patrols were particularly unpopular as they
invariably returned hours late and were drenched to the
skin. Part of this at least was due to the fact that our maps
were 20 years out of date and the training area contained
acres of unmarked marsh land. The Milan Section under
Sgt Stokes had a great time roaming around the country-
side with the jeeps of the Danish TOW anti tank platoon.
Inspection of the Albuhera Band - the Commandant Despite the differences between ourselves and the
of Kneller Hall inspects Drummer Shade watched by Danes in terms of tactics, language, training experience
Lt Col Merrick Willis lleftl . and equipment, our joint operations went exceedingly
smooth ly due in no small part to an excellent liaison
Forming and reforming seems to have been the order officer and the fact that most of the Danish soldiers spoke
of the day . In October 1987 the battalion came together good English. At the end of the exercise, soaked to the
again when C Company, who had different block leave skin, looking more like mud wrestlers than soldiers , we
and BATUS dates, married up with A and B Companies. were more than ready for another helping of the delights
of Odense!
Over the weekend a party from the company went to
Copenhagen for two days . Monday was spent being
shown around the Danes' M113 APCs , firing their small
arms , and slogging , slipping and cursing our way over
their assault course . Even the Mortar Section , after a
hard weekend exercise in the local bars managed to
complete it in nine minutes . Tuesday saw us parading
through the streets to the accompaniment of our Drums
Platoon and their local band. In the evening a combined
24
2nd Battalion
Lt Col Peter Cook, the RSM and the 2nd Battalion Boxing Team .
party was held and we drank a toast to our alli es before 0930 flight out to RAF Decimomani in Sardinia , known
returning to Minden the next day. Even before we left quite understandably simply as "Deci". The Royal A1r
people were volunteering for a proposed return trip next Force keep a permanent staff of about 100 personnel to
year. provide the back-up for the incoming British squadrons .
Each squadron spends about two weeks at Deci on
*** gunnery exercise in the remote mountainous regions of
the island. The RAF share the base with Americans ,
While B Company were enjoying the marshes and Italians and Germans . Last April it was decided to estab-
night life of Odense, a party from C Company under Lt lish some form of base camp on the island with the aim
Jerry Gardner went adventure training in Sardinia . of al lowing BAOR personnel to come down and partici -
pate in adventurous training pursuits in a challenging
EXERCISE STEEP QUADRANT - SARDINIA environment. The base camp is a house rented from an
Italian businessman about an hour's drive from Deci. it
by Lt J A Gardner is known as the " Villa " and is run by a permanent staff
of about eight drawn mostly from the RAOC .
Shortly after arriving in the battalion, I was given the
opportunity to organise an adventurous training expedi- So much for the background. Back to the 2 QUEENS
tion to Sardinia. My knowledge of Sardinia was fairly party , who, relieved at having arrived in Deci in one
limited but I did know that it lies off Italy in the piece, were now having to undergo the harrowing drive
Tyrrhenian Sea and that it has a very pleasant climate . to the Villa . The Sardinians don' t drive on the left or
After having enthusiastically leapt at the c han ce I right of the road , they drive where they can find room .
realised that there was quite a bit to be done to turn an Our driver was a laconic Grenadier Guardsman who
adventurous training expedition from fantasy to reality , showed not the slightest surprise at seeing an articu-
most of it involving phenomenal amounts of paperwork lated lorry backing up in the outside lane of the Coylias
and several sorties into the orderly room to consult
AGA\s. I was taking a group of eight from my platoon, by-pass!
including myse lf and a JNCO . I didn 't select the team
until the platoon had returned from Canada , as this gave The next day we dropped off near Villanova Strisaili
me an opportunity to size up various members of the after a three hour drive . The area we would be walking
platoon. We would be doing a five day trek , followed by in is called the Gennergenate Massif, and the hills are
3 days of rock climbing, although many of my col - pretty " massif". The highest peak in Sardinia , the Punta
leagues regarded the whole enterprise, not unreason- La Marmona lies in the region . We certainly found the
ably, with a fair degree of cynicism. going particularly tough . We were carrying heavy loads ,
including our climbing gear, so scrambling up the deep
In the early hours of Tuesday 27 October the party and steep sided ravines was a real effort. After three
departed Minden for RAF Wildenrath by minibus . I was days we found ourselves at Villagrande Strisaili which is
a bit alarmed to wake suddenly and see a signpost for perc hed pre cariously on the mountain side. Most Italian
Rotterdam flashing by. Despite this little diversion w e
arrived at RAF Wildenrath in good time to catch the houses look extremely tatty, being constructed from
locally made breeze blocks . In many cases the houses
are left partially unfinished, as this exploits some bizarre
Italian tax- law, wh ich adds to the shabby appearance of
many Sardinian towns . That night we had our camp site
25
2nd Battalion
invaded by five Italian youths, who attracted by our camp In November our initial recce party went to Belfast
fire , wanted to know more about the village's where they met up with the CO designate . We then had
unscheduled visitors . it would seem that visitors with the rather untidy situation of attempting to reach
short haircuts and tattoed forearms are not wel come in various qualification targets for our BAOR role, knowing
this remote part of Italy! Undaunted , we continued on full well that our APCs etc would be put into suspended
our way to Arbatax, a small port on the East Coast, which animation for the best part of a year . The planning for
was to be our final destination and where we would do OP BANNER training went on and at one particular
the climbing . Unfortunately, no sooner had we arrived, meeting it became obvious to the 21 C and Ops Officer
than stormy weather arrived as well, bringing with it that our masters were working off different dates to the
heavy seas and gale force winds. We were climbing on a ones we had been given. Sure enough certain critical
rock stack which protruded some 30 metres into the sea training dates had been changed and also training which
and on our first day in Arbatax waves were breaking right had been due to take place in Germany was now to be in
over the top, making climbing impossible. The winds UK. The new dates clashed with our planned block
relented slightly the next day, giving us a chance to get leave periods and our attempts to re-jig them ran into
onto the rocks. Most of the party had never done any that well-known brick wall 'minimum manning figures'.
climbing or abseiling, but everyone gave it a go and However Lt Col Peter Cook, having taken the battalion
learned some of the basic top roping and abseiling tech- the length and breadth of the world and having worked
niques. The next day we tried some routes, and in the in Corps HQ produced a cunning and convincing
evening had the traditional 5th of November bonfire . Our schedule which meant that everyone had their share of
transport arrived next day to pick us up and take us back block leave, including either Christmas or the New Year.
to the villa. I think all members of the expedition were The Adjutant is still evasively confident that we made
sorry to have to go but I also think that everyone was by those manning figures .
this stage heartily fed up with pasta! All in all it was an
enjoyable trip, and one that I' d certainly like to do again. As winter approached, the number of soldiers roller-
skiing frenetically around the barracks increased. The
*** skiing, in particular the Biathlon season, was upon us .
BIATHLON
When Capt lan Duncan, the OC of our LAD , attended
the 1987 Infantry Ski Conference, he did so having led a
totally novice team from the battalion to the 1986/ 87
Army Ski Championships after achieving 9th place at
the 4th Armoured Division Championships.
During the conference the suggestion was made that,
like other Arms, the Infantry should run a Nordic Ski
Camp in addition to the Infantry Ski Championships .
Here those Infantry teams intent on competing in the
Army Ski Championships could prepare themselves
properly. Like many good ideas it was accepted in
principle, but providing the manning and leadership was
the problem. lan Duncan, on behalf of the battalion,
rose to the challenge . What were the requirements of
such a camp? Firstly Capt Duncan knew of a suitable
location in Nordseter in Norway that would provide the
correct facilities and guaranteed snow. (1988 proved to
be a most trying year for those who gambled on snow in
the hills of Bavaria).
Norway's status within NATO is a special one that
does not allow other NATO troops to be stationed upon
its soil . Therefore the teams had to become "civilian-
ised"! As with those teams who train in Austria , the
landrovers were de-registered as military vehicles and
re-registered as BFG vehicles and painted a non-military
colour , in this case white .
Brigadier Infantry's and the BAOR adventure training
funds helped finance the scheme to the tune of £700 per
team . All accommodation had to be paid for and seats
on the vehicles were at a premium so the decision was
taken to do without adminstrative staff.
This meant that those who were training by day had
to administer themselves by night. Never popular, but
as cash and training time were both in short supply,
there was no other solution.
