June 1985

Get the best of
Both Worlds

W hen you leave the Army
join the TA - all the f un of
so ldiering - li tt le of t he routine.
W e need your experience .

TA Centres at :

6 QUEENS (V) 6/7 QUEENS (V)

BHO CANTERBURY BHO HORSHAM

HO COY CANTERBURY' HO COY HORSHAM'

A COY GUILDFORD' A COY FARNHAM'
HOUNSLOW CAMBERLEY

B COY BROADSTAIRS' B COY EDGWARE
DOVER HORNSEY
FOLKESTONE
C COY CRAWLEY'
C COY HASTINGS' HAYWARDS HEATH
EASTBOURNE
SEAFORD D COY SUTTON
CAMBERWELL
D COY TONBRIDGE' KINGSTON
MAIDSTONE
SEVENOAKS

• Home Service Force Platoons with lower
tra1n1ng obligations and higher age l1mits are also
recru1ted at the locat1ons marked with an

astensk .

Come along any dnll night and see for yourse lf.

Details of serv1ce, full addresses of TA Centres
and day of dnll n1ght, can be obtained by
nngmg the Orderly rooms at Canterbury

61397 / 462769 or Horsham 66111 .

join the T. A.

THE EX SOLDIERS' HOBBY

For readers who are NOT ordinary members of The Queen's Regiment Officers' Club

Subscription Form

THE JOURNAL OF THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT

(A half-yearly publication - June and December. Price £2.00 per issue or £4 per annum - post free within the UK)

To The Editor,
The Journal of The Queen's Regiment,
Howe Barracks,
Canterbury, Kent CT1 1JU

Date ....
Please supply to me each half year ........ ....... ... .... ... ...... ......... .... .. .... ... .. ... ... ........... copy I copies of THE

JOURNAL OF THE QUEEN ' S REGIMENT, commencing with the next number, for which I enclose :
*la) £
or
* (b) a Banker's Order

PLEASE WRITE IN BLOCK CAPITALS

Initials and Name ... .. ..... ... .......... .. .. ....... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... .... ... .. .... ... ... .... ... ... ... ................ ...... .... ... ... ...
Rank ..... ...... ... ......... ...... .. .... .... ... .... ......... ... ... ...... .
Address

*delete as applicable

BANKER'S ORDER

No. (for office use) ....... .. ... ..... .. ...... ... .. ...... ... ............. ...... .
To Messrs . .... ...... ... ........ ... .... ... ....... .. ... .... .. ... ..... ... ... ... ...... ...... ..... ... ....... ... ....... ........... (your Bank)

....... ... ... ...... ... .... ..... ........ .. .... ... ... ... ... ..... ... ... ... ... ... .. .. .... .. .. .... .. .... .... ... . (Bank's address)
Please pay now and thereafter on 1st January annually to THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT JOURNAL ACCOUNT (No .
0579240) wit h LLO YDS BANK LTD. 49 HIGH STREET. CANTERBURY, KENT, the sum of FOUR POUNDS
sterling , being my annual subscription to The Journal of The Queen's Regiment .

Signature Name in blocks. please
(Please send this form to the Editor and not direct to your Bank)

Why does the Army Benevolent Fund still need help?

For most of us nowadays the memories we have of the two
World Wars have become dimmed by time , but for those who
were left disabled- and for the many bereaved families- the
tragic aftermath of war is ever present. Many are suffering great
hardships. The Army has also been in action in man y parts of
the world since the end of World War 11. Thus even in peace-
time the problem continues.
The sole object of the Army Benevolent Fund is to try to lessen
this suffering. It does this by making co ntributions to the Corps
and Regimental Associations and National Service charitable
organisations which have been set up for this purpose. All the
money, which is used in this really good cause is given
vo luntaril y, by means of donations and bequests. You ca n help
by giving as much as you possibly can yourself - and by
recommending others to do the same.

Donations' and Legacies should be sent to :

THE ARMY BENEVOLENT FUND
Patron : Her MaJesty The Queen

Duke of York's Headquarters, London, SW3 (telephone 01-730 5388)
ITh os space do nated by W . NASH LTD. , St. Paul'sCray , Kent I
(Registered under t he War C hanties Act, 1940)

BvAPPQoNTM(NI 8V APPOINTMENT IIY APPQINI M[NI
TQHoSRCJY"lHIOiNESS TO H[Fl MAJESTY THE QUEEN I QHISACJY.t.t. HIG11NESS
H<E 0\JOCE Of EO•N&JRC.. liVERY I. MIL IIAAY IA..QAS
NAY"t TAilORS & OUTFITIEI'IS (ii[VES & HA,WI([$ ~TSMQIJIH THE PFIINCE Of W"l( S
C.I[YfS & HAW~[$ P0fHSJ,00UTH TAtLOAS&OUTFiffEPS
GIEVES & HAWlCES LONDON

No_l Savile Row, 1 High Street,

London W.l. Camberley Surrey
Telephone: 01 434 2001 Telephone: 0276 63659

The triumphs and traditions of Her Majesty's Services are
painstakingly reflected in precious metal by Carrington, the

military jewellers and silversmiths. At our Regent Street
showrooms you will discover a wide selection of our

craftsmanship, from regimental brooches, cuff-links and tie
pins, to magnificent centrepieces honouring past glories and

present achievements. We are always pleased to accept
commissions, and will gladly undertake renovation work on

your existing regimental trophies .

Wnc"oc re<pho"' fix om illo><~«d h<ochore. •

- ·-ey~...,_tto am0ngton ---~~-
H t.4 The~ 170 Rc~e m Street, London W I R 6RQ

C.r~&ColUl

'""""

D11a little

IIIIIIII!WIIrll lll!fllrl!

. ,• •, '11111111!'

llJ WHICH CAR FERRY GIVES fl}, WHO HAS THE BEST
FORCES DISCOUNTS SHORT BREAK BARGAINS
EVERY TRIP Check o ut th e grea t savings
Townsend Th oresen gives d iscoun ts
fo r passengers on every trip and to be made on o ur 60 ho ur and 5
reduc tions fo r ca rs, m otorised
carava ns and m o to r cycles o n most D ay Mini-To urs.
sa ilin gs.
fl/. WHERE CAN YOU FIND
llJ WHO HAS THE BEST ALL THE ANSWERS TO
ROUTES FOR YOU GETTING HOME
Townsend Th o resen has th e Townsend Th oresen Fo rces Fares
right ro utes and plenty of sa ilings. and Tim etables are available
Choose easy access fro m Germa n y now. Ask yo ur Trave l Agent o r
via Zeebrugge to Felixstowe or Townsend Th o resen,
Dover. O r go fo r speed via Ca lais-
Dover. C raf-Ado lf-Strasse 4 7,
4000 Dusseldorf 7.
fl}, WHICH IS THE FASTEST
FERRY HOME TOWNSEND~
it takes j ust 75 minutes on
the record-breaking Blue THORESEN-
Riband fleet between Ca lais ...-·;..
and Dover.

•

THE ASSOCIATION OF SERVICE NEWSPAPERS AD V ERTISEMENT PAGES,
PO BOX 4, FARNBOROUGH . HAMPSHIRE, GU14 7LR . TEL 0252 515891

National Savings

WHAT IT OFFERS

• You can build up a large sum for retirement or a major purchase.
• You can save with no fu ss or bother by monthlystanding order.
• You need only save for one year- or ca rryon if you want to.
• You will be offered a competitive and guaranteed return.
• You will earn all of your interest free of tax.

If you have between £20-£100 a month to save fill in the coupon and we wi ll
send you full details and an appl ication form .

~r----------------------------,

I ~ To: FREEPOST National Savings,Yearly Plan, 1

1 Durham DH99 1BT 1

IM I
I I

I NATIONAL AJJrc" 1

I SAVINGS Po-,rcode I
~-------------------------- 3~ ~

5/85 Printed in Great Britain SUPPLEMENT No. 1- PAGE ON E

THE ASSOCIATION OF SERVICE NEWSPAPERS ADVERTISEMENT PAGES
PO BOX 4, FARNBOROUGH, HAMPSHIRE. GU14 7LR . TEL 0252 515891

DON'T

MISS

111E

ECHO

SHOW
SPECIAL

BAOR TO GET
EVEN MORE
CHALLENGERS

COMBINED SERVICE PUBLICATIONS LTD Prin ted in Great Britain
P.O. Box 4, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7LR

Telephone : Farnborough (0252) 515891 Telex : 858808

SUPP LEMENT No 1-PAGE TWO

FINANCIAL PLANNING

ITS PURPOSE is to make the best use of Income , Capital and other Assets , to prepare the way
for the individual to achieve financial aims . These may include:

FINANCIAL PROTECTION against the effects of possessions lost or
damaged
FINANCIAL SECURITY for present or future dependants
HOUSE PURCHASE immediately or in the future
EDUCATION EXPENSES for present or future children
COMFORTABLE RETIREMENT based on an adequate continuing income
backed up by an adequate capital reserve
TRANSFER OF ASSETS to the next generation

WE ADVISE on the use of savings from income, the investment of capital , the use of other
assets where applicable, insurance against ill health and the insurance of possessions . We help
clients to lay the foundations of sound plans, to develop existing plans and keep them up to
day, and then to make the best use of resources when the time comes to meet commitments .
GOOD INFORMATION is the basis of sound planning . The more clients take us into their
confidence the better we can assist them . Please let us have full details of existing resources,
your ability to save , and any expectations . Please also tell us all you can about commitments
with which you expect to have to cope. We , of course, treat all such information as
confidential .
AN EARLV START helps, and we will be pleased to assist "you however modest your resources
may be now . If you have existing arrangements which may need developing, the sooner you
refer them to us , the more help we are likely to give you .
OUR ADVICE is free and does not commit you to any action : we only ask that any
arrangements you decide to make be made through us . lt is based on over 37 years of
examining clients' problems , analysing them and advising on them . lt is not delivered by
persuasive salesmen , but is given in writing for you to study at your leisure .

ARE YO U MAKING THE BEST USE OF YO UR INCOME AND OTHER ASSETS ?
WE ARE AS CLOSE TO YOU AS THE NEAREST POST BOX OR TELEPHONE

LET US SHOW YO U HOW GOOD PLANNING CAN HELP YOU

R. T. WILLIAMS LTD.

Major T . F. Williams, FBIBA

PRINCE ALBERT HOUSE, 58 SHIP STREET
BRIGHTON BN1 1DE

Telephone: Brighton 28181 (5 lines)

Members of the British Insurance Brokers A ssociation
M ember of the Armed Forces Insurance Brokers Committee of the BIBA

Editor : c0 nt e nt s
Lt Col J J White,
Regimental Headquarlers, Colonel of The Regiment's Preface page
Howe Barracks, Editorial
Canterbury, Kent Dates to Remember 5
Officers' Location List 6
CT l lJU Mainly about People 6
Regimental Badge 1st Battalion 7
2nd Battalion 9
Collar Badge 3rd Battalion 10
5th !Volunteer) Battalion 14
Button 6/7th !Volunteer) Battalion 20
Depot Th e Queen's Division
Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion 28
Regi mental Headquarters 33
Regimental Secretary's Notes 40
News from our Affiliated Regimental Associations 41
HMS Leeds Castle 42
Regimental Christmas Card 1985 61
Marriages and Deaths 51
Obituaries
Articles 55

55
56

57

59

Printers : COVER PICTURES

Geer1ngs of Ashford Ltd Front : 1st Battalion in residence on The Ro ck . A view well known by many
Cobbs Wood House Queens men .
Chart Road
Ashford, Kent Back ; Ma ssed Bands of The Queens Division on Horse Guards in 1981 .
(Reproduction of a painting by Charles C Stadden , recently loaned to the

Reg iment by Bu ckingham Pewter of Twickenham .)

The Journal of
THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT

Volume 19 No 1 June 1985

Unconquered I Serve

Battle Honours borne on The Colours

The Regimental Colour :

" Tangier, 1662-80, " " Namur, 1695," " Gibraltar, 1704-5," " Bienheim ," " Ramilles," " Malplaquet ," " Dettingen, " " Louisburg, "
" Guadeloupe , 1759, " " Quebec, 1759," " Martinique , 1762," " St Lucia , 1778," " Seringapatam ," " Maida," "Vimiera, "
" Corunna ," " Douro," " Talavera ," " A ibuhera ," " Aimaraz ," " Badajoz ," " Salamanca, " " Vittoria ," " Afghanistan, 1839,"
" Punniar," " Moodkee ," " Sobraon ," " lnkerman ," " Sevastopol," " Lu cknow ," " Taku Forts," " New Zealand," "South Africa,
1879 ," " Nile , 1884-85, " " Burma , 1885-87, " "Chitra l," " Relief of Ladysmith ," " Relief of Kimberley, " "South Africa, 1899-1902,"

" Korea, 1950-51 ".

The Queen 's Colour :

" Mons ," " Marne , 1914- 18," " Aisne , 1914," " Ypres, 1914- 15-16- 17- 18," " Hill 60," " Festubert, 1915," " Somme, 1916, 1918,"
" Aibert , 1916, 1918," " Vimy , 1917," " Cambrai , 1917-18," " Hindenburg Line," " Italy, 1917-18," " Macedonia, 1915-18,"
" Gall ipoli , 191 5," " Gaza ," " Jerusalem ," " Palestine, 1917-18," " Defence of Kut al Amara ," " Mesopotamia , 1915-18," " NW
Frontier India, 1915, 1916-17," " Dunkirk, 1940," " Normandy Landing ," " North West Europe, 1940, 1944-45," " Abyssinia , 1941 ,"
" Omars, " Aiam el Halfa," " El Alamein ," " Longstop Hill , 1943," " North Africa, 1940-43," " Sicily, 1943," " Sangro," " Salerno ,"

" Anzio," " Cassino," " Italy , 1943-45," " Malta , 1940-42," " Hong Kong ," " Defence of Kohima ," " Burma , 1943-45".

Allied Colonels-in-Chief
HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS JULIANA of the Netherland s

HER MAJESTY QUEEN MARGRETHE 11 of Denmark
Colonel of the Regiment

Brigadier H C MILLMAN , OBE
Deputy Colonel of the Regiment

Colonel J C HOLMAN , OBE

2

Civic Honours

The ' Privilege' of the City of London. The Freedom of the Borough of Kingston-upon -Thames, Guildford , Reigate and Banstead ,
Maidstone , Canterbury, Ramsgate, Folkestone , Tonbridge and Mailing , Brighton, Chichester, Eastbourne , Lewes , Arundel ,
Hove , Worthing , Hendon and Barnet, and Belfast . ' Adoption' by Ashford.

Alliances

The Canadian Armed Forces The New Zealand Army

The Queen' s York Rangers IRCACI 2nd Battalion !Canterbury, Nelson , Marlborough and West
The South Alberta Light Horse I RCACI Coast)
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
1st Battalion The Royal New Brunswick Regiment 5th Battalion (Wellington, West Coast and Taranakil

ICarleton & York) The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
The Essex and Kent Scottish
The Pakistan Army

The Australian Military Forces 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th Battalions, The Punjab Regiment

The Royal New South Wales Regiment Hong Kong
The University of New South Wales Regiment The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers)
The Royal Western Australia Regiment

HMS Excellent, HMS Brighton and Affiliations
HMS Leeds Castle
The Royal Marines lA 'Bond of Friendship ') The Royal Anglian Regiment
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers The King's Own Scottish Borderers
No . 3 I Fl Squadron Royal Air Force
The Royal Danish Life Guards (an 'Unofficial Alliance ')

Affiliated Units of the Cadet Forces

CCF School Contingents

Alleyn 's School, Dulwich ; Ardingly College ; St . Aloysius College ; Brighton College ; Chichester High School ; Collyer' s VI Form
College (Horshaml; Cranbrook School; Cranleigh School; Dulwich College ; Eastbourne College; Epsom College ; Haberdasher's
Aske's Schooi(Eistree) ; Hampton Grammar School ; Highgate School ; Hurstpierpoint College ; Judd SchooiiTonbridge) ; King's
School !Canterbury) ; Kingston Grammar School ; Lancing College; Mill Hill School; Reeds School ; Reigate Grammar School ;
Royal Grammar School IGuildiord) ; Sir Roger Manwood's School !Sandwich) ; St Edmund 's School !Canterbury) ; St John's
Schooi(Leatherheadl ; St Lawrence College IRamsgate) ; Skinners Schooi (Tunbridge Wells); Tonbridge School ; Whitgift School ;
Willi'!m 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
Cadet Dets No . 72.
Middlesex and Cadet Bns
NW London Sector Cadet Bns Nos 133 to 136, 141 , 143, 147, 149, 151 to 153, 155 to 158.
NE London Sector
SW London Sector Cadet Pis 1st IRedhill) and 2nd IFarnham) The Queen' s Regiment !Surrey ACFI .

Surrey : 1st !Canterbury) , 2nd ISandgate) , 3rd (Tunbridge Wells) and 4th (Maidstone) The
Kent : Queen's Regiment (Kent ACFI .

Sussex : Nos 2 ISeaford ), 3 (Hastings) , 4 ILewesl , 6 !Crawleyl, 7 ! Chichester) , 8 ! Crow-
borough) , 10 !Eastbourne ), 11 I Horsham l, 13 IS horehaml, 14 IBex hill l, 16 (Hurst-
pierpoint l, 17 I Bognorl, 18 llittlehamptonl, 20 I Lewes OGS I, 22 I Southwater).

