March 1969

Vigilant is deadly against the heaviest tank yet has the mobility of a machine gun and the

readiness of a rifle.

Vigilant is the only man-portable anti-tank weapon capable of knocking out the most powerful

tank at 200 to 1500 yards range over a 340° arc of fire.

Vigilant has been tested and proved under all climatic conditions.

Vigilant is superior to any known comparable anti-tank weapon system.

Vigi Iant can be mounted on light reconnaissance vehicles, armoured cars or any tactical vehicles.

Vigilant is immune to all known electronic counter-measures.

Vigilant is easy to operate and control: inexperienced operators have frequently achieved hits

with their first training missiles.

Vigilant is in service with the armies of Great Britain, Finland, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

BRITISH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION

GUIDED WEAPONS DIVISION STEVENAGE WORKS HERTS

c:.wv ·u•

The Journal of
THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT

Vol. 3, No. 1 UNCONQUERED I SERVE March, 1969
Battle Honours to be borne on The Colours

Th e R egi.1nental Colour:
"Tangier, 1662·80," "Namur, 1695," "Gibraltar, 1704-5," "Blenheim.," "Ramillies," ''Ma.lplaquet," "DeL
tlngen," "Loulsburg," 41Guadaloupe, 1759," 11Quebec, 1759," "MartlnJque, 1762," "St. Lucla, 1778,"
"Serlngapatam," "Ma.ida," "Vlmlera," ''Corwma," "Douro,'' 14Talavera," ''Albuhera," "Almaraz,"
"Badajoz," "Salamanca," ''Vittoria," A14 ffghanistan, 1839," "Punnlar," "Moodkee," 41Sobraon," "lnkennan,"
"Sevastopol," "Lucknow," ''Taku Forts," HNew Zealand," "South Africa, 1879," "NUe, 1884-85," "Bunna,
1885-87," "Chitral," "Relief of Ladys mith," "Relief of Kimberley," "South Africa, 1899-1902," "Korea 1950-51."

T h e Qtt. een )s Colour:
14MOns," UM.arne, 1914-18," "Alsne, 1914," 'typres, 1914-15·17-18," ''Hlll 60," "Festubert, 1915," "Som.me,
1916, 18," "Albert, 1916, 18," 44Vlmy, 1917," "Cambrai, 1917, 18," "Hlndenburg Line," ''Italy, 191'7-18," '~ace­
donia, 1915-18," "Gallipoli, 1915," "Gaza," 4'Jerusalem," "Palestine, 191'7-18," ''])efence of Kut al Amara,"
"Mesopotamia, 1915-18," "N.W. Frontie r India, 1915, 1916-17," "Dunkirk, 1940," "Normandy Landing," "North
West Europe, 1940, 44-45," "Abyssinia, 1941," "Omars," "Alam el Halla," ''El Alamein," '~ngstop Hill,
UMS," "North Africa, 1940-43," "Sicily, 1943," "Sangro," "Salerno," "Anzlo," "Cassino," ''Italy, 1943-45,"
"Malaya, 1941-42," ''Malta, 19404.2," "Hong Kong," "Defence of Kohlma," "Burma, 1948-45."

ALLIED COLONELS-IN-CHIEF
His Majesty King Fred e rik IX, King of Denmark, K .G., G.C.B., G.C.V.O.

H e r Majesty Queen Jullana, Queen of the Netherlands

COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT
IJeuten.ant-General Sir Rtchard Craddock, K.B.E., C .B ., D .S.O.

DEPUTY COLONELS

Major-General F. J. C. Plggott, O.B., O.B.E., D.S.O. Brigadier R . E . Loder, O.B.E.

Major-General C. H. Tarver, C.B., C.B .E., D .S.O., D .L . Major-General C. M . M. 1\tan, C.B ., O.B.E ., M.C.

2

REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS
Howe Barracks, Canterbury, Kent. Telephone : Canterbury 65281.

Regimental Secretary: Major G. U. Weymouth, M.B.E.
R egimental Association Secretary: L t .-Col. F . W . Hann, O.B.E.

Regimental Recruiting Offi cer : Ma jor P. R. Swanson

REGULAR BATTALIONS

1st Battalion -Hobbs Barracks, Lingtleld.
2nd Battalion -Palace Barracks, Holywood, N. Ireland.
3rd Battalion
4th Battalion -B.F.P.O. U
-School of ln1antry, Warminster.

REGIMENTAL DEPOT

Commanding Officer: Lt.-Col. A. G. J on es.
Adjutant: Capt. J. G. Lofting.

Queen's Surreys Office: THE COUNTY OFFICES
Queen's Own Bulls Office: LCCMoto.al-l..jCoHForl...FWRE...aJGlG.dre.RanHce,eeoD,dllO.iL(s.B.Tt (e.(ETlT..e:,ell.DK.:: .iELnCd.g,hgsiJtcw.oPhnae.rse(6tT2e24er68l2.8):56)3C1a1,nteexrtb. u2r8y) 65281, ext. 61)
Royal SU8sex Office:
Middlesex Office:

1-'HE VOLUNTEER BATTALION
5th (Volunteer) Bn. -H .Q. : L eros T . & A.V.R . Centre, Sturry R oad, Canterbury.

CADRES

To be estab lished at:
6th Bn.: T . & A.V .R . Centre, Portsmouth Roa d , Kingsto n-upon -Tham es.
7th Bn.: T . & A.V.R. Centre, Shellons Street, Folk est on e.
8th Bn.: T . & A.V.R. Centre. Avebury Avenue, Tonbridge.
9th Bn. : T . & A .V.R. Centre, Seasid e, Eastbourn e.

lOth Bn.: T . & A.V.R. Centre, D ean sbrook Road, Edgware.
AFFILIATED UNITS OF THE CADET FORCE

TCSSADGRct.hreoCr.hdaeiv.oglFEmenoa.Srdglmt,mkeSlyaCicCuGnrohnnCalroSdnleaooecr'tmllsgeshleerComSg;bSooecaucln;h;rErhtyooiSBaIno;DoscrgltlhiKgbego(nhoih(oCngtTutlsagoa;runntsnRnettebeooCSrrnylboCcadluholGlgreoleGylrgoea)elrgW;m;;aem;SHmCetlmou.laFslrralJ)asyr;otrSepnhSrcTihnscheoha'orsSnopmocboolSh;lrlcolnGdh(MotGog•l·ioeCual(lliomHllSd(lmHoLcfeorhgaeislreoralhd;;ota)hlJS;m;eoHcrS)hhhWa;inoebrohaeCLRldir;tryd)oga;oagnlOnsfSebthtrtrSt.eeocSMrLrohscska'aohhwnooawlSAowr;eclos;nhTkoocShdeWeoc''esslhC;lJolSluooSlCcldlahcl;remdhoagoonRSeollEceel(h;e(liRSlgdolahaossHmnl;daSSSsmKwcgcchhhaiipcnooottehogooo))l'llns;;;;;
\Vilsons Grammar School.

A.C.F. Units/ Sub-Units

London: Cadet Bn. : 1st Cadet Bn. The Queen 's R egim ent (London A .C.F.).

Surrey: Cadet Bns.: 1st 2nd and 5th Cad et Ens., The Queen's Regiment (Surrey A.C.F .).

Kent: Cadet Bns. : 1st 2nd and 3rd Cadet Ens., The Queen's R egim ent (Kent A.C.F.).

Sussex: Cadet Coys.: No. 6 (Crawley) and Ma yfield College. 7 (Chichester), 8
Cadet Pis.: 3 (H astings), 4 (Lewes), am) , 14 (Bexhill),
Nos. 2 (Seaford a nd Newhaven), 11 (H orsham ), 13 (Shoreh Shoreham Gram-
(Crowborough), 10 (Eastbourne).
15 (Brighton) , 17 (Bognor R egis), 18 (Littl eh a mpton) , and

mar School.

Middlesex: Cadet Coys: No. 25 (2 Gp.), 194 to 196 (19 Gp.), 205 (20 Gp.), 211 (21 Gp.), 225, 226 (22 Gp.) .

3

ALLIANCES

(To be confirm ed )

CANADA
The Queen's York Range rs (1st American R egiment) (R.C.A.C.).
The South Alberta Light Horse.
50th Field Artillery Regiment (The Prince of Wales Rangers) (R.C.A.) ,
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada.
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment.
The Royal New Brunswick R egim ent (Carleton and York).
The Essex and Kent Scottish.

AUSTRALIA
The Royal New South Wales R egiment.
University of New South Wales R egiment.
The Royal W estern Australia R egiment.

NEW ZEALAND
2nd Battalion (Canterbury-Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast) Royal New Zealand Infantry R egiment.
5th Battalion (Wellington W est Coast and Taranaki) The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.

PAKISTAN
12th, 14th, 15th and 17th Battalions, The Punjab Regime nt.

SIERRA LEONE
The Royal Sierra Leone R egim ent.

ZAMBIA
The Zambia Regiment.

HONG KONG
The Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers).

Forecast of Events - 1969

April 8/ 9- Queen 's Surreys Golf Society Spring
!- Queen's Divisiona l Battle Camp opens at Meeting, Richmond.
W a rcop.
10/ 16-canterbury Cricket Tent Club-
19/ 2(}-Qu een 's Own Buffs Golfing Societ y K e nt v. Sussex (10th, 12th and 13th).
Spring Meeting, Sandwich . K ent v. West lndies (14th-16th)

23- YPRES DAY-1st Bn. 11- R oyal Sussex R egime ntal Association-
23-R oyal Sussex R egim e ntal Association---St. Aubers Ridge Parade, Willing don, East-
bourne.
George's Day S e r vice, Chi c h este r Cath e-
dral. 16-ALBUHERA DAY-2nd a nd 4th Bns .
26- Roya l Sussex R egime ntal Assoc iatio n- 17- 1st Bn. "At Home"-Dips lay and T attoo,
Annual General Meeting and Reunion
Dinner, Lewes. Ling fi eld .
3(}-Birthday of HM Queen Juliana, Allied 18- Royal Sussex R egim enta l Association-
Colonel-In-Chief.
Crick et v. Duke of Norfolk's XI, Arundel
May Cas tl e.
3-Queen's Surreys WO' a nd Sgts.' Associa- 21- 0fficers' Club Golf ~Ieeting , Ca.n terbur y
tion- AGM and Dinner . Golf Club.
3/ 1(}-Arm y Golfing Soc iety Spring Meeting, 22/ 23- Roya l Sussex Lun c h Clu b--Goodwood
Deal a nd Sandwich.
Races.
30/ 31-"G lo ri o u s First of June"-Cricket

Match v. HMS Excellent, P ortsmou th.
Queen's Own Buffs Golfing Society Match
v. R ye Golf C lub.

June August
!-GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE-1st Bn. 2/8--Cn n terbury Crick et T e nt Ciub-"Cante r-
10-Queen's Surreys Golf Society Match v. bury Week ."
Royal Marines, Richmond. 10- Queen's Own Buffs R egim ental Associa-
13-Queen's Surreys Officers' Club Cocktail tion- S erv ice of R em embrance- Cante r-
Party, London. hUJ'y .
13- Royal Sussex Officer s' Club Dinn er and 20-Royal Sussex Lunch Club- Royal Sussex
Buffet Luncheon Party, Brighton. Stakes, Goodwood.
14-H.M. The Queen 's Official Birthday. 29/ 30- Royal Sussex Lun ch Club- Goodwood
14-Queen 's Own Buffs Golfi n g Society Matc h Races.
v. Household Brigade Golfing Society,
New Zealand Golf Club. Septe mbe r
15---Qu een' s Surreys Regim e ntal Association 8--SEVASTOPOL DAY-2nd Bn.
Annual Cath e d ral S e rvice, Guildford.
28--Reglmental Cricket v . Ba nd of Brothers, 9- SALERNO DAY-1st Bn.
Canterbury.
Annual De pot Officers' Mess Cocktail 13- QUEBEC DAY-3rd Bn .
Party, Canterbury (open to m embers of 13-Royal Sussex Regimental Association-
The Officers' Club).
2!)-Reglmental Cricket v. Royal Anglian Cri ck et v. Sussex Martlets, Roussillon
Regiment, Canterbury, Barracks, Chich ester .
17/ 18-Royal Sussex Lun c h Club - Goodwood
July Races.
6-"0pe n Day" at the D e pot, Canterbury. 20-Queen 's Own Buffs Golfi n g Society
Autu mn Meeting, Littlestone Golf Club.
13-Qu een 's Own Buffs Golfing Society
Match v. Liphook Golf Club. October
3- Qu een 's Surr eys Officer s' C lub- Annua l
15---1 QUEENS Band to play at the Royal Dinne r, London .
Hospital, Chelsear---1600 hoW'S. 4- Qu een 's Su rreys WOs' and Sgts.' A ssocia-
tion- Dinner/ Dance.
20-Queen's Own Buffs Regimental Associa- 9/ 10-Queen 's Su rreys Golf Society Autumn
tion R emembrance Service and R eunion- Meeting, Richmond.
Maldstone .

26-Queen's Own Buffs Golfing Society
Match v. Northa nts Golf Clu b, Fleet.

29/ 1 Aug. -Royal Sussex Lunch Clu b- Goad -
wood Races.

~~""~~~~'')BY APPOI NTMFNT TO H ER MAJESTY THE QUEEN,

~~JGOLDSMITHS AND CROW N JEWELLERS, GARR ARD AND COMPANY UMITED

Silver Trophies

by GAR RAR D

The reputation which Garrard have achieved for sil ver
trophies is built upon long experience and craftsmanship
of the high est order.

Our pri ze-winning designe r, Mr. A. G . Styles, is fami-
liar with resea rch into local tradition, enabling him to
produce designs which are heraldicall y accurate and of
high artistic merit.

Designs and estimates are submitted witho ut charge
and experienced advice is freely available at yo ur request.

G A R RA R D The Crown Jewellers

112 REGENT STREET W 1 ·REGENT 7020

The Massey Ferguson National Award for Services to Un ited
Kingdom Agriculture. A growing plant between two cupped hands.

5

Editor : c 0 nt e nt s

Major G. U. Weymouth,
M.B.E . (Ret'd. )

Regimental Headquarters.
Howe Barracks.
Canterbury, Kent.