26
2
EXERCISE ODIN GRUNT
1. B Company officers with their Danish hosts .
2. Commander 11BR) Corps meets the Danish guests
while Lt Col Peter Cook (left) boasts about 'the one
that got away'.
3. B Company march through Odense.
In early December, 2 QUEENS team led by Capt little or no socia l life, a strict training regime for some of
Duncan and the teams from 2 WG , 1 STAFFORDS, and the fittest men in each of the battalions, this was a good
a ' Guest Team ' from 4 Regt AAC set out for Nordseter, solution! The end production was excellent we are told,
a village of holiday chalets 45 minutes drive from the but as the audience consisted of 5 men and a local dog
nearest town, Lillehammer, in Norway. The route was we cannot be sure.
simple, Hamburg, Friedrichshafenand , from there by
ferryboat to Oslo and then to Nordseter . Diesel fuel What were the end results, in personal terms, for OIC
costs half the price of petrol in Norway, so the 110 se ries Infantry Nordic Ski Camp? Having trained his team in
of landrovers were chosen. However all fuel had to be the 1987 season from total novices, Capt Duncan based
paid for , so once in position there was very little his 6 man team on 4 of the 1987 team and introduced a
movement from the village. further 4 novices (2 in reserve).
The routine was a strict one. Reveille was at 0700 hrs The team made an impact in the 4th Armoured
and whilst the teams went for a run and a stretch, the Division Championships by coming 4th. The best results
" Duty Dogs ", two per day, cooked breakfast. Train ing were achieved by the patrol of Capt Duncan , Sgt
began at 0800 hrs and continued until the light began to McAuley, LCpl Ferber and Pte Harkness who came in
go (this was not the season of the Midnight sun). The 2nd in the division behind 35 Engr Regt and beating 45
funds stretched to 20 hrs of instruction per man , so 2 Cdo RM . This was one of the key factors that led them
QUEENS organised the teams into six man groups to to win the Daily Telegraph Trophy for the best Teeth
obtain maximum benefit. Arm team in the 4th Armoured Division .
The local Norwegians, under the direction of a The team went on to be selected for the Nat1onal ,
character known to the British fraternity as " Peter the Army and BAOR Championships where they came 17th
Dane", (a loca l entrepreneur) hel ped prepare the Loipes out of 33 achieving the distinction of being one of fi ve
for skiing and the ranges for the Biathl on Shooting. To teams to shoot clean (knock down all of the targets)
keep minds active in the evenings, the teams vo lun - The Patrol Race Team of Capt Duncan , Sgt McAuley,
teered to produce an end of training camp review . With LCpl Ferber and Pte Harkness won the Infantry Roller
27
2nd Battalion
family was seen leaping onto a lone patch of snow and
having photographs taken! This was, of course, when
not otherwise engaged in the CO 's car-borne treasure
hunt, some of the clues of which have passed into
Snow Queen legend - or was it The Times crypti c
crossword? The lack of snow at least saved the instruc-
tors from too much undue embarrassment - well how
does one, as an instructor, catch a fifteen year old girl,
or her mother for that matter, when they ski at one out
of control?
2nd BATTALION BIATHLON PATROL TEAM The soldiers who were to experience the 'no-snow
Snow Queen ' found themselves enjoying the CO's
L to A: Capt Duncan, Pte Harkness. LCpl Ferber and treasure hunt without the benefit of the cars! However,
Sgt Avley. once the snow did come, it was in force! To such an
extent that for one period of five days it snowed almost
Ski Shoot. LCpl Ferber of 2 QUEENS came 13th in the non stop. Grateful though we were for the snow it soon
gruelling 20km Individual Race which is accepted as the became too much for first time students who found
race to seed competitors in Great Britain, and the only
element to rob him of this satisfaction was that the 12 themselves skiin g in off piste conditions almost from
man Olympic Squad was training in the USA!
day one!
With two good years under their belts, the 2 QUEENS
Biathlon squad looks forward to an even better season Due to the NI commitments for training and manning
this coming Christmas. it was not possible to fill every course with Queensmen .
Courses 4 and 5 were therefore taken up by 2 R
While the Gladiators of the Biathlon squad were ANGLIAN and 4 Armd Fd Amb respectively. There can
improving on their previous success, the novice skiers be little doubt that a different approach is needed when
had their opportunity ... instructing medics rather than lnfanteers.
The liaison started by our instructors last season with
the German ski teachers federation (DSVI continued
this year with most of the instructors visiting a German
ski school between courses to bring on their more
advanced techniques . This was very successful with
one Gold awarded to Cpl M cGiven and Silver awards to
Sgt Simcox, Sgt Kirkaldie, Cpl Cummings, LCpl Fisher
and Cfn Trevitt. Both Cpl Cummings and LCpl Fisher
are moving on to qualify as German ski instructors .
EXERCISE SNOW QUEEN Putting the vaguaries of the weather aside a very
TOO LITTLE, TOO MUCH BUT SELDOM successful season was achieved both through the hard
work of the instructors and the effort put in by the
JUST RIGHT! - students.
by Lt R Harknett
Ex Snow Queen is the annual BAOR winter adventur- SPORT
ous training held in Southern Bavaria. The exercise is
divided into a number of two week courses, each course One of the sadnesses about BAOR these days is that
being split between the disciplines of Langlauf and the facilities and time for properly organised sport are at
Downhill skiing. an increasing premium. However our hockey team ,
guided by RQMS Gauntlett, and the footballers under
This was the battalion's second year of participation, Sgt Boddie have managed to complete a full fixture list
although only the first in our own hut, last year's exer- with a good degree of success .
cise having been run by Capt Mike Newman from 3 R
ANGLIAN'S hut, borrowed while they were in Northern Small bore shooting has prospered through the
Ireland. enthusiastic direction of Sgt Kirkaldie. Our team won
the M inden Garrison shoot and were selected for the
For this season the village of Moosbach was once BAOR finals where they were placed 4th in the team
again used, conveniently between the towns of event. In the individual championships Pte Marquardt
Kempten and Sonthofen and only a forty minute drive was pipped into 3rd place by one point and Sgt Kirkaldie
away from the ski slopes at Oberjoch. came 7th.
The closeness and convenience of Oberjoch was But it was in the field of boxing that we were
somewhat detracted from during the first few weeks determined to made our mark . In March 1987 the inter
due to a significant lack of top covering - there was no company novice boxing competition was held to
snow. We, like all other skiers below 2,500m, suffered a indentify talent. In September 1987 the boxing squad
snow drought. This mainly affected the first three was formed and began training for the 4th Armoured
courses, the very first of which was the families course . Division Grade 3 Novice Boxing competition . In the first
The families, each being somewhat of a self-con- round we were drawn against 28 Amph Engr Regt with
tained unit were able to occupy themse lves with sight- the match to be fought in their barracks at Hameln .
seeing and, more usefully, snow spotting - indeed one Novice boxing is difficult to predict. We thought we had
28
LIFE IN THE 2ND BATTALION
1. Maj David Wake with soldiers of other cap badges 4. The RSO ' on stag '.
attached for the N Ireland tour - one RM . one RA. 5. The Paymaster, Capt Godfrey, runs a range .
three GORDONS. two A&SH , three REME and one 6. C Company team in the lnvicta Stretcher Bearers
RPC . Competition .
2. Pte Townshend dishes up.
3. A Company's male models - Ptes Squelch ,
Brown , Bamin and Brazier.
29
2nd Battalion
Th e 2 QUEENS Novice Boxing Squad consisted of
LCpl Dillon, Ptes Turner, Sargent, Brown , Smith,
Yexley, M cCarthy, Laing , Taylor , Scragg , Dodman ,
White, Squelch, Baily, Pope, M cCarthy , May and Cfn
Brown .
Finally mu ch of the squ ad's success w as due to the
hard work of Sgt Colclough our PTI , and Cpls Bashford
and Ja ckson the coaches. Cpl Ja ckson , an ex- Army
boxer, will be parti cularly hard to repla ce when he leaves
us for civvy street in June . His tough training and pro-
fessional experience has been at the heart of much of
our success .