3

REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS
Howe Barracks . Canterbury, Kent CT1 1JU (Telephone 01I157411)

Regimental Secretary Col J W Francis lext 295)
Deputy Regimental Secretary Lt Col J J White lext 2501
Financial Secretary and Sussex Affairs Maj A Martin , MBE (ext 2511
Lt Col L M B Wilson , MBE lext 2531
Archives and Surrey Affairs Maj H C L Tennent lext 2521
Kent Affairs
Maj R Waite lex! 2541
Recruiting, Regimental Association Maj I R Jones (ext 255)
and Admin. Capt A Hill !Maidstone Military ext 2921

Regimental Careers Officer
OC Regimental Information Team

REGULAR BATIALIONS TA BATIALIONS
1st Battalion 5th (VI Battalion
Leros T & AVR Centre, Slurry Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1
Lathbury Barracks , Gibraltar, BFPO 52
CO : Lt Col M J Ball 1HR
CO: Lt Col D H A Shephard
2nd Battalion Hon Col: H H Prince Georg of Denmark, KCVO
Oakington Barracks , Cambridge, CB4 5EJ Deputy Hon Col: Col J B Ogilvie, OBE TD DL

CO : Lt Col M RI Constantine OBE 6th / 7th (V) Battalion
Norfolk TA Centre, Denne Road , Horsham, Sussex
3rd Battalion
St Barbara Barracks , Fallingbostel, BFPO 38 CO : Lt Col P J Hubert, OBE
Hon Col: Lt Col Sir A Colin Cole, KCVO, TD , FSA
CO : Lt Col 0 A Beveridge, MBE

REGIMENTAL REPRESENTATIVES

Depot The Queen 's Division Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst

Bassingbourn Barracks, Royston , Herts. SGB 5LX RMA Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 4PQ
Maj M D Maloney BEM Capt J P Riley

Denmark Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion

HQ BALTAP , Naval Party 1004, BFPO Ships Sir John Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe, Kent CT20 3HE
Maj R A M Christmas Maj D S Carter

4

The Colonel of the Regiment speaking to members of the Corps of Drums of the 1st Battalion in Gibra ltar during
his visit from 20 April to 2 May 1985

5

COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT'S PREFACE

'Fit to fight and fighting fit'

This became very much the cry at this time three years ago at the height of the Falklands War. The 3 Commando
Brigade 'yomp ' across the rugged terrain of East Falkland could only have been achieved by ultra fit men . Their
subsequent victories at Goose Green and on Mount Long don could only but emphasise that they were also superbly
fighting fit - or well capable of using their personal weapons to best effect despite long approach marches in highly
adverse conditions. In short, these were top class 'aggressive' Infantrymen who were both extremely physically and
mentally fit and thoroughly well versed in basic weapon skills and their battlefield application.

I am sure the best Line battalions cou ld have matched these high standards (sadly they were denied the chance to
prove it on this occasion!) and I am a sufficiently old fashioned soldier to believe that in so doing both their
musketry and sporting prowess would have had a big part to play in their success . For to my mind , and if these
standards are to be achieved, then there has to be some clearly visible target or goal on which all ranks can properly
focus and ra lly to. I am sure the Tickle Trophy has a most positive role here and I would like to see us as a Regiment,
both Regular and TA, right up there amongst the front runners in this very purposeful event. Having said that, I truly
believe the best battalions are also well placed at Bisley and have an established reputation in one or other of the
major Army sports (as we once had in boxing) . Some will argu e that Bisley is no more than a 'gravel bellies' benefit
and that success in Army sport is only achieved these days by packing , 'struck off' squads and near
professionalism. This I believe is the wet or too difficult line! For I would retort that to produce a class team at Bisley
you require a sizeable, well found and in depth squad (with adequate reserve backing) nurtured through keen sub-
unit competition and healthy rivalry. Likewise to win the Army Open, Intermediate or Novices Unit Boxing
Competitions (as we used to) one needs a properly graduated, enthusiastic and wholly supportive approach within
the unit. In summary, to succeed at Bisley or in any major Army sport involves the many rather than the few . The
'gladiators' may win you glory on the day - but they are not unearthed and succoured without much preliminary
sifting from within the unit overall or without a strong reserve pool to back them up - or that is my seasoned view.

My message then is pretty straightforward. Let's get back to Bisley in earnest and get amongst the cups and
medals. lt wi ll take time (though 6/7 QUEENS (V) are very nearly there at TASAM level) . Some four years ago we
had begun to make a breakthrough at RASAM . We must now start again with real zest. Likewise let's choose our
sport, sift our ta lent and get in among the pots and prizes once again. I still believe that with the strength of amateur
boxing so firm ly rooted about London and the South East we could sti ll regain our former ring glory. lt is also an
'aggressive' sport that encourages a magnificent battalion spirit and memorable regimental evenings. Others may
have varying ideas- whatever the case let's get really good at something once again -and soon! Everybody likes
to be a fair play winner and sold iers still like to belong to a winning 'push'. One can always be a good loser too.
However we have frankly been losing at Bisley and elsewhere for rather too long - a marked change of attitude is
necessary and it wi ll be exemplified initially to me when the Divisional Methuen Cup team (the current holders)
includes at least one firer in a blue QUEENS beret! In the long term (and as a former Vice Chairman of Army Boxing)
it could only be when the Open Boxing Trophy was back where it used to belong and once rested for three years on
the trot!

I conclude by simply saying how glad we are to see the progress Lieutenant Andrew Brown has made towards
recovery these past few months. In so doing he has been a wonderful example to us all of courage, determination
and good humour - a credit to himself, the Regiment and his generation. On another tack, a word of apology to
the fine Albuhera Band. I would have been very proud to have had them on Horse Guards . A movement bill of some
£8000 was however more than we could foot regimentally and was certa inly not one to be met, I felt, by milking the
profits of an event open ly billed as for charity. So sad ly t hey had to be left on the Rock where I am sure some always
Intended they shou ld remain! En passant congratulations to the organisers of two social 'firsts' in the Regimental
calendar - the recent Officers' Dinner Club evening and the TA Battalions Joint Ladies Dinner Night in late
January. I live in hope that by the next Journal there will be further compliments to bestow - this time on those
concerned with the Free Fall Team and Dover Museum projects.

Finally in the 40th anniversary year of both VE and VJ Days a word of very sincere thanks to those in our
Regimental Associations today who helped to give us the 40 years of peace we have enjoyed since. We are deeply
indebted to them and especia lly to their comrades who made the supreme sacrifice. Elsewhere in these pages, and
exactly 40 years on , 1t 1s particularly pleasmg to record the clutch of awards recently won by the current generation
in Northern Ireland - not, sad ly, without sacrifice either .

Charles Millman,

Brigadier

6

EDITORIAL

This edition of the journal goes to press as the Regiment is much in the public eye . The main events are the ' Freedom
Marches' in Kent and Sussex from 21 to 25 May and the Massed Bands Beating Retreat on Horse Guards on 11 , 12 and
13 June . These will be covered more fully in the December issue. Special mention should however be made now of the
granting of the Freedom of the Borough of Tonbrige and Mailing on 23 May. This is the first civic honour to be
awarded to (as opposed to inherited by) the Regiment since its formation 19 years ago and is thus an important event in
our history .

Our sincere congratulations go to all those named in the recent list of Northern Ireland Gallantry Awards, particularly
Lt Col Paddy Panton and Lt Col Mike Constantine who were made OBEs, Maj Peter Swanson and W02 Winter who
were made MBEs, CSgt Holland who received the BEM and Cpl Jordan who was awarded the MM. No less than 14
Queensmen were included and a further 12 received the GOC Northern Ireland's Commendation - a most impressive
number, spread among our three regular battalions. Full details are given on page 9.

Other news from our regular battalions in Gibraltar (1st Bn), Oakington (2nd Bn) and Fallingbostel (3rd Bn) is well
covered elsewhere, as is that of the TA particu larly 6th/7th (V) Bn who celebrated their tenth anniversary on 13th April
with a parade and church service in Horsham . There are also several interesting articles that I commend , including one
by Maj Mike Jelf on the Canadian officers who have served with the Regiment . We also have our first reports from the
Regimental Free Fall Parachute Team .

In my last editorial I asked for suggestions for changes to the journal. I also requested all battalions to discuss the
magazine and let me have their proposals . The overwhelming view was that members of the Regiment were well
pleased with the magazine as it now is, particularly as regards the size, cover and quality of the production . I shall
therefore continue to edit the journal with only minor modifications, which I hope will meet with the approval of
readers .

Unfortunately production costs, even if no changes are made, have risen sharply and I regret that the price must rise
from £1.50 to £2 a copy . This is the first increase since June 1978, seven years ago, and even at its new price the journal
remains extremely good value for money when compared to other regimental magazines.

Dates to Remember

June ' Glorious First of June' (1st Bn ). 23 Regtl Golf Match v Royal M arine s,
1 Regtl Cricket Match v HMS Excellent at Canterbury GC .
Oakington (2nd Bn ).
2 Royal Sussex Regtl A ssn Cricket v Lavinia September
Du chess of Norfolk's XI.
6 Queen's Surreys Assn Church Service, 3 Middlesex Regt Golf Meeting , Fleet .
8 Guildford Cath edral. 6 Regtl Golf Match v Queen's Own Buffs,
11 - 13 Regtl Cricket Match v Tonbridge School
15 Epsom .
19 2nd XI. 8 Sevastopol Day !2nd Bn l.
21 -22 5th Bn Beating of Retreat and Officers' 9 Salerno Day ll st Bn) .
23 13 Quebec Day 13rd Bn) .
Cocktail Party . 20 Queen 's Surreys Officers ' Club Ladies
Massed Bands of Queen 's Division on
Horse Guards IRegtl Night , 11 June) . Luncheon - Clandon Park , Guildford .
Official Birthday HM The Queen . 28 Queen 's Surreys Museum Open Day,
Regt l Golf Match v RMAS Aldershot.
W embley Tattoo (2nd Bn ). Clandon Park , Guildford .
Regtl Cricket Match v Cranleigh School
' Piatypads'. October Royal Sussex Officers' Dinner, Arundel.
4 3rd Bn Grand W eekend , Fallingbostel.
July 4-5 Queen's Surreys Autumn Golf Meeting ,
10 Richmond .
2- 14 Services SAA Meeting, Bisley . Officers' Club Cocktail Party.
11 WO' s and Sgts ' Past and Present
12 Dinner, Bassingbourn .

7 Queens Ow n Buffs, Reunion, Maidstone .

9 Queen's Surreys Golf Match v RM , Flee t. November
12 Regtl Golf Match v Kent County Consta b-
4 2nd Bn start tour of duty Falkland Islands.
ulary , Chestfield GC. 8 6th /7 th Bn Officers' Cocktail Party,

14 Regtl Assn Grand Reunion , Haberdashers Hall .
9 Lord M ayor's Procession, London .
Bassingbourn .
Fi eld o f Reme mbran ce Cerem o ny ,
26-27 Dover Tatt oo .
W estminster.
30-3 Aug . Royal Sussex Regtl Assn, Goodwood 10 Middlesex Reg t Ass n Remembrance

Main Meeting. Service , Mill Hill and Reunion Edgw are.

August Queen 's Own Bu ffs Ass n Reu nion , December
4 20 British Battalion Day .
Canterbury .
10- 16 Canterbury Cricket W eek and Regtl Tent .

7

OFFICERS LOCATION LIST

(as at 1 May 1985)

REGULAR OFFICERS

M F Aeynolds C8 Major-General P A Gwilllam HO UKLF (8 OF October 19851
P J Gybbon-Monypenny HQ Queens Div
lnternat Mll Staff NO NATO J M Harcus HQ BF Antwerp
N P Hams 5 QUEENS IV)
M J Ooyle MBE Brigadie r P A Hitchcock 1 QUEENS
P A P Howe
DA PakiStan J F Husk•sson 2 Para
R M Jackson
R W Acworth Colo nels A M F Jelf NASI N1ger1a
CM Jo•nt LS OR lOa MOO IDA Res MOO July 19851
S T W Anderson OBE MC HO N Ireland 1 R Jones HQ Queens Div (2 QU EE NS June 19851
0 J C Otckms MBE OA Z•mbabwe J D Jonklaas 2 QUEENS !CO 5 QUEENS lVI October 19851
M V Hayward OBE Dl IRDWIMDD IAI J Langhorne RHO IRCOI
IMROISI MP lawson HQ ULKF
J C Holman OBE JFHO.D Col of Regt IMEUoyd 505 GL Sec
A Lea DSO MBE Depot (HS I A M M low 1 QUEENS
C l Tarver MBE D SytAI MOD A M McGhie CSIT BAOR
H N Tarver DGFVE PM H McGill HO AFNORTH (CO 5 UDR June 19851
T L Trotman SHAPE P D Mclelland HO 1 lnf Bde
P Mallalieu 1 QUEENS
Lieutenant Colonels M 0 Maloney BEM 1 QUEENS
AT W Mellotte 464 GL Sec BAOR
R M Arnold CO 5 UDR !MOO June 19851 A C Mievrlle Depot I PSI IHO LSG October 19851
I G Barllle BMATT Nigena ASD 1 MOD
M J Ball COl QUEENS J P S Mills GS OR 17 MOD 13 QUEENS November
0 Warsaw M B Montgomery 19851
P deS Barrow GS Sec MOO R P Murphy RSME
GB Bateman OBE CO 3 QUEENS J N C Myles SHAPE t1 QUEENS June 1985)
0 A Bevendge MBE lnt Centre A W Neve MC BMATT Uganda I HO NE Dist October 19851
S M Boucher 0 Cts tNAT03) MOO A P O'Gorman HQ Bertin
UK Cane Team, USA J A Partridge OTA & C MOO (retires July 19851
G Bulloch MBE Sch of lnf J N Pratten HO 1 Armd Oiv
C G Champron CO2 QUEENS P L Pearce 2 QUEENS
A H Chappell OBE 014c MOO 0 R Pollard 3 QUEENS
M A 1 Constantme OBE MS Quinn 1 QUEENS
P H Counenay AAAOE JOWAeid 3 QUEENS (retrres September 1985)
BGTT (UKI A J Aoberts 2 QUEENS
A 0 Frsher MBE HQ SW Orst J C Aogerson 500 GL Sec
A H Graham MBE Depot IHS I (Col lW) Ord Board June 1985) A W Aussell HQ Trg Gp ACT
J M Hewson MC J 0 K Aussell 6/7 QUEENS lVI
P Hrscock CO 6/7 QUEENS lVI N F Aussell HQ SW Oist
ASAE Malvern JAB Salmon LWC Canungra
P J Hubert OBE J B Strrhng 3 QU EENS
N S Hunter DA Vrenna P A P Swanson MBE Sch of lnf
M 0 Legg c / o RHO S C Thorpe AT 2b MOO 13 QUEENS May 19851
HO Ahemdahlen Gar 0 J Wake HO 1 Armd Orv
A F SLing MBE School of Svc lnt A F Whithouse 1 QUEENS
M A M Newall OBE AT P Williams HQ 2 lnf Bde
P V Panton OBE CO 5 QUEENS lVI MC Willis HQ 49 lnf Bde
0 H A Shephard HQ SW Orst H A P Yorke MS6 MOO IAPSG November 1985)
A C Ward OBE CDE MOO lreures July 1985) JSDC (Staff College (OS) August 19851
MW Ward OAOPTC P J Anthony OMG 2 QUEENS
MJ Wrlliams A N Armitage-Smrth
J V Ashton Captains
J C Acworth M aj ors M J Ayling
MW Allrngton M J Aylward MBE 1 QUEENS
A W Barratt HO E Orst 17 / 10 UDR , June 19851 I Barnacle Prrncess Marina College
A A Bartlett Coord VE Day Anrv J Barr 1 QUEENS INITAT UKLF September 19851
2 QUEENS H M Beeson QM2 QUEENS
A A A Beanre Army Sch of Aecrurtrng C T Bromfield OM ITI 3 QUEENS
A J Benson HO E Orst 11 QUEENS December 19851 J P Castle OM 1T1 2 QUEENS
SW Brllett OM Sch of In! ISWWI G W Cross 3 QUEENS
P Brshop OM 5 QUEENS lVI S F Oeakrn 3 QUEENS
APSG M Oonnelly OGM 3 QUEENS
GC Brown HO 1 IBA I Corps H W A Eagan 5 QUEENS lVI
N C G Cann MAO ILSI V 0 Ebbens 2 QUEENS
B A Carlston MBE 5 A Angllan lVI IDAMA MOO June 19851 L A Edwards 1 QUEENS
0 S Carter IJLB JAW Fisher FIAC
3 QUEENS T S Frsher 1 QUEENS
C G F Charter BCTI J C F Gamhn 1 QUEENS
E l Chrrstran HO BAL TAP A M Goulden 1 QUEENS {HQ 54 lnf Bde February 1986)
R A M Chrrstmas OCTs ICS2J MOO IACB July 19851 J S Graham 2 QUEENS
P DJ Clarke JSOC ICO 2 QUEENS September 19851 N J Grant OM 3 QUEENS
P C Cook ASC 84 K S Hames 6 GA 12 QUEENS September 19851
M J Cooper 5 UDR W A Harber HQ 1 IBA! Corps
HO NE Orst A Hrll 1 QUEENS
P P Crrtchley Sch of lnf T J Hurley 3 QUEENS
W G A Crumley OPSIAIMOD 1 QUEENS
A C Oawson BMATT Zrmbabwe !HO NI September 1985) M J Hurman PB2 MOD IASC 20 August 19851
IT DU N P L Keyes RIT
S M Dowse OAMA MOO S P B Krlpatrrck HO lnt & Sy Gp NI 12 QUEENS November
J Ewart 3 QUEENS A J Knrght 19851
A Gancz HO AFCENT W Kmght -Hughes 3 QUEENS
HO 1 lnf Bde
F K Gladden 3 QUEENS
0 C F Gouda HO 7 Armd Bde
CM M Grove 2 QUEENS IG E Staff College September
19851