Cap Badge Forecast of Events Page
Collar Badge Editorial
1st Battali on 3/4
Button 2nd Battalion 6
3rd Battalion 7
4th Battalion 21
The Regimental Depot
Competition 29
Newsletter from H.Q. The Queen's Division 39
5th (Volunteer ) Bn. 53
6th (T erritorial ) Bn. 57
7th (T erritorial ) Bn. 60
8th (Territorial ) Bn. 61
Notices, etc. 64
Regimental Museum 65
London Gazette ... 66
Births, M arriages and Deaths 67/72
Obituaries ... 72
Presentation to Portuguese Military M useum 72
The Regimental Association 74
Around The Counties ... 77/ 79
79
Articles 85
87
" By Beetle to Blighty"
"An Innocent in Sweden" 81
"The Collector" 102
Journal Order Form 105
107

Printers : COVER PHOTO
Kentish Gazette.
Canterbury, Kent. Members of C Coy., 5 QUEENS (V)
in aggressive n100d !

6

THE JOURNAL OF THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT

EDITORIAL

Our Territorial Battalions

We note, with deepest regret, that our Territorial Battalions will cease to
exist-except in the form of small Cadres-on 31st March, 1969. Details of the new
Organisation can be seen in the 5th (V ) Battalion notes of this issue.

Battalion Moves
At the time that their notes were written, the 1st and 2nd Battalions believed

that their future included journeys to Cyprus ( 1st Bn.) and Sharjah-then Gibraltar
(2nd Bn. ) .

Our latest information, however, cancels all previous reports and, as this
Editorial goes to print, the form is:-

lst Bn.-Will go to Jamaica, for a six-days' exercise in September 1969.
(One platoon will be in Canada during this period ) .

2nd Bn.-Will remain in Northern Ireland .

For Command

We congratulate Maj. K . Dodson and Maj . B. A. M . Pielow, who have been
selected to command 2 and 4 QUEENS, respectively, in March, 1970.

Deputy Colonels

We are very sorry to have to say farewell to Maj . Gen. F. J. C. Piggott, who

has decided, for medical reasons, to resign his appointment as a Deputy Colonel.
At the last Meeting of the Regimental Committee, the relevant Minute reads :
"The Chairman accepted General Piggott's request with the deepest regret
and the Committee also expressed their great sorrow in losing such a
staunch Member of the Regimental hierarchy.
All expressed their sincere appreciation for all General Piggott had done
for the Queen's Surreys as their Colonel, and subsequently for the Regiment,
and wished him God-speed."
General Piggott's successor will be announced as soon as HM The Queen has

signified her approval.

Regimental Colonel

Col. Douglas Snowdon, who has handled affairs at Regi mental Headquarters
for practically the whole period since the Regiment was formed, leaves us on 31st
March. The appointment of Regimental Colonel now lapses as part of the develop-
ment of the Divisional concept, and the Regimental Secretary will endeavour to take
over as the principal "staff wallah" to the Colonel of The Regiment.

Colonel and Mrs. Snowdon will be greatly missed and we all wish them, and
their family, every happiness when they move, in April, to their own home in Wiltshire.

7

REGULAR BATTALIONS

The l st Battalion

CO: Lt.-Col. H . C. Millman; 2IC: Maj . M . F. nothing more imaginative to put in the training
Reynolds; Adjt: Capt. G. B. Bateman; RSM : WOI progran1me.

L . Wilson. Some, g leefull y, took the opportunity to in-
dulge in the art of "f a n-watch ing"-so energetic-
Editorial a lly fou g ht in the preceding nine months-while
others, masochistic to the end, took to the oceans
B AHREIN and the hot sun are but a memory on dhow trips.
as we settle into the routine of soldiering in
England. We re-formed on 2nd January after six The ever-increasing flow of white-bodied men
weeks' well-earned leave and found we were from Eng land prompted a certain amount of
responsible to about as many different head- "panic-tanning" and the swimming pool was k ept
quarters as we had staff officers in the Gulf. The open beyond its n ormal c los ing date . F or those
first 10 days were spent sorting ourselves out and who could still bear the s ig ht of sand , "Thomp-
our introduction to the training year will be two son 's beach" became a favou rite h a unt, a nd
weeks at Otterburn in March. Before that, how- "Bapco beach" passes were in g reat d emand .
ever, we will have completed Continuation, NCO,
Signals, Range Coaching and NBC Cadres, Stran ge ly, there was little open expression of
carried out a battalion night exercise, and had ioy whe n the evacuation began in earnest on l Oth
HQ and Support Coys. away at the Hythe ranges Nove mbe r. Those who were go ing were down-
for a week each. hearted with cramped transit accommodation, the
handing-over of much-loved company pets a nd
Th e ~~management" has cha nged si n ce th e thought of H .M . Customs a nd Exc ise at the
Bahrein in tha t the 2IC, Maj. P epperall, a nd Adjt, other end. D e monstrations were limited to a half-
Capt. Ward, have both left on posting to BAOR. h eart ed "Y a-hoo ," as the buses passed the Guard
A more fundamental change, however, has been Room for the last tim e . Those who r e maine d had
in the organisation of the battalion itself. The s till g-ot up to t e n d ays to do, a nd the PRI can-
n eed to k eep specialist platoons at full strength t een had closed for the last time.
a nd lack of reinforcements, has regretfully forced
us to disband C Coy. To gain maximum flexibility Apart from various impromptu parties, the
and use of existing manpower, however, Com- messes changed their character as the newcomers
mand and Training Coy. has been formed , con- moved in, a nd the few that w er e left disappeared
sisting of the "sharp end" elements of HQ Coy. as often as they could a nd spent th eir days o n
a nd a large training cell ; t h e r est of H Q Coy. the b each with a bottle of beer a nd a sandwich
forms what is now called Admin Coy. With this lun c h .
"new look" we anticipate a full and fruitful year.
To those w h o do n ot know Bahre in, it may
THE FINAL DAYS IN BAHREIN sound like an idyllic few weeks, but the curious
mixture of sadness at leaving our well-tended
It took a long time to discover exactly how gard en s, a nd frustration with n ot being able to
a nd w h e n the battalion was going to get back get home earlie r, detracted from the advantages
from Bahre in. The RAF had assumed respon- of our sun-soaked desert paradise .
sibility for all trooping flights, but with the
Qu een paying a State vis it to South America, The yearning to return to green grass, wind
they were a little short of aircraft. It w as eventu- and rain, seems to have worn off during six w eek s
a ll y disclosed that w e would move hom e between of leave, a nd the d ays whe n it was a lm ost too
the lOth a nd 20th of Nove mbe r. the a ircraft b ein g hot to walk to the office after lunc h h ave become
provided by the RAF and Caledonian Airways. a dre a m .

The exodus began with the arrival of 1 THE ADVANCE PARTY
Cheshires' a dvance party in the last week of
October , and the departure of ours a few days Amidst much h eckling from those less for-
earlie r. Within a w eek mos t of our equipment tun a t e, th e Advan ce Party le ft Bahre in on 16th
was h anded over, and w e h ad the problem of October . After a week's leave, it r eassembled (to
what to do, now that the painting and polishing Major R eynolds' g r eat r elief a nd n ot a few
was over. people's surpr ise) at W eeton Camp, Lancashire,
the h ome of the 1s t Bn. The C h eshire R e gt. The
It w as too late to start a n other epidemic of n ext fi ve d ays saw a fr e n zy of activity-cou nting,
"platoon projects," and the re was little incentive checking , packing, banding and load ing. For the
to improve the gard en s for the benefit of our drivers. h ea d ed by C / Sgt. Gardner at on e e nd and
su ccessors. Last minute shopping trips did not Cpl. "Topper" Brown at the other, it m eant a
attract mu ch support, a nd most peop le h a d visited minifl"lum of three or four journeys down the M6
local beauty spots, such as the Portuguese F ort, a nd Ml ; b etw een them they mus t have found
several times previously when there had been every poss ible crossing site over the Thames. A
few breakdowns, a Mobat wheel coming adrift
a nd a 3-hour wait f or p e trol at Li ch field we r e,
tha nk goodness. the worst incidents to re port.

For qu it e a few it was the ir first journey
north of the great river, but the land of "scouse"
seemPd friendly en ough , eve n if the weather was
not. The s ight of Blackpool in the pouring rain
and boarded-up for the winter is even more
depressing than Bournemouth-as one Queens-
m a n pointed out to the locals! However, the

8

A•rrivlng home c / o
(Och Aye!) Cale-
don lan A i r w a y s.
Ma.js. Wheele r a nd
P epperall. Lt. Mel-
lotte and Capt. Bur-

ton.

Cheshires had done their best to make our task the former R ear Party, under Maj. Abbott,
easy a nd by the end of the week even R QMS warded off a ll vis itors a nd som e of the m a il. The
Parke r h a d a sm ile on his face; e leven ra il way C. O. e m erged now a nd again from h is uleave
freight wagons w ere on their way-including one armchair" in Stratford House and wrote one or
nearly a ton overwe ight . It mus t h ave been two letters to our more pressing correspondents.
C/ Sgt. Allan's s ig n a l kit ! The n ew Adjutant, Capt. Bateman , arrived back
before Christmas and instantly upset the lady
The second and third weeks were devoted to typist, who gave in her notice.
reactivating Hobbs Barrack s, unde r the watchful
eyes of CSM's Lay and Steeles, a nd unpacking .A quiet Christmas was had by all, and the
those same wretched wagons. Everyone worked Advance P a rty returned from leave three days
with great spirit, though, know ing that if a ll before the battalion r easse mbled . Seve r a l p eople
could be completed by 17th November, they could arrived back before the due date, either fed up
go on leave with the last of the ma in body- n eed with leave or broke (or both!). E veryone was
a nyone have doubted ? back by 2nd Janua ry a nd the disbanded R ear
Party lis t e ned (en viously?) to t a les of Bithna,
Peace then returned to Hobbs Barracks and Dibbah a nd the rest.

9

REASSEMBLY AT LINGFIELD At the time of writing much has been done
to make the place more pleasing to the eye, more
F or those of us who crept surreptitiously workable and more habitable. For fear of yet
away from the airport to our leave a ddresses in a nother "ye1low note," one must add that much
mid-November the prospect of Lingfield in Janu- to be done ; nevertheless, odd happenings
ary seemed a far away dream. We knew that remains that the settling-in period is over. The
the Advance Party were alaving to get the com- indicate
aaaexdnemdWrciSinivstieesastrr' asaCtwnilvdiuenbgostrmnaieenisne,titinhntgweg.obprTteaohepzeeeornssoiegu. ntosTuihdotneefruetmthhebieseJrLtuoantmihboeber
plete barracks back to a habitable condition but Ranks Club, and finally, the RSM was (at the
we felt we could safely leave them to it and get
on with some rehabilitation. Those of us who,
perforce, had to call in at the barracks during
the leave period, did so furtively, making no un- time this was written) actually seated at the
n ecessary visit and pushing hard on the accelera- d esk in his office for a whole hour!
tor as we approached the Guard Room. (There
w er e even those who asked to have their t ele-
phones disconnected by the GPO!) A COMPANY

Nevertheless, the weeks passed inexorably, OC: Maj. M. J. Doyle; 2IC: Capt. S. J .
and 2nd January was on us in a flas h . For 500- Petzing; PI. Comds. : 2/ Lts. P . M. H. McGill and
oosinedfgtdttiensmofgouprloesf,rat1mtheseet cuJhanraneinf-uoiecarnarmcylosutrenefartp-eormrmesaekwnmetireotshdthabtnhatdhellesrt,ehtettrehireservtieibrenlelge-- N. P. R. Troup and Sgt. Creane; CSM: WOII
twins ...
Silverside; CQMS: C/ Sgt. Prior.

On brushing away the cobwebs from our At the end of the Bahrein tour, we con-
offices, two points manifested themselves without dfii nnoi cutetntarhd-becelodyys.wetchseoeonrcdebcteoaropi nkefierieindosadlt,bhyeos cfidoneertfixenetragr-tcaiont yhgt.ei mhCdeo.ecCckMioedyyio.nrtgeri no pgptohrheaye-l.
delay. The first was that whilst the Defence Esti-
mates may run into thousands of millions an-
nually, little if any of this amount is apportioned The company having turned teetotal (or so
to the heating of our offices. God! it was cold. CSM Silverside says), we returned by RAF
BLBO/rCiAtpaCln. n(ianaoftweowCUpKdl.a)yvsDiaienaCgrwylipaerlrul!s-tcroaonvneg1llr1eatdhtuilNnaotsivtoeynmlesbebtroy.
Reflecting back to the earlier departure from hIaorilnaetginmncjewueddtrna.hyatst,lIenonynda,'tdtnfuPaladtoyrotcenntP,sgaC.trfMhbpetCelese.rotfri.ooorLnkTrlce,aaranowmMwrdusraeipcennionmganvdcgteeaiyedirdnrd,eeojfnutatoaohsnrntettdhupitmenahcPiasoaprsturtaeenclp"siyttrnttroohyowmne.hniiosttMmEtheinsoaocotgnaunr.e"--r.t
tfho(iatuooerrwnae,rwfhweuaollellmbseaweistati,nsthdohaenendlmdypworraetoehnsehpiaenecdcigtoshnsnotpsa-foehtlcnoayhtuteiirtnolengsaosnnuooeptftihmtoeaheurisrpisonetrwiptmfaiaovbreneal)des-,
electric room heater.

The second point, brought home to us with-
out delay, was that whilst we may have been

idling away our time on leave, our Leader had W e shall be sorry to lose Sgt. Rogers, Cpl.
not. There were notes, notes and even more Green and L / Cpl. Parsons in the near future but
notes, couched in direct terms on yellow paper
covering every administrative aspect of the re- welcome a number of new faces, including Mr.
opening of the barracks- from Fire Orders to ill- McGill (from "the egg" to No. 1 PI.); Sgt. Tick-
d isciplined leaves lying around the place ; from ner, on promotion from C Coy.; Cpl. Collins , from
the refurbishm ent of the ill-equipped Dining R ecce Platoon; Cpl. Hinton, from the Intelligence
Room into a Butlin-type restaurant; to Sect .; and Cpls. Powell , Cooper and Hill, from the
Auto- Depot. It's very nice to see Sgt. Jamieson's smil-
ing face again back from sick leave after sus-
mobile Association advice on camp route-signing. taining a nastily br oken leg in Bahrein. One

A sigh , a fleeting vision of breakfast in bed face not seen around much any more is Mr.
three daily pape rs waiting to be r ead at Graham's; he is at present on a PT Course at
and Alder shot and is shortly to attend an Intelligence
leisure over hot coffee and toast, and a reaching
for the diary and telephone.
Course before leaving the Coy. to become Bn. IO.
It was as though the weeks of leave had
never been. After the comparative orderliness of Sgts. Lloyd and Gooden have left us-,Sgt.
the camp in Bahrein, so much needed to be done Lloyd preparing for his part in "Hair" (with
in so short a time. No sooner had one got to the Assault Pioneers) and Sgt. Gooden attending
a drill course before r eturning to B Coy.
grapple with a problem and tried to contact the
people to put it into effect, than it was half past wsqeuawCdpoln.adteGrrt?eheeTnhDihseeeaisodsta-aa1wn2a-wyAeefkCroocmyo.mdipteamnayollncsootrrmamtniooittn-,
four and time for the exodus of cars and coaches m ent for one Cpl. and seven soldiers.
to the regions of married quarters and homes.