Maj David Wake in full flight. FAREWELL
We finish the 2nd Battalion element of the notes with
a good squad and they had trained hard, but it was still a farewell to Colonel Peter Cook and his wife Deidre .
with some uncertainty that we approached the first Colonel Peter commanded the Battalion in Oakington ,
round. But a convincing 7-2 victory underlined just how the Falklands and BAOR , with a trip to BATUS thrown
good the squad was . The next round was held at Lemgo in for good measure . Throughout his period in
on 21 December where we fought 1 RRW . They had command Deirdre wholeheartedly supported her
just been knocked out of the BAOR Rugby competition husband and entered fully into the activities of the
and were keen to have success in boxing , a sport they Wives' Club . The Wives' Centre in Clifton Barracks, the
regard as almost the equal of rugby . lt was a very tight ' Buffs Stop', was very much her brainchild and will be
match with the RRW leading 3-2 at the interval. an important meeting place for our wives particularly
However the final 4 bouts were won by Queensmen and during Op Banner. We all wish them a happy and restful
we were the winners by 6-3. As a spectacle it had been a time at Greenwich where Colonel Peter has gone to
superb afternoon of hard, gutsy sport with the referee instruct on the Joint Services Defence Course.
congratulating the boxers in no less than 7 of the bouts.
Lt Col Peter Cook leaves the battalion.
The hard match against RRW meant that three of our
boxers were barred through injury, and we had to draw
on our strength in depth for the 4th Armoured Division
final against 10 Corps _Tpt Regt RCT . The final was
another exhibition of hard but skilful boxing. The score
was 4-4 when the final bout started . Pte Taylor was
knocked down twice in the first round , but somehow
kept going . In the second round he knocked his oppon-
ent down twice , but unfortunately was judged on the
second occasion to have struck his opponent marginally
after the referee had called a halt, and was therefore
disqualified. An unfortunate end brought on by a spon -
taneous blow by a boxer fighting on through instinct
and sheer grit. Throughout the c hampionship our
boxers performed with great courage and skill of which
all in the battalion were justifiably proud .
30
3rd BATTALION
A year ago the notes for the June edition were also
written in Northern Ireland, (albeit by a different editor)
on that occasion during a CARA CARA tour . Now, here
we are again nearly 3 months into another tour , this
time as a resident battalion based at Aldergrove . A
reflection of our manpower mobility is the statistic that
in the rifle companies only some 50 to 60 % of their
strength were actually on the previous tour.
Whilst over half the period covered by these notes
was spent in mainland GB I am sure the reader will
excuse some preoccupation with matters Northern
Ireland (N I). Training for the tour was underway in
earnest by October and we were treated to the full range
of NITAT's tender embrace for the next two months .
The climax to the Commanders ' Cadre was it's abrupt
end just before the final day, due to the 'G reat Wind ' of
15/ 16 October. Canterbury probably suffered as badly
as any of the worst hit areas of the South East and the
City was totally cut off from the outside world for
severa l hours . Howe Barracks resembled a post
bombardment battlefield. Almost every tree of any sig-
nificance was uprooted and many barracks, buildings
and quarters suffered considerable damage . The COs
house had a haircut! Thankfully, we suffered no serious
inju ries and, as well as putting our own house in order ,
assistance was offered to and gratefu lly received by the
local community. Maj Ru ssell had an early taste of Maj Edwards, Cpl Smith and Pte Styles of Fire Support
military / police cooperation in action when he Company .
established B Company HO in Canterbury Police
station , whilst soldiers and vehicles toi led to open routes
and remove dangerous obstacles . The battafion efforts several individuals from the STAFFORDS , PWO and
were much appreciated locally and it was satisfying to Devon and Dorsets. Lt Moore RCT joined us as 21C
have been able to help in our Home area. Subsequently, A Company for a 6 months attachment. Finally, we
obstacle crossing took on a new meaning as the com- were reinforced by some of our own TA soldiers on S
panies went about their own preparatory NI training on Type engagements, and Lt Tim Carron an SSVC com-
the Cinque Ports Training Area (C PTA I . Concurrently , mission . The battalion was grateful for the support of all
many individuals were comp leting specialist courses,
elements from each company attended a number of these individuals, most of whom by now will have
departed , but we are hoping , perhaps , to see a few
NITAT run cadres and we continued to 'familiarise' with again , maybe with a shiny new QUEENS badge!
the new sma ll arms, SA 80. We also managed to
squeeze in a 2 to 1 upgrading cadre. CPTA/STANFORD TRAINING
lt shou ld be noted at this point that during October As always the climax to the NITAT package was the
and ea rly November there had appea red a plethora of intensive 3 weeks of training , first at CPTA and finally at
non QUEENS cap badges around Howe Barracks . This, Stanford . The end of November and early December
sad ly , must be asc ribed to our lack of manpower for the would not be many soldiers chosen season for su ch
approaching NI tour, but we were very pleased to sport but, in comparison to the drenching received
we lcome many vol unteers from a variety of sources. during Op CARA CARA training, this period was rela-
Greatest in number was a complete platoon of 1 R tively kind and the weather didn 't hinder our progress at
ANGLIAN (from Gibraltar) commanded by 2Lt Goodwin all . The training followed a fairly familiar sequence for
with Sgt Page as Platoon Sgt, and in deference to their many . Lydd and Hythe ranges soon reverberated to the
parent battalion's nickname they soon became the sound of now familiar SA 80s and soldiers visibl y and
'Viki ngs ' platoon. The 'Vikings' have made a very pro- audibly became more confident in the excellent new
fessional contribution to 3 QUEENS during their time weapons now in their possession . There is mu ch
with us and have integrated themselves into all aspects pleasure in hearing the satisfied exclamation of an
of battalion life . By June they will have left us but we 'average shot' who has just knocked down a target at
thank them for their cheerfulness and enthusiasm 600 metres.
during their stay with us . No doubt as reminder of their
sojourn a few new phrases of Norfolk origin will have Range 45 provid ed its traditional testing groun d, and
entered the battalion vernacu lar. We also welcomed a an early bath for most participants in its picturesqu e
number of other cap badges : Cpl Jones and his section drainage ditch. W e w ere gratefu l for th e co nsiderable
from 518 Company RPC (by coincidence commanded support we received from t he permanent range tea ms,
by an ex Oueensman - Maj Martin Featherstone ) and prov1ded mamly by 1 QUEENS and t he Depot.
31
3rd Battalion
The rural period and Rype Village exercise reminded ci llor Kim Nicolls, exchanged speeches. The lasting
the self styled 'old hands' that, despite recent experi - impressions of the whole day were that, firstly, the
ence in NI , there was always something new to be battalion was very much at home in Canterbury and,
learnt . There were the inevitable series of red faces secondly, that both the City's officials and citizens
during Rype debriefs and those who laughed loudest at wou ld be sorry to see the lads leaving.
others' misfortunes were often the subject of criticism
themselves the next day! Nevertheless the lessons were BACK TO NORTHERN IRELAND
learnt and by the time the battalion reached Stanford By the end of January the battalion was firmly estab-
greater cohesion and confidence at all levels was lished in Aldergrove and our proximity to an increasingly
obvious as the final exercise got underway . Despite busy international airport guarantees that, if for no other
bitterly cold, but mercifully dry, weather much was reason, life is seldom quiet. The move was efficiently
achieved during the week . On the final day OC A Com- executed and accompanied by some of the expected
pany, Maj Harber, must have believed the ' Doomsday last minute dramas. M aj Nick Grant spent his last weeks
scenario' had finally arrived as just about anything that as OC HQ Company presiding over the Canterbury end
could happen, did - in the space of half an hour! whilst Maj Charles Lambert, brimming with ' Q' experi-
ence from his previous appointment at HQ 39 lnf Bde,
The training over, a mad week was spent returning received the battalion in NI and became OC HQ Com-
kit, packing for NI and preparing for leave . The RSM pany on its arrival. The battalion ' Q' staff firmly grasped
even found time to start teaching SA 80 arms drill , the the nettle with newly arrived QM(T) Capt Bill Munday
reason for which became abundantly clear after a well masterminding the takeover from 1 DERR whilst Capt
earned Christmas leave. John Burke coped with the handover in Canterbury to
1RRF. Capt Aylward, the previous QM , escaped the
FREEDOM OF CANTERBURY move and left us at Christmas after a long and dis-
tinguished career in the Regiment, most of it in the 3rd
Those who thought that the September Wilkinson Battalion, including 5 years as QM(T) and OM. We all
Sword of Peace parade would be the last of drill until wish him well in his new post not too far away with 5
after the NI tour were gravely mistaken! The RSM UDR! We continue to swop radios for salmon as often
rejoiced in another opportunity to exercise his pace stick
and, on this occasion, introduce the new SA 80 drill. as possible.