8 3 QUEENS W A Munday 1 QUEENS
40 Cde AM IIJLB December 19851 D MW Nelson 2 QUEENS
C G Lambert 1 QUEENS M AD Newman 2 QUEENS
J C Maltman OM 1 QUEENS 0 J Ph1pps 2 QUEENS
L S P Mans 3 QUEENS J A J Powell Depot !PS)
W 0 Marshal! JSMTC Wales A R Ramsey 1 QUEENS
JP 8 Martm 2 QUEENS I D Aaynes 3 QUEENS
W A Morns 2 QUEENS J A Aedfern 3 QUEENS ISSVC\
CA Newell Sch of lnf !Brecon) J M Rowland 3 QUEENS
P J Newman 2 QUEENS M G Scan 1 QUEENS
J P Noble 1 QUEENS N M Smallwood 3 QUEENS
J A Partr1dge 3 QUEENS D G Strutt Depot !PSI
N M Peckham 3 QUEENS N J Versloot 3 QUEENS
J N Pratten Aegtl Rep AMAS D N Whalley 2 QUEENS
M P Ravner 3 QUEENS G J Wood 3 QUEENS
J P Alley 2 QUEENS AS M Wnght 1 QUEENS
N Sharples 1/7 GR JP S Wnght 1 QUEENS
J J Turk 0 of M , HO Queens 01v
A Walker 3 QUEENS A J Bascombe 2nd lieutenants
0 F Wall Depot !PSI P 0 Beat
0 V Watson 6/7 QUEENS lVI 12 QUEENS July 19851 A A Bolton 3 QUEENS
R W Wilby A V Brown 3 QUEENS
N A M Wr1ght Lieutenants J A Bulp1tt 1 QUEENS
I P Dav1s 2 QUEENS
G F Bourne 1 QUEENS 16/7 QUEENS lVI July 19851 DJ K Goddard 1 QUEENS
M J Brown Depot I PSH1 QUEENS December 19851 KW Gubbtn 1 QUEENS
J F Burke 3 QUEENS BA W Haynes 2 QUEENS
J R Burrows 2 QUEENS A St J Hotmes 3 QUEENS
J E Cameron 1 QUEENS S J Johns 3 QUEENS
PR Corden 1 QUEENS A G Jones 2 QUEENS
R P Crosbte-Wood 2 QUEENS M G Lattimer 2 QUEENS
PT Crowtey 1 QUEENS B J Letghton 2 QUEENS
J Oumn 2 QUEENS 0 A Marttn 3 QUEENS
S T 0 Ouggan 2 QUEENS C G A Mcleod RMAS (SGC 19851
J J Farrett 3 QUEENS J R O' Connor 1 QUEENS
J A Frost 2 QUEENS R Owen London Untv
S C Garrett 2 QUEENS J C Perry 3 QUEENS
C W Garton BEM 2 QUEENS A P B Taylor 1 QUEENS
J P Gtbbs 2 QUEENS R M Weyers 1 QUEENS
0 J Greenfield IJLB 13 QUEENS December 19851 M J Williams 1 QUEENS
M J Haywood -Smt th Exeter Untv SS Wilson RMAS (SGC 1985!
RMAS \SGC 19851
M J Ouddtng TO ADC Colonels TA OFFICERS 3 QUEENS
J B Ogtlvte OBE TO OL
J R G Putnam TO ProJect OHr 8 OF lVI T Benson Captains
OLHO UKLF S A Blausten
M F H Adler TO HQ SEDIST H McBrown 5 QUEENS IV\
C L Argent M G Butltn Lon Untv OTC
J A Bass Majors A J Cannon 6/7 QUEENS (V\
A J Btngham TO P J Champan TA Watchkeepers Pool
P M P Broadbent TA GLO 1 (F) Sqn RAF W F Conroy TA Watchkeepers Pool
PT Carrott 5 QUEENS (V\ A H 8 Oalby 617 QUEENS IV\
8 A Carte TO 5 QUEENS (V\ J Day 5 QUEENS (V\
A C Chtssel CVHQ WE Gawler 6/7 QUEENS (V\
G Otneley TO TA Watchkeepers Pool P Gtbson 617 QUEENS IV)
G W Evans TO 617 QUEENS (V\ W PT Harper 5 QUEENS \VI
J L A Fowler TO Unposted 0 Harwood 6/7 QUEENS IV\
A F Gardner TO 5 QUEENS IV\ J Jones MBE 5 QUEENS IV\
G E Gtbson TA Watchkeepers Pool C N Leonard 617 QUEENS IV\
RA Green TA Watchkeepers Pool T J Lynch 2/ 52 Lowland
P H Grove TO HQ SEDIST P S F McCardle 5 QUEENS \VI
A P Hatgh Publtc lnfo OHr T N McOermott 5 QUEENS IV\
RA Halt TO 5 QUEENS (VI MW M cGhte 5 QUEENS IV\
P G Harnngton TO 617 QUEENS lVI J P Mclnerney 5 QUEENS IV\
C K Hurd TO TA Watchkeepers Pool W 0 Mtlne 5 QUEENS IV\
A J Leonard TA Watch keepers Pool P Newman Unposted
A E Lowans TO HO SEOIST T O'G Roche 5 QUEENS (V\
A A Marchant 220 Fd Amb J H 0 Ross 5 QUEENS IV\
0 C Marnoch 617 QUEENS IV) MS Rumsey 617 QUEENS (V)
T J Medcalf 6/7 QUEENS IV\ 8 M L Scnpps 617 QUEENS lVI
A S Meldrum TO 617 QUEENS lVI R Stndatr-Lee 5 QUEENS lVI
MC Mercer 5 QUEENS lVI A E Stone 5 QUEENS IV\
T J Oyler 6/7 QUEENS IV\ M P Taylor CVHO
E S Parker 617 QUEENS lVI S J C Thompson Unposted
C F G Parkmson 6/7 QUEENS IV\ 5 QUEENS \VI
A W Pttor TA Watch keepers Pool S M Barlow 5 QUEENS \VI
P I Roberts TO 5 QUEENS \VI M R G Brett
A J 0 Salter TO 617 QUEENS \VI K I A Carter Li eutenants
J Spanner 5 QUEENS lVI A M Clement
A G H Stocks TO 617 QUEENS IV\ P Ooyle 5 QUEENS lVI
P A 0 Storte Pugh TO Unposted T P Foster 617 QUEENS lVI
R G C Thornton TO 6t 7 QUEENS IV\ A P Guthrte 6 t 7 QUEENS (VI
J C Weaver HQ SEDIST T J Haynes 617 QUEENS IVJ
SE Wooles 6 7 QUEENS \VI N C Horwett 617 QUEENS lVI
G H Wrtght TO HO 2 lnf Bde Unposted
TA Watchkeepers Pool 6 7 QUEENS lVI
6 7 QUEENS IV\ 611 QUEENS lVI
5 QUEENS lVI 6 7 QUEENS (VI
Unposted
(contmued on page 91

9

MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE

Honours and Awards Promotions
Col M J Ooyle MBE, was promoted to Brig on 31
In the 1985 New Yea rs Honours List , Col 0 Sweasey
DL was made an OBE, Lt Col J E Dent a MBE, and December 1984, with seniority 30 June 1984.
W02 G Fairfax a MBE.
Lt Col 0 J C Dickins MBE was promoted to Acting
The following were included in the April 1985 Colonel on 25 March 1985.
Gallantry Awards and GOC NI Commendations for
Northern Ireland : Lt Col P Hiscock returns from LSP Saudi Arabia to
the Ordnance Board as Col in June 1985.
OBE
Lt Col M R I Constantine, Lt Col P V Panton. Maj MC Willis has been selected to be S01 OS (Lt
Col) at the Staff College Camberley starting in August
MBE 1985.
Maj P R P Swanson, W02 8 W Winter.
A Gradings
BEM Cpl W J Small, 3 QUEENS , on the Clerk All Arms
SSgt M J Holland.
2/ 1 course.
MM
Cpl C K Jordan. Pte S T Hill and Pte M R Peel. both 1 QUEENS , on
the Unit Post Orderly Course.
Mentioned in Despatches
Lt Col 0 A Beveridge MBE, Maj R W Jackson, LCpl N Phillips , ACC att 1 QUEENS , on the Boxing
Coaches Course .
Maj J F Huskinson, Capt N W Peckham, Lt A R
Ramsey, Lt M A 0 Newman , Cpl I K Crossland- Miscellaneous
Page, Cpl TV Findlay. Maj A J Meldrum has been awarded the 1st Clasp

GOC NI Commendation to the Territorial Efficiency Decoration .
Capt J Barr, Cpl 0 A Smyth, LCpl J Moffatt, Pte
Maj V 0 Ebbens and Capt I Barnacle have been
N J Hillman, CSgt TA Took, Cpl J A Curley, Pte M selected for the grant of a Regular Quartermaster Com-
E Pudwell , Cpl C Clarke, LCpl S T Martin, Pte A G mission in FY 1985-86.
Brace, Pte S 8 Cole, Pte A J Winfield .
W01 (RSM) M R Rowney has been selected for a
TA Lieutenants Short Service Commission in the FY 1985-86.

(contmued from page 8) Sgt L Clarke, 1 QUEENS, was awarded his Infantry
Cricket Colours last season.
M J Ktng 617 QUEENS lVI
S A Lacev 5 QU EEN S lVI LCpl Chapman , 1 QUEENS , won a bronze medal in
E J G Maccartello 5 QUEEN S lVI the under 86 kilo class at the Army Judo Championships
5 A McMahon 5 QUEEN S lVI which were held in UK on 1 Febauray 1985. He subse-
G I Mutr 617 QU EENS lVI quently was a member of the Army team at the Inter-
GWOPtke 5 QUEEN S lVI Service Championships held on 8-9 February 1985.
S J F Plowman 6!7 QUEEN S lVI
J A Redfern 3 QUEENS Capt Nick Carter writes from Queensland, Australia
A Robertson 6 7 QU EENS lVI that life is treating him well. For three years he has
F Robertson 617 QU EENS lVI worked for a UK based real estate compa ny . He has
G J Spa rks 617 QU EENS lVI married an Australian girl.
S T Thorpe Unposted
A M Wilson 5, 7 QU EE NS lVI Rev Gerald Suss , Chaplain to 6/7 QUEENS (V), was
S M Wtndmtll 6 7 QUE ENS lVI awarded t he 1984 Airey Neave M emorial Scholarship.
0 K Wrav 6 ·7 QUEENS lVI He is using the sc holarsh ip to research the effects of the
Soviet criminal code on Christians living in Russia . The
M R Asphn 2nd Lieutenants scholarship is awarded for research into personal free-
K F Blackburn dom under national law .
P A Chattle 617 QUEENS (V)
G S Durston 5 QUEEN S lVI Capt Jack Patten , Royal Canadian Army Cadets,
N Ftelds 617 QU EENS (V) who emigrated from Newhaven to Canada in the 1950s
D 0 M Houston 6 7 QUEENS lVI initiated a 'twinning ' between Sussex ACF and hi~
CM Lmdsay 5 QUEENS lVI detachment in Nanaimo, and arranged for Cadet Cpl
M D Ma ckenzte 5 QUEENS (VI Douglas Erickson to stay with the Sussex cadets at
J A McNamara 6 7 QUEENS lVI their Annua l Camp.
lVI 5 QUEENS lVI
A A Mason 6 7 QUEENS
S J Scoones
N A Strachan 5 QUEENS (VI
W E Vukmtrovtc 5 QUEENS lVI
6 7 QUEENS lVI
6 7 QUEENS lVI

10

NEWS FROM BATTALIONS

1st BATTALION

Editorial thick and thin, and 'furry' Company, otherwise known
as the Battalion horses and stables.
Inevitably, the period since the last Journal has been
a very busy one indeed for the Battalion, involving not The Advance Party finally left for Gibraltar (at the
only the move from Northern Ireland to Gibraltar, but usual unearthly hour of the morning apparently
also an almost complete change in the Battalion favoured by the movers) on the 3rd of January ; it is
hierarchy. mere base rumour that they were still suffering from
New Year hangovers when they left . The second half of
The last few months of our tour in Omagh went the Advance Party followed a week later, and the pace
quickly enough (at least for some) and happily, peace- of handover in Omagh acceleratd while the Advance
fully . We had done a certain amount of loin-girding both Party in Gibraltar not on ly got to grips with preparing for
because of Christmas (with the usual dire warnings the Battalion's arrival but also with the almost forgotten
about PIRA offensives) and our imminent departure, and somewhat mystical art of drill . Tangier Company
but in the event the rebels obviously decided that it had sent their drill squad ahead with the Advance Party
wasn 't worth running the risk and we were able to leave as they were to be the first to do a ceremonial Mounting
the Province with the satisfaction of knowing that of the Guard at the Convent. In the event they did the
South East Fermanagh had seen few terrorist successes first such parade even before the Main Body arrived
but several terrorist failures during our term of office as because 1 DWR invited us to do a handover parade
the Resident Battalion there. jointly with them . This has apparently never been done
before, but in the event went very well.
Naturally enough all the business of final preparations
for handover to 3 Ll kept us busy when not on The Main Body saw some more departures, of
operations or Brigade Reserve duty, but there was course. Maj Swanson said farewell to Sobraon (now
nonetheless time for Sobraon Company to clinch the Kirke's) Company as they got on the plane, Capt Walker
Kirke's Competition in a suspenseful (and very noisy - left the Adjutant's chair for another outpost of Empire in
the supporters of both sides saw to that) swimming Hong Kong and W02 Brown , who had stood in as act-
final against Quebec Company. The competition had ing RSM since the sad death of RSM Budgen, left for 1
been a close run thing, and the title all hinged on this RRF and a well earned selection for W01 . Last , but by
last event . This was quite satisfactory to all concerned no means least, the Battalion left behind the Command-
(or nearly all!) , for it is much better to have a keenly ing Officer, Lt Col Paddy Panton, whose term of
fought competition than one where one team has an command was at an end and who was leaving for a
overwhelming lead right from the early stages. Staff appointment at Ashford.

In the meanwhile, the Albuhera Band, Headquarter In fact this sad departure of a much-loved Com-
Company and other stalwarts were doing sterling work manding Officer gave rise to an interesting situation.
'stuffing' containers, the quarters were getting a With just about half the Battalion in Omagh and half in
sorl')ewhat impermanent look as the fami lies packed, Gibraltar, Lt Col Panton handed over both operational
and the real sign of an imminent military departure - control of the TAOR and command of the Battalion ,
advance parties from the relieving Regiment - began to while in Gibraltar the new CO , Lt Col Ball , took over
be noticed . Quebec Company was first to say farewell command and assumed operational control of the
to Omagh having been the first to finish their last tour of duties of the Rock . lt cannot be often that a CO hands
operations and thus go on leave, and of course the over to his relief when 1300 miles away from him !
Christmas season meant the usual crop of Christmas
parties all of which helped to make the last few weeks The Main Body move went very smoothly despite
pass quickly despite bitterly cold weather . some bad weather which ca used several flights to be
delayed and one or two to be diverted. The flight which
A particularly enjoyable Christmas / New Year / Fare- brought in the new CO and the new OC of Albuhera
well party was given for us by C Company of 4 UDR Company, Maj Thorpe, and their families was a notable
which was memorable in many ways, the good fellow- one. lt made two absolutely hair raising attempts to land
shi p of the UDR colleagues with whom the Battalion in a vicious crosswind before the pilot decided (much to
had worked for two years being the most important . We the relief of those on board) that he would divert to
will draw a veil over some of the songs which were Portugal for the night.

heard! There were several changed fa ces to meet the Bat-

As the move began, the Battalion was beginning to eotalion as it got off the aircraft, apart from the new
say goodbye to the first departure ; Maj Gancz, the 21C,
had left in November (to the lasting relief of large and Maj Thorpe. Maj Hitchcock arrived with the
numbers of local pheasant) to be replaced by Maj remnants of his Nigerian suntan to take over Quebec
Pearce, and as Quebec Company left we also said fare- Company and Maj Lawson arrived to take over Sobraon
well to Maj Will is who was leaving for greater things . / Kirke's. There were some metamorphoses as well;
Maj Willis of cou rse handed over two co mpanies : Capt Eaga n arrived w ith the ca res of being UEO and
Quebec Company which he had comma nded through taking the Staff exam having been wiped away, only to

11

Above: Four Corners Guardroom -at the Frontier Gate.
Known well by many Oueensmen.

Ceremony of The Keys
1. 2Lt A R Bolton and the Outpost Platoon provided by
Tangier Company .
2. HE The Governor and C in C speaks to Sgt Skully.
3. Drum Major de Warren Wailer leads the Albuhera
Band and the 1st Bn Corps of Drums off Casemates
Square at the conclusion of the ceremony.

12

3

Water Sports in Gibraltar

1. LCpl Harvey and Pte Jackson c heck out the new 3. Windsurfing school in progress .
Army yacht (purchased with a loan from 1 QUEENS) . 4. LCpl Archer proves that windsurfing can be easy.