Tempers became frayed, yellow notes ran into Ples. Wilson and Whetter are shortly joining
continuation sheets. N evertheles s, a miracle was tasehjhouxcayecaclsfoedcemeodaodmfrimnrboalmgiydnvuatgiMhttneiiegonmangjt.ei.rnnaDsTtdeo.tithhytWiiealsoethnsttaaiUoomltocnepk(a-arftlonMoepvd-lidiPbtdyedBea-rWdneCaeadpcdlcho.fwoarulaiGslolt)lelubadrhmzeaiesAielcnsfrsh-Caepwtnmoehidrylee--l.
taking place before our very eyes . Telephone not be here to blend with "Pink Blush"!
directories appeared to inform us how we could
actually get hold of k ey personalities. (But note
that two people of considerable influence re-
mained telephone-less for weeks-one still is!)

Signs appeared telling us we were going the
wrong way down a one-way street. After a
nomadic existence wandering from office to office,
someone, somewhere, decided after four days' Sadly, this piece of combat by our Company
Commander is amongst his last on behalf of
meandering that we could all stay put. the Company; he leaves in March when Maj.

The cookhouse and mess kitchens started the Hare takes over. Capt. P etzing is also due to go
time-honoured system of serving t hree ho t meals shortly and Capt. Tucker is earmarked to replace
a day. Television hire companies rushed hither him in the key appointment of Coy. 2IC. It may
coloured television sets. be of interest (especially to Capt. Wakely-late
and thither installing return we were actually 2IC A Coy.) that the account has n ever looked
Some time after our back since January, 1968.
invited to parade for pay!

10 us his premises, thought the next morning is
probably unprintable.
B COMPANY
OC: Maj. J. W . Francis; 2IC: Capt. P. A. Our last morning in Bahrein was spent on
Gray; PI. Comds.: Lt. R. M. McGhie, 2/Lts. J . P. the NAAFI verandah whilst the lines were
J . Blatch and P. R. P. Swanson; CSM: WOH handed over to 1 Cheshires. Eventually at 2100
Rippon; CQMS: C/ Sgt. Young. hours we got to RAF Muharraq a nd flew at 2330
hours in a VC 10 to Lyneham .
The Coy. reassembled in Lingfield after long
leave with a few notable exceptions. After an Back at Lingfleld we are busy remembering
initial sorting out of kit and a fruitless search all that we learned in Bahrein and in playing
to find the C/Sgt.'s resident rats (which disposed games. Indeed, Cpls. Maye and Rundle a nd L / Cpl.
of a number of uniforms!) life began to take on Bream have been entertaining Crystal Palace
the n ew "Lingfield look." Several of our m embers Footba ll Club and playing footb a ll every after-
appeared with n ewly-acquired motor cars-some noon . Maj. Dav idson and CSM Warner h ave left
better than others! us. W e welcome CSM Anderson from HQ Coy.
and are waiting for Maj. Rixon to rejoin the
Cpl. Atkins and Pte. St. Martin are try ing battalion from HQ 2 Div. in BAOR. Cpl. Tickner
to educate 6 PI. with a variety of guitar janglings has gon e to A Coy. on promotion and we send
and by the tim e we have our Coy. party, we hope him our very best wishes and congratulations.
to have our own ''Group." Lt. Tuckwell has gone to the D epot.

The Coy. has undergone its final reorganisa- At present we are running continuation train-
tion under our new Commander, Maj. Francis. ing a nd at the end of F ebruary will be intro-
W e welcome 2/ Lt. Swanson into 6 PI. and Sgts. ducing the Queen's Own Hussars to the mysteries
Wharmby, Donnelly and Gooden to the Coy. W e of infantry skills.
also extend a hearty welcome to Lt. McGhie and
his PI. (our new 4 PI.). W e congratulate Ptes. Harvey, Ma rtin and
Tutty on their marriages and say farewell to
Congratulations to Sgt. Patterson on passing Cpl. Morris, L / Cpl. Bradley and Ftes. Riley,
his flying aptitude tests at Biggin Hill, on his Gerrard, Rice, Shorey and Law.
way to becoming a full-time uAerocrat."
SUPPORT COMPANY
We are now in the process. of shaking the
d esert out of our boots and once more getting OC: Maj. A. B. S. Faris; CSM: WOII D. L .
used to the joys and delights of soldiering in a Lay; CQMS: WOII M. F . Pearson; WTO : Lt.
so-called temperate climate. In the cold, rain M. J . A. Kealy; WTWO : Sgt. R. A . L ead er.
and mud, the plaintive cry is often h eard- "Oh,
for some sun"! The flies and discomfort are soon Since our last notes there have been two
forgotten and in retrospect Bahrein was not as major changes in the Company management:
bad as all that! Cyprus will make a very pleasant Maj. J . W . Francis has moved to B Coy. a nd CSM
trip; once more the sun and aquatic sports. Lea to the QM's Dept. as RQMS. We would like
to express our sincere thanks to both of them
Capt. Gray, we are happy to r eport, arrived for all they did for us in Bahrein and wish them
back in one piece after his trail-blazing venture; well in their new appointments.
his trip is reported in detail elsewhere in this
edition so we leave him to tell his own story; W e reassembled at Lingfield on 2nd January,
whether it is fact or fiction we are unable to 1969 (except for those who live in Ireland and
judge. Scotland, who were allowed an extra few days
leave!).
Finally, we say goodbye to Maj. Reynolds,
who has left for the "Kremlin" to assume the The first 10 days were completely taken up
post of Bn. 2IC. in moving our G 1098 Kit into our n ew platoon
stores and generally settling in.
C COMPANY
OC: Capt. T . L . Trotman; PI. Comds.: Lts. At the time of going to press, the whole com-
R. J. Coke-Smyth and R. M. McGhie ; CSM: WOII pany, less the Assa ult Pioneer Platoon, is down
Anderson; CQMS: C/Sgt. Carr. at St. Martin's Plain, Shorncliffe, for classifica-
tion and platoon training; late r in the year we
The last days in Bahrein were nothing if not hope to spend two months in Cyprus.
hectic. W e lost the final of the inter-company
football to A Coy. 2-3 after a really hard fight; Mortar PI.
it was 1-1 at full-time, but in extra tim e a private PI. Comd.: Lt. M. J . Jarratt; PI. Sgt.: Sgt. V.
battle between L /Cpl. Bream and Capt. Petzing
was won by the latter. (Rank has its privileges!) Ebbens.
D espite this, we won the battalion proficiency
shield for the best all-round company. With the taste of turkey and Christmas pud-
ding still on our lips, and much of the Christmas
A dhow "fishing" trip saw the Company afloat alcohol still in our veins, we reassembled at
in the Persian Gulf (and beer), in two vessels. Hobbs Barracks, little worse for wear. The first
Maj. Davidson, apparently tired of the beer on week everybody worked hard, drawing up, clean-
his dhow, swam across to the other one for a ing and sorting out equipment so that on the 13th
change of tipple, whilst Cpl. Rundle k ept every- we were able to start training ; a couple of trips
one amused with his own brand of humour. Very to the Pippingford Park training area and the
few fish were caught but the trip was, neverthe- use of 11Kealy's field" proved very useful a nd most
less, memorable. of the drills that had been forgotten have now
come back.
The final Company party was primarily for
presentations to Maj. Davidson and CSM Warner, W e now look forward to a period of "hard"
who have now left us for Oslo and HQ Coy. training so that we can take our place in the
respectively. Cpl. Rundle made the presentation battalion exercise to be held at Otterburn in
speech and the CSM replied-in verse. Songs of March.
various types were sung by CMS Warner, Cpl.
Wisden and Capt. Gray, and the party ended in W e said goodbye to Lt. Kealy who, with over
true Coy. style. What the char wallah, who loaned two years as Mortar PI. Comd., and before that
as a Sp . PI. Comd ., must surely have established
a record.

11

jsr bATIADON

cAT 1iO.ME
1J .MAY 1969

.HOB55 BARRAOO, LIN6f1EID, .SOAAtY
PROGRAMME

6~ &b61)~~u, ~'P~ for~\~ s\utk
~ ~ nt9~ ~~ ~wynz~

7_pin, <M~~~.

145-S..fSJlt~ Olt.Sa(e.

SAS J'~ fCoodUt: 'Tattoo.

P~arui~ ~~of~ Offlw:;' ~\£ ~· ~~

~ouk{ ~~ k1 ~ R6j'~'f'M(s «t ~ b~ )tw SU¥

nrut~ bl_s 10 M~~ oj ~' ~1~ ~tks_, wUl bt:- IOj- ).

12 Mathiot, Fleming, Taylor and (wh en we see him )
Moo re.
Anti-Tank PI.
PI. Comd.: Lt. R. T . W. Mellotte; PI. Sgt.: Although we are sorry to say goodbye to
Sgt. Terry (who goes to C Coy.), Pte. Corbin (to
Sgt. J. Edwards; Sect. Sgt.: Sgt. J. Walker. A Coy.) a nd Cpl Emmens, who goes to War-
The final month in Bahrein almost turned minster to take over the Demonstration Platoon,
we wish them a ll the best of luck .
into the 1968 Hamala Film Festiva l ; because of
the very early date of handing over kit, we had And so 1969 starts with a complete change
an enormous amount of time to fill in. As more round. Among other things, Wilkinson Sword
and more Mercian Bde. Cap Badges appeared, Edge razor blades should feel the pinch!
and the Birkenheadian brogue began to dominate
the air, so too did we get pushed increasingly Starting off with a long Cadre, to get every-
into our little corner of the camp; being Baggage one thinking on the same lines, we hope to be
Platoon, however, we also got to know a little able to put our new-found knowledge to use
corner of Muharraq pretty well. within the Battalion and not have to stagnate
on "odd jobs."
Back in Lingfield, we have a similar set-up
to that which we had before going to the Gulf; HQ COMPANY
in addition, we have a spacious new stores and OC: Maj. B. D . S. Burton; 2IC: Capt. A.
hope also for an AFV Room. Martin, MBE; QM: Capt. D. H . P . Fraser ; CSM:
WOII P. L . W arner ; CQMS: C/ Sgt. A. Butler.
Several new faces include L/ Cpls. Mathews With a slight sense of anti-climax we made
and Paterson, and Ptes. Sole, Mayley, Slight, ready for our departure to UK. The incinerator
Faulkner and Pajic (the last-named doesn't seem was kept going right through the night destroy-
to have been around much) . We shall shortly ing all those long-forgotten lette rs and fil es, and
lose Ptes. Weston and Chandler, who have opted the swimming bath was fully booked (for those
for civilian life and to whom we wish good luck. who could find the time, to acquire their panic
tans!).
Cpl. Patterson also goes after a long and Both the MTO and the QM were racing
active association within the Anti-Tanks; his against the clock to have all vehicles and stores
knowledge, experience and humour will be ready for hand over. In the m eanwhile the Com-
missed. pany Commander, now wearing his other hat
as Unit Emplaning Officer, had set up his "travel
As we write, Otterburn looms ever nearer agency" next door to the 2IC. Ably assisted by
during which we hope to fire some practice Cpl. Wright, L/ Cpl. Wolohan and others from
rounds and exercise in our primary role. the Bn. Orderly Room, he managed to fit 500
men into five aeroplanes and 500 seats. Any com-
Recce PI. plaints and the unfortunate individual went to
PI. Comd.: Lt. M . Hyatt; PI. Sgt.: Sgt. A . the bottom of the list!
On our return to Hobbs Barracks, it was
Woodhall. a case of finding out who had got lost between
After UEI and the Annual Admin., tim e Bahrein and UK, and also of finding our new
accommodation. Anyone wishing to visit us is
seemed to drag by very slowly. In October Sgt. advised to bring their own transport; our Com-
"Dave" Woodhall returned to England for a pany Office is seven minutes' walk from the
Drill Course, and Pte. "Ronnie" Johnston re- Guard Room!
turned with the Advance Party. Currently, the big battle is to k eep warm.
The CSM had to report the other day that the
For the rest of us there remained the prob- PT Staff were thinking of returning to Bahrein
lem of where to hide, but Mr. "Malcy" Hyatt for their leave.
came up with the idea of squash, and under his Now that we are reunited with the Band, we
"expert" guidance, we all quickly became en- hope those aspiring sportsmen will figure
thusiasts. prominently in the Company sports teams; the
MT have even renewed their challenge to the
On returning to England, we all went our Battalion hockey side.
various ways, except ''General" Irwin, who was W e would like to take this opportunity to say
undecided as to which way he was going to go! farewell to that well-known figure, CSM Ande r-
son, who is now residing in the comforts of
Whilst on leave, we all met up again to C Coy Office. To replace him we are all glad to
help Cpl. "Bas" Rawlings celebrate his wedding. see the smiling face of CSM "Jack" Warner.
It was not until we came back from leave that
Pte. "Ronnie" Johnston told us that he too had Signal PI.
got married; we wish both men and their wives RSO : Capt. R. P . Murphy; Sigs C/ Sgt: C/ Sgt.
all future happiness.
All an.
The last episode of the L /Cpl. "Jeffy-pies" ,.Where, oh where, is that lovely sun?" The
Paine saga revealed that h e was getting en-
gaged, but this was just a rumour and we now end of our Bahrein tour was preceded by a great
have to report that there is yet another "possi- deal of hard work, whilst C/ Sgt. Allan and ptes.
bility" in the offing. Cavanagh and Savage went with the advance
party to prepare our home-coming. ("I don't
On 2nd January, Cpl. "Alec" Howard, L /Cpl. reckon this advance party lark, you have to graft
"Rav" Barnes, ptes. "Bud" Tay lor and "Pete" too hard," says Ugg). The Platoon looked for-
Phillips joined us, and we bid farewell to Cpl. ward to seeing dear old Blighty once more ; the
"Roy" Collins (who joined A Coy.) and L/ Cpl. count down of "hours-to-do" on the island started
"Johnny" Playne; the latter is finished altogether four weeks before flight dates, a nd we were ver y
("at long last," he says) and is now off to New r e lieved when the Cheshires arrived to start their
Zealand to join his wife and young son. All the takeover . The day of our departure arrived and
best to him in his n ew life. was m et with very mixed feelings; although we
welcomed the return to UK, the majority felt just
Assault Pioneer PI. a little sad at leaving Hamala-"The Garden of
PI. Comd.: Sgt. Lloyd. the East."
We ended Bahrein with a good showing in

the Battalion Rifle Meeting; Pte. Corbin won the
individual Rifle Cup, whilst thr~e of the winning
Company Falling Plate team were Assault
Pion ee rs .