Older heads nodded wisely in appreciation on hearing
the return of the 'Slope Arms' movement, not practised On the operational front , life has been busy from the
by the Regular Army since the demise of the Lee Enfield start with A Company deploying first to Fermanagh ,
.303. This latest round of square bashing was towards followed shortly by C Company under their new OC ,
our farewell to Canterbury, when on 7 January the Maj Mike Cooper, to East Tyrone . Within 2 months all
battalion proudly exercised the Regiment's Freedom of the companies had been on one of these two deploy-
the City led by the Commanding Officer carrying the ments. At the time of writing the Fermanagh task has
Wilkinson Sword of Peace. The weather on some of the been relatively quiet with the exception of the tragic
days of rehearsal prior to the 7th was almost reminiscent death on 5 April of a 4 UDR soldier caused by a car
of the 'Great Wind ' and the recently appointed QM(A), boobytrap. In general we look after some of the unen-
Capt Burke, produced additional chinstraps for officers' viable border Permanent Vehicle Check Points IPVCP)
caps as if he normally carried spares in his back pocket. and protect police stations in addition to carrying out
Fortuitously, the day of the parade was fine and the the full range of frame -work operations. The old adage
wind moderate. Several thousand people thronged the of 'Are the lakes in Fermanagh or is Fermanagh in the
streets of Canterbury as the battalion exercised the lakes?' was soon to be re-discovered! Operations in East
Freedom and there must have been a missed beat in Tyrone have been somewhat more eventful and we
most soldiers' chests as they marched up the High have had a fair amount of preventative success as well
Street to the strains of the Regimental Marches with as being involved in support of the RUC in a number of
many of the crowd singing along too. The farewell follow-up operations. By way of highlights , C Company
service in the Cathedral immediately afterwards was a were fortunate to have stopped some terrorists
truly memorable and Regimental Family occasion. The preparing to throw Improvised Anti Armour Grenades
whole battalion , joined by most of the wives, and in (IAAGs), a particularly unpleasant recent addition to the
combination with City dignatories and our own IRA's armoury; whilst Pte Hazell of B Company did
Regimental VIPs and other guests, filled the Cathedral exceptionally well to discover a command wire, by
Nave - both by volume and in voice. The Dean of night, at the end of which was a 1001b bomb .
Canterbury the Very Reverend John Simpson, led a
most dignified and relevant service. We also could not Those who have now operated in Fermanagh and
have had a more appropriate setting for our farewell to Tyrone would probably consider it a matter of very fine
the Quebec Band on their last performance for us before judgement as to which boasts the most bog! Of course
moving to the 1st Battalion . This final performance bore planned deployments are not the only operations for a
testament to their excellence under W01 Cunningham resident battalion and our reserve companies have
and we look forward to the Band's return to the 3rd already been deployed to diverse locations ; A Company
to South Armagh and Fire Sp Company to Carrickmore
Battalion in Cyprus . where they spent a sunny Easter Day as uninvited
guests of the local republican community.
The day's activities concluded with a luncheon recep- As to the future , we expect greater battalion responsi -
tion for a large proportion of the battalion in the bilities as a result of the current brigade reorganisation
Westgate Hall , generously provided by the City Council. being planned, but ca n say no more than that in this
Here the Colonel of the Regiment and the Mayor, Coun-
edition.
32
3rd Battalion
THE 3RD BATTALION IN NORTHERN IRELAND
1. Brig Mike Constantine . Deputy Colonel C. with Lt 4. Sgt Gill sets the course for Pte Francis . LCpl
Col Bob McGhie and RSM Butcher during the Howard and Pte Sherwood.
Brigadier's first visit to the 3rd Battalion in 5. Pte Laws receives refreshment from Cpl Tibbles
during the Aldergrove Half-Marathon.
Aldergrove. 6. A swimming league match in Aldergrove.
2. Cpl Winfield's winning team in the A Company
Inter-Section Competition .
3. Pte Fordham finds the light on the As sa ult Course .
33
3rd Battalion
LIFE IN ALDERGROVE came 5th of 9 major units entered , CSgt Bowdrey of B
Company doing particularly well in his Group . Sgt Nolan
Those who think that life in a resident NI battalion is is entered for the London Marathon (who says the
all operations are mistaken . Life must go on as normally Intelligence Section hate running) - 1 QUEENS - note
as possible in the home base and , in addition to our Omagh 1983!
soldiers , there are more than 400 dependants to look
after . Before the battalion move Lt Mike Flynn assumed PERSONALITIES
the post of Families Officer whilst we bade farewell to
Capt Hugh Beeson who had opted for a transfer to the lt is never possible to mention everyone who has
RAPC . Lt Flynn and his staff have the mammoth task of arrived, departed or done something of note. But, to
co-ordinating this large community which is divided add a few names to those already noted above we have
between quarters in Aldergrove and civilian housing said goodbye to: Maj Mark Rayner from C Company to
areas some miles away, where the majority live. Much is become a student on the Army Staff Course and our
done to alleviate the problems of living in NI including congratulations on his MID ; Maj John Pratten from Fire
the provision of two very active community centres, Sp Company to retirement via a short stint on the staff ;
transport to and from camp or shopping areas, and the Capt Richard Hooper our rugby playing doctor to his
organisation of trips to places of local interest . Twenty speciality at the Cambridge; Capt Guy Wood on retire-
wives are employed directly by the battalion in ' Quebec ment ; Lt Lisa Richardson to BAOR ; W02 Baker to 5
Enterprises Incorporated' operating the PRI Shop, the QUEENS; W02 (OROMS) Cooper just down the road to
unisex hairdresser, the launderette, the community 7/ 10 UDR; CSgt Cochrane and Sgt Cooper on comple-
centres , the creches and play-schools. We shall include tion of service; CSgt Smith to JIB and CSgt Avis to the
a full report on community activities in the next edition. Depot.
For soldiers in camp, sometimes described as an Amongst the many we welcome, not already men-
Open Prison, conventional military training must also tioned : Capt John Etherington, newly appointed RMO;
continue as well as the need to update anti terrorist Lt Simon Wilson , OC Mortar Platoon to replace Lt
procedures . Recently appointed OC Fire Support Com- Mcleod who becomes 10; 2Lt Liz James as Assistant
pany, Maj Les Edwards, has overseen his platoons Adjutant ; and CSgts Songhurst, Crowley and Walker .
making bold efforts to maintain their specialist skills,
particularly relevant for the Milan Platoon who attend a Congratulations go to W01 Butcher the RSM on his
Concentration in GB in mid summer. We shall be selection for commissioning; W02 (ROMS) Edwards on
announcing the Drums Platoon as winners of the NI his selection to be the next RSM ; W02 (RQMS) Farrow
GPMG (SF) Competition in the next edition as they are on his selection as RSM of 1 QUEENS; W02 (TOMS)
the only platoon in the Province entering a full team! Hilton on his selection as Depot RSM in early 89; Lts
Some company training programmes are already Gubbin, lngledow and Williams on promotion to Cap-
showing a noticeable bias towards preparation for the tain; CSgts Albrecht and Phillips on promotion to W02 ;
1988 Quebec Inter Company Competition which will be Ptes Sidley and Fern for achieving A gradings on their
underway soon . Others are proving the point that Alder- RMA 3 Courses; and not to be forgotten the proud
grove does indeed boast a very wide selection of parents of 9 Cara Cara / R and R babies born (as at mid
sporting facilities and an excellent swimming pool. April) since the battalion 's arrival in Aldergrove - at this
Training Wing functions as the cornerstone for internal rate it will be an average of one per family before we
cadres and we are shortly to run more 2 to 1 upgrading, depart; ACIOs please note for 16 years hence!
and a potential JNCOs' cadre in May . We are also
entered for the Northern Ireland Skill at Arms Meeting Mrs McCreadie and Mrs Higgs in the PRI shop .
at the end of April. The MT is running a series of driving
cadres and rumour has it that the recently appointed
MTO , Capt John Thompson, is about to add Ballroom
Dancing to the long list of activities in which he is
qualified to instruct!