2. Pte Arnold comes up for air .

13

recover almost immediately the hunted look of a new visits and exchanges between ourselves and the Royal
incumbent in the Adjutant's chair, while W01 Boden, Navy and RAF. Not a few members of the Battalion
having been replaced in the RQMS chair by W02 have been to sea for shorter or longer periods in one or
Cookson , made his presence firmly felt as the new other of HM ships, and indeed the RAF Marine Craft
Unit (MCUl and the resident RN Lynx helicopter have
RSM . been sailing or flying us in large numbers ever since we
arrived for recces, training exercises and recreation . The
We were naturally plunged right into the thick of fact that we went to sea with the RAF and went flying
things as soon as we arrived in Gibraltar. As those who with the RN seemed somewhat strange at first but there
were with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions during their is no doubt that Gibraltar breeds a tolerance for the
respective tours here will no doubt remember, the fact unexpected, or perhaps I should say unusual, all of its
that there is but one Resident Infantry Battalion here, own. The RAF took the CO up in a Jaguar; he has
taken with a shortage of accommodation such that described this as an experience which he is very glad to
there can be little overlap with the outgoing unit, means have had, but which he would not care to repeat. A spy
that there is hardly time to draw breath, or so it seems, in the sky told us that when the pilot said ' Right Colonel ,
before taking over the various duties. We arrived, now I will flip her over for you' the answer came firmly
moreover, in stirring times, for the long-heralded
opening of the Border with Spain was due to happen on back: 'No you won't! '
5th February. Despite the false starts in previous years,
the event did indeed happen as planned and Gibraltar The CO. Lt Col M J Ball Iin cockpit) did not look so happy
was promptly invaded - by tourists! Again, those who after he returned from his first flight in a Jaguar.
were here before may care to speculate on the effect
that up to 80 luxury 55 seater coaches and innumerable So, as memories of Omagh fade and we look forward
cars a day can have. We are told that we can expect up to a Mediterranean summer without too many Levant-

to 200 coaches a day in the summer! ers, we are able to say that the Queens are back in Gib-
raltar. Has anyone worked out how many years we and
Apart from all the inevitable flurry of activity on
settling into a new posting, there were major internal our founder and forbear Regiments have spent here
shuffles as we formed the Adventure Training Wing s1nce 1704?
(sailing, windsurfing, climbing and caving by courtesy
of Capt Hames and W02 Ryan) , the military Training (Lt Col Les Wilson MBE says the answer is 105 years,
Wing (ranges refurbished while you wait, Capt Anthony
and CSgts Howick and Hedges) and various other made up as follows: Queens Royal 36 ; E. Surreys 21 ;
internal reorganisations which led Company Command
ers to suspect a deep-laid plot to reduce their Buffs 13 ; RWK 2 ; R. Sussex 3 ; Middlesex 26 · Queens 4
commands to platoon size! Nevertheless, the Battalion '
very quickly got up to speed and made its presence - Editor.)
firmly felt, not least because of the Albuhera Band
which is receiving plaudits from all sides. Within six
weeks of being complete on the ground we were taking
part in a FTX which was run within the context of Ex
WINTEX, and the Battalion's deployment on that occa-
sion led OC Holland Company to wax eloquent on the
subject of a Company TAOR which is two miles long,

600 metres wide and 380 metres high.

Naturally, our sporting commitment was immediate;
indeed the Battalion soccer team had to do some fast
catching up having been entered in a League which was
already half way completed. The Battalion is heavily
represented in both Army and Combined Service teams
here in several sports, and the Army (1 QUEENS well
represented) soccer team won Inter Service finals
recently. The opening of the Border has of course given
rugby a new lease of life in Gibraltar, and the Battalion
XV are frequent visitors to Soto Grande in Spain where
we can play other Service and civilian teams. lt is still
rather a makeshift affair, as we play on a temporarily
converted polo ground, but it is still a lot better than
touch rugby on Europa Point . We have every hope that
the not too distant future will see a proper rugby pitch in
Spain available to teams from Gibraltar. Last but not
least we have been active on the hockey pitch (a very
high standard still exists in Gibraltar, I might add) and of
course the cricket season is only just around the corner.

W e have already had a number of visitors : CDS ,
CG S, DAT and the SO in C have all been to see us, and
of course there are the less formal training or interest

14

2nd BATTALION

Editorial

By the time this goes to print Northern Ireland and the
confines of Ebrington Barracks will seem as ages ago. B
Company's final trip into the City was regrettably
marred on 3 November 84 when 2Lt A Brown lost a leg
when blown up by a booby trap bomb in the Rossville
Flats . He has made an excellent recovery and indeed is
now back at duty.

The predictions of the last editorial seem to have
come all too true . To say that life has been busy in
Oakington would be an understatement . Since return-
ing from well earned block leave in January the time has
been filled with a succession of Specialist platoon
cadres as they reform and retrain : NBC Cadres to catch
up on forgotten ski lls; Section Commander Cadres ;
Upgrading days; Study Days to explain the mystique of
our new Home Defence Role - and so the list goes on .
On top of this we had to stand by to re-inforce RAF
Molesworth .

The one feature not to have changed is the Friday
afternoon ' Fun Run ' , which , with the space of Oaking-
ton , has taken on new dimensions and weight . In
addition, once a month the whole battalion partakes in a
Commanding Officer's Day where training to date is
assessed on a variety of stands. Whilst Northern Ireland
may seem an age away, our future moves to Canada ,
Falklands and eventually Germany all seem to be on top
of us . We have not started training our specialists for
the Falklands, yet driver training for BAOR is already
underway! All this adds to the pressure of life and one
would be forgiven for forgetting that our first priority is
to train for our Home Defence Role .

On the competitive front, the Drums Platoon under
Drum Maj Ward and Sgt Bennett pulled off a notable
coup by winning the Eastern District GPMG(SF) shoot.
The sporting front has not been so lucky, primarily as
we arrived in England mid-season. However the football
and rugby teams have been making steady progress and
on a lesser scale a number of clubs , photography, .22
shooting , clay pigeon and parachuting spring to mind .

In summary then, we are back in England after a most
successful tour in Londonderry . Our new role is Home
Defence though we are looking forward to the Falklands
over Christmas and Germany in 1986. Our next major
Exercise is Pond Jump West 2 in Canada in July this
year .

Visitors to 2 QUEENS

Top : GOC Eastern District IMaj Gen C A Ram say OBE)
inspects the Guard of Honour furnished by C Company.

Middle : Commander 54 lnf Bde (Brig K J Davey MC)
with Support Company hierarchy.

Lower : Brig Davey talking to members of C Company.

15

Winners of the Orienteering lnvicta Competition - Support Company

A Company We wish him all the best in his new job and hope he
does not grou se too much . The new OC, Maj Quinn ,
Oakington has meant two things for A Company: First a immediately stopped us hanging pillow cases by our
sharp change of routine and secondly a steady change beds on room inspections . Lt Garrett moved from the
of characters. hot seat of Company 21C to the relative peace of 39 Bde,
Belfast. CSgt Vann moved to CQMS C Company and
The routine change was signalled by the order to Cpl Garrick left to join the Army.
assemble full webbing (a diagram is available for those
still having difficulty), and from then on things haven't Pte Bowden and Cpl McCabe have returned to the
stood still. Cpls Rogers , Mitch , Jordan and others Company while Sgt Mitchell has arrived to boost the
returned from a special language course (or Bn NBC command structure . Competition winners in the
Cadre) to subject us to the blot, bang, rub of the husband of the year league include a Mrs Dunstan ,
Company NBC Cadre at Stanford. Other individuals Milligan , Cunliffe and Green : Good luck with the new
refused to prepare for room inspections with the excuse series of Mr and Mrs!
that they were on Regular Radio Users' and Driving
cadres. Ptes Singh, Osborne, Scott and Willett are to be The company is presently enjoying April showers in
congratulated on their reports from the former. On the Catterick , but we are looking forward to a Falklands
latter Pte Snook will be pleased to hear that his summer.
exam iner is recovering well in hospital. Ptes McPherson
and Wilkins passed the upgrading cad re. Meanwhile B Company
some of the sen ior so ldiers including Duffy, Cook and
Head moved on after successfully completing 'se lection ' The Londonderry Tour ended with mixed emotions
for the Mortar and Assault Pioneer (ICE) platoons. Lt for B Company. On the last day of the battalion's last
Dixon and 1 Platoon film crew went shooting on tour in the City, shortly before handing over to 1 R
location in Otterburn. The main feature called the ANGLIAN , the Company had a 'find ' of a bolt action rifle .
Cpl ' Bullet' Findlay continued with his escapades - yet
Battalion Section Commanders' Course will be released another contact and quick reaction leading to the
later this year. A review by CSgt Prangnell said the terrorists leaving behind a man who, in his pani c to
snow scenes shou ld win an Oscar at the Siberian film escape the Black Death dropped his sub machine gun.
festival. Training Cadres aside, the company had a trip
down memory lane as terrorist enemy on an exercise at Not so happy were events at the Rossville Flats in
Stanford. Also there was a frustrating stand-by for an early November. In the follow-up to an in cident involv-
operation I can only refer to here as one poncho in left ing a suspect device in a ca r, 2Lt Brown and LCpl
hand ammo pouch (orders)?. All this along with CO's Lavend er were injured by a booby trap trip-wire bomb in
days, fun runs and first aid in an NBC environment from the flats. Andrew Brown lost a leg and had injuries to
Cpl Freelove. the other ; LCpl Lave nder was badly shaken and
damaged his back.
Various personalities have co me and gone - Maj
Christmas has returned to Lapland , or was it Den mark ? Lu cki ly, both are making a good recovery . lt seems

16

amazing that we were able to welcome Andrew Brown
back to the Company in late February and that by late
March he was able to take short walks on his artificial
leg without even a walking stick for support. He is
rumoured to be having great problems deciding on the
colour of the Porsche he will be buying with the interest
from his expected compensation money!

Farewell to Londonderry also saw farewell to the OC ,
Maj Richard Jackson , who was dragged off (protesting)
to a 'weapons job' at the MOD. Maj John Partridge took
the short drive up from the Depot to rejoin the battalion
and take over B Company. We have also welcomed Cpls
Bashford and Gage, Pte Mehuish from 1 QUEENS , and
Ptes Camp, Cogley, Griffin , Hunt, Laing , Martyn ,
Rhodes , Robb, Summers and Yates from the Depot.

The return to the UK has brought with it a sudden
exposure to Tory Realism as far as manpower is
concerned. B Company is now leaner and 'hopefully'
fitter after a major haemorrhaging of manpower to inject
fresh blood into the Support Platoons .

The highlight of our training so far as this year has
been our Spring Holiday in Norfolk, when we provided
the civil (perhaps that should be civilian) population for
1 KOSB's Northern Ireland rural training exercise at
Stanford . We enjoyed the temporary occupancy of
numerous 'des res' (requiring modernisation) . In addi-
tion, several young ladies from various branches of the
Services had their military horizons expanded and
enjoyed the pleasure of our company - well, not quite
the whole Company .

C Company

Since returning from N Ireland and the pleasures of
block leave over Christmas, C Company has been very
busy. The main effort has been directed at individual
skills, concentrating on NBC training, fitness and
shooting.

As part of the NBC week the Company ran a short
exercise, when we all lived in the old RAF bomb shelters
for 48 hours. Apart from the strangeness of living
underground for a sustained period the main lessons
learnt were:

First, boredom - paperbacks and pocket games will
be essential to while away the hours.

Second , waste disposal (the benefit of compo aside!)
careful consideration must be given to the numbers of
plastic bags and chemical toilets required to support the
troops .

Third , light - large numbers of candles and
quantities of kerosene are needed .

On the fitness side it is interesting to note that whoever
built the airfield in 1939 had the foresight to build a
perimeter track precisely 3 miles in length . He obvious ly
realised that 45 years later the BFT would be high on our
priorities . However, in view of the considerab le pound-
ing it has received lately, a tartan rather than a concrete
surfa ce would be preferable .

Scenes from Commanding Officers' Day

Top : A Company tackles the Assault Course.
Lower : HQ Company lunch .

17

Our major exercise in the last few weeks has been an the movers, having moved to A Company. He is wished
escape and evasion exercise . the men took on the the best of luck with the gravel bellies!

persona of the Russian Special Purposes Forces and
were released on the unsuspecting residents of HQ Company

Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, and chased by the A somewhat slimmed down HO Company is now in

local constabulary (see article for further details). residence at Oakington Barracks. On the move from

As to the future, our main events are an exercise Ireland we said our farewells to the Close Observation

against the SAS, when we will be acting as hunter Platoon, now a part of Support Company, and the

troops in the hills of Wales. Then in May we have the various attached personnel who make up a ' Northern
honour of representing the Regiment in a series of Ireland' battalion moved to pastures green. The Drums

Freedom Marches through Ashford, Lewes, Tonbridge , Platoon under Drum Major Ward and Sergeant Bennett
Mailing , Hove and Eastbourne. Since there will be a joined us and have wasted no time in making their mark .

reception at each town, the week will be a very hard one. With only limited training they took part in the Eastern
Then in the summer we are all very much looking
forward to our exercise with the rest of the battalion in District GPMG ' SF' Competition and won it outright on
Canada . All in all a busy time ahead. what must have been the coldest day of the year . As
well as their many other duties they are busy preparing

for the Massed Bands Parade at Horse Guards in June.

Support Company There is not much to report on the sporting or social

Our change in location, from Londonderry to side. Lt Duggan organised a sponsored walk which

Oakington also brought a change in our QRBAT. The title proved to be very successful and great fun (see article).
' Heavy Weapon$' was dropped as we said farewell to The lnvicta Hockey was snowed off but we would have

the Drums Platoon with their SF, and they have now won! The same is true of the football. Actually we shall

been swallowed by HO Coy! In their place we now have have to prove our words as the fixtures have been

the Recce Platoon who have stopped concentrating on reorganised for later in the year.

growing their hair to unsoldier-like length, and are now The Commanding Officer's Days have proved most

well settled into the Company. successful and everyone must now know that we are

Moving from Northern Ireland has allowed the the best fed Company and the fattest .

specialist platoons to regain their expertise. Members of . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . ,
the Milan Platoon witter on about target obscuration ,
mortarmen explained the dark secrets of obturating THE GROVE TRUST

rings and those rugged men in Recce look more like In the Adjutant's office of the 2nd Battalion there

bushes everyday . On a more serious note, specialist resides a leather-bound object, much gnarled by the

training has been a priority and all three platoons have years ; dusty, dog-eared, weather-beaten and water

now completed their own cadres . marked - so much for the Adjutant. On a book shelf to

The Mortar Platoon which has doubled in size , and his right resides another object, remarkably similar in
can man all barrels if needed , has had the most signifi- appearance, which on closer inspection is revealed as a
cant effect on the manning of the Company. Taking large book. Contained within its pages is a catalogue of
soldiers from the rifle companies their month-long cadre those men of, successively , The Queen's Own Royal
ended with a successful live firing period at Salisbury West Kents, The Queen's Own Buffs, and 2nd Battalion
Plain . The Queen 's Regiment , who were blessed with the
talents of either marksmanship or intelligence and initia-
The Milan Platoon have also been highly concen- tive. For the book contains the Grove Trust Deed and a
trated in a cadre . Teaching the handling skills and
tactics of their fire weapon they now appear ready for record of its awards.
anything .

The third merry band ; the Recce Platoon have also
been busy. Having arrived in the company they
embarked on Ex Pink Panther in Brecon . This exercise
refreshed the platoon in basic Infantry work , providing a
foundation for learning the more specialised skills
required for their new role . At the conclusion of their
cadre, half the platoon undertook signals revision whilst
the remainder travelled to Norway for winter training .
The Recce Platoon is due to work in South Georgia
during the battalion 's forthcoming Falklands tour .
Therefore training consisting of langlauf ski training
applied to expeditions over long distan ces should prove
invaluabl e.

Lt Newman and Cpl M cAul ey also qu alifi ed as Nordic
sk i tour leaders during the course.