We now find ourselves transformed into vi"'
tually a new platoon; we w elcome Sgt. Lloyd,
L /Cpl. Reilly, Ptes. Gerrard, Groves, Shorey,

Now firmly settled in H obbs Barracks once 13
more we are at the moment, caught up in the
turmoil of UEI and preparation for our visit to Mason (from A Coy.) a nd wish them all every
Otterburn (what price S hawkah now ?) . We wel- s uccess in their new jobs. We say farewell ,
come Capt. Murphy (fresh from Hythe), Sgt. "thank you" and t he best of luck to Capt. F . W .
Bodkin, prepari ng for his RSI course, a nd ?te. L e Maitre (to Hong Kon g), Sgt. Budgeon to the
D epot, and Cpl. Owen, who went to the Mortar
Platoon.

Joint Service Ope ra,-
tlons in Bahrein,
with HMS B ernas-

ton.

Acknowledgement:
Joint PR Service,
HQ British F orces
Gu lf.

M.T. PI. BAND

MTO: Capt. F . B. Oram; MT Sgt: Sgt. Sam- Owing to expect ed and unexpected circum-
stances, we started the N ew Year with a band
brook. strength varying between 12 and 17. First of all
we welcomed back the dance band, who joined
When the advance party arrived in England us after their disembarkation leave (with the
and were going through Customs at Lyneham, we exception of Sgt. (Rocky) Rothwell-who im-
unde r stand that ?te . P et e Blanche, on being m ediate ly depart ed to Pirbright to furth er his
asked for nearly £10 in duty ch arges, enquired if knowledge in the field of "Square Bashing"). In
he could get a rebate; moreover Pte. Mick Sloan addition to this, 14 of our brightest (!) subjects
discover ed that the £50 h e was called upon t o left us for a month at sunny Brighton; we hope
pay could not be settled with £6 down and so they will r eturn enriched by the knowledge im-
much a w eek ! parted to them by the very patient RAEC.

Cpl. Eric Long, not content with MT work, W e were also struck by m easles, which im-
d ecided to join the "Overlanders" on their drive mobilised another six, reducing the band, on
back to Lingfie ld. They left Bahrein on 20th RSM's Parade, to a galla nt twelve.
Novembe r and after rumours of an unsuccessful
take-over bid for the Wailing W all (s ince d enied ), On a sadder note, we say farew ell to Bdsm.
we heard that Eric had somehow reached J erusa- David (Mac) Seal (redundant), after eight years
lem . "beneath the baton," and we wish him well in
civilian 1ife.
Congratulations to Cpl. "Topper " Brown, Ptes.
Mick and Chris Broad (our Platoon brothers), Con gratulations to the following on their
Tarn Crawford and Joe Cerullo on their recent promotions: L /C pl. Taffy Gardner to Cpl. and
marriages; may all their troubles soon be little Bdsm. P aul Beeson and Tony Kitcherside to
ones. Congratulations, too, to Pte. Mick Sloan and L /Cpl.
his wife, Janet, on the birth of their son, Jona-
than. DRUMS

On return to Hobbs Barrack s, we found the J a nuary has been, as usual, a quiet month
MT Office flooded, the workshop with its own for u s as fa r as engagements go, with RSM's
running water (through the roof ), and no lig hts . P a rades being our only work outside; but with
the absen ce of so m a ny of the band, it gave us a
However , we have now settled back into the chance to practise a few bugle marches for
old routine and are preparing for another UEI- future use.
our second In four months.

14

CONWAY WILLIAMS

THE MAYFAIR TAILOR

48 BROOK STREET. MAYFAIR, LONDON. W.l

(Opposite Clarldge's Hotel)
AND

39 LONDON ROAD, CAMBERLEY

Morning and Evening W ear, Court and Military Dress for all occas ion s
Hunting, Sports and Lounge Kits

ALL CLOTHS CUT BY EXPERT WEST END CUTI'ERS AND MADE E XCLUSI VEL Y
BY HAND IN OUR MAYFAIR WORKSHOPS B Y THE B EST ENGLISH T AILORS

REGIMENTAL TAILORS TO THE QUEEN 'S REGIMENT

Telephones: Telegrams:
01-629 - 0945 - CAMBERLEY 4098 "MILITAILA WESDO, L ONDON"

W e welcome to our ranks, from the 2nd Bn.- ing the pads in on the odd evening in order to
Cpl. Williams, from C Coy.-Dmr. Riley, from the r ender t hem eligible to contribute. So far, Messrs.
Otllcers' Mess-Dmr. Whyt e and from Canterbury Ewart a nd Reynolds have been caught by this
- Dmrs. Edwa rds, Horley, Havert, V e nce nt, Moor wizard ruse and w e hope to trap several more
and Downs. before this is published! The TV set is a great
success, although its location is a m atter for
Farewell and congratula tions to Sgt. Supple d iscussion ; w e think, however, that the Colonel
who has been appointed Drum Major at Shorn- m ight decide this issu e in his inimitable manner!
cliffe to the Junior I nfantrymen's Battalion ; a lso
farew ell and the best of luck to Dmr. Crozier, Our "Hello, Lingfleld" cocktail pa rty took
w ho has left us for civilian life. place on Friday, 7th February, and the absence
of r efusa ls from old friends was quite remark-
OFFICERS' MESS able-if a larming. Although we had what a mounts
PMC: Maj. A. B. S. Faris ; Mess Secretary : to local police protection on the n ight (in the
Capt. S. J . Petzing. form of the Chief Super, two Supers a nd one
W e might n eve r have been away! The Laird D et ective Chief Inspector) it had been decided
has r e-entered his shell (better known as Lower by the Managem ent that the "Cucumber Cock-
Stra tford House) a nd the r emaining four-eyed tail" (1967 vintage) wou ld not be r ep eated ;
Majors may be observed in the Mess a t lunch- straight drinks were the order of the day.
tim e sipping s m a ll b eers or smaller glasses of
sh e rry, to the astonishm ent of those s ubalte rns On 29th January we "dined out" Maj. Smart
who were in Bahrein. (our d ental otllcer ) at a luncheon, after she had
A rumbustious Dinner Night was enjoyed by very kindly invited us to drinks beforehand. By
all on 23rd January when Majors P e ppe r a ll and some h a ppy coinciden ce, J enny the Tooth has
Abbott were dined out a nd Capt. (Gae li c Coffee) drilled us both in Munste r and L ingfleld-an d
Digges (the Doctor) and Messrs. Swanson and some of us even in Colch est er as w ell; w e wish
McGill were dined in. Pronto's enjoyment of the her a happy retirem ent in Rinteln with her
evening was slightly marred by a coll ision with husband.
a sofa playing front row. His ribs were so badly
damaged that, despite working manfully through John Davidson h as a lr eady left for Oslo and
th e n ext morning, he coll a psed before the cross- other s, due to leave in the n ear future, include
country run in the afternoon; however, he h ad Mike Doyle for JSSC, and Stephen P etzing (like
finish ed the course on the previous Friday- a lamb in dragon's clothing) to 1st Bn. T h e
something Maj. Doyle has yet to look forward to Queen 's Own Rifles of Canada in Vancouver.
(or indeed regret) a t the time of writing! Fra nk L e Maitre is off to Hong Kong to do some-
An acquisition worth m entioning is our thing clever and Tony Ward is battling with tact
monster colour t e levision set . Living-in officers and equanimity amongst the knotty "Q" prob-
bear the brunt of the cost, but are craftily invit- lems in HQ 1st Division at Verden, having pre-
sented the Mess with a very handsom e print on
leaving. Tony Ling is at present hurtling around
somewhere on a SAS course-his only worry, we

gathe r, is fit ness! Chris Tuckwe ll is now in struct- 15
ing at the D epot a nd (the little) Nigel Harris is
with the Army Youth T eam at Guildford. WOII (well d on e, Mick), C / Sgts. Dan Archer and
Alien Cau lkett, on their entry into the super tax
D ennis B urton, David Tucker and Bob bracket, a nd Sgt. Dave Tickner on joining the
McGhie have been promoted to the respective Mess.
ranks of Major, Captain and Lieutenant, to the
d e light of a ll those who were presen t to offer During the past few months S/ Sgt. Garry
congr atu la ti ons at the r ig ht time, ther eby nullify- Moody, ou r armourer, s lipped away to BAOR a nd
ing a ny possible financial advantage this month. Sgt. John Perryman is off shortly to Borden; Sgt.
Alan Bodkin has rejoined us from his tour at the
The Mess still provides over ha lf of the B n. Depot and is at the moment trying to sort out
H ock ey sid e, and with Messrs . Troup a nd Mellotte the mag ic of T.G. (True Galic) before going off
scampering briskly around the fie ld, the s ide t ha t to Warminster on a Signals Course. The stranger
beats u s will h ave t o get up very early in the in the Mess at the moment is S/Sgt. Sanders, our
morning! F earless Fou r-eyes Franc is is probably REME armourer; very few people have seen him ,
t h e only f aste r man we h ave in the d e f e nce. Our but neverthe less, "Welcome ."
8-1 d e feat in the fi r st round of the Army Hockey
C up is (possibly) reported elsewher e. "See t he RQMS." Easy to say, but impossible
to execute, for at the start of January we had
W e have a Mess membership of Piltdown two--or was it one-no, perhaps it was two. How-
Golf Club, w hich Mike Reynolds and Tim Trot- ever , now things seem a little more settled, with
man have also reconnoitred for several Officers' RQMS Syd Lea in the chair a nd RSM Ted (You
Stud y D ays-we hope. can have it) Parker w ith the 5th Bn. Best wishes
to both on their well deserved promotion.
At the moment there is one crusty old major
li v ing in the Mess-Brian Faris-who is fortun- SPORTING N OTES
ately being kept sweet by the good work in the General
catering d e partment. H e is sh ortly to be joined
by Mike Rixon-another one! Whilst there a re few of us who would ex-
change ou r pos ition at Lingfield for Hamal a
WOs' and Sgts' Mess Camp, it is a fact of life that, as regards sports
facilities, we were much better placed in Bahrein.
Z-0-0 -M! No, it's not a n ew wash ing powder, Nevertheless, the Hockey and Soccer officers h ave
but simply the noise from the Mess in Bahre in got off the g round at Lingfield, as will be seen
as members started to leave for UK on the 11th from their jottings. W e a lso have a flourishing
November. It was about this time that some Boxing Club and hope to r eport success in the
m embers d ecided that the place was not that bad coming months.
after a ll , a nd it was quite pitiful to see them
dragged away from our beautiful lake, w hi ch Bas k e tball
was, with its six canoes, situated at the end of Full advantage was tak en of the excell ent
the a nte-room. (The problem now is how to get
them away from the radiators at the end of the pitch at H a mala a nd matches were played right
morning tea break) . up to the end of our tour; the inter-company
competition was played off in November with
During the six week s' leave, the Mess was H Q (White) the wi nners a nd B Coy. runners-up.
re-united at the Christmas Draw, which took
place at Lingfteld on the 14th D ecember. This F our friendly matches were played off in
much-discussed event in fact started to get off January-all being won by the Battalion team-
the g r ound so m e four m onths before a nd 3,000 a nd we were g lad of the opportunity to limber up
miles away at Joe Bunyon's H oliday Camp, c/o. for more difficult opposition which surely awaits
The Gulf, with the selling of draw tickets. The us.
final result was a resounding success and much
is owed to CSM J ack W arn er, his committee and On 27th January the team , plus supporters,
Mess staff, a ll of w hom gave up th eir leave and were invited to watch t he USAF/UK champion-
put in som e really hard work. Probably one of ships at Ruislip and were suitably impressed by
the most pleasant things about a Christmas Draw the high stand ard of play. An invitation was a lso
in England is the fact that it en ables m embers extended to us to train with the Americans a nd
not serving with the B atta lion to attend. On t h e we sh a ll take full advantage of this gen e rous
14th we once again m et up with CSMs Bert offer.
Quickenden, Bill Warren , D ave (Ex C/Sgt.)
Wheek er and Fred (Ex Sgt.) Rickman . Hock ey
The Battalion team finished the Bahrein tour,
If it stands still, wallpaper it! If it moves,
exchange it! This just about sums up t he present playing two matches a week . We had concen-
fra me of mind of the RSM concerning the Mess trated on playing c iv ilian sides a nd as a result
building. Sgt. T erry Willmott (awaiting posting some r easonable h ock ey took place. Luckily for
to F a rnboroug h Experimenta l Establishment) is us, the weather began to cool down quite con-
busy tra nsforming wooden walls into brick, cart sid erably and those w ho suffered from corns did
wheels into ceiling la mps, radiator pipes into n ot fi nd it so h ard on their f eet.
creeping ivy, and at the same time trying to
bring some semblance of order from suggestions On our return to Lingfield, we went straight
a nd ideas from 90 per cent. of the Mess m embers. into the Army Cup, but were well beaten by the
However, the t ran sform ation goes well , and it Junior Infantry Battalion. Since then we have
would seem that the days of the cream-painted played and won (by 4-2) a game against 17 Train-
wall planks are numbered. ing Regiment f rom Woolwich.

At the time of w riting, we h ave Sgts. Manual, We are again able to play on the Crawley
Donnelly a nd Rothwell (under protest) and all-weath er hockey pitch, which delights the
Gooden attending the famou s "H air Styling a nd heart of those players of Eastern Fame.
F ootcare Course," c/o. The Brigade of Guards at
Pirbright. They a ll seem t o be taking th e course Maj. John Davidson, one of the "all stars,"
ve ry serious ly---Sgt. Donnelly is even h aving a h as left the Batt a lion for Norway and skis; we
h aircut a nd Sgt. Rothwell is cleaning his boots! are sorry to Jose him a nd h is place in the side
VVho 's n ext? w ill be hard to fi ll.