On the recreational front the battalion is slowly
breaking into the Northern Ireland scene in several
sports. Rugby, football , hockey, swimming and basket-
ball have all featured and as the cricket season
approaches Cpl Nurse is again mustering a team ; one of
our all weather pitches is a gentle ' Six' from the CO 's
office window! Other individual enthusiasts are trying to
motivate off duty soldiers to take an interest in their
particular discipline ; for example, Sgt Anderson with his
Judo Club. Pte Cauldrey, fresh from the Depot, and a
British Sombo Wrestling Champion , is looking for
recruits! The battalion has recently hosted the NI Ser-
vices Half Marathon and produced some creditable
results ; Ptes Laws and Bye qualifying as juniors for the
Army Half Marathon . Veterans Sgt (Jogger) Upp1ngton
and CSgt Gorey also finished in respectable times. In
the NI Army Orienteering Championships the team
34
3rd Battalion
NORTHERN IRELAND OPERATIONS The general task from an admin point of view was
never dull , providing terrorists at a moment's noti ce.
by 2Lt R B Payne Movement round the village was hampered at times for
Harry by the requirement to wear a Radio and Earpiece
Our introdu ctory brief from 4 UDR was comprehen- whenever he left the Sinn Fein Advice Centre for a walk
sive yet, for most in attendance, attention was focused
on Fermanagh's main geographical feature - Lough about.
Ern e .
Mr Tubby Shaw caused a few minor stirs with the
What was omitted from the brief was that County outside world by constantly answering the telephone
Fermanagh had recently been redesignated a marine "S inn Fein Centre, Shaw speaking ".
territory as an exte nsion of the Atlantic and Kinawley
was now an island. To alleviate the problem it was All in all a good time was had by all , despite the
rumoured that Noah was now a team member in 10B adverse weather conditions . The rumour at the moment
and that flippers were issued on a '1 033'! is that Harry and Shaw are applying for permanent OC
and 21C Civpop in the near future . Something about a
We were still settling in when the first of many " find resettlement course!
reps " crossed the ops desk . IAAG , hide, com mand
wire .. .? In fact none of these but we did have a knack
of discovering our predecessors discarded equipment. lt
was as if the NITAT team were doing continuation train-
ing . Two right-angled torches and a poncho roll dis-
covered by the Vikings Platoon (the urban warriors)
from 1 R ANGLIAN , did nothing for the morale of the
cordon troops in the follow up .
Grid references featured in some of the lighter
moments of patrol planning. The 21C had an apparent
desire to test the Anglo-lrish Agreement, in particular
the paragraphs on cross border relations / cooperatio n,
as CPVs were tasked to a drop off 5km into the republic!
(they didn't go there). He was later heard saying that he
always wanted to visit Swanlinbar . Then not before
time we began the handover to Fire Support Company
as we prepared to take on the brigade reserve commit-
ment back in Aldergrove .
The cry on return was that being on brigade reserve
one could continue training and that the company
would never be deployed as a unit. How wrong can one
be - within two weeks we were climbing into Chinook
helicopters and deploying to Bessbrook Mill to assist 40
Cdo RM in an airmobile anti-riot role - as a company!
The funerals of the terrorists took place without any real
incident. The only problem was chasing after the
cortege, through the fields and thickets with a six foot
shield. This inevitably led to some radical new obstacle
crossing drills as well as an increase in explicit language
and new hand signals. Nothing could have demonstra-
ted better the phrase " Remember, be flexible on this !"
HARRY'S GAME VISIT BY HRH THE DUCHESS OF KENT
by SSgt Stallard RAPC HR H The Duchess of Kent visited the 3rd Battalion
on 21 April1988 . The aim of the visit was to enable the
The Unit Paymaster, Capt Charlie Last and the Unit Duchess to meet officers and servicemen and their
Admin Office staff played a significant part in Ex PIRO- wives. lt had been planned that the Du chess would
MANIAC at Rype Village, this being the NITAT phase take afternoon tea in the Officers' Mess and this
designed to train and test the battalion in Urban Opera- would be followed by an informal and relaxed time
tions . with the assembled guests.
As OC Civpop , the Paymaster adopted the pseudo- The Duchess was met on her arrival by the Comd 8
name of Harry and became OC PIRA for two weeks. lnf Bde, Brig M R I Constantine OBE, and inspected
Ably assisted by the editor of the Republican News- the Guard of Honour provided by B Company. Unfor-
paper, Mr T B (Tubby) Shaw, (SSgt Charlie Stallardl tunately because of a delay due to bad weather the
and a Civpop numbering at times, 80 personnel, they Duchess had to forego afternoon tea and went
proceeded to test the abilities of the companies. We straight into meeting guests. A bouquet was pre-
were grateful to 1 QUEENS , the Depot and a bevvy of sented by Julia Ray, daughter of Cpl John Ray .
WRAC who reinforced the Band to provide this Civpop.
35
5th (VOLUNTEER) BATTALION
PERSONALITIES
We are pleased to welcome as our new Honorary
Colonel the Right Honourable Robin Leigh-Pemberton
MA , JP, Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant for the County
of Kent and Governor of the Bank of England , whose
appointment became effective on 19 December 1987. lt
was particularly fitting that the date of his appointment
should coincide with the occasion of the Officers' Mess
Ladies Dinner Night and it gave us all great pleasure to
have the opportunity of welcoming Colonel Robin and
his lady to Canterbury for the first time that night.
lt was, however, rather sad to have to say goodbye
almost at the same time to Col J B Ogilvie OBE TO DL
who now gives up his appointment as Deputy Honorary
Colonel to the battalion. Colonel Jim. as he is known to
all, being a Terroritorial officer himself, has always been
a loyal supporter of the battalion and someone always
willing to listen to problems and able to bring an experi-
enced Territorial mind to solve them. We wish him well
in his military retirement and look forward to seeing him
at Canterbury in the future.
In March we also said goodbye to Lt Col Charles Joint Lt Col Charles Joint hands over command of the 5th
at the end of his tour as Commanding Officer. Colonel (Volunteer) Battalion to lt Col Philip Pearce.
Charles has brought to bear on the battalion 's affairs
over the last two and a half years a very clear and plunged into the training cycle with Bounty_ Hunter
concise mind and he leaves us a much smarter and well weekends battalion CPX and spec1allst tra1n1ng all
organised organisation than we used to be . He also claiming ti'me out of the programme . The battalion CPX
leaves us as what must be the most computerised Terri- held on the Acrise Training Area in November was an
torial battalion with every function of military life from opportunity to see at first hand the terrible destruction
Mess Bills to course bids being poured out by some form wrought in Kent by the hurricane in October. Locations
of the micro-technology . We wish Colonel Charles and chosen for CPs proved very often to be totally inacces-
Fiona well in their new appointment in Belize and hope sible owing to fallen trees and those that could be
that the Amstrad in the manpack role coupled with reached offered little cover with surrounding trees
Belizian power supply (or is it true that Fiona is man- blown or defoliated.
packing the Generator?) proves successful.
On the last weekend of November, for the first time, a
We are very pleased to welcome the new Command- Battalion Skill at Arms Meeting was held at Hythe . This
ing Officer, Lt Col Philip Pearce, and his wife Liz and proved a very considerable success and considerable
hope that they will enjoy the new expenence of servmg rivalry was developed between the competln~ company
with the Territorial Army. Certainly for a man who has teams, involving the umpires in some most lit1geous diS-
served with the American and Ugandian Armies even cussions and delving into Pamphlet 20. After a very hard
the culture shock of 5 QUEENS IV) should be taken in fought contest A Company emerged as the overall
his stride . winners, with Pte Case of B Company as best SLR shot.
We are very grateful to the Training Major and RSM for
There have also been a number of changes over the the organisation and smooth running of an excellent
last six months amongst the PSis, and we are pleased to weekend which we hope will be repeated in future
welcome W01 IRSM) Les Outfield who has the advan- years. We were very pleased to have Commander 2
tage of being able to communicate in their own lan- Infantry Brigade, Brig Webster , to present the pnzes
guage with the new inhabitants of Howe Barracks, and and it was also an opportumty for the presentation to
the new Chief Clerk, W02 Carter, who cla1ms to be 1n CSgt Adams of his GOC's commendation of which
total ignorance of all micro technology , which may turn mention was made in the last issue of the Journal.
out to be a great asset. In HO Company W02 Tanner
has succeeded W02 ' Biuey' Hedges who has gone off
to join 80F (V) after becoming a civilian , and CSgt Clark
and Sgt Osbourne have respectively taken over as OPSI
and Recce / Trg PSI in Canterbury .