The Company has ce rtainly been busy but everyone Grove Trust Awards. Pte A C Muffett receives his award
has enjoyed the training and all are glad to have from the CO .
regained a high level of spec ialist skills. A s mention ed,
ORBATS have changed and M aj Quinn has bee n one of

18

But what is the Grove Trust? The Mayor of Canterbury talking to lt Duggan and Cpl
Brewer on completion of the Man of Kent march.
In April 1932 Brigadier General Edward Aickin William
Stewart Grove CB CBE, 'desirous of promoting the effi- Support Company orienteering team - winners of the
ciency of the Army' bequeathed the sum of £500 to be Orienteering lnvicta Competition .
held in trust for the purpose of providing annual prizes
for soldiers or NCOs in the Queen's Own Royal West muscles were starting to ache. We formed up with the
Kent Regiment who most conspicuously demonstrated Drums and marched through the town centre doing a
their shooting skills or their intelligence and initiative. slow slalom course between concrete bollards and
parked cars.
The recipients of the intelligence and initiative award
have been a mixed bag, the terms of the trust being Dinner with 36 Engineer Regiment, then a shower and
fairly liberally interpreted by successive Commanding a clean pair of socks to put the spring back in our legs .
Officers . In the dark days of 1939, four days after the because of the prevailing conditions, snowdrifts, driving
declaration of war, Lt Col P N Anstruther DSO, MC , wind, and a temperature of minus 10, we put on all the
commanding the 1st Battalion The Queen's Own Royal warm clothes we possessed. Cpl Thompson looked like a
West Kent Regiment awarded the prize to LCpl Francis rastafarian on a day trip to Alasaka . Just before we set
who performed the most outstanding feat of the year, out the RSM of 36 Engineer Regiment caught sig ht of
by 'very gallant driving of a Bren Carrier during a course us and very nearly had an epileptic fit, only partially
demonstration .' In 1954 whilst in Luxembourg a LCpl recovering when we told him that we were Queensmen
Parker achieved an 'Honourable Mention' for such on a sponsored march, not Engineers preparing for a
demonstrations of initiative as providing 'frequent and drill competition!
unexpected cups of tea or cocoa even during the most
abominable weather'. When we got to the hills to the east of Maidstone the
real fun began. Every hundred yards or so the path was
The most singular award for shooting was won by blocked by snow drifts up to 2 feet deep forcing us into
LCpl Daly in 1975. Whilst on exercise in Canada, he the road . There, massive juggernauts driven by speed
engaged with his APC mounted Wombat a target at freaks did their best to flatten us taking no notice of
1950m . Aiming off 'for a brisk prairie breeze' he scored a warning lamps, torches, or illuminous panels. Further-
first round hit and altogether hit with four out of five more the driving wind made communication difficult
rounds . His astonished safety supervisor observed that and suffering muscles slowed our pace down to a crawl.
it was 'the best Wombat shoot I have ever seen'. By the time we reached Charing, I was beginning to
believe that we were mad after all!
More recently the 1982 intelligence and initiative
award was won by Bandsman Muffett whose display of
coolness and professionalism as a trained medic at the
Regents Park bandstand bombing elicited a letter of
recommendation from the Commanding Officer of 1
RGJ praising his 'swift response, steadiness and
expertise'.

So that is the Grove Trust. An inspired act of
philanthropy by a famous soldier which has spawned a
book chronicling the names, places, dates and events of
over 50 years of battalion history.

THE MAN OF KENT MARCH

15-16 February 1985

by Lt S T D Duggan

'You must be mad! ' boomed the Mayor of Tunbridge
Wells at the Pantiles in the freezing cold prior to the
start of our march from Tunbridge Wells to Canterbury.
The drums struck off and we were off, looking more like
an ice dance team on its first lap than a platoon of
volunteers about to march 60 miles by 9 am the next
morning to raise money for Save the Children and
Cancer Research . The street collectors quickly got into
the swing of things and people donated generously.

Tonbridge just over an hour's march later, was a great
success with hundreds turning out and a tailback of cars
which stretched for miles! Then came the 15 miles to
Maidstone, broken by a pub lunch on the way. By the
time we reached Maidstone in the late afternoon

19

Fortunately Sgt Crossan w ith the support team were The natives of W ertach were over friendly . They
waiting with hot soup , sandwiches and a warm mini- easily spotted the British soldier in his ill-fitting ski-suit
bus . W e looked like Scott's expedition to the Antarctica and sun burnt face. The WRAC on the exercise co ntri-
with no-one very keen to play the pa rt of Capta in Oates! buted greatly to the spirit of things, both on and off the
Sti ll we did eventually get moving and the arrival of Pte slop es .
Lowe , who missed the start of the march and spent the
day searching for us, was a morale boost. The day before the final tests and downhill races w e
visited the chatea u Neusc hwanstein Royal (used in the
At 3 am when the lights of Canterbury finally came Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film) .
into sight we wou ld have won parts in a film , The Night
of the Living Dead! Pte Bryan had on ly been able to put 2 QUEENS distinguished themselves throughout the
one leg fu lly on the ground for the previous te n miles. course. The following gained the Bronze Standard :
LCpl Cook , Ptes Belton , Farrell , McDonnell , Thomas ,
After two hours sleep on the coach, breakfast, a Bushell and Reeves. 2Lt Holmes gained silver standard
shave , and a clean up, we felt almost human again and and a gold medal in the downhill race, Pte Bushell
in the bright sunshine marched through the gates of gained a bronze medal.
Canterbury scarcely awa re of our blistered feet and
tense muscles. On the way Cpl Brewer gave a much All agreed that the exercise had been testi ng but most
needed , last minute, drill course . The M ayor of enjoyable. W e returned to England overnight, eager to
Canterbury inspected the parade at Westgate Tower show off our new sun tans!
and invited the whole parade back into his pa rl our
where drinks were provided by RHO in the company of
the delicious Miss Cante rbury. And someone sa id 'What
are you doing next weekend . .?

Our thanks go to the Mayors of Tunbridge Wells and
Canterbury, the staff of RHO, Sgt Crossan and the sup-
port team , the Drums Platoon, all those who sponso red r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

us and the generosity of the peop le of Ke nt w ho gave
£420 in contributio ns towards the final total of £1,500.

EXERCISE WINTER WARRIOR NO $/If I>ON.T t:,~T ME W~CW<;
niYI( IT$ A Nlct LITT'#
WERTACH , BAVARIA
fC.IJN
13-27 March 1985

by 2lt A St J Holmes

Early in February the rumours of the Great 'Winter
W arrior' had started . Was it a batta li on exercise in
Scotland, or was it the Officers' Mess staff in
Greenland ? lt was in fact a skiing exercise for ten hand
picked soldiers in Bavaria .

After a lengthy coach trip down to the Austrian
border, w e joined the other 60 soldiers in the Gasthof
Zur Kron e, which was to be our accommodation for the
durati o n.

The aim of the exercise was to teach the basics of
downhill and cross country skiing . There was however,
a loud cheer when it was announ ced that the cross-
country skiing was cance lled ; and not such a loud cheer
w hen it was announ ced that we had to contribute 100
DM tow ards ski passes .

Th e snow conditions were good for th e first day as
beg inners tested th e snow and skiers attempted to find
their ski legs. A heavy snow fall that night meant the
next f ew days w ere taken up powd er skiing followed by
a few days of sunshine and superb snow co nditions .
Style and tec hnique improved for the majority, but there
was however the odd individual w hose speed in creased
and control decreased . The fa miliar cry of ' Banzi' was a
sure sign to check over your should er for a skier on
collision course.

20

3rd BATTALION

Editorial last few months in Germany and look forward to our
return to Canterbury at the beginning of 1986.
As predicted in the last Journal in the first few
months of 1985 have been extremely hectic . To say that A Company
the majority of the battalion has spent more time out of
barracks than within during this period is no exaggera- Soltau . Now there is a name that stirs the adrenalin
tion. Some would even say that they have a second and sets the blood coursing through the veins. 'Not -
home at Sennelager. again , sir?' 'Yes, again - there's bound to be a trace
you haven 't been introduced to yet'. Off we set in
The year began with a very intensive period of internal October for some Battle Group training in search of new
cad res, but for the lucky few there was a two week and undiscovered reverse slope positions. Not many did
' holiday' spent on the ski slopes in Southern Germany we find but 1 Platoon found some old trenches ; to be
on Exe rcise Snow Queen . The exodus from precise CSgt C Harman found some trenches ; in fact on
Fallingbostel began with a vengeance at the end of his night patrol he clearly showed the skill required, by
January when the Battalion moved to Sennelager to fire falling into a series of them . Not on ly did his kind platoon
its skill at arms package ; this was followed almost fit him up with a visit to the opticians, but he was given
immediately by a two week field firing period and then a a portable rope ladder to help him over future
week at the Battle Group Trainer. For once, we certainly difficult ies.
got the upper hand over the ' Red Forces' and it was
gratifying to see the red symbols taken off the board . The Company had just about enough time to change
shreddies in between returning from So ltau and goi ng
For A, B, C and elements of Fire Sp and HQ Coy, off on Exercise Stag Rat, where we practised the now
attention has been focused on preparing and planning fashionable ' Reaction to the Unexpected '. ' But sir ,
for Exercise Medicine Man I at the British Army Training that's no different from how we've always done it?' We
Unit Suffield (BATUS) in Canada. Although on paper got ' Move now' - just as we had got the baked beans
we are only providing two companies to join the 2 RTR onto the plate . Now, just as we are about to take the
Battle Group, in practice, approximately two thirds of first mouthfu l, a helicopter settles down beside us and
the battalion will have taken part in the exercise in we not only have to leave the beans behind , if they are
Canada. BATUS provides an excellent opportunity to not already down our jackets, but worse still , we can 't
put into practice, in a live firing environment, the many take the boiling vessels with us as we hop on and
skills that an Infantryman is required to be proficient at. become airborne troops.

Amongst the many visitors who came to the Back from Stag Rat, the Company settled down to
Battalion, we were particularly pleased to see the the usual round of Christmas festivities and in the
Colonel of the Regiment again. Other visitors included process we had a change of Company Commander, Maj
the Commander 1st Armoured Division , the Divisional Salmon went off to the Infantry Mecca at Warminster
Brigadier, Commander 7th Armoured Brigade, the and Maj Russell arrived from the Depot.
Director of Infantry and the Brigadier Infantry. On one
occasion we invited Major General Sir David Thorne January became the usual cadre month . 'But Sir, I' m
(GOC 1 Armd Div) and the Divisional Brigadier to the already a marksman with the SLR, a B2 Assault Pioneer,
same Dinner Night in the Officers' Mess, but fortunately a qualified turret gunner, 2 Sections No 1 on the GPMG
they were both in uniform and I don't think too many and the reserve driver'. Then you should have no
wires were crossed! difficulty on the Mortar Cadre, lad - 0900 hours on
Monday' .
For our Annual Report on a Unit (ARU) this year GOC
1 Armd Div set us the task of organising the division's The Quebec Competition for 1985 is now well under
Skill at Arms meeting at the beginning of April. As you way. Although the Company didn't distinguish them-
would expect, the majority of the battalion was involved selves in the boxing, a good start was made on the
in this event in some way or another, and the meeting Accommodation Inspection by coming first. This was
was a complete success . followed up at the end of our lsaac week at Sennelager
in early February with a resounding win in the Battalion
Our shooting team also achieved creditable results Shooting Competition, the Gun Team produ cing a par-
and qualified to attend Bisley. ticularly impressive score .

Thoughts are now beginning to turn to Canterbury After a week back at Fallingbostel we returned to
but the move still seems a long way off. The remainder Sennelager for Field Firing during which the Patrol
of this year will be very busy for the battalion, with Competition was held . 2 Platoon did particularly well to
several demonstrations and major exe rcises on the win outright and they were well supported by 1 Platoon
horizon . We are even returning to the UK in September who ca me fourth . Although we were just pipped into
to act as enemy on the large scale home defence first place by Fire Support Company in the Quqbec
Competition , it was a good all round effort by the
exe rcise. company .

There is no doubt that the demands of a Mechan ised With Exercise M edicine Man 1 at BATUS looming
Infantry Battalion are great but it is very clear that the large on the horizon, the company then prepared for
battalion has achieved an extremely high reputation in
the BAOR scene. We are now making the most of our

21

1 GOC 1 Armd Div presents the LS & GC to Cpl Nurse 4 The Colonel of the Regiment with members of C
and Cpl Armstrong Company .
2 GOC 1 Armd Div watches the Divisional Skill at Arms 5 The CO presents the prizes to Lt Rowland and 2
Meeting with Maj Pollard and the CO . Platoon . winners of the Inter-Platoon Patrol
3 The Colonel of the Regiment presents the LS and GC Competition .
to W02 Edwards. 6 The Divisional Brigadier chats to Sgt Hinds. 2Lt
Bascombe and Maj Gouda are on the left.

22

pre-tra1n1ng at Soltau as part of 2 RTR Battle Group. dismounted attacks at the end of the infiltration , which

lt was nice to see Soltau again somehow the meant a further 10 kms of walking - agony!! Morale
was raised, however, when the first attack went in just
below freezing temperatures at night and snow by day before first light to find the American enemy force fast
asleep (at least somebody had the right priorities!) .
gave a new edge to the area we know and love so well. Exercise Stag Rat was enjoyed by all in the Company,
despite the fact that we never quite knew what was
' But Sir .. .' ' Keep looking lad, that tree will be around happening next.

somewhere.' In the second week the snow started to

melt and we ended up axle deep in mud: not ideal

conditions you may think for throwing a track. 2 Platoon

were here to prove us wrong - again and again and The period over Christmas saw us in camp for six

again. lt was a swansong for our tame Royal Marine, Lt weeks, before preparing for BAT US. At t he end of

Thurman, who after Soltau, was actually looking January we spent a week at Sennelager firing the

fmward to going back to Poole. His replacement as Annual Personal Weapon Test , and then returned a

Company 21C, Capt Rayner arrived fresh faced from week later for two weeks of Field Firing . During the

Canterbury and might have been said to have put his APWT week, Cpl Smith did well by missing with on ly

back too much into the job. After only a week with us one round in the SLR APWT - but it was at 100 metres

he was off to BMH Hannover to have a disc removed and he was somewhat unhappy about that! Field Firing

from his spine and we wish him a speedy recovery. passed off quietly, as we worked up from section

During the last six months a number have been away attacks to three Company attacks; the only noteworthy
on course, Cpl Smith, Cpl Batchelor, LCpl Bromley, event being Pte Marshal!' s attempt to reshape the front

LCpl Garcia are now all skill at arms instructors and Cpl ..-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Watson has completed JNCO 's tactics at Brecon .

We congratulate the following members of the
Company on their promotion: Lt Rowland , Cpl
Williams, Cpl Watson , Cpl Cottam, LCpl Millen , LCpl
Drage, LCpl Keogh and LCpl Goatham.

Congratulations also to those who have produced
new recruits: LCpl and Mrs Bashford , LCpl and Mrs.
Millen and Pte and Mrs Freestone .

We have said goodbye to LCpl Cox who has gone off
to be a fireman and also to Ptes George and May who
have gone to seek their fortunes elsewhere. And we
welcome to the Company 2Lt Beat, who has taken over
3 Platoon and Ptes Head , Young and Howlett fresh
from the Depot.

B Company The Wives Christmas Party

Along with the rest of the battalion, we have had a Top : Performance by the Drums Platoon .
fairly busy time (Just a hint of understatement there!) Lower : The RSM f lanked by the CO {up to his usual
Having taken part in the Battl egroup demonstration part
of the ·RCDS visit at the end of November, we then tricks{ and Mrs Beveridge.
turned our attention to Exe rcise Stag Rat in early
December. This was the 7 Armd Bde FTX and started
with a 'call in' and an emergency deployment, although
we sat for most of the first day on the vehicle square in
St Barbara Barracks waiting for the chequered flag to
drop. The first day was not to be representative of the
exercise, however, as the remaining week was taken at
a good 'cavalry gallop' which left everyone pretty tired.
For the Company, the high -point of the exercise was a
fight through a sleepy vi llage north-east of Bremen on a
Saturday afternoon . The Americans who were part of
the enemy force, had decided to defend the vi llage not
on the edges but right in the middle! Saturday
afternoon shoppers therefore had to run the gauntlet of
tanks, APCs, several thousand rounds of blank sma ll
arms fire, and a not inconsiderable number of smoke
grenades! lt was an ' interesting ' afternoon for all, and
a knotty problem for the umpires to unravel.

The most difficult part of the exercise was a night
mfiltrat1on march of 15 kms - when you are mechan-
ised it IS quite a w ren ch to tear yourself away from the
comforts of an APC and walk that far, and with a pack
on your back I We then had to carry out two

23

3 QU EE N S Battle
Gro up dem onstration

for the Royal
College of

Defence Studies.

of a 1 RRW 4 ton truck, using his APC to gently caress rumoured he can't take the pace any more, but the real
it! reason is that he needs the cash from selling his
uniforms - offers on Fallingbostel Military extension
After Field Firing we then had one week back in 309!).
Fallingbostel before deploying to Soltau for pre-BATUS
training with the 2 RT R Battlegroup. At the time of C Company
writing we have only four days to go before the advance
party leaves for Canada, and stories are rife of Scene 1. OC 's office, OC seated behind desk, PI
temperatures at BATUS of -40°C below with howling Comds staring vacantly out of window as rain hammers
gales and snow. down. lt is about 1700 hours. OC explains for 20th time
that smoking is a fi lthy habit and he has just lasted
Your scribe has taken the precaution of packing a few another ten minutes without one.
pairs of Army issue ' long johns' and a second sleeping
bag! OC: Now the next matter is Journal Notes . We were
due to have them done by mid-Ap ril which would have
By the time you read t his, we wi ll have returned from left plenty of time to leave them to the last minute. As it
BATUS, been to Soltau (aga in!), taken part in a Brigade is they are now due yesterday. What's worse is that it
FTX and be in the middle of a Corps Engineer Demon- has been decided that each Company is to write notes
stration (Exercise Tight Corner). If you think life in so the readers will be bored five times as much . So,
BAO R is all duty free cars, booze and parties, think what's happened since last December?
again!
OC 7 PI: Well Maj John Huskisson left for Nigeria and
On the personality side we congratu late W02 Butcher you took over. Then it was the Christmas stand down.
(Rip Van Winkle to his friends!) on his forthcoming
appointment as RQM S, and to CSgt Farrow who is to OC 8 PI : That' s right, we all came back from leave to
be CSM of Fire Support Company. Congratulations also find the place metres deep in snow and the temperature
go to Cpl Hayles, and LCpls Searle, Don and Mason on averaging about minus ten at midday .
their recent promotions . During the period many
soldiers have attended courses and cadres, with Cpls OC : And the Bn was running all those cadres, mortar,
Britton and Oliver and LCpls Wa iler and Harris attending signals, driving and the like, what else?
Junior Brecon, and Cpls Oliver and Sigsworth , LCpl
Hunter and Pte Tomlinson attending SAA courses. CSM: W ell if you want a really memorable event OC 9
PI came back .
On the sporting scene Cpl Belas and LCpl Driver were
in the battalion skiing team. Pte Newton fished for the OC 9 PI : Alright. That's enough. At the end of
battalion and Pte Oldrey played hockey. CSgt Farrow January we all went down to Sennelager to fire the
had another very successful orienteering season and APWT's then ca me back for a couple of weeks and
was selected for the Army team . LCpl Westmoreland returned for the field firing package by which time it had
and Ptes Sharp and Oldrey found time to join the ranks at least stopped snowing.
of the 'pads', and LCpl and Mrs Westmoreland, Pte and
Mrs Albiston and Pte and Mrs Hollingsbee deserve con- CSM: Then if you recall , sir, we routed the red hordes
gratulations on increasing the Company strength with at BGT for a week and , if I might mention it, Lt Versloot
the births of their babies. went away again.