Con g r a tulations, goodbye a nd h ello ! (in that Soccer
order) t o CSM Mick P earson, on promotion to "Unfit," "Ungrassworthy" a nd "Unsk ilful"

were the criticisms levelled at the team after our
fi r st match on the t e mperame n tal English grass.
Con sequently, the soccer squad has been hard at
it training ever sin ce. The staff of Crystal Palace
Football Club have been most helpful by provid-

16

ing us w ith a trainer a nd playing their youth year's Army Champion ships, with Capt. Petzing
team against u s. T o r efute our critics, we e nte r ed a nd Lt. Me llotte in the open , a nd Cpl. Murphy
the Infantry Ch a llenge Cup and d efeated our first nPBgtoestt.hheMthaQedudfeeiernnst'satnwDdoivOins'aiDomwneydienrhtaihnveethIbneeteeSnrolrCdeoiperrrpess-'
opponents, 3 RRF, 4-1. W e n ow look forward to a nd
Cup .
further successes. senti
competition, which the Division won, and both
are A rm y 11A" Team p layers.
Squash

The court at Lingfleld is by no means good, Cross Country run has provided us
but is quite ad equat e for day-to-day play; it is The wee kl y Battalion Already some useful
constructed wood in an old shed and during a nd our fir st match,
our absence of Bahrein, has been repainted and with a spur in this field. saw us run out very
in talent has been determined
a gallery has been added . against Haybridge School,
comfo rtable w inners.
The Battalion is well represented in this

Exercise '' Christmas

Present'' by Capt. P . A. Gray

The Exercise "Christ-
mas Present" party.

Very soon after we arrived in Bahrein, we NwnsoocfueoohituvttehhIelamdteme rerMbroweaouiwrajdft,nseda!ulsoaesFbrnEerdacgoptaoihmrpsunuatrlnsodtiah(vnaeecginqddtodunoitwcpcfaoefkaoniravudtggeldleloeaatoftntfsTcenwgeruiortarwatarkonbtm-e<ettyaih>)noertgw,IhfCaewctOlnmholo.laordmOtaknnaeeuiipddnyrt
dtCnsTClehiiioradannialpsre.neintr-en.emMrirdtT,nuohigollwnae-tlntmhtehayraawwentRntedaoiHdsdutsitQogrshh.lcetodeuhrLuOsevlaasundennisenrddohygrotaIgFofnv,aaoienogtrtihdvhchasereeitannisrtvykiimeanoGlnaeuophenaluiaofyvnotrmetlfdyewsoidodfaAAutmyobrdpnseiervoniUeetlgrrinKodcttuaeohouannuaanrsdder-tt,
the end of our tour. given. the start, I was not k een to risk finding
From
three "cast" L and-Rovers in time for them to be

17

L"atEaCaHhnHNodgalainhoQelnordntgevn1egnesdslede,.aegahb-nCdemRnrai:eT:rhrauenbdsoheedepnodR,vsf1esu"nre·rhV,aaootareihmnblsgtrtl(oewedtyr1waa,iewernieetsolnCwhhrddsvuCueeoiheeerdcromelvthvdmmosiowrefvhrefmradiedotiwlovrnhiuraumeeeeyiitnal)rsvavdhdeinetpeolniahedrdtuSgtnfeoaoejrotemdbukoauceu,telBrrnevbIreemaiaeenwhsttthnn,apdsheoirdrto,yetimesuiedhuc.mueibatoernsgiSulnsa,vtl.golthyceoalCeaer,vgstanewcethatpeahoyioreeintpmwenny.gop.aawtPfrprtwytro1eTalheto9vatna1hhaetntia·nnedheeetr-l "gArirnsorro:boaauubadvbgtTaedeeehslhi",,n'ei'tgcsrwwaaafnafcbhlnosrkuedrssirtlbaetaop,efpuospttrartafhherlelwetacibbnaeocrgoomfus,unlitldvlywateeehn3sser0ecsdrt0risengibajonmoslaerthuidtrhlohaereofnk-suweeacgypntseoohrsmottagS"oaprrochooleoefikusntrrensaerD.dzwuuabgsnTeacTodiothnhbneanigdyeers-
asTwdswianrhede!odleetvl.rTsrseea,aJChbawetoahlhaynnrrr.ocsooedenoumqlugysuan)hoeltmtanrhi1ytse8olfyueb,afwgvoalhitorrlhdnlrcaeesgatrgnhmeesetsoehraiuleisnsstbdhluaiirsitnolosttdlfpuesatoJaedraamrsoghoener(rultikyonchemwudrypol-staouu.titpghrteuheerl,ias-aLtfeewnaadwlderl.
BCMaGPSF((Osstolaoaeaoeyrrtusfmmtdk.sTfbl)ad)eae;oihlnri!Caelo)g(yp(toL;n!,mAeot/oRkseCamwNMpsan)ophaali;mTeocludo.mkaelPtctCh)cJtehoea;oPo(rtisnPdthrmhi.aNpsoaneiionsodnsTopretdrlaJeeyumee(ydoldEnrr;)asigtgn)n"BeogC;QtWhtfyapCiM)RlrsSaj.ukCa"elosrewmprnHSthtvibl·hw.siauoTcoeraEt(elrn(erneDsCyrenhd'isrecienuityCYSdi!mJns)odtLoateeyseich(owa).lrOhnln);nm;atfgdf(lr,ooiWQJFtcCnsoemMrtttlehre(hhuysBs'dnaebsst-' twgrcbtbwwhhoareyaeeeeureisarnypnateSrrgedntiithetanoberhssidotrgrere.thetusahewIgbzpbcmhyooauwi-bepmasthphtiadiasirietlsen;tlrsaenlhr,osld.iu,etftabmnoprpauorfalieonsaemtbrardcaPralsae.telbaoehltltylsshrnheeottoseto.efivabcaaseIv,Hvauatnritrizrcyeaasrpraewnifateotnaheadcturtzetstaar,nit,peivhnrdt1wpoeaayi8fnrndhciotsoegthpirsacielmvfahcaottCaerhtchafmie-aeeinenanasrnPyogsngetsu,.euwadshrrfrlMrhsreyasaioeunfroadomrodros'ireesf-t-tt
self. va luable, even in England.
sa1sgIwtertaonioaaiditIlrmnnheneWg;d,sfwoaetuaeanbohrnynftvelrddesertypwdwrepehwoniWowtfcehtwmikeroeesew2rtdtck4movehstreueaohehhBptnooiai~pcultctnleshhwrse.fdaesstoraa. OjnrspovaTdonneahArhhrt,tbtiewi2ocynwb0uolagetdhrhsfoherrforooorieNu.mnwwtehtconwheSv1wsaeoetCwneumocChiintrctobehhtehslseselhreWfsboricharaovtewineecmers'ddkeerst mfoaonlleremstSihbthiasenitrrsalaoIzvosbeifaslaywra,olwuswaoronemdr(peaeacpnairp.ntmayTrepehufnaaorttwdul yanam)hdy.aey£vHs7eoonbmtwehe,meevoberprureeo,taosfcraaoeelmnrrmatoabfouoilsnsret
4,000 mi les ahead of us . buying them whisky!
o"tw(a5rfe2ikt1iuPTan-4aelgw8llr6sectepnoapltBoapoykc.ilCitesam.;m,)l".italwhesoSssehfeoisrctrnrhhu:oeeoirnftweshrpmaehassoprotfioetrporerSagmohtorbioiaforaspnabDthzlasyim.rwairupboesrurkeitltshthseieivsaeGsrunrateionhnawdest
\1sWtIvwto(dVee9orueuoaiaaeanphnrimmmnsnsepigWtcigioelallutstremeelnhl5eehcnse3eika,iarsws,dildremCItonoeoettrep·ca.rrur'arpxh\ol;nlvny..dwtfaha;wfaEns.adio,n!aglrgosw)lavside.ofncyeeodtHr)ofrrdL;it2ymmhornwo1oiiwawaaoenosvhndlnktergeilegnehyv?e'NtgashettlwaoosloratLfvho,oodvsepoaanasephronnhmtcstoeirkdwalceervtobi:lfha5do.enseeat0cdoeegrllh-rlthobycthomartaiaabovhamnodbcl.eaatepcd<celcrnca.eei,Chkodadapnwpwsb-iefnl.iulnteo.ebooehnntnnrwNLrcsecot)utoo;kouior((nrtwenttsur,tgahhehleat'nyd!aees-Iss nd awoke to
find VfrfVro'eomsctaomounrpewoduarttehrsaletcehnpaiiggnughltsb-naoegausrrbaylna,dsat icicles hang-
ing night in the

open, we decided!
Wwsgooeamrrlddedreoln(ovnsve)oe,wltyoaanmEndsoofssraqonhumaaemnse,ethtnhhiteseatlonorseliqxdcuteasbdtrraeipydow;glieotthshfei ewptlodohnwicdinnhs
has
the
a nd

En route for Lar,
during Ex. "Christ-
mas Present." Cpl.
Ste wart's vehicle
n egotiating one of

the many fords.

18 sk a-Gora a t the top of a steep pass. The roads
were we ll cleared a nd gritte d n orth of Belg r a d e.
a re sti ll in use. It is a touris t resort (the prices
reflect this) a nd a carpet centre; in the bazaar, W e s pent the nig ht a t a good hotel in Villach.
you can see peop le making them. The next day we drove across Austria, took our
cars by train through the tunnel a t Mallnitz, a nd
From Esfahan we drove to Tehran, via the then drove through m ost attractive country to
s m a ll town of Qum (Gh o m ) where there is a t h e <lldobahn s outh of Salzburg .
m agnificent mosq u e. It appeared to h ave a s ilver
surround to the m a in entra n ce, but unfortuna t ely, ADVENTURE TRAINING
we were re fu sed permission to photograph it.
(Top): Cpl. Rundle in Malaysia, en [umill e ! r
W e arrived in T ehra n a t a bout 11 o'clock on
a Thursd ay m orning (their Sa turday morning). (Lower ) : Ptes. John Fleming and Fred
lranian driving is dangerous to the point of Gould sightseeing in Iran.
lunacy and I was very g lad Mick Richards was
drivin g o ur car. Cp l. Stewart look e d quite s h a k e n
when we eventua lly arrived at the Embassy.

W e spent two expe n sive days in T e hra n . Fo r-
tuna tely, there are some reasonable hotels and
mine cost me 550 Ryals (about £3) a night , bed
a nd breakfast a nd m y room had a private bath-
l'oom.

The re is a good bazaar; the Golestan P a lace
ls we ll worth a visit a nd the selection of carpet s
js pa rticula rly fine, a lthoug h they do t end to be
more expensive than in Shiraz or Esfahan.

W e drove north-west from T eh ran along a
goodis h r oad through T abriz to the Turkish
border. As we climbed hig h er the countryside
became more interesting, even "Alpi ne like," with
small pastures between s t eep hills, f ast flowin g
s treams, cattle and even some trees. This part of
Ira n is large ly popul a t ed by the "Kurds, a nd we
saw many of the ho rses for wh ic h they a re
famous.

The change in scenery when we crossed into
Turkey was marked. The houses were immedi-
a te ly "European" and f ew v illages re li ed on the
mud brick s w hich were common in Ira n. How-
ever, the main road d eterio rated to s uch a n ex-
tent that it became little more tha n a farm track
jn places.

Eastern Turkey does not en courage the
traveller to linger, and we drove as quickly as we
could through E r zerum ("Alder shot on the top of
the Breacon Beacons"), over three passes (two
were above the snow line) a nd then d escended to
Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. The last pass
was at 6.000 feet, a nd the d escent from there was
through com plete ly diffe r ent countrys ide aga in.
Barren, snow-covered hills gave way to green
s m a llholdings, vege t a bles were grown , and small
farms were built into the sides of the steep
va1ley; it was a lso warmer a nd wetter.

Our drive a lon g the Black Sea coast to Sam-
s un was marred by rain and the bad road. H ow-
ever, turning inla nd aga in from Samsun we drove
a long a good road t o Ankara, a nd then by a nother
good one to I st a n buI.

In I st a nbul, the a ncient capital, there is more
"for sightseers, with th e Topkapi ( S e raglic) P a lace
Museum , the Blue Mosqu e and Saint Sophia
(o rigin a ll y a Byzantine Cathedral, then a mosque
a nd now a museum ) conveniently close together
in the old c ity; a ll these can be "done" in one
h ectic morning.

The t eam h ad a long a nd enjoyable nig ht out
j n Ista nbul ; tha t is, a ll except the lead e r , who
fell asleep in his hote l a nd didn't wake up in
tim e!

After that we had seven days t o get to Ant-
werp, from where we were going to cross the
C hannel to Marchwood by an LCT belonging to
the RCT. (I had arranged this indulgen ce pas-
sage through HQ BAOR (Transport Branch )).

W e, therefore, drove quickly through Greece
a nd Yugoslavia, where we had bad conditions,
with ice and hard-pack ed snow on the a utoport
south of Nis, and c rossed into Austria a t Kra n-

sttAhhahanwealtrftDweutretostrihovpeiif,AnirnneagadAncdhnwatethlalwtnehseneircninpgoh.oh1ro9rtHte,emhcelwsotrieulewdirtsoweac,crrreekyao!nsttosdoaIeoocdktchheoaGrxamdepneeemrnhnmhoosooadtiuuvnarerryts.eiaoaHmfnnlridoooswemriande- By Appoint ment lo 19
eCtblooveooennkardt,eordronatlkhtahTrf(eotrHeruorgoQ.shpmWA, adwterhvteeawhnweockneteiterdneldoBanuataetbsslHefeso)ertraooenafndptfautwalhtsreeeurawepnMedvlaoletvhrdyeaGimdnwrneoaeneblnrt-l
Her Majesty tile Que en

excelle nt eve ni ng. ~ The ,..,.p!Cit g..,l<

10 htod"'''"

tufiosenl d)2W,9oaendnda1ay8rwstr.hievnWeDtdeehcoaedmtmroebMveefrao,rrtcooChuwhrHorojioosbdutbmrsn(aneBsyealaerhraravavSceiok.nusWg,t hteLaaimhknaegpdn-- FOR --------~-----
cover ed a t ot a l dist a n ce of 4,948 miles.