EVENTS
lt seems that we had scarcely drawn breath after the
return from Camp 1987 than we were once more
36
5th (Volunteer) Battalion
2
BATTALION SKILL AT ARMS MEETING
1. The A Company Winning Team .
2. Brig Brian Webster presents the Skill at Arms cup to
Capt Stephen Barlow.
3. Final of the Falling Plate Competition.
4. CSgt Adams receives his GOC's Commendation .
37
5th (Volunteer) Battalion
REMEMBRANCE DAY IN CANTERBURY
1. The Volunteer Band leads the parade .
2. The contingent from the 5th (Volunteer! Battalion .
3. The CO, Lt Col Charles Joint. lays a wreath and the
War Memorial.
IKentish Gazette pictures)
A Study W eekend for officers and se ni or NCOs was REGULAR FORCES EMPLOYMENT
held at St Martin's Plain in February at which the
spec ialist platoons had an opportunity to practise their ASSOCIATION
sa lesmanship on the doubting consumers : presenta-
tions were given by the Mortar Platoon, Milan Platoon The Association, together with the Ministry of
and on the new snipers' rifle all intended to demonstrate Defence and the Manpower Services Commission, is
t he exce llent assets with which we are now provided. part of the Forces Resettlement Service . Our task is to
Lu ckily there was also a Signals Platoon teach-in on the assist all non-commissioned men and women who
ever elusive BATCO at the end of which hopeful ly the served wtih good characters for a minimum of three
students would know where to find t he necessary years , or less if discharged on medical grounds, to find
instructions on the Vocab Cards to summon t he civil employment at the end of their engagements.
assistance of all these battalion assets in good time .
Our services are free, and we take a long term
In March the management team travelled to Boving- interest in ex-Regulars so they are available to them
ton to undertake BGT(S). This provided an excel lent throughout their working lives .
opportu nity for the management to practise procedures
and with a very largely new team in all appointments it Our Employment Officers are situated in Branches
was a very valu able weekend. The comments from the throughout the United Kingdom and they maintain
Directing Staff are always most va lu able, but it is close contact with local employers and Jobcentres .
surprising just how persistent various Orange Forces are Their addresses and telephone numbers can be
in their attempts to dominate Dorset in spite of repeated obtained from Unit/ Ship Resettlement Officers ;
visits by countless battle groups . Jobcentres and local telephone directories.
The batta lion Patro l Competition Ex APRIL'S FOOL During the period 1st April 1987-31st March 1988
was held over the first weekend in April at Longmoor. the Association assisted 10,269 men and women with
Based on the training objectives of this current year their resettlement and placed 5,017 in employment. Of
there were three phases - orienteering , in the snow those placed 2,321 were men and women from the
would you believe it, patrolling and finally some light Army and 26 were from The Queen 's Regiment .
relief on the command tasks and a very good assau lt
course at SEME Bordon . The overal l winners were the
Milan Platoon with more than a little help from some
recruits.
38
5 QUEENS (V) TRAINING
1. LCpl Butlin has time to pose for the camera .
2. Whatever will they make us do next?
3. LCpl Hornigold seeking advice.
4 . "Knit one , purl one ' .
5. Pte Lawrence tests the water temperature.
39
6TH/7TH (VOLUNTEER) BATTALION
lt must have been some time during Thursday 17 July
1981 ; a group of officers were co ngratulating them-
selves on a highly successful Presentation of Colours
Parade the previous day when one Cassandra spoke -
" Now we've got our own Colours at last they're bound
to re-organise us again ". We laughed and forgot to
touch wood .
lt was not long afterwards that the first rumours of
splitting the battalion began to spread, then beca me
reality and have now provided the backdrop to the last
six years; first with a valiant attempt to fight against it,
then with acceptance of the inevitable and preparation
for the move of part of D (Tangier) Company and the
whole of B (Aibuhera) Company to 8th (Volunteer)
Battalion The Queen 's Fusiliers with some style and
co nsiderable pride .
By the time this magazine will have appeared B
(Aibuhera) Company will have moved to the new batta-
lion making a total with the previous transfers from D
(Tangier) Company of 12 Officers, 18 Senior NCOs and
151 soldiers and the saddest part of the enhancement
will be over.
lt also marks the shift in the centre of gravity of the
battalion away from inner London and into Surrey and
Sussex .
Our new B(Somme) Company based at Brighton and Pte Clements of B (Sommel Company 'earning his
Worthing has come of age to take the place of Albuhera crust' working on the building site at Brighton TA
Company. The notable efforts at Brighton over the past Centre.
two years to raise a brand new rifle company in a porta -
cabin next to a building site were justly marked by the with the aid of his civilian clerk's dinky toys, how to
award of the MBE to the OC, Maj Piers Storie-Pugh, in protect a convoy and attack aircraft.
the New Year's Honours List . They will also be further
marked later this year in August when t he building site In view of the importance of this subject, a series of
becomes a brand newTA Centre and in October when it further study evenings is planned in addition to Com-
is formally opened by C in C UKLF, Gen Sir Charles pany weekend exercises.
Huxtable KCB CBE . An indication of how well that
company has come on can be seen in Capt Dalby's RECRUITING AND EMPLOYERS
article later in these notes. Since the Autumn there have been two national cam-
paigns and a potential officer campaign and each com-
TRAINING pany has more than achieved the target, set by the CO,
of producing 18 new recruits . However, 'wastage' is
In between the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the always with us and can never be fully eliminated. One
enhancement and getting drinks out of Maj Storie-Pugh growing realisation is that contrary to mu ch of the
over his medal, much useful work has been done in the country, the battalion is an area of full employment with
last few months. Training has followed the now familiar overtime available and employers very reluctant to allow
pattern of quarterly themes, each commenci ng with a additiona l time or even show a sympathetic attitude to
study weekend, followed by a company weekend and TA soldiers.
ending with a battalion exercise . Prior to Christmas the lt is also apparent that many employers up to a very
theme was First Aid in Battle described in some detail senior level in management have had little or no military
experience. In an effort to overcome this the battalion is
later. trying to persuade local emp loyers of the value of the
TA to them and their employees. Firstly by each
Since then we have moved through NBC, the clima x
of which was a battle run at Stanford in late March and
on to Home Defen ce, in readiness for the District Home
Defence Exercise Autumn Tiger in September when we
will be 'tested ' in our war role . The Study Weekend for
this was held at St Martin's Plain in early April. After a
signals exercise each company was tasked to put on a
presentation on a Home Defence topic . Maj Haynes and
C (Quebec) Company showed how to cordon and
search a football pitch by numbers ; LCpl Crofts D
(Tangier) Company how to wreck a car in a VCP (it's
quite easy if it does not belong to you!) and Maj Ross
40
6th/7th (Volunteer) Battalion
company holding an employers' evening at its own TA QC HQ (Alamein) Company, RMO and Adjt with the
Centre and secondly by providing a civi lian management Master of the Builders Merchants Company .
exe rcise for middle management of selected firms. Exer-
cise Decision Maker takes place in June and has been
set up by the Training Major, Maj Rocky Hitchcock and
OC A (Salerno) Company, Maj David Morris . lt will
co mprise a series of command tasks and cross-country
navigation.
The presentation of the outline of the exercise was
given in April by the CO and the Honorary Colonel who
was able to speak effectively from both sides of the
fence as former TA CO and as a Director of several com-
panies employing some thousands of people . it was
very well received by the employers' representatives and
the exercise is now overbooked for ca ndidates. A report
of the outcome and its potential will appear in the next
edition of the Journal.
Maj Tony Prior has taken over as Battalion Second in
Command after a second tour of command of D
(Tangier) Company where his place is taken by Capt
Graham Keegan on transfer from 5 RRF(V) .
D (Tangier) Company has also lost its antiques
roadshow duo to the Regular battalions on SSVCs . Lt
Tim Carr, an art dealer, to the 3rd Battalion and 2Lt
Alastair Nelson , an antique dealer to the 1st Battalion .
We recommend that they are both made Property
Members of their respective Messes .