Finally, Capt Martin leaves for the ranks of 'civy OC: To run Snow Queen ... yes, I remember. And
street' at the end of June and we wish him well (it is then Capt Castle went away to 5 QUEENS and it was at
this time that the majority of the Company was split up
for pre-BATUS training.

24

The Potential NCOs Cadre.

OC 7 PI : Which brought us up to the Divisional Skill will have sa id farewell to W02 Arey who is moving to
at Arms meeting or ARU as its known in the trade . the QM 's Department as TOMS . On behalf of the whole
Company we would like to wish him well in his new job
CSM : Which OC 9 PI kindly came back for .. . and say that he will be sorely missed .

OC : Good , that seems to be a fair summary so far. Milan Platoon
What about babies?
By the time these notes appear, the Milan PI will be
OC 8 PI (indignantly): Well , I haven 't had any . . . oh, I up to its full strength of 76 and wi ll be about to embark
see ... Cpl and Mrs Greenhalgh had a daughter. on the 1 (B R) Corps Milan Conce ntration , held every
two years at Putlos on the North German coast. The
OC 7 PI : And so did Pte and Mrs Peters . area is a haven for tourists and whilst not ideal for
mechanised training it does provide excellent facilities
OC : Fine, I must remem ber to co ngratulate them. around the holiday camps and nudist beach es for after-
Now, anything else? .. . No? Right the next subject is hours activities.
Active Edge .
Not su rprising for such a ' high profile' event, much of
Fire Support (Quebec) Company the time since returning from Northern Ireland, has been
spent preparing for the concentration.
I sit down and write these journal notes having only
taken over Qu ebec Company two weeks ago. Arriving During the battalion 's live firing period at Sennelager
from su nnier climes I ran HQ Company for two months we were able to fire 16 missiles through M IRA, the new
before handing that Company over. The point of this Milan therma l imaging sight. A lot of valuable lessons
rather long and uninteresting preamble to the Company were lea rnt about the effectiveness of this new piece of
notes is that I was convinced I had my timings just rig ht, equipment and they were put to good use during the
by being able to leave the 21C's letter on the journal seemingly end less demonstrations laid on by the
notes in OC HQ Coys In tray . I could at the same time platoon for visiting VIPs. Copious amounts of regimen-
insist that OC Quebec Coy did his notes before he tal blu e and orange were produ ced on each occasion to
departed for Berl in . Unfortunately, I'm not yet show off the sight to its best advantage.
accustomed to the 3rd Batta lion body swerve and got
'sold a dummy' by glibly accepting the statement 'a ll in With such a large platoon we have had our share of
hand Chief - no problems'. Well done James - a nicer Milaneers representing the batta li on at sport during the
piece of bobbing and weaving than I've experienced in a last six months. Of parti cul ar note is Pte Southby who
long time. won his bout boxing for the battalion against the Gree n
Howards and Cpl Crosby and Pte Piner who acquitted
The Company was on the sta rting blocks on 7 themselves well in the BAOR Jud o Competition ,
January and we seem to have been running apace ever although not without suffering several sp rains and
since. We round the final bend after BATUS and sprint bruises . Sgt Bowdrey and Pte Garrigan have also played
in to a finish before block leave with the M ortar and for the battalion 1st XI throughout the seaso n.
Milan Platoon's co ncentration . The latter part of the
year doesn't seem to be so busy with the Rifle Com- Mortar Platoon
panies off to UK leaving us to go adventure training and
quietly practice for the Quebec Weekend celeb rations or Th e latter half of 1984 was relatively busy for the
the ' Firms Annual Dinner and Dan ce' as it is being Mortar Platoon and sta rted w ith Battle Group training
referred to in some ci rcles. and the 7 Bde fire power demonstration in October on
Munster South ranges. The fire power demo proved to
The next time I write these notes, the Company will be an interesting and val uable event for the platoon,
have a new CSM (W02 Farrow) , which means we

25

1 3 QUEENS Judo team . Cpl Crosby, LCpl Wright and 5 Cpl Mulcahy, Pte Paul and Pte Winfield from A
Pte Piner. Company about to blow a big hole on Sennelager
Ranges .
2 Cpl Walker in the Darts Marathon.
3 B Company Assault Pioneers practice watermanship 6 2Lt Beat. A Company. discusses the best way to
on ice! destroy pop-up targets on Sennelager Ranges. Capt
Castle looks on .
4 Members of Milan Platoon on a battle handling
exercise .

26

The Recce
Platoon firing on
Bergen-Hohne ranges.

with a large number of rounds to fire and MFCs our strange gunnery drills. Their comments were very
bringing fire down close to themselves in closed down favourable .
AFVs. The remainder of the year, before the Christmas
stand down, was succesfully completed with Ex Stag If we had any doubts as to whether we were still in an
Rat, a 22 Bde FTX. Infantry battalion they were soon to be made very
obvious with the arrival of the RCDS demonstration .
1985 started with the annual firing of personal Capt Hurman semed intent on passing on to everyone
weapons on the Almas at Sennelager, followed by basic that the CO could pull his hair out. But he didn't, and do
mortaring cadres for the newer members of the platoon you know what? Capt Hurman has still got a good crop
and potential mortarmen in the rifle compan ies. These of hair himself.
events were followed by a return to Sennelgaer for the
battalion annual field firing package. During this, the Aher Christmas (an expensive one for ' Brit', who
platoon managed a number of basic live firing shoots took a disliking to a sight) 'Les' and Jimmy were
designed to introduce the newer members of the promoted , ' Faltman ' should have been the ' Steve
platoon to basic mortaring. Fisher' is stuck at 25.

Since March , training and events have been geared February at Sennelager gave us an opportunity to fire
towards Exercise Medicine Man I, and the following the Companies in, during the attack with the Coax MG's
mortar concentration in early July 1985. For Medicine and an added weapon was our first very own red
Man I, two sections will be attached to 2 RTR Battle epauletted instructor lwho dislikes being duty bellman
Group and those are due to move to Canada in mid in the Sgts Mess) . I will ask the Milan Platoon to tell
April. The platoon introduction to 2 RTR was made on a everyone what happened on the Patrol competition.
very cold though useful two weeks pre-BATUS training Perhaps that is where they were going when cautioned
exercise on Soltau . at Dover Docks !

Once BATUS has been completed our thoughts will March brought a small reshuffle in the platoon (Dickie
turn to the 1 Armd Div concentration on Munster battle is still trying to work it out).
ranges in early July. This will be preceded by a number
of live firing periods and dry training . Playtime (C / S 21) is chuffed he is not the nig any
more . Brian has left and we can't see anyone employing
Recce Platoon reforms someone who works at that speed . Kate enjoyed his
farewell but Ada got the usual amount of stick.
On 31 June 1984, 24 men gathered under Capt
Hurman to start training with Scimitars as Recce Just before this goes to print we are off with the
Platoon in the Mechanised role . At this stage 50% of 9th / 12th Lancers on their Regimenta l exercise in the
the platoon had already been on courses : ' CAV', ' Pop' Black Forest . W e shou ld have a great time with a good
and of cou rse ' Pamphlet Man' were our 30mm experts bunch , who have helped us a lot.
- with ' Big AI ' the D & M master.
3 QUEENS - JUDO
August saw the commanders and gunners at
Wolfenbuttel where the 9th / 12th Lancers patiently by Sgt B Miller APTC
attempted to convert us to tankies: 'Action Rudie',
however, had other plans . For the first time since coming to BAOR , 3 QUEENS
decided to enter the 1 Armd Div Novice Team Judo
The yea rs training culminated in a live firing week on Championships . With on ly two weeks training we
Hohne Ranges with the RAC, overseei ng and reporting

27

managed to get together three teams . Each team Could th is be love? I don 't know what Bdsm Bryan has
consisting of three men , one under 70kg , one between 70 that I haven 't , but sincerely hope he keeps it to himself!
and 76kg, and one over 76kg. The teams were as
follows : During the latter part of the year we performed our
now annual cabaret in both the Sgts and Officers'
A Team - Light, LCpl 'Titch ' Wright ; Middle, Cpl Messes. Our Big Dance Band, some comedy sketches
Terry Crosby ; Heavy, Pte 'Chunky' Piner. B Team - and guest appearances by Frank Sinatra, Jimmy
Light, Pte Tom Deal ; Middle, Cpl Mick Cottam ; Heavy, Cricket, Boy George (Bdsm Bellingham) and Elaine
Pte Sean Mason. C Team - Light, Pte 'Gift' Gifford; Page (Mrs Cunningham) added up to two very enter-
Middle, Pte Andy Fuller ; Heavy, Pte Eddie Paul. taining evenings for both audiences and performers .

With ten teams entered in the championships, 3 Earlier th is year we spent a very enjoyable week in
QUEENS were very much the underdogs because most Oakington with the 2nd Battalion. We were very well
of the other teams were members of organised Judo received , and all our performances both for the battalion
Clubs and had had a lot more training than the and the local community were supported by enthusi-
QUEENS , who had trained for about six hours in total. astic audiences.

Although all teams fought well , the A Team shone A few months ago we decided to help the battalion
through coming joint second in their pool with 7 Armd with their fund ra ising for the Jubilee Sailing Trust by
Wksp. In the fight off 3 QUEENS beat 7 Armd Wksp by taking part in a sponsored Marathon . . . with 28
two fights to one which put us into the fina l against 2 musicians taking only five minutes break in every hour,
RTR who had a very strong team . we managed to last for 32 hours and raised OM 2796.12.
Our grateful thanks must go to all those who supported
First on the mat was Pte 'Chunky' Piner who was out us through the long night, especially our wives, those
to keep his unbeaten record . After about 1 minute, who fed us and provided many cups of tea, and of
much to the surprise of everybody including 116kg course to Lieutenant Burke for organising the whole
Piner, he was thrown for a 5 point score against him. event.
This seemed to make him ever more determined to win
and after a brief strugg le he won by an excellent throw We are now in the final stages of preparation for our
followed by a hold down. Next on the mat was Cpl Terry Kneller Hall Inspection on 1 May. This is an extremely
Crosby. Crosby fought well aga inst a skilful opponent, busy time for the band and after a lot of hard work and
but was caught by a perfect hip throw which cost him many extra hours we are quiely confident of a good
the fight . This brought the score to 1-1 which meant it report. Thank goodness these inspections only happen
was all up to LCpl 'Titch' Wright . Wright went on the once every five years!
mat with a broken toe which he sustained from an
earlier fight , but he fought aggressively against a more Once the inspection is behind us the Band and Corps
experienced player and after 3 minutes all scores were of Drums will be going to England to take part in the
equal. Then in the last 30 seconds of the 4 minutes Freedom Marches with C Coy and the Corps of Drums
fight , Wright was caught by a good stomach throw, of 2 QUEENS . From there we join the other Bands and
which gave 2 RTR the lead. Although Wright fought Corps of Drums of the Queen 's Division for the Beating
back hard , time was against him and he lost the fight . Retreat on Horse Guards Parade.
This gave 2 RTR the championship by 2 f ights to 1, 3
QUEENS coming runners up . On our return to Fallingbostel we have a few local
engagements to fulfil. Then off again , this time to Berlin
For a unit not known for judo, 3 QUEENS fought for a week. Soon after that we have two trips to
exceptionally well and with more training shou ld do we ll Denmark, a week in Sweden, then a very well earned
in future competitions . leave .

THE QUEBEC BAND I had a phone call the other day from a certain person
in Sweden, wanting to know when and where we were
by W01 B Cunningham , Bandmaster playing this summer . Although I didn't give anything
away she did say she would be waiting for us when we
As I begin to think about the last year I am all to aware arrive in Sweden . No prizes for guessing who the call
that it is just over a year since The Quebec Band was was from, or who she is waiting for! !
formed , and yet, apart from my memories of the amal-
gamation parade and the day I welcomed the 2 QUEENS Cpl Keeley has been posted to the Depot as an
chaps and their wives to Fallingbostel I do not remem- Instructor, and in September will sit his entrance
ber any transition period or any teething problems examination for the Student Bandmaster Course
whatsoever . On the contrary , it feels as though starting in January . We wish him and Mrs Keeley every
everyo ne in the present band has always been there. success and look forward to seeing them again in the
This is without doubt due to the willingness, maturity not too distant future. LCpl Bowen is to be posted to
and comm on sense of all those involved . the Albuhera Band in May and once again we extend
our best wishes and hope he and his family will settle
Last summer th e band had a very interesting and down there qui ckly and prosper.
successful season visiting such exotic pla ces as
Denmark, France and Sweden . Unfortunately a At the end of last year we said a final goodbye to Cpl
Swedish girl (w ell she faintly resembl ed a girl) took a Kelly , who has since joined the ranks of the Kent Con -
shine to Bdsm Bryan, and has chased him all year even stabulary. Also LCpl Haynes who has joined the ranks of
to the point of coming all the way to Fallingbostel ! Maggies Army . Our thanks to both these chaps for their
service and past work for the Band .

28

5th {VOLUNTEER) BATTALION

Editorial LORD MAYOR'S PARADE

Major Alan Chissel, a very divisionally-minded officer, CITY OF LONDON
hands over B Coy to Capt Thompson in August, and
returns to 5 R ANGLIAN to take over a Company. Capt Bill 10 November 1984
Gawler has taken on the MT Platoon and drivers will
now be training on weekends between ferrying tasks. Within four weeks of returning from Exercise
The stress of life in D Coy has pushed two officers to
commit marriage, Lt Sean McMahon in December 1984 Lion heart, the company was to provide 4 + 36 for the
and Lt John Maccariello in July 1985. Capt Johnnie
Castle is now firmly in the Adjutant's chair and waiting City of London 's Lord Mayor"s Parade. To suddenly
for someone to bite. lt won't be long! switch from training for our primary role in BAOR to
public duties in such a short space of time was no mean
A feature of this year has been renewed co-operation feat .
in training and social life with our sister battalion, the
6th/7th . We now send soldiers to each other's cadre On the Friday evening the company mustered with all
periods , co-operate in training specialists, have shared ranks present. The CSM was carrying out last minute
two very successful social events, have competed in the drill rehearsal and the inevitable cleaning of kit. The
Robert's Sword Competition, paraded together with the Company was up bright and early on Saturday, on to
TA Band at the Lord Mayor's Show, and even traded a the coach and away to Armoury House in the city.
Drill Hall. Future changes will make us slightly closer
neighbours, and occasional lnter-Bn transfers will be Once we arrived we fell in with the rest of the
easier when we know each other better. battalion : by this time RSM Curtis was on his ninth
hernia . After the inevitable squadding , positioning etc,
A Coy at Guildford has emergd from a long rebuild the battalion was ready for the off with the rest of the
session and Bn HQ and HQ Coy are now into theirs . parade . With all A company's officers and SNCOs
Visitors to Leros are warned to take it steady in order to present, and the bulk of the battalion marching
avoid becoming a permanent part of the new drainage contingent being A Coy , Ex Lionheart seemed a million
system. miles away.

In training, some of the accent this year has been on The first problem we encountered once we had set
AFV recognition, the champion being CSM Lane , who off was that we were marching behind the Salvation
scored 50 out of 50 in a test , identifying what looked to Army Band, and its base drummer was ca using a few
me like a photo of a rather scruffy bush as a T54/ 55 with problems on keeping in step . However, after a few quiet
modifications! The SF team did very well at the SEDIST words with him things settled down. Once the parade
concentration against Regular competitors, and have moved off properly with the Regimental Band in full
now qualified to enter the UKLF competition in June . flow and an estimated Y. million spectators, TV
Expertise in the battalion has been greatly increased by cameras, etc, it gave one a tremendous sense of pride.
various ranks going on co urses and cadres from Water-
manship to Coy Comds, from HGW to Mortars, and Half way round , the parade halted and everyone fell
from NBC to Assault Pioneers . out for lunch . The sceptics amongst us wondered how
on earth the parade would form up again, but magically
We have for years yielded to 6/7 QUEENS in the at 1400 hrs the parade formed up and we marched off.
realm of shooting, but staged a comeba ck this year in
the Officers / SNCOs shoot by winning in SLR, SMG One immediate problem that arose was that as the CO
and Pistol, though we must admit to fielding our very gave the order for eyes right the parade halted . For the
experienced Company Admin officers. next three to four minutes the battalion marked time in
an eyes right position, but eventually the parade moved
Camp this year promises to be one of the best yet. off again, and we marched back through the streets of
The Mortars wi ll be taking part in a concentration in the city still packed with crowds.
Otterburn, the ATks will take part in a large Milan
jamboree in Putlos, the Band will be at the Depot, and All th e company members who attended the parade
Recruits, some JNCOs, Assault Pioneers, HGV drivers thoroughly enjoyed themselves and it was certainl y
and Potential Officers will be cad re-training at Stanford. different from firing the APWT down at Lydd and
The rest of the Battalion will be at Stanford on Hythe.
Helicopter Training for FIBUA ops, and taking part in
Assault River Crossings, followed by live firing attacks HSF - THE FIRST THREE MONTHS
with live Mortar support, which only goes to show the
clout packed by 2 lnf Bde when it comes to training by Lt S Rogers
facilities . The survivors of the live M ortar Fire , and camp
in general , expect to return home on 13 July. W e have now been in business for three months, and
are up to 60 % of ou r Company's establishmen t .