The journey ha d its fru strating moments, INSPECTION
awstnelneaenvdpstestr,,cnlwoettapharaseesrnvsaeeoffotrtaeyrgert,hoifimninivnggeedtiwdoccaahebylenesatpmotafhufcihacccotehotrrec'fdsalusimnng.ip(nWsisnotpegome,cnepteoilvroawmennno.aulillIinnydt
Engla nd ) or in deserted buildings beside the road.
As we got nearer home , the standard of accom- You a re proba bly now wearing an H. J . S ervice
mod ation im p roved (as did the prices), but u ntil cap, the best quality ca p made today-bu t how are
we reached Ge rmany it w as a lways necessary to yo u 'hatted ' off-parad e? Ou r new full y illu strated
provide our own plugs for wash bas ins! broc hure for orde rin g by post shows our compre-
hensive range of hats a nd caps to s uit every
It was nonetheless a most interesting journey. occasion. S e nd for your fr ee copy by filling in the
opportunities for foreig n postings in the coupon below.
With get t ing fewer , the t welve of us were lucky
Army something of the M iddle East-something
to see
we m ay not be able t o do again.

R. SPENCE

& Co., Ltd. REGIMENTAL CAPMAKERS THE 'BURGHLE Y'
One o f out dul l
IRONMONGERS TO
putp ose felt hats.
YOUR REGIMENT In tough finish

Bto wn ot-Gteen.

Prico 90/- +7!- p .p.

RICHMOND Her~~~~~~=~:!:f.!

T elephon e : 2171/ 2 E st a bli sh ed 1788

Hardware for Camp Maintenance r - - - - - - - - .,Civiland Mll1tstyHattets.
Lawn Mowers and Garden Tools ~ 40a Londo n Road, Cambe rley. (Wed nesday,
Electric W ash in g Machines and C leaners afternoons on ly).
Bedsteads and Interior Spring Mattresses
Piesse send me 'The Complete Guide to Hesdwest'
Prams and Nursery Furniture
Glass and C hina I NAML_____________________________
I IADDRESS
*
L------- I~
CALOR GAS AGENTS

20

TO NORTHERN IRELAND!

Without a care- with or without a car. Thi s is the way to
travel to and from Northern Ireland.

LIVERPOOL- BELFAST Time-sav ing ARDROSSAN - BELFAST On ly
overnight service every week ni ght, 4* hours by the drive-through fe rry,
with Sunday sailings in summer. m .v. LI ON! Round tri p every week-
Two drive-on/ drive-off ferry ships day, with additional sailings, in-
with every comfort for the family. cl uding Su nd ays in summer. On
ordinary return tickets when 4
adults or the equivalent ( 2 chi ldre n

= 1 adult) accompany a car, the

drive r travels free !

BELFAST STEAMSHIP CO. LTD.

94 Hig h St reet, Belfast BTI 2 DH Tel: 0 23 2 -23 6 3 6 . Telex: 74451.

BURNS & LAIRD LINES LTD.

5 2 Rober tso n Str eet, Gl asgow C.2. Tel: 041 -CEN 6301. Telex: 778 11 5.

21

The 2nd Battalion

Bn. HQ Summer and autumn exercising over, we have
CO : Lt.-Col. A. W. Franklin; 2IC: Maj . B. D . settled dow n to a period of inten sive individual
training in preparation for our visit to Cyprus in
0 . Smith; Adjt.: Capt R. H . Whitty ; Adjt. (Desig- May. D ecember saw the Battalion on block leave;
nate): Capt. P. P. Critchley; IO: Lt. P. C. the a im was to get m ost of the bachelors h ome
Maclaren, QOR of C; RSM: WOI(RSM) W . A. to En g la nd for Christm as, leav ing the car e and
Histed; ORQMS: WOII D . T . Wilson. safety of Palace Barracks in the capable hands
of the 'm a rrieds.' This meant that our Regimental
Editorial Christmas festivities were somewhat curtailed,
but t he office rs', sergeants' and corporals' messes
T HE uncertainties of service life are well h eld their dances well before Christmas and an
known. The change of venue of our overseas excell ent Christm as lunch was served to the men
training from Persia to Canada was a case in before they left for England on leave. On 19th
point, and one had thought that one had become D ecember a strange peace descended over the
inured to such things . However, the fickle finger barracks.
of fate has struck once again for instead of an
unaccompanied nine months' tour in Sharjah in On 6th Janua ry, life started with a swi ng
February, 1970, we are now commined to a nine again. Trainin g cadres, some of which had begun
months' unaccompanied tour in Gibraltar start- in November, got go in g agai n; n ew ones started
ing in ea rly August this year. " Lucky creatu res" up. Companies polished up their individual skills
do we hear you say? We shall see. Once again and administration a nd a gen eral a ir of bu stle
the Banalion is to be split; two-thirds in Gib. and and purpose prevailed. Th e continu ity of training
the remainder in Northern Ireland. However, was varie d on two occasions w h e n we were re-
one thing is certain, we shall make the best of quired to find two Guards of Honour; the first
everything that Gibraltar has to offer. (on 3rd D ecember) was found by C Coy. for the
swearing in of Lord Grey of Naunton, GCMG,
KCVO, OBE, as the new Governor of Northern
Ireland , and the second was found by all com-
pani es (on 21s t January) for t h e opening of the
Winte r A ssizes in B elfas t.

Ther e have been ample opportunities for
s port, w h e n the w eathe r and state of th e pitch es
has pe rmitted it; particulars are described else-

Guard of Honour for His Excellency the Gove rnor of Northern Ireland. His Excellency is seen talldng
to L / Cpl. Mac k e nde r, of C Coy. 1\iaj_ M . R . M. Newall is on the le ft_
Photo: B elfast T elegraph Ltd.

22

wopfsapuahmrrreetreiace'dSuiaplniasongrrltayttiohntgehstsnhoeaGsereenef onoortuftser'oCs .fcahopTamrtvnh. oeeeGnressniotnroordogtfiuevtsgih-Sdoseiuinmzaepelprdosueovnfnsifnnk,ocoawretttis.ehcoeosdiesf, omtoeovnveeeemprsr.sobelieiWtasrshsiesw,toshifhwtehaeitrlhlferlboseoooscoohkotnsmsfiokpogrnarhwontawsyinr,dvacenhasdotntow'ttierynvadeeitenrrco,ianicdangkenodftchawlceiwhmirlehibttithiicrneehisgp-r.