Lt Philip Evans , the 10, has demonstrated that he has
no need of the large pile of Beanos left by his predeces-
sors. He has now made it to the finale of the Brain of
Britain quiz on radio and channel 4 .
thinking!
PERSONALITIES
Naturally the move of B (Aibuhera) Company means
saying farewell to many old friends in particular the OC
Maj Derrick Harwood who has achieved the rare distinc-
tion of being CSM and OC of the same company.
Retiring from the TA after 35 years' service is Maj Capt Tony Dalby receives the Builders Merchants"
(QM) Peter Chapman . He joined the Royal Engineers as Trophy from The Master of the Company.
a National Serviceman in 1953 and after service in the
Royal Engineers and Royal Sussex TA joined 7
QUEENS(V) on its formation in 1971 . He holds the Terri-
torial Efficiency Medal , the Silver Jubilee Medal and
now has been awarded the Territorial Decoration. Also
retiring is W02 Adam Frater CSM HO (Alamein)
Company after regular service with the Welsh Guards
and TA service with 5 OUEENS(V) and 6/7 QUEENS(V).
41
6th/7th (Volunteer) Battalion
On the sporting front, QMSI Webb has led the Batta-
lion Orienteering Team on to several triumphs as he
details in his article.
Finally, we now have a TA Chaplain in the battalion
following the commissioning of the Revd Steven
Purnell.
BREATHING, BLEEDING, BURNS
OR BREAKS?
by Capt A H B Dalby
The fairy-tale started in October 1986 with the issue of The lord Lieutenant of Surrey inspects A (Salernol
the training directive for the period ended 31 March Company at Farnham TA Centre with the CO. lt Col
1988. This directive set out four main phases. This story R E lowans TO and the OC, Maj David Morris.
is principally concerned with Phase Ill - First Aid in
Battle. The detailed training started in October 1987 despite being casevaced from two previous attempts. In
with a study weekend for officers and senior NCOs the evening the company moved into the field where we
called Red Cross I run by Lt Col Geoffrey Brown the had set up a realistic battle scenario for section teams .
MO. The weekend gave a mixture of classroom, video Once the teams had arrived at the RV they were put
and hands on training and was generally full of interest- through their paces on selected casualties and generally
ing training ideas for the next 3 months. handled the medical applications and casualty evacua-
tion excellently. The debrief at the end of the night's
The Phase was organised at company level to teach work was lightened somewhat by one near hysterical
and practice the ideas discussed at the original study casualty (LCpl Birley) who acted his part to perfection
weekend, on drill nights and company weekends . Ably and succeeded in drawing one of the section com-
assisted by PSI CSgt Alan Songhurst, Somme Com- manders out of the main action while the battle scenario
pany spent the Saturday in classrooms learning the collapsed all around him .
basic skills and practising bandaging as well as the com-
pulsory stretcher race and for the first time I managed to Exercise Red Cross Ill was the name to the battalion
see the whole of the video " combat medic in Vietnam" exercise scheduled to take place on Salisbury Plain over
the weekend 28/ 29 November 1987. it had been decided
that Red Cross Ill would form the basis of the Inter-
Company Competition run annually and for which the
Worshipful Company of Builders Merchants present a
silver salver. All companies had to supply two platoons
and the whole exercise started off at 1000 hrs on the
Saturday morning with a quick kit inspection organised
by the Adjutant, Capt David Greenfield and the RSM,
W01 Winter . Needless to say, as this was the first aid
phase, many soldiers failed to clean their respirator
glasses - a lesson for us all?
The testing during Red Cross Ill was organised into
various stands covering all aspects of first aid.
During the day two Scout helicopters appeared . The
sections were shown how to use the Casevac pods and
some had a chance to fly in them .
The lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Mr Richard Thornton At the end of the day's exercises the companies were
OBE JP Dl presents CSgt (now W02l Skoglund with neck and neck with Somme Company at this stage in
his Territorial Efficiency Medal. second place, but with very few points in it. The main
part of the exercise was a night patrol over Salisbury
Plain covering 10 to 15 kilometres with an incident
thrown in for good measure . Predictably this incident
was a friendly OP which had been bumped and the
platoon size team had to carry out the necessary
medical first aid and casualty evacuation . Midway
42
6th/7th (Volunteer} Battalion
through the treatment of the casualty the patrol came ORIENTEERING
under fire and Somme Company made an excellent by W02 (QMSI) Webb APTC(V)
withdrawa l under fire, bringing the casualty with them. " Give them a map, they' re Magic" and " 6/7 do it in
Anyone w ho has carried a stretcher for any distance will the woods" are two sayings now very common in the
appreciate how difficult it is. Add to this , the factor that battalion. After four years of hard work the battalion
they had no st retcher and had to make one up , and orienteering team are now amongst the best in the TA
second ly the casualty was the heaviest man available, and are also holding their own against the regulars of
and thirdly t he terrain over Sa lisbury Plain was not the South East District. The team consists of a mixture of
easiest, the platoon under the excellent leadership of Lt ranks from officers, WOs, PSis to private soldiers,
Neil Strachan, managed to retrieve the casua lty and largely drawn from A (Salerno) Company and B
bring him back to the Regimental Aid Post with the (Somme) Company. Notable individuals are W02
minimum of discomfort . Sgt Simkins was at his forceful Lawsen, Sgt Harper, LCpl Atkinson and Pte Burley.
best, and the whole effort achieved the best results of Over the past three years the following results have
the night and pushed the Somme Company effort into been gained :
first place to win the Builders M erchants' Silver Salver. 2 Infantry Brigade Winners (only held once)
South East District (TAl Winners three times
The real reason for this being a fairy-tale come true is South East District (TAl Individuals 1st (twice)
that Somme Company had on ly been in existence for 20 UKLF(TAl Third (twice)
months at the date of the competition and al l but three South East District (Reg) League Second 1986/7 .
members of the section teams had been members of the First 1987/ 8 (Minor Units) .
batta lion for less than 12 months - a fantastic 1987 saw our first batta lion championship with B
ac hieve ment and credit to them all. (Somme) Company, to the surprise of all , beating A
(Sa lerno) Company.
The exercise was given a final shot of reality as two
soldiers, Ptes J ones and Caeser from HQ (Alamein) STOP PRESS
Company w ho, w hen returning home from t he
weekend , were the first on the scene of a real traffic The 6/7 QUEENS(V) Orienteering Team won the
accident. They were able to use their first aid experience 1988 UKLF TA Orienteering Championships .
to give real medica l assistance for which they were corn-
mended by the Poli ce .
WARRIOR ROLL-OUT
This picture, only recently received, was taken at the Lt Col D HA Shephard ISOl Warrior HO 0 lnf). Maj
Warrior Roll-Out Ceremony which took place in front (now Lt Coli R Gancz (S02 IWI Mobility ITDU ). Col
of HRH Princ e Philip at GKN ' s Telford Works on 20 (now Brigl H N Tarver CBE (PM Warrior MOD (PEII ,
May 1987. lt shows the Quebec Band . a Warrior Maj Gen Sir David Thorne KBE (Director of Infantry)
Infantry Fighting Vehicle and most of the Regimental lateR ANGUAN , Lt Col N S Hunter IComdt ITDU ). Lt
officers who have been involved in the development Col R H Chappell OBE IOC TOT 31Warriorl HOD lnf).
and issue of the vehicle . From left to right these are :
Maj !now Lt Coli A C Mieville ILSOR 2 MODI .