Recru its have been showing immense enthusiasm,
turning up unpaid , in civilian clothes and remembering

29

Top left : The Deputy Colonel with W02 Caulkett and Top right: The Lord Lieutenant with Cpl Ryan and CSgt
other members of A Coy after the presentation of Twort after presentations at Tonbridge. 6 December
Territorial Efficiency Medals. 1984.

(p iCture by Surrey Advertiser) (picture by Sevenoaks Chron•cle)

Lower left : The Divisional Brigadier meets COMS Lower right : 'OK, which of you guys vandalised this
Gawler and other members of E (HSFI Coy. estate?' A Coy on FIBUA training.

(picture by Kent1sh Gazenel

the initial warning that because in these days of date- think that wooden stocks are much more gentlemanly).
processing computers etc it now takes as many months Some will find that they are greeting old friends , others
to join the Army as it did in minutes in Wellington 's time will be looking for the Lee Enfield Bolt, but after a day
- there is no truth in the suggestion that any of us were on Hythe Ranges we hope to feel a little bit more like
around in his time! We are happy to reassure you that trained soldiers. The joys of a night exercise somewhere
our average age is in the mid -forties. in the depths of CPTA should help to reinforce that
feeling within the four platoons .
We have been very happy to welcome to our privi-
leged membership, men with previous service in the We have been very grateful for all the very willing help
Army, Royal Navy, RAF and Royal Marines . extended to our platoons by their host units at Broad-
stairs, Guildford, Hastings and Tonbridge . When pos-
Remembering that we had all been warned that it is sible people have been made welcome and have
going to take time over the amazing paperwork and attended most company training lectures on drill nights .
regulations to 'get the Show on the Road ', we hope to
start our first performance in less than 24 hours after We still have some vacancies and if any ex-service
your scribe has finished this set of notes . readers who are fit and under 50 would like to consider
joining our ranks , would they please contact Bn HQ.
We shall all be clutching totally unused SLRs (we

30

THE QUEEN 'S REGIMENT TA BAND

FAREWELL TO BANDMASTER CLARK

by Maj N P Harris

At the age of 65, and after some 22 years as a
Bandmaster, Ted Clark has finally retired as Bandmaster
of The Queen 's Reg iment TA Band .

During his tenu re the Band received in 1982 the first
outstanding grading ever given to a TA Band by the
Army School of Musi c (they have since gained two
more).

At a joint 5 and 6/7 QUEENS Officers' Dinner Night
on 23 March, Brigadier Millman prsented M r Clark with
a silver plated statuette of 'The Man of Kent'.

On the following day a party was held for Mr Clark at
Leros TA Centre . Many past and present members of
the band travelled to Canterbury from all over the
country. The occasion was a fitting farewell to a man
who has served the Regiment so well.

Mr Cook, a f ormer Royal Marines Bandmaster, has
now taken over The Queen's Regiment TA Band.

EX SNOW PLOUGH >t:IUU UJCXY YOU W£1ZE.

by Lt G W D Pike .surr&b - up LAC>, "THAT
WAS A GH&Mic:AL. SH£L.L. .11.
After a long train journey, elements of the company
arrived at the Union Jack Lodge, Glenmore Forest, -~-
Aviemore on the morning of Good Friday.

Those who had skied before made their way to the
top of the Cairngorms skiing complex to co nfirm their
skills and to check that the equipment provided was in
working order and correctly adjusted. They found the
snow somewhat sticky in places and the runs narrow.

Those who had never skied before ventured out onto
the lower nursery slopes in the care of Sgt 'A ndy'
Noble . Regrettably there was very little snow at this
level and it was getting very slushy. This meant little
room for manoeuvre and a lot of people in a small area.
However the basic rudiments were picked up and they
were soon 'snow ploughing ' their way around. Possibly
becoming overconfident in their new-found abi lities, the
learners then ventured up to the ' mid-station' to ski
back down to the lower slopes. This quickly showed
them how much they had to learn and how often one
can fall in the space of 100m . There were some excep-
tions , noticeable LCpl Boddy, who although a novice,
remained upright all afternoon .

A miserable start to Day 2 saw the whole group set
off in driving rain en route for the top , where blizzard
conditions prevailed . Snow veterans CSgt ' Doug ' Tyler,
Sgt ' Mick' Owst and Cpl ' Dutch ' Holland passed on
some useful information on how to live in, and with,
snow and cold . Much of their instru ction was then put
to pra ctica l use, mist and snow adding to the incentive.

The learners, however, progressed much quicker in the
somewhat better snow of the summit, and , despite the

31

depressingly persistent bad weather, were by the end of
the day making some reasonably long runs .

If you were quick you may have seen two notable
happenings through the day, LCpl Boddy's first fall and
Lt Pike committing another high-speed take-out of
some innocent skier who was unlucky enough not to
see him coming or not move fast enough .

Day 3, blue sky, hot sun . We now had some minor
casua lti es in the shape of pulled muscles, strained
ligaments etc causing one or two limps. This and
reduced queuing for the ski lifts. There was some fairly
adventurous skiing done by all and no matter what
stage or proficiency had been reached , most at some
time, bit off more than they could chew.

Those not skiing had either tested their map reading
and stamina by heading into the hills to do some fell
walking or taken the plunge at the local swimming
baths, then relaxed in a sauna in an attempt to soothe
aching muscles and limbs.

Apart from the very long boring and , for the most
part, buffet-car less return rail journey it had been an
interesting but tiring exercise. We had all learnt quite a
lot about winter survival and most were quietly confi-
dent on skis .

THE ARMY HALF MARATHON

by Capt M S Rumsey

As I watched the ' Ethni c Minorities Break-Dancing Upper : 5 QUEENS (VI on Milan training. Capt M S
Team Against the Cuts' limbo towards the starting line,
the question so familiar to all TA soldiers raised its ugly lower : Well-known battalion personality -
head - what the hell am I doing here? Rumsey (Milan PI I.

I can 't remember who it was that said that ' I will begin Rumour had it that in one com pany an inabili ty to
at the beginning ' but I've always considered that advice complete a 20 mile run in full CEMO and full NB C kit lost
to be sound. In a spirit of mischief more appropriate to you your place in t he team . The reports of peo ple being
April 1st, the Training Major decreed that I should mug ged fo r th ei r co mp eti t o r ' s num b ers were
become the Team captain. I think I may have raised
doubts about the essential appropriateness of this form exaggerated, but I perso nally don't co nsider £10 fo r a
of activity for the Battalion , but soon gave way under
slighting reference to my essential maleness . People can
be so unpleasant.

However, bearing in mind our Battalion's new and
unpleasant habit of beating everybody at everything -
or fouling them if you can ' t , I was first reaching for th e
bag of wet sand and the chloroform pad (encouraging
volunteers) . Then letters started to arrive from Com-
pany Commanders and PSAO's who were obviously
starting to take an interest in ritual sacrifice. A Coy and
Capt Brian Scripps were positively demoni c in their
desire to inflict pain upon their young and not-so-young
soldiers .

Having decided that only 20 people would represent
the Battalion (a cunning way to stop the offi cers and
SNCOs of A Coy being volunteered en bloc) I had then
to un -volunteer the whole of Milan platoon , who w ere
beginning to desert in increasing numbers.

A s the great day approa ched and previously
enthusia stic competitors were seen visiting the loca l
library to consult the Medi cal Dictionary about strang e
and exotic injuri es, so the tempo of trai nin g increased .

32

slightly second-hand number to be all that bad (to you, MEDICAL TREATMENT IN SERVICE HOSPITAL
£9) .
IN UK FOR RETIRED SERVICE PERSONNEL
The great day arrived - well great for some. To
ensure that the team received the maximum encourage- AND DEPENDANTS
ment the team captain did not run , nominating a volun-
teer from Milan in his place. (In time gone by, this was Retired members of the service who are in receipt of a
known as Field Punishment No 4) . HQ Coy elements Service Disability Pension are entitled to treatment in
failed to materialise, owing, so it was rumoured , to a Service hospitals in the United Kingdom for the
belief that Aldershot was in Perthshire and that their condition for which they are in receipt of the Service
' Boys Own ' atlas did not cover the bits required. disability pension .

A serious word has to be said about the team, which For all other ex-servicemen and their dependants,
finally numbered 16. lt conta ined two PSAO' s (Capt although no entitlement exists, treatment may be
Scripps and Capt Lynch ). from C Coy it included the offered without charge, on a fill -up basis, subject to the
SPSI (W02 lsaacs) and two CSgts (CSgt Tyler and following conditions being met:
CSgt Lane) an excellent example of leadership which,
combined with many fine runners of all ranks, produced (a) The patient is entitled to treatment under the NHS
a most successful result.
(b) The condition is one which the hospital is
We did not carry away any of the main prizes this equipped and staffed to treat.
time. I like to think of it as a recce , and as a preparation
for our next visit. (c) A bed is available which is not required for an
entitled patient.
In closing , I would like to mention Pte Axam of A Coy
who recorded the team's fastest time of 1 hour 26 mins, (d) The complaint is not of a chronic nature or one
having enlisted in the TA on 2 February 1985. which is likely to lead to a prolonged stay in hospital.

' OK guys, let's settle this mutiny peacefully .' IMaj Service hospitals are always pleased to help retired
Chissel of B Coyl . personnel and their dependants with treatment where at
all possible. The first stage in arranging assistance is for
the patient's doctor to refer the case to the Command-
ing Officer of the Service Hospital of choice, who, after
consultation with specialist staff, will decide on the
response .

33

6th/7th (VOLUNTEER) BATTALION

Editorial Territorial Decorations . W02 Tom Mclucas received a
Territorial Efficiency Medal and CSgt Dave Lovell
Ten years on . received a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

Anyone living in Sussex during the first half of April Once the presentations were over the parade
will have known that this battalion has been celebrating comprising The Queen's Regiment TA Band, the Colour
the first ten years. There has been coverage in local Party and two Guards marched to the Parish Church of
newspapers and on two local radio stations . The Bat- St Mary the Virgin where a Service of Thanksgiving and
talion Second in Command , Major Roger Lowans, Dedication was taken by the Rural Dean , the Revd N F
appeared on BBC Radio Sussex's ' Good Morning Ball. An inspiring and memorable sermon was preached
Sussex' Show . He was interviewed during the radio by our Padre, Gerald Buss.
station's prime listening time just prior to the 8 o'clock
news . The return march through Horsham was delayed by a

The celebrations took place on Saturday 13th April , a 6/7 QUEENS lVI 10th Anniversary Parade
few days after the ann iversary of the date of our The Queens Regiment Band TA and the Corps of
formation which was 1st April 1975. A great deal of Drums enter The Causeway. Horsham
planning and preparation had gone into the events of 2 The Colour Party leaving the Church
the day which started at 10.15 a.m. with medal presen- 3 The Colour Party in The Causeway
tations by the Honorary Colonel, Sir A Colin Cole. Majs 4 No 1 Guard waiting to enter church
Colin Hurd , Tony Prior and Alistair Meldrum received 5 No 2 Guard in The Causeway

34

few minutes because of rain , but due to local divine team 's successes , the 2 Brigade exercise in 1983 and the
intervention in the form of our CO, the weather cleared numerous ceremonia l pa rades, but in an historical
and we marched back to the TA Centre in Denne Road , perspective there are two major advances which are an
in sunsh ine! Before the Parade was dismissed the Regi - integral part of the battalion and the growth of the Terri-
mental Sergeant Major, W01 J P Hamill , received his torial Army as a whole .
farewell presentation from the battalion. This ended the
formal part of the celebrations and the remainder of the The first must be the battalion 's numerical strength in
day was a families day of feasting and drinking, side- both officers and other ranks. lt is true that there are still
shows, meeting old friends and telling those wonderful wastage problems and in some areas we are stronger
stories which always begin with the words, ' Do you than others but the broad fact remains that because 6/7
remember the time we . 7' QUEENS IV) is up to strength , it is planned to recruit a
further company in Sussex and a battalion in London. lt
There were many guests and old friends. Horsham would have been a brave man to prophesy those
District Council was represented by the Chairman , developments ten years ago!
Councillor Mrs Mauchel. There were representatives
from the Livery Companies and all the battalion 's former Secondly, because 6/7 QUEENS IV) and other units
COs, Lt Col John Hewson, Lt Col Foster Herd, Col have t rained with enthusiasm , imagination and with
Mike Dudding and Col Richard Pu tnam were present. A skill, and due to outside recognition , the home defen ce
good time was had by all! role is no longer the glamourless role it once was. In
fact , it is an achievab le role for a TA unit. Gen Sir Frank
An Historical Perspective Kitson and more recently Lt Gen Sir John Akehurst
have emphasised the importance of home defence. The
To some, ten yea rs may seem a very short time for latter when ta lking recently about Exercise Brave
celebrations of this magnitude to take place. However, Defender which is to take place this September, said
it must be considered in the light of the number of that in home defence there is no margin of error, for the
reorganisations the Territorial Army has suffered in the loss of a KP cou ld result in the loss of its function or vital
past 30 years and particularly this battalion's predeces- material and a counter-attack, however brilliantly or
sors and the current expansion plans for London and bravely executed, w ill not restore a burnt-out navigation
Brighton. radar or the exp loding ammunition in a depot. We are
proud of our role and are su re that we will prove our
The battalion was formed in 1975 from D Company 5 worth on Brave Defender .
QUEENS IV), 6/7 QUEENS IV) and 7 QUEENS IV). The
amalgamation took place mainly because, despite On 13th April we reviewed and gave thanks for the
va liant efforts, both 6 and 7 QUEENS were very under past ten years and by doing that it gave us confidence to
recruited. There were other reasons but the recruitment cope with any developments that the future brings .
problem is worth remembering when considering the
achievements of the past ten years. Recent Events

The first achievement that took place during the E Company
period of the first CO, Lt Col John Hewson , was making
three different units a cohesive whole. This was not an The Battalion now has a fifth rifle company, E
easy task as B Company !formerly D Company 5 Company. E Company is a Home Service Force (HSF)
QUEENS and A Company 6/7 QUEENS) felt very bitter Company with at present three platoons based upon our
about losing their NATO committed role and with it their TA Centres at Farnham, Crawley and Horsham. In due
support weapons; 6/7 QUEENS was an urban based co urse a further platoon w ill be recruited at Brighton
battalion which had been formed from both Gunner and once the new TA Centre is built at Preston Barracks .
Infantry units ; and had been a widely spread rural The HSF is raised as part of the TA under the Reserve
battalion with TA Centres in poor recruiting areas . Forces Act 1980. Its task is to defend vita l installations in
However Lt Col Hewson's mixture of charm and bu llying time of war thus releasing the Regular Army and TA
tactics achieved in a matter of months the necessary units like th is battalion for other tasks . lt has a less
unification. demanding training requirement than the other TA units
as each volu nteer is only expected to carry out ten days
This unity was sustained by the next CO, Lt Col Foster of training each year . The age range is 20 to 60 years
Herd and his RSM , W01 Max Maloney . lt was during this and all those serving must have had previous servi ce
period that the initial plans were made for the Colours experience in the regular or volunteer forces.
Presentation that came to fruition in Ju ly 1981 at Ardingly
when Lt Col Mike Dudding was in com -mand. Lt Col Unpublished pictures taken during first ten years of
Richard Putnam took over command immediately after 6/ 7 QUEENS lVI
the Colours Parade and developed further the recruiting
of officers and men that his predecessors had not only Lt Col Ri c hard Putna m looking pensive with a VIP!
put foundations down for but very nearly built . More 2 W01 RSM Max M aloney looking serious with a VIP!
recently Lt Col Peter Hubert has concentrated on training 3 Lt Col Mike Dudding looking happy with a VIP!
the battalion for its role not only for the big home defence 4 Lt Col Foster Herd greeting a VIP - the best recruit!
exe rcise this Autumn , but for its tasks in wartime . 5 An historic occasion - the first Quarter Guard at

lt w ould be easy in looking back to produce a Lewes Crown Court since 1939. The Guard was provi-
catalogue of the battalion 's achievements over the last ded by 6/7 QUEENS {V) in 1983
ten yea rs and to incl ud e such t hings as the Shooting
PICtur e by Couner N ewspapers