Special mention must be made h ere of Maj. B COMANY
P et er L eigh , C/Sgts. Athawes a nd Simmons a nd
OC: Maj . I. D. Pybus MBE; 2IC: Capt. D . H .
~~~i~~r::~rsw:~is~r~h~~v~f at~~ ~ : r:r ~~ilfe~ A. Shephard : PI. Comds.: Lts. S. J . Elliott,
t2tBSRLawRwaoahh/nflsauitoieeLlef.tdntlylhlCtcwadevMaseoRs.aheliraums,anLreunnJdhoycaveirwteefledshi.lahlbuhttfaorSC.oietoS,nemaet1saI.tnonnLt9nKanhu6daJnaataoir7j.nepnlndsofseMataPdgaiynnBlsrrs,.ua,itetethAcnuciooCajdicwokodnuns.udiiut,rditnehMleilwrhandelgeCfitreidararhfncacoemeQeawCineluemvtawuaseaaRirwaeldneinLfeioewthanaardhPnxyeo.ndohn'otaasimweTearlhdlCrnoeihanOarMfeodxuseteevwclhg.;liAechhaeelhQnWoiegraltjCummynvaeoDReearieggymeenypeirerwMfpnnteyial.o'Cdisejedsoinostsllwofu,ci.MiyfOflotaoira1laaancWewio9mtrbniekgeem6mrlndredde2eeee. (detached Libya), R. M. M. Low a nd A. M. F .

J elf.

After the panic of October a nd November
cwitnhaitettochhprirentohlgsaept iuevcnpetuomopnfeeartmcwoeuuoscahwnedexneeekqresucd'iieseCedths ,rwai dsiDttmhmeicanteshimsetlberceaarhvt ieao.nlnacpeas enoddf

tour with us. sNalstttbeeoohuqcyvAapgccueevceeAenBeeptsliotFhcsonhetfahIseafuge.cfiorbnuntrrlThdwlogeeofhesanosiottdsiusnhhMfaratea-mhnpmontoecrhmuumuoeaecrwvrotnanhhirajedhieeponteoeeerBdnwMriaestje,oattyloaoahcirtynnu-tihebelsagneeopldetfgGlaxutwciaiacptrontitwefnopmmnisoldunelad;rpoepgrssnaa.ttwpntnhhntrhyhoooeooHceitiuiohlhrrshosgmsaeeeweothnCrlsmdectpwhvheeiprrseeoa,aoiertfsndrtotmmwohumactgoteothhahbperrsesdeeeesetet
h e ld as soon as finances permit.
Visitors

fhMoils.loSWfwtarieranewgwhseaovlvlnies,vitiOosbriBesteEnt,tooCvteoPhrmeaylmaBcagaenltatddaBelriaotr3onr9a, cwIaknnesfdl:.coBBBmdrreieigg.,.. the rMaHbmdhsmoeonaeyaosocedycurstcsnksh1csmtewe9,her(hy6e)eemt9,adlwhsaen.opeeaasdwsolngtiltlsTanno-udaoerrhtetmtqekptteeeurrrbredsuaroiylappyimgmfunefpbbtoniirae(eyesnsr5ddir,iaegn-net2duogri)anwhsu.nstgatrihpoodvtweThoAneCicrhtehrlthC6beisxehrntoespiihcseysuechht.nlsr,moJattpsBmtaovtaohghnuepsreuuaertagicaltndbnreoihryaataeeiryaldneveadencnveirewdwne.eeirngsdhoCotsonewofanrfrfchodhiSrcvattruoiwgehhvcaemttrheeeseel.,,
J. Pte. O'Brien performed a hat-trick.
on
P.

Hudson, MBE, our new Brigade Comma nd er.

A COMPANY

OC: Capt. J . E. Gerelli ; 2IC: Lt. C. H . St.
P e rry; PI. Comds.: Lt. P . M. Gwillia n and
John N. C. Cann ; CSM : WOn A . I . James.
2/ Lt.

W e held a 's m ok e r' in D ecembe r to w is h a
fo nd farewell to Maj. L eigh who is leaving u s to
return to 1Civvy street.' The company presented
him wi a silver ash t r ay, s uitably en g raved as has had less success though the
a m em th o of his stay w ith we would showed r emarkable spirit under the
en t u s, a nd Hock ey
like to wish him and his family every success team have
and futur e happin ess in their n ew life. leadership of 2/ Lt. J elf.

Farewell too to Pte. Erskine, departed to W e w e lcom e oth e r n ew arri vals from th e
civvy str eet, and welcome to Ptes. R am sbottom, Sgt. G!les, Pte Clark (79)-
Durlin g, D1 g by, W a lpole, Catten a nd Offer (the D epot, including (86)- Steel, Shaw and Goodah.
brother of Clark
latter from the P a rachute R egiment) .
In Janua r y, Sgt. L eiper and th e m en of the hl'weaaosvbe2b,/alLleasrton.' dTtlhaewrwfotee;wlmlianlilgesofsntaghrtohisuweniscdtmhomitlhCipneapglnc.yofaHmacfepetnaelnarenyyCd., hLrhritees.gtLumholaaawsrs
company were despatched to the Belfast docks
to loa d LSLs with eve ry conce ivab le store-th e
leftover s from E xer c ise "Swap." By a ll accounts, gon e to run a training camp in Libya and is
ciated by the "Senior due back in April. S g t s. Screen e and Sllate r h ave
their wor k was much appre ra ised eyebrows by left th e compa ny temporarily to h elp D (Trg)
S erv ice" and caused some ~<Never was so much
unionised dockside workers. Coy.
shifted by so few in so short a time." (Mrs.
Barbara Castle please note). Apart from these corn ings and goings, life
has been fa irly steady with only the occasional
oanf dthTdehiseccooAmv enprtaiinn-Tgyatanhrkae tPetInh.geaaygnedddidMnin'ot raktanrroefwPreI.istheealrellmcaaefndtertser cwwmtooeiaufsrerurhticsoafchprguioeepmmhtbaoanHsbbdeorfineonmaggukunCKcdthpholes.nodgPrme;oitpeueoaertinrmnn,deiean;fwaPtotehtiureoor.nalwMalttoioaelnlsrgitbhn-rmde,iilnpsewgtmahhnbohicemmiers

all. On 30th J a nuary the company left barracks to look after his kit!
ahtsifhtollialtirlthsnshoag;euyinnigewtigahg,itrnhumdatranneiaensxdnduiemdproacpafucilltsoyt,eelrdtwoo("famwbGshuerriucemcohmnhnuaecdscwhiiaogeaufrnassate1phld"pole)irbnbeitcglcnaooiilaontadhtdneeeedssddht.Aowvnnt(iehtWgerriyhbcimaeahtsssl,
next morning?!) The p rospects for 1969 h ave been rather un-
settled but a ll a r e now lookin g forward to pick ing
up a sun-tan in Cypru s in M ay a nd consolidat ing

it in Gib.

ocffftfihioolberaerreltsdyasAitafinfhfoltiilesreueidthdrnhtohbgeulwe,dfelrtaidGaoiclymklmoPsmehMbaaepaonGtvnahfdendewwSybtFerhvasliwleattrrialreonuyecalpgae;nhpr,baoatlnChBnctehctseaaioe.rsltcs!lreWyeooadGkfmieniuwnpdisanslaohtnahangiordanvylglsraihhasfnsbaionondevlu.gedelaeSadWvsMwintinahbGttoohygeet, C COMPANY
c lass ification a 11dOdd1 e ."
OC: Maj. M. R. M . Newall; 2IC: Capt. M.R.
With the warning for the move to Gibraltar, Butl er; PI. Comd s .: Lts. P. C. Cook a nd P . D.

M cL elland; CSM: WOn J . R. Barrell .

ddct uoourmwtni neSmesudatmaontnomddseteorhrmwehieanaMnstndoeonruroramcntaueadatslulrlfmeocosownr!metHdhporaovuenweserye vdt owtearryeab,sienohoiuifnadrvgal ee,dc;ovgmeswuenapettrtauldrneresedy-,

tc-nmtaiiLtrnsrhhuaiougiatmdnisstuamnlrotbineianpwne"StmaPhagrobsigabaeunopintorpttasrwiehehp.ycrcahleee"etefar"hrentIiru(ehiirrpetenspnr'ercsregtoauhrdwfboceeaUOeydtrgtietu.lsbhaKhs"bciyefit!ne.notiegriurA;omLtSshnnfiftomldtt.oraue-oortuiMnrospggtthfehcahirfisvLmiauosotneeeutmfosmrlnma.l,uoadcnoBniunPedontterdrhatniuleet,tifeatd.naetrtiPdhsrenesStiitteephfeolrfaa?.faiiotucnt)roUfhuSg,gealal,whtsaofnttttahnnuehgetenoedorr-rer 23
is now plann in g a trip to th e Him a layas.
FltEMLINS
GHoovnWeoruenrordhuaovrfiengNportorhtvehidepreendrioImdre;elnatnhdfeo, rfiwrstawts, ofcooGrmutamhreadnsndeeowdf
bgwiwLwitssiyooooeimtpnrduoMhdrdIslneodstaireanvnyjta.gio'rdbnwt,NahoogothweaaPuiuoawssntntlvoddea,otem.nhlfleew.eegiasfvwgieieneAvvhedhreewtrmanmgvtotMiioyntreshtlrdxihssbatgeh.eaetortaditonusMw(pgsoBeFtheannie1erianeg0leictfge0laham.d%gts-haSeotiM;ndennob),aa.tsofrlchtcaisthhfCeohhreeeeoraliHetrflonrhworgoew!riruMrsaissseHeltocelocuoemenlhbornrtaee-eeef-t I ELEPHANT'
by th e tim e we leave North e rn Ire land.
BEERS
put For would-be "beach assault landers"-don't
an 18 hp outboa rd motor o n your Landing The KENTISH BEER
a blizzard. The craft For t he QUEEN 'S REGIMENT
Craft a nd assault a beach in the survivors of the
only go at 3 m .p .h . and even to put in the final ENERGEN
sea pourney are too cold
assau lt . leaders in starch redu ced
siWtahyeognocootdhnbegyireratruteolcaeWtentOWpnroOWmnioltliioWanma. srWdwehaowndehraesCs/boSergertyn. and low sugar foods
Sm the com p a n y for two year s a nd w i sh him
to in HQ Coy. W e welcome WOn Barrel!. Our Crispbread - Rolls - Terms
Wheat Flakes - Jams & Marmalade
w ith
luck Non-Sugar Sweetener
WtirnhoecehkihsscaiglyiphmlafbcaaiernnedgwcoeewmxllpeeiestgrohtC,tyCaCppatplp.so.t.sBiWCutirtorlinietgcrhholftferyoa,AmnlddeajtuhvEteeatshnDutesertapfonoondtr,.
PDLCPt/apeeClrp.snpo.etl.B;lTl.lWauCntpWiocllre.he,se.MtStwePaa;eiyteelncrsaP,o.rmtdeTW,e.waooCiCurtoetrpr,rlb.,PePyTSiS,pttreiNocoru,kCuderOL,llasGnv(ewoewfnlraddotucmetphrypaaiitntsnh)tdde;; En erge n Food s Co. Ltd., Ashfo rd,
Ke n t
Swan.
Ashfo rd 11 80
D (Trg.) COMPANY

Lt. OC: Maj. J . B. Ray ; Training Subalterns:
P .C. Cook a nd 2/ Lt. J . G. Macwilliam; CSM:

won P . B is h op.

waJCmahRariapiiumentcrlfh.dukf1l.Fcoea9eof6rCordWb9ynuhtyc,hrerciestieuwers(crneCt"afosmenTisenrdChasag;ttseoftrortyacweoY.tpa)smnuee,udedladlraReeserdtsdct,eeitaotnudwarfgdmCntLh)eetdp/aihdnCclnesatho.spwlnlCl(cHsAiswa.ot6tudhnoitflrtCthrloceikaorhn,"eywuiJds.bpee)aaoardisnpngonauahmngfuarae(dntroBdriyt(tciaG.ialuodCnsrln2odiaTof4wwryfhtlti)anhoyene,
(H Q Coy.) on t heir promotion.

BT"affwWuoboigrenarareuoeicedtannSsttWepalpgidLfebrcobeeResunlelat"eslhttHyhCwftehorteaftoshlahaoumenuesiisanedcnprsctdsthliedrboiienelnoneintvgaftegghdehdbnritsaayeitethninEabwoegsdSrmrcxnogogresulosteuatdt,rpaa.shtwgcisctmteeihhmMtlsriiteewevncoorswcasgbis,eotalitoa'hrunsanceraBaltdkalblahrc.abalecragefrancodorrmoCtdooumrotosaylinmgcdneubdSht.bgoiroccneTjsrurhseFeteehttyatcdiheoesntltenheoeptlcuG.eidNpetsdmocaPCmwTerghM!aOaneeAhuhbkft's'Geodletssse.l,
some pretty lively "BHEs."

At the time of writing we a re running a
atGellrsatsidnoelgdIibeSroosalrdadise;pristrh'ineRsgeeftroceasSdhtreder.sCI,laaadstrtteefnboder.foaIrnewFheoeelbdkriunaagnrady

24 L e n Vicarey on his promotion and our far ewe lls
to Ptes. Davis and Evans (21) w ho transfe rred to
we ran two cadres , one for Section Command ers th e R CT . The MT Office is much quieter now that
and one for Sabulterns. The selected Privates' Sgt. (Cuddles) Marchant is on the MT Sgts.'
Cadre for promotion to L / Cp l. took place in course at Bordon.
March.
Our first accident of the N ew Y ear occurred
Pte. Wharram has completed his service and on 3rd F e bruary, wh en Pte. "Mafia" Hots ton
has left to take up inte rior decorating; a tangled with a car that jumped out and hit him
humorous and popular figur e, h e will be missed
and we wish him luck. ( ?).

"Time marches on" too for L / Cpl. T ed Owen, Many thanks go to the organisers of the MT
but no doubt the Company Commander will give Christmas Party which went off with a bang. Now
in and allow him to re-enlist. we are back into normal routine after the D ecem-
ber activities and looking forward to a fruitful
W e welcome 2/ Lt. Macwilliam and note that 1969.
h e does not possess a yellow Labrador.
Battalion Orderly Room
HQ COMPANY
Messr s. Fumble, Fiddle and Flap are g r a ftin g
OC: Mai. J . N. Shephard ; RSO : Capt. P. A. away as usua l, having kept the hive buzzing over
Gwilliam; RSO (Designate) : Capt. I. G. Baillie ; the Christmas period ; they are now experiencing
QM: Capt. (QM) G . V. I. Simpso n , MBE ; PRI: a bit of a change round.
Capt. (QM) W. C. Lynes; MTO: Capt. R. J .
Palmer; RMO : Capt. E. P . J . McGuinness, RAMC; Three immin ent d epartures from our midst-
Unit Paymaster : Lt. F . R . Watson, RAPC; that of the Adjutant, Capt. Whitty, Sgt. Dodger
RQMS : WOn B. R . Dunkeld; Bandmaster: WOI Green a nd Cpl. P ete Spice-gave us the excuse to
D . Game; Accommodation WO : WOn J . Porter; hold a sma ll party in the Holywood Branch of
Drum Major: Sgt. B. F. Lively. the British L egion on 29th January. It was a
family "do" attended by the wives, who also took
Slgna.ls PI. this opportunity to greet our Canadian exchange
A Signal Cadre, with 20 would-be signallers officer, Lt. Maclaren, and his wife, and L / Cpl.
Bill Thomas and his wife. Congratulations also
from the companies attending, started on 25th to L /Cpl. Paul Woodward on his r ecent promo-
November and lasted for a total of 12 weeks. tion; perhaps he will stop "monking" now.
The standard was encouraging and provided new
blood for the Signals Platoon. Who says miracles don't happen ? On 25th
January a vision was seen striding over the roads
The cadre covered all aspects of signals from Bangor to Hollywood - the Chief Clerk,
training and produced a considerable number of ORQMS Tug Wilson, doing his battle e ffici e n cy
good Grade 11 operators. If commenced with line tests!
instruction by Cpl. Anderson culminating in a
most enjoyable and interesting day-long exercise. Stop P>·ess. It's b ack! Sgt. Mick Manning has
At the same time intensive murse instruction was just arrived from Hythe to take over the chair
carried out by L / Cpls. Booker and Coppard. This of ORC. Belfast bookmaker s beware! L / Cpl. Barry
proved to be the most difficult part of the cadre Lawson has also just a rrived to take over as PMG
and 50% usually struggle to grasp this subject (Designate) from Cpl. P ete Spice.
(among them the Signals Officer (Designate)
who obviously d etests morse!); those who can SPORT
master the art, progress well.
Soccer
Since Christmas the cadre progressed through
voice procedure with Sgt. Relf and instruction The Battalion football team started well in
on all radio equipment from Cpl. Bowles. Short the Army Cup Preliminary Round by beating 1
exercises enabled classroom teaching to be put LI in November by 2-1 at Palace Barracks. This
into practice, with encouraging r esults. A five-day was a particularly good performance as it was
exercise preced ed the final testing. the first time the Battalion side had been together
since b efore Canada. In the first round (Decem-
S / Sgt. (demob happy) Athawes has been b e r) w e playe d 1 R . Anglian at hom e, which
keeping the detachments happy with short radio resulted in an exciting 1-1 draw at full time ; extra
exercises in which his quiz competitions have time was played and both teams scored two more
taxed not only their radio ability but also their goals, res ulting in a 3-3 draw. For the r e play, w e
general knowledge. had to make a quick dash to 1 R Anglians at
Catterick; this match was played in thick fog.
S / Sgt. Athawes and Cpl. Coppard are leaving The t eam captain, Cpl. Wood, had to le ave the
the Army with what one now should r egard as field after 10 minutes' play because of a pulled
a "cardboard bowler." Good luck to them both muscle and the substitute was also injured after
in whatever they decide to do in their r etirement a furthe r 10 minutes ; this, howe ve r, did not upset
and our thanks for a job well done. the side. Both t eams, having scored one goal
each, were still locked in battle until 10 minutes
Our congratulations to Cpls. Coppard and from time when 1 R. Anglian scored two quick
Anderson, and L / Cpl. Harris on their recent goals. W e had lost but had gained lots of ex-
promotion; the latter has given up the discomforts perience of Army football.
of a Land-Rove r for the luxury of a staff car-at
least until exercises come round again. W e sti ll h a d th e Infantry C up to play and
met 1 RHF on 5th F ebrua ry at Palace Barracks
In our next contribution, we will be able to for the first round . Though they had gained a
report on a company exercise in Scotland, um- big reputa tion, we managed to hold them for
piring of a Bde. exe rcise in England and the trip most of the game ; after a most exciting struggle,
to Cyprus.
howev e r, we lost, 2-0.
MT PI. The company t eams have been engaged in a
January saw the end of the first Driving
Battalion L eague in the Northern Ireland Minor
Cadre in Northern Ireland; twenty potential Units Competition. Afte r many h ard-fought games
drivers started the course in November, and of B Coy. cam e out \vinners, and went forward to
these, eighteen qualified. After a long struggle meet C Sqn. 4/7 DG at Palace Barracks in the
with their Company Commanders, who were most semi-final. The game was played in a mud bath
r eluctant to part with them, w e received four and our compan y w e r e soundly beaten 5-2.
drivers for the Platoon. (S ee picture on page 27) .
D espite our m eagre success this season w e
A big welcome back to the MTO after his have built up the nucleus of a sound Battalion
successful course at Bordon ; also to Sgt. Potts
after completing two years at the T & AVR side for next season.
Centre, Canterbury. Our congratulations to Cpl.

(Top): The Battalion Cross-country 25
Team. (Left to right): Back row:
2/ Lt. Cann, L / Cpl. Collins, Ptes. R esults so far fo r t he season are: v. Methodist
Wood Brown, Still, Henry, Franldin Co llege, draw 0-0; v. RUC, draw 1-1 ; v. Depot
and Cpl. Ollver; front row : Cpls. Royal Iri s h , won 2-1 ; v . M eth odist Co ll ege, won
Phlllips and Redman, Ptes. Clark 2-1.

and Scott. The players w h o have played for th e Battalion
t eam include: Majs. Shephard and Newall, Capts.
(Lower) : The Battalion Football C raft, RADC, Baillie and Whitty, L t. Cook , 2/ Lt.
Team. (Left to right) : Bacl< row: J e lf, C/Sgt. McGowan , Sgt. Boyne, C pl s. Spice and
Pte. Meah, Bdsm. Hopklns, Ptes. Thomas, L / Cpl. Campany, Ptes. Bailie a nd
Thomas and Vinnicombe; centre Kitch e n .
row: L / Cpl. Bussue, W.O.I Hlsted, Rugby Football
Cpl. Wood, Lt.-Col. A. W. Franklin,
Cpl. Anthony, L / Cpl.s Outram and Although the Battalion were unable to enter
Wakeling; front row: Ptes. O'Brie n, t h e Army Cup t his season, due to the exercise in
Canada at t h e beginning of the season, t h e
Simpson and Webb. enthusiasm and inte rest in t h e game has g rown
s ubstantia lly. Tho u g h t h e Battalion did run a XV
Hockey in Hong Kong, it was a lways of a somewh at
Th e Battalion Hockey s id e h a v e at last sc ratch nature, a nd little tim e was put in on
either physical or tactical training.
managed to play som e matches and after a
rath e r b e lated and ragged start, th e t eam is This season, due to a certain amount of fitn ess
beginning to settle down with the makings of a and skills training, the results achieved by a
good sid e. Our main concern at present is the relatively inexperienced s ide have been most en-
Army Cup Tournament in which we have success- couraging; in fact, it h as b een said that t h e side
fully overcome th e first hurdle by b eating th e this year is the best the Battalion h ave h ad
D epot Royal Irish Ranger s 2-1. s ince amalgamation .

So far the team is unbeaten , having won two Playing started seriously in November at the
matches and drawn two, but the problem in end of the "exercise season" and matches have
Ireland is to get matches played at all; the b een played on W edn esdays and Saturdays with
weather has upset many gam es a nd without an remarkable regularity! The W ednesday games are
a ll-weather pitch, w e are r educed to playing on against both civilian and service teams, when the
th e Drill Square-hazardous not only from the strongest s id e is fi elded ; t h e Saturday gam es a r e
playing surface point of view, but also from the mainly aga in st civilian (lower c lub ) s id es and a
RSM'S! Our next round in the Army Cup will composite 1st/2nd XV is selected. This has e n-
be against 1 LI and we a re hoping to do well and sured that all those k een to play, and of a
r each th e final of the Northern Ireland zon e reaso nable s tandard, get a t least one game p e r
of the tournament. week.

Clarke , Cpls. Rowney and Etherton,
L / C pl. Mills, Pte. Glanvllle, Cpl.
Whltehorne, L / Cp. Bell, Pte. Law-
re nce, 2/ Lt. McLelland. Front row
(left to right) : Pte. Reed. L / Cpls.
Thomas and Rus t, W .O .JI Barrell ,
Capt. Shephard, Lt. St. John P e rry,

L / Cpls. Coxan and Linscott.

26 a bly deputised in this position with a willingness
w hich dis r egards a n y sen se of pe rs ona l safe t y !
Som e of th e b est r esults this sea son have
been wins a ga in st th e 4/7 DG (18-3) , Lisburn Th e scrum has w ithout d oubt been h eld
Garrison (24-0) , a nd aga ins t a strong King's together by the experience a nd cunning of the
Scholars XV (11-9) . Our m a in s tre ngth h as b een front row, in which Cpls. Whitehorn and Rowney
outside the scrum , although w e have been most have s upported th e fast-s triking L /C pl. B ell. N ot
fortun a te to have an exceptionally hard-working to be outdon e by the threequa rters, this t rio
pack, ably led by WOII Barrel!. Runnin g th e ball have often ta ken pa rt in ha ndling movem ents
from all areas of the fi e ld have produce d m a n y much to th e a nnoyanc e of the threequa rte rs. Th e
s parkling tri es, with ofte n excelle nt inte r-passing second row has b een a n ev e r-c hang in g combina-
between backs and forwards a like. tion , with L /Cpl. Mills and Cpl. Etherton u sually
prov iding a good, if som ewhat immobile, powe r-
Certain players have progressed enormously house. Th e back row has also been a changing
this season , and th ey d ese rve s pec ial m e ntion s ce n e, with WOII B a rre l! and Pte. G la n v ille a s
along with those that have provided the vita l perman ent m embers, and eith er Pte. Lawrence
bas is of expe ri e nc e in th e s id e. Both w ing three- or L / Cpl. Clark making up th e trio. Much good
quarte rs, Pte. R eed and L /Cpl. Linscott, h ave h a d covering a nd ta ckling has been done by th ese
many a dazzling run and have rightly scored the m e n , esp e cia lly Pte. Gl a nvil! e, who has a lso pro-
majority of tries. L / Cpl. Coxan and Lt. McLelland v ide d our m a in jumper in the line-out.
have prov id ed th e n ec essa r y thrus t in the centre,
and the form er has scored a fair number of Without doubt this has been a highly success-
tries. At sta nd-off w e have been rather unset t led ful season so fa r , and it is hoped that we w ill
with L /Cpl. Rust switching occas ionally to full "cap" it by winning the Comma nd 7-a-sides in
back. Lt. St. John P erry at scrum half h as used Ma r ch.
his know-how and toughness to get us through
man y a scrape. When r equired , Pte. Pipe r has

Cross Country Th e firs t inte r-unit hurdl e to overc om e w as
Cross country running has provided the Bat- the Northern Ireland Cross Country Cha mpion-
ships on 1st F ebruary. The m eeting was sponsored
talion with its main sporting success in Army by the Battalion, and was run over the same
competitions so far this year. The season started course as that of the inter-company competition
with the Inter-Company Cross Country Cham-
pionship on 30th November last, run over a 6~ Ours elves, 1 LI and 4/7 DG w e r e th e three
mile course in the Holywood area . teams competing in the Major Units section and
each produced a team of ten, with eight runners
All th e hazards possible w er e experienc ed on to count.
this run, and H eartbreak Hill, (a hill of
frightening proportions, which had to be climbed Th e r e w e r e 100 runn e r s in the fi e ld ; th ey
in the first mile of the course) , really sorted out included L / Cpl. K ernaghan (T & AVR ), who is
th e fi eld. an Irish international runner and who has been
ove ra ll winn e r from 1965-68 inclus ive, and also
L / Cpl. Co!lins (C Coy.) pulled away from tn e som e ex-Army runne rs .
field with ease after the hill and won by over two
minutes from Ple. R eynolds (A Coy.); third was L / Cpl. K ernaghan won a g ain, a nd second and
Pte. Brown (B Coy.). These three won the third places (overall) also w ent to T & AVR
individual prizes. Each company had produced a runners. Fourth overall was a R egular Army
team of 20 of which th e first 12 hom e w e r e to Minor Units runn er and fifth was our L / Cp!.
score. A Coy. won the Challenge Cup by packing Co!lins, who won the prize for R egular Army
their 12 runn e rs into th e firs t thirty hom e, whils t Individual runner-up. L / Cpl. Col!ins is to be con-
C Coy. were runners up and B Coy. third .

NORTHERN ffiELAND CO~fAND CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
L / Cpl. Collins (All) coming out of the ruck at th e start of the race.

27

gratulated for a very creditable performance. 1 LI Tab le Tennis
won lhe Major Units team with ourselves coming
second . Both teams went on to compete in the winitht Th ehneiCnBeivairltetaSglueiorlvanrichemasaLtecaahgthupreli.avyiRneergsc.otarTdbhleetotceldnuanbtiespcwlalouynbs
W este rn Comma nd C hampionships.

8wCD(,Cleaa)rlP;reeIkly:nee,2d.11i,,v(bSCioLtdCi)tu/lph;lCal.pl1(lo6H.Rp,f l)eCa2;dcAo/milL1inia0tgn.,CnssoCPyo((at.ACfen.))ntw;.hHee7P(reA,etnBe)Prs;ay.2tte2t1.aFn9(ldCrB,iao)rnPn;oaktwnel1rdin.3un,nSn(3PcaBe0onl)rtetdh;s.t 4, lost 3.

respectiv e ly. wcTSWCfio/nhehneSnaaogglnmA-nrtwila.postlotwihWuonCnenlihaehntsalhtbaheaembevisdpeptpDsali;aeooonyiunuudgeapbrshsrholtPsensipsiatpegesrlCn.haethwtayeMsaenPirmnrdeustsndeeprsiPrtian.aotlthgyluenPe.psbiohieMenCnitirphnouisgaeamrnnrabmaQonyytdaIauhndnleleidede-sBrQfinveesTutcairmoedalnteebuieianbnealnngeesrl.
swee p- in the s umm e r Champions hips.
The W est er n Command C ross-Country Ch a m-
pionships were h eld at Lichfield on 5th F ebruary. of The Club will shortly be weakened by th e loss
R egular Army, Major and Minor units, Juniors Cpl. Courcha who has been the driving force
and indiv iduals
rac e over a 6~ were all combined into the one
mile course and again the re w ere
som e excell ent runn ers taking part.
for a num he r of years.
fairly Hat and eas il y
Th e course itself was was very fas t ind eed.
manipulated , but the pace

L / Cpl. Collins again ran well to finish seventh
overall, and the winning t eam and runners-up
w ere once more 1 LI and 2 QUEENS respectively.

WawBnreodoroewIdPn:nt;de7;i.3,v42Fi,3Ldr,u/PaCa2ntle/pkLl.l.pitSln.aCticCcolilalan;lmnign4nses4;;,4o52fP15t4ht,t,eh.aPPenSttdeecB. o.4atC9tHtt.tlhaaeCrlnikrporeeylns.;;pRe2r1cu8e8t,dnivmnPPeeattlreyens...

With these successes behind t hem , the team
went forward to complete in the Army finals at
Blackdown on 21st F ebruary, 1969.

Basketball

aaehenxnnapdtdseeBrrnheaaiaoedsdwnkcceaietvnhbioatlaaeislanalgndmqr ueiwsalieitteneacgsahaututohcecpec,hceoei nnsaUfsgsno,lidsrdtoieetbnrarealitbtsqtihlneueorgaualftgitohifhhnlyeilinoinnwtgBgghsiaenotglitevna.taelegWritaoahumnleeel
coming year .

at Several n ew players have bee n dis covere dw ho
an the end of th e present season will prove to be
Bu
asset to the Battalion - nam e ly : L / Cpl.
tcher, and Ptes. Brown, Beresford, Haley and

Saund e rs.

mbhreaaaflveltecrBehcdpeh.ssaam.sWms.SepOgdHitoI.oIcnpiKsvkW,ieilneaiaansvrnaedanr, enaxgdSiasignmCttgshes.aa(amdtKnwodeicecdoankaaratceaenh)r,neaoc1tnwa2hdpetpqaoubSiiaapnnlsiitlkfaslieenettdda-t
MajorDomo.

1wfi9na6as9lT,sahinlpesloatBhyaereetdtpNaraloeitorstenPhneatprleanldacyeIeirndeBlaa1tnrhrdeLaIcCMkohsinanmoo1nrp9ito1hU2nntFshihteisbpMrssuaearamcrnyhid-,,
1969.

Badminton

vhnmPiaiavegsyemhImdtbnbsaeteuserentrasneedhrsie,ptwrf oLeirintetsmh.keFBoe dpa.fg.edoRunmriT. dihnniWpnoetrgotaantccoshltonuiahncblnaye,ds RtnsorAooeefwscPsseoCitnolh,mdtneliayseenerBdtsbasaentabetdnuat hcltirlrouietetnboes-
wives and famili es as well .

The gymnasium has three courts marked out
and a ll are in use every practice night. The
r egula rs number about fifteen; add to that the THE MT CADRE
half-dozen wives and teenagers who turn up and (Top): A lesso n in Unit Recovery.
yo u can see that we can fi e ld a fairly u seful

team .

The ioHciunctQorlurtybphNrefeoopsrNreltahnoytethrertednshheBorIianwrttsetilnaIarlgnfieiodrlsanshtn.wodWuhmlideCcahhthecaxahmrvpeeepscuireoteltnncetsetodehnritedpliydnos (Lower): Bogged down! Cpl. Davis with his
against Land Rover.
a 10-2 v
a team Acknowledge ment : D over Express and
East K ent News.
and on
well.

28 EAST KENT
NEWS & PI CTURES
Stock Car Club
Stock car driving has now become a in the

r ecognised sport within the Battalion and has KENTISH
caught the imagination and inter est of a large GAZETTE
number of people. Reasonable success by Capt.
Gerelli and Cpl. Whitehorn in car number 252 EVERY
made people r ealise that it was not necessarily a FRIDAY
sport for experts and as a result, there are now
five cars being raced or built.

Pte. Wadey won a cup at Dunmore Park
on Boxing Day and Cpl. Whitehorn took the
chequered flag at Bangor.

W e race Formula II and production cars as
well, a nd Pte. Crack of B Coy. is very much to
the for e with a "hot" mini. The stock car s are
basically Ford 10, under 1200 cc with s ide valve
engines. Afte r r ebuilding, the cars bear little r e-
lation to their fo rmer selves; the addition of tw in
carburettors, s haved cylinder-head a nd lig ht
weight cam shaft, produce brake horse power far
in excess of that envisaged by the makers.

The new season opens during the first week in
March, when we hope to cover the fi eld fairly
well in both stock and production car events.
The U lster TV "Sportscast " showed a 10 minute
programme of the Battalion stock car club and the
Press have becom e most interested.

THE STOCK CAR CLUB

(Left to right): Ptes. Foster, Howe, Wadey, E llis, Sgt. Riddlesto ne-Holmes, Capt. Gerelli, Pte. Vinni-
combe, Cpl. Wbiteh orn, Ptes. Castle and Fearne.
Photo: Danny W ill ia m s.

29

The 3rd Battalion

Editorial and Irish Platoon. General de Gaulle took the
salute prior to the three-mile March Past, which
AT 4 o'clock on a bitterly cold winter's morn- itself was a lmost a tour of Paris. A thoroughly
enjoyable visit to a beautiful city was made
ing shortly before Christmas, units of 20 memorable by the hospitality of our . Fren!'h
Armoured Bde. were alerted for "Quick Train ." hosts, w hich inc lud ed plenty of free wme with
a ll m eals a nd coach tours around Pans.
Well before 6 o'clock, our armoured personnel
carriers were rattling along the cobbled streets of (See ph oto overleaf)
Around Christmas we have an Anglo-German
Lemgo on their way to practice hides. church service. With rubber boots and plastic
be lts g leaming, the Battalion quietly padd ed its
Three months previously Warsaw Pact way down the cobbled streets behmd the Band.
armies had swept in to rape a sleeping Czecho- A bewildered looking Burgemeister took the
slovakia, their soldiers expecting a hero's salute e n route.
welcome.
(See photo overleaf)
Later that morning, while hungry, unshaven The church was full. Both sides sang t heir
riflemen unloade d the ir vehi c les hav ing re turne d own na tion al hymns to common tunes. Our
to barracks, a c itizen of Le m go wrote to his local attach ed officers actuall y volunteer ed for the
paper compl a ining bitterly that his family were t h ree-mile m arch a nd enjoyed it too.
woken up yet again by the noise of the panzer
g renadiers being exercised throughout the nig ht. The FFR (Fit for Role) is a day-long affair .
As one young soldier put it, "700 Queen smen just If the Inspecting Officer wants to be particularly
love getting out of their beds a t 4 o'clock for a beastly h e has a parade (di smounte d , 1810 st y le).
pre-breakfast drive into the icy German country- W e had our FFR on 12th D ecember taken by the
s ide ." Just for the record, we would a lso like t o Commander, 20 Armoure d Bde., Brig. J . G . R .
a dd that most of our 259 wives a nd some of the Alien . W e h ad no pa ra de a nd were not even
429 c hildre n w e re also woken a nd many of the asked to spend a n hour in respirators (althoug h
children remain ed fretful for the r est of the day. the whole Battalion ha d gone through the gas
chamber the week before-always a tearful ex-
The 3rd Bn. is a sizeable community a nd well perien ce with these new irrita nts) .
loo k ed after by a large Station Staff, whom we
tend to take for g ra nted. Our doctor, dentist a nd P art two of the Annual Inspection is tbe
SSAFA S is t e r sh a r e a hyg ienic laby rinth of spot- UEI (unit equipment inspection), spread over
less rooms staffed by white-coated, educa ted three-four weeks. W e have 82 APCs