43
8th (Volunteer) Battalion
8th (VOLUNTEER) BATTALION,
THE QUEEN'S FUSILIERS (CITY OF LONDON)
The battalion has finally taken shape with its three lunch in the Drill Hall. We were particularly pleased that •'
rifle companies and Headquarter Company . The new A this gave many of the families a cha nce to look around
(Highwood) Company has moved into its plush new TA the TA Centre and form some idea of the TA other than
Centre at Flodden Road, Camberwell, and is recruiting Father going away every weekend .
strongly. The rebuilt centre was formally opened on 21
May in the presence of a strong Surrey Rifles contingent Albuhera Day was celebrated in proper fashion with
by the Secretary of State for Defen ce, The Right the Silent Toast and Loving Cup ceremony , although
Honourable George Younger TO DL MP . the RSM , W02 Fran ce, was initially surprised to find
our Brigade Major, a Royal W elch Fusilier present - in
The battalion marked the Albuhera Day weekend with honour of the Fusilier Brigade at Albuhera.
an Officers' Mess Cocktail party for some 140 official
guests (and some friends) on 14 May, followed without The battalion is now very much looking forward to its
a break by the Albuhera Ball at Balham for the more first Annual Camp at Sennybridge in the last two weeks
hardened sort of partygoer. of July. lt will be very mu ch a cad re ca mp as we struggle
to train up our middle management and find our special-
On Sunday 15 May, B (Aibuhera) Company and C ists . The Volunteer spirit is alive and well. W02 Jacobs
(City of London) Company formally ca me under our found an eager recruit at Camberwell who said that he
wing with a short march through Clapham Junction had just left the 3rd Battalion and wanted to join the TA .
with the Volunteer Bands of both Regiments playing . A quick call to Records revealed that he was in fa ct on
The Commanding Officer inspected his battalion for the the third day of his terminal leave!
first time and then dismissed the parade for an All Ranks
DEPOT THE QUEEN'S DIVISION
by Maj J P S Mills
The period that these Journal notes cover roughly as far as the quarter-finals of the Minor Units Cup but,
corresponds with the second half of the 87/ 88 SCAMF unfortunately, made a hasty exit from the Infantry Cup.
training period. SCAMF is a pneumonic for Standing They won numerous 'friendlies' which somehow devel-
Committee for the Adult Manpower Forecast: lt decides oped into hard fought grudge matches within minutes
the number of adult recruits to be trained at the Depot. of the first whistle . The hockey team adopted a lower
The SCAMF figure for the period from 1 October 1987 profile in their approach to the season and won through
to 3 March 1988 for The Queen's Regiment was set at to the semi-final of the Infantry Cup but fell to Depot
250 adult recruits . However, when taking various The Prince of Wales Division.
factors into consideration, such as the demographic
trough, increased competition for the national The foundations for the shooting team were laid with
manpower pool and Christmas, it has resulted in the the Depot SAA meeting in March . HQ Company wiped
actual number of recruits inducted at the Depot being the board in nearly every event; it is not certain how
only 133. When the wastage rate is taken in to account, much of a contribution OC HQ Company, Maj Peter
it should be anticipated that approximately 95 adult Monypenny, made, but he was seen looking quite
recruits will have successfully completed training during menacing with an SA 80 slung around his neck . Even if
that SCAMF period. The Queen 's Regiment personnel did not cover them-
selves in individual glory, apart from Sgt Jeffreys, they
The recruiting forecast is no healthier. The Army did see the opposition off very convincingly in the inter-
Personnel Selection Centre have warned us that they regiment / corps falling plate co mpetition. There would
cannot meet the target figure for the three intakes have been more egg on our faces than the entire chinese
which were due to form up in May ; as a result, one of egg production for a year if we had let the RPC beat us
them has been rescheduled to form up later in the in the final.
current SCAMF period in the hope that the situation
might have improved by then. We welcomed RQMS Farrow towards the end of last
year. He excelled on his RQMS course and was awarded
The Depot launched itself on a high powered sporting an A grade. We bade farewell to Maj Stephen Dowse
fixture list over the winter and made steady progress in a who has gone to the Falkland s for six months before
number of cup and league activities. Under the returning to HQ UKLF on a staff appointment later in
coaching of the ebullient Second in Command , Maj the year.
Stephen Dowse, the Depot rugby team mad e their way
44
REGIMENTAL BANDS
,·
The Quebec Band playing at the Littlewood 's Cup Final
between Arsenal and Luton at Wembley Stadium , 24
!Picture by Jacqueline Hodgesi
April1988.
THE QUEBEC BAND the seemingly endless ovation at the finale made every-
by W01 B Cunningham one's efforts worthwhile. The pomp and ceremony of
the Freedom of Canterbury and the Cathedral Service
During the Quebec Band 's two years in Canterbury that followed were in complete contrast to the Marlow
we performed at every type of engagement from the Theatre Show and more in keeping with our trad itional
late night cabaret . lt was therefore fitting role .
Royal Visit to two performances before moving to
that our last Everyone loves a parade and what parade would be
Tidworth should between them provide a final oppor- complete without a band at the head playing the type of
tunity to demonstrate the band 's ability to be versatile in music which puts a spring in the soldiers' step and fills
the extreme, whilst maintaining the highest possible the general public with the warmth of patrioti c pride .
standards of quality throughout. During the Cathedral service the combined music of
the band , fanfare trumpets and organ echoed around
The first of these occasions was our annual Variety that historic building creating a breadth and depth of
Show in the Marlowe Theatre. Supported by the sound which was both inspirational and spiritually
Deborah Capon Dancers , the East Kent Girls Choir, the
Tunbridge Wells Orpheus Male Voice Choir and guest uplifting .
Pianist Musician Colin Walker (Royal Artillery) we From the uplifting to the lifting up and transporting of
provided three hours of variety entertainment to a
packed house of over 900 people . the band and all its equipment from Canterbury to
Tidworth . Before we left 3 QUEENS , gifts and good
The programme included everything from Rhapsody wishes were exchanged although goodbye was unnec-
in Blue and Grieg 's Piano Concerto in A Minor, to Pop, cessary as we will be reunited in Cyprus in two years
Dixieland Jazz and Big Dance Band . Other ingredients
such as audience participation and comedy sketches time .
helped to make this a most successful event . The lt never ceases to ama ze me how bands are able to
audiences were most responsive and appreciative and
change locations and within a couple of days be per-
forming in full ceremonial dress as if nothing had
45
happened . This was certai nly the case in respect of our 21 -27 August Eastbourne Bandstand.
recent move. The speed with which the band settled in 21 September Massed Bands, Bristol.
Tidworth was largely due to the unstinting efforts of the 23 September Massed Bands, Plymouth .
1st Battalion to make us welcome, especia lly the GM's
Department and in particular and old friend RQMS Ke n If any of the above events are happening in your area
Arey. then why not come along . W e would be pleased to see
you.
The transition from one battalion to another was
extremely smooth and so it should be, after all we've Although negotiations are near completio n I am still
only moved to a different branch of the same family, unable to say exactly when the recording of ou r new
and from what I ca n see they're not that different. record will take place . lt will be t his year and you w1ll be
the first to know when and w here you ca n obtam your
We have already completed some 30 engagements copy.
and are fully booked for the remainder of the year. For
those of you who are constantly asking for information Our co ngratu lati ons and si ncere best wishes go to Cpl
as to where you can see the band, I suggest you keep a Moseley who was married at the end of la st year. Mrs
close eye on your TV screens on the three occasions Moseley is also be co ngratulated for not only makmg an
when we will be playing at major football fi xtures in honest man of him but a mu ch slimmer one!
Wembley Stadium . Although we have a band Football
Team I should stress that, in this case, the word playing Calling all Ex Queen's Musicians ...
should be interpreted in a purely musical sense.
A reunion for all those who have music and Th e
lt is also likely we will be seen during ITV's Telethon Queen 's Regiment in common is being planned for later
88 and at some stage on BBC when it screens its this year and is open to all those who are currently
planned series on Military Customs and Traditions , serving or have at so metime in the past served 1n any of
which will include recently recorded material on the four battalions' bands. This is a marvellous oppor-
Sobraon Day and Albuhera Day . If, however, you tunity to meet old friends, make new ones, reca ll past
would prefer to see and hear the band live then here is a experiences and catch up on recent events.
small selection of dates from our forecast of engage-
ments . The evening will take the form of a buffet and dance
and will no doubt even include a performance or two! lt
1 June Guest Band , Kneller Hall Con cert Even- promises to be a really wonderful occasion so make sure
ing, London. of your place by co ntacting CSgt C Witten c/ o 5
11 June QUEENS TA Band , Leros TA Centre, Sturry . Road ,
2 July Display, Chichester. Canterbury . He will add your name to our ma11ing list
Open Day Queen 's Division, Bassing- and send you further detai ls in du e course. You ca n also
6-30 July bourn . help by passing on names and addresses of other ex
members, or informing them yourself about th1s
20 August Royal Tournament , Earl s Court , important event.
London .
1look forward to seeing you all soon.
Charity Shield, Wembley Stadium .
The Quebec Band play for the visit of Lt Gen Krogen, Commander Land Forces Jutland .
46
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