36
6

Training cadre under the RSM, W01 Hamill, and an HGV cadre
under Sgt Beales, the MT NCO, with the testing being
The CO has made his central theme for our training, done by SSgt Long our NRPS MT NCO who is the Bat-
fitness for role . This has a priority which each member talion QTO.
of the Battalion recognises as being important for
' Brave Defender'. The fortnight started with the JNCOs and the TA
users cadres. The HGV course and the Standard 11
Key points and the various associated skills for Signals cadre started on the second Saturday. We were
defending a vital installation were rehearsed by allocated excellent facilities by the staff of Crowborough
companies throughout September and October . This including the Officers' Mess complex much to the chag-
started with a study weekend on KPs at St Martin's rin of the Coldstream Guards who were running a six-
Plain. The climax to this training took place on a week signals course in less palatial accommodation.
battalion exercise in the Lydd / Hythe area at the end of They were even more amazed when they discovered
October. Many lessons were learnt on the exercise and what the TA signals syllabus covered in just one week!
these were followed up on the next Officers / SNCOs
Study Weekend at Crowborough . This weekend helped The JNCO cadre lasted for two weeks. The first week
start companies thinking about their mobilisation was devoted to class-room work covering MIT signals,
procedures, a much under-played part of a TA unit's weapon training, NBC, minor tactics and teaching
transition to call-out. Plans were updated, amended and practices. Each morning started at 0615 hrs with a run
completely revised for the Battalion's mobilisation followed by drill. During the second week the cadre
exercise in February . went into the field at Pippingford Park to practise all
they had learnt in the first week. Pte MacDonald of B
The mobilisation weekend went well apart from the Company was awarded the prize for best student and
fact that the CO' s prayers for fine weather went Pte Miller of C Company was given the award for the
unanswered . lt snowed very heavily. However, once the most improved student.
battalion ' mobilised ' some individual skills training was
mounted and this was considered to be not only worth- During the middle weekend the battalion officers,
while but very realistic preparation for a transition to war SNCOs and JNCOs came to Crowborough for a Study
period . Weekend which covered Home Defence and Methods
of Instruction. The TA users cadre finished with Pte
The next stage of our training theme was for the Maggie Bates of HQ Company receiving the best
Officers/ SNCOs at the March Study Weekend to con- student award .
sider our post-strike role and how to handle the press
and media in a period of tension. For the latter we The second week was characterised by the constant
visited Beaconsfield and used the closed circuit tele- coming and going of trainee HGV drivers trying to
vision facilities there. The 'pressmen' who instructed us manoeuvre the battalion's previous transport around
certainly discovered some gaps in our interviewing the camp and adjacent area. The signa llers were to be
skills. Capt John Ross declared that he shot at babies' seen trying out all sorts of strange antennae as they
prams for a 'hobby' and Lt Nigel Horwell, the Battalion struggled to master HF radio . LCpl Steve Gray was the
Recruiting Officer, considered his job to be 'secret'. Our best student despite a strong challenge from two
barrister Maj Anthony Leonard is certainly better at miners, who were 'resting' thanks to Messrs Scargill
asking questions than answering them! However, our and MacGregor, from 5 QUEENS (V).
teacher and trainer, MajTony Salter and Maj Colin Hurd ,
gave polished 'Robin Day' type performances. All in all a pleasant and enjoyable two weeks which
produced several new JNCOs, 25 course trained
THE AUTUMN CADRE PERIOD signallers and some new HGV drivers for this battalion
and 5 QUEENS IV).
by Capt J H D Ross
CHANGE OF RSM
The battalion ran its annual cadre fortnight at
Crowborough Camp between 17 November and 1 We have had a change in Regimental Sergeant
December 1984. This has now become an annual event . Majors. We welcome W01 Bernier and family and wish
We take volunteers from 5 QUEENS IV) and send some them a happy tour with us. We say a sad farewell to
of our soldiers to their cadres in the spring. W01 Hamill and family and wish them well for the
future . However, before he left, W01 IRSM) Hamill
This year we ran two signals cadres , a TA users and a wrote down his impressions of a tour with the Battalion :
Standard 11 under the RSO , Capt John Ross ; a JNCO

Presentations to 6/ 7 QUEENS (VI Jack Of All Trades Infantry
1 Major Meldrum receives the TD from Sir Colin Cole
2 Major Prior receives his TD from an old friend by W01 IRSM) Hamill

3 Major Hurd comes forward for his TD When I was told in March 1982 that I would be
4 CSgt Lovell is awarded the Long Service and Good promoted and posted as RSM to 6/7 QUEENS (V) in
March 1983, I never imagined the things I, as a Regular
Conduct Medal Soldier, would have to do .

5 W011 Mclucas receives the TEM lt was a pleasant surprise to receive a 'jillty' posting
6 W01 RSM Hamill receives a print from the CO . The

Adjutant congratulates him on behalf of the Battalion 1

38

order whilst I was in the middle of the MTO's course at well attended. lt is nice to see all the members in mess
Leconfield in September 1982, so I com pleted the kit. A lot do take the trouble to purchase it.
course, obtained my B Grade and moved directly to
Horsham to co llect my W01 badge. The Mess comes alive at Camp . All members jealously
guard and uphold the traditions of the Sergeants' M ess.
The first week was an experience in itself arriving as I We have invited the Officers' Mess in for a games night
did in the middle of the CO's inspection season. This and the Corporals' Mess also, both of which proved
included a trip in the evenings to the batta li on's drill very popular and successfu l.

halls in Camberwell, Sutton , Edgware , Hornsey, Camp is when a traditional stag Dinner Night is held
Farnham . Camberley, Haywards Heath and Crawley. and the normal Sergeants' Mess games are played after
Not all in one night, I hasten to add. During the dinner . During my tour we have suffered no worse than
inspection of Camberwell, the CO and I commented to a broken shoe lace, I'm glad to say!!
the then barman LCpl Bennett 'That's a smart 26"
coloured TV , where did that come from?' ' Oh I The TA soldier never ceases to amaze me, even now
presented it' said the bright-eyed LCpl from SE London .
as I complete my 2 y, year tour . They turn up ready for
This was my second tour with a Territorial Unit. The
first was as a PSI with the Royal Hong Kong Regiment. action in the most appa lling weather cond itions. We
The soldiers in both are no different in character or then work them very hard during the weekend and send
style. You will find LCpl Wong who is a member of the them home on a Sunday night tired out, yet sti ll they
Company MT, with his beret in a two-way stretch and a come back aga in on another weekend. The job of RSM
sly fag held in his hand , is the same as LCpl Smith of 6/7 is very f rustrating and yet can be very rewarding . I've
QUEENS IV) or indeed 3 QUEENS , keen as mustard, swept stai rs, set out cha irs, acted as CO's driver at one
willing to learn and at the right moment ready to give of end of the scale and yet taken battalion parades and
their all. instructed all manner of lessons at the other end.

Once I had settled into the routine of having no My tour has included two very physically demanding
so ldiers during the day, but finding the TA Centres camps and a number of Freedom marches with little or
coming alive at weekends and evenings, then life was no rehearsals, yet the 'goods' are somehow produced
not too bad. on the day.

In November of each year the Lord Lieutenant of it is perhaps fitting that my last day with 6/7 QUEENS
Sussex, Lavinia , Duchess of Norfolk, presents her IV) will be the celebration of ou r tenth anniversary. I
awards to the Volunteer Forces and November 1982 was know I shall be proud to march on with my Battalion
no exception . On the night in question a couple of hours Colou rs and to celebrate with all the battalion its
prior to the Parade, I inspected the front of the drill hall anniversary .
to check for cleanliness, etc. Of course, it required
sweepi ng leaves, etc. I looked round for a soldier, The old adage to 'Tw ice the Citizen' is certain ly true
found a broom and swept the stairs. Two hours later I of the officers and soldiers of 6/7 QUEENS IV). lt is a
battalion that we, as a Regiment, should be very proud
of.

welcomed the Duchess on those same steps with the

Commanding Officer. Such is the diversity of being a

RSM of a Territorial Home Defen ce Battalion . THE PADRE AND THE AIREY NEAVE AWARD

My first encounter with the WRAC TA was most This year's winner of the Airey Neave M emoria l
amusing now that I look back on it. As a battalion we Scholarship is the Revd Gerald Buss, Padre 6/7
QUEENS IV). He was presented with the diploma and
run upgrading from 3 to 2 and 2 to 1 centrally and in my cheque in the Jubilee Room of the House of Commons
first year it took place at Farnham TA Centre. The on November 28, 1984 by Baroness Airey of Abingdon .
Training Major at the end of the weekend was sum- Since then he has been elected a Fell ow Commoner of
mar~sing and collating the results with all the PSis and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where he will ca rry
myself in an office, when behind his back the door out much of his research in the Lent Term 1986. Mr
opened and in walked a young lady in uniform. I put my Buss's research will look into the laws which govern the
hand up to indicate to her to wait , please, for five plight of Christians in the Soviet Union with special
minutes . The reply was a beaming smile, a wave and reference to the Russian Orthodox Church .
' Hi'. There is no real answer to that!

March 1983 saw the Battali on complete its FFR at The Airey Neave M emoria l Tru st was set up as a

Shorncliffe under the direction of Brig Hume and his memorial to Airey Neave, OBE, DSO , MC , who was MP
staff of 2 lnf Bde . The tests set were very demanding, for Abingdon until his assassination on March 30th
but the TA soldiers showed their worth by turning out in 1979. The Trust awards scholarships to people research-
good order and in large numbers. All tests set by the ing into 'freedom under the law' which was a particular
staff were comp leted on time and to their satisfa ction. lt interest of Airey Neave. The Prime Minister gave the
ce rtainly left me with a great feeling of pride that I was first Memorial Lecture in March 1980, and the Trust is
RSM of a fine and Fit for Role Battalion. chaired by Sir Hu mphrey Atkins, KCMG , MP. Mr Buss

Sergeants' Mess life, as we know it in the Regular was selected for the award by a panel consisting of Lord
Army, is non-existent within the Home Defence Bat- Blake, Provost of Queen's College, Oxford; Ray
talion except for the main functions which are a Christ- Mason; Sir John Biggs- Davidson ; Lord Grimond and
mas Draw and Camp. I have organised two very suc- The Revd Canon Trevor Beeson , Chaplain to the
cessful Christmas draws and a number of Ladies / Dinner Speaker.

Nights. These have proved very popu lar and have been

JUST ANOTHER WEEKEND!! precise and accurate directions for entire journey.
Recruit Selection weekend , 5/6 January 1985
Driver / Ops: Gets lost one mile outside Horsham,
by lt N C Horwell spends remainder of drive trying to remember route for
return journey.
Sixty-eight young , keen volunteers had assembled
before me at the Farnham TAC. They had come from all On Journey
over London and South-East England to this , the first
selection weekend that I had organised for the battalion. CO : Leaps from vehicle , conducts 0-group returns to
I had been helping on others previously run by Lt M vehicle .
King but now I was in the 'hot seat' . Matters had not
been helped by my heavy reliance on videos, arriving , as Driver / Op : Jumps out of vehicle into puddle , dashes
I had, to find that a vital lead was missing and so our set behind bushes for leak , gets shouted at for leaving
would not work. (A salutary lesson for planning and Land- Rover in the open . Spends an hour constructing
preparation!) However, with my speech prepared the camouflage 'garage' only to be told , 'We' re moving in
night before, I ploughed on to explain about the five minutes' .
battalion , its Home Defence Role, the role of theTA and
their early career as recruits up to their departure for The Night Move
Bassingbourn.
CO : Sits in vehicle waiting for his Driver / Op .
They were then 'whisked away' and split into four
groups by Sgt Hunt (B Company). The first group was Driver / Op: Blunders about taking cam nets down ,
driven off to the gymnasium at Buller Barracks, bounces off trees , finally gets behind wheel only to find
Aldershot by Cpl Singh where they underwent a series its the wrong vehicle .
of assessed physical tests organised by QMSI Webb (B
Company), and the second were taken away to a quiet The Walk About
room to sit their psychometric tests supervised by 2Lt G
Durston (D C c -:. ~3 'lY/ . The third group enjoyed a CO: Wears only belt with pistol and water bottle .
morning of .22 shooting on our indoor range run by
CSgt Baker and a lecture on the battalion ORBAT Drive / Op : Wears complete webbing, carries radio
personalities and regimental history prepared by 2Lt N and SMG .
Strachan (HQ Company) . The fourth group had an easy
start as they played football whilst awaiting their CO: Strides along road , cheerful 'good mornings' to
medicals by Lt Col Geoffrey Brown and assisted by Cpl everyone he meets.
Kelvin (HQ Company) Medical Orderly NCO. The whole
circus ran on a two-hourly rotation throughout the day, Driver / Op: Strides along behind , manages a
its creaky wheels being oiled by Cpl Turner (A 'morning' grunt to other radio operators.
Company) and Cpl Butticombe (C Company) who
between them managed to keep the show on the road. CO : Approaches five bar gate, vaults over and carries
on .
Our cook, Cpl Foster (WRAC) turned out an excellent
meal in the evening assisted by one of the recruits from Driver / Op: Approaches same gate, gets leg up for
B Company who turned out to be ex-ACC. The bar was vault, thinks about it, opens gate and walks through .
opened by Cpl Hill in the evening so that the recruits
could have a chance to meet each other and swap CO : Jogs up hill , pauses at top to admire view.
experiences.
Driver / GO : Jogs up first ten feet, staggers up
We awoke early Sunday morning to find it snowing remainder , grateful to have made it, gasps for breath ,
heavily, but 'carrying-on-regardless', which seems to ignores view.
have been adopted as the weekend's motto, we took
them out on a 'short' run before breakfast around the CO : Wants to know where A Company is .
white and empty streets of Farnham .
Driver / Op : Still gasping for breath, tries to remember
They were then split into two Groups, the first their Call Sign Indicator, forgets his own .
undergoing interviews and the second going over an
indoor assault course at Buller Barracks . This took most CO : Still strides along , with cheerful 'good
of the morning and after lunch the recruits were assem- mornings'.
bled to be told what they would be doing with their
companies when they returned . The results were 61 Driver/ Op: Now wheezing slightly, snorts at other
passed, five to be accepted pending reports , and two radio ops .
failed . A high standard from a group who only two days
earlier were rounding off the week's work in preparation CO : Points out interesting nature and farmyard
for another Monday. sights .

SERF OR SERVANT! THE CO AND HIS DRIVER The Drive Back

by Cpl l R Taylor CO: Ensures Driver / Op has had enough sleep the
previous night, then drops off himself.
Driving to the exercise location :
Driver / Op: Keeps himself amused and awake by
The Drive Down thinking up dirty limericks.

CO : Knows exactly where he is going , can give Back at TAG

CO : Thanks Driver / Op , gives him his pistol , goes
home.

Driver / OP : Hands in or cleans, radios , ancillary items,
vehicle , weapons , other equipment, etc . Realises CO
forgot to give him his TATCO wallet back. Finishes
weekend by realising he has bluffed his way through yet
again!

40

DEPOT THE QUEENS DIVISION

lt seems astonishing but we appear to have won , or at Depot Passi ng Out Parade ,.
least held our own, in the battle of the Inspector of the
Establishments . They came and we expected to be cut Lt Col Mike Constantine OBE. C02 QUEENS {top}
to pieces . However although we have taken some cas- presents the prize for the champion SLR shot to Pte
ualties we seem to have survived exceedingly well with M artin {the Depot CO . Lt Col Colin Wellwood RAF is on
only a few scratches, when seen in terms of the big the left} and {lower} seen afterwards with Pte Pope who
pi cture . won the prize for ' Most Improved at PT' and Pte Martin.

The pending battle had all the hallmarks of defeat.
Many predicted that the square wou ld be broken and
that we should fall at Bassingbourn .

However, with the ingredients of high morale sup-
ported by thorough briefings, the firing of manpower
and economic shots over open sights seem to have won
us the day . We may not have fought quite as gallantly
as those who fought against the spears of Cetewayo but
the nibs of the bureaucrats pens are just as deadly. The
square, however, has been partly broken and although
casua lty lists ca nnot be revealed before confirmation it
ca n be announced that we will be partly reinforced by a
21C of Headquarter Company.

The final stages of the countdown to the day when
the RITO reorganisation comes of age has already
started and, sad as many of us feel about it, we have
now allowed the gloom of the Groom Report develop-
ments to affect us . lt is after the summer block leave
period that our axis slightly changes and Pioneer recruit
training comes under our Divisional umbrella .

Currently th e mighty training conveyor-belt for ad ult
recruits is moving at full momentum . There are at
present 14 platoons under training and of these 136
recruits are badged Queen 's Regiment.

Almost overnight a com plex of new buildings has
broken the skyline as the new permanent staff accom-
modation nears com pletion . Th e accommodation is for
Cpls and below and rumour has it that it will be awarded
three star status, which should upset local hotels.

The new Regimental Association Life Membership
cards have been distributed to all members of the
permanent staff here and, if members were not aware
before , they certa inly are now that the ca rd w ill not
support a w ithdrawal of £50 from regimental fund s.

Lt Col Mike Consta ntin e visited the Depot when he
took the salute at Salerno Pl atoon 's Passing Our Parade
held on 4 April 1985. Lt Jonathon Powell was the
Parade Commander . Pte Martin , 1 QUEENS, received
the prize for the best shot on the SLR and Pte Pope,2
QU EE NS , collected the prize for t he most improved
recruit at PT.

We welcome back to the Depot, from temporary loan
with the 2nd Bn , W02 Cooper who is now fully
entren ched in the appointment of RQM S. Other recent
arrivals include, from the 1st Bn , Lt M J Brown , Lt J R J
Powell , W02 Hayward , Sgt McCulloch , Cpl Brown , Cpl
Cowley , Cpl Freman , Cpl Janes , Cpl Marks, Cp l
Warren , Cpl Welch and Cpl Burbridge and from the 2nd
Bn, Lt D Strutt, Cpl Marriott and Cpl Mu llins.

Soon to depart to a sunnier climate with the 1st Bn is
our Bandmaster, W01 Davis. We are beginning to
w ond er what we will do without him . He is be in g
replaced by W01 R J Fran cis who takes up the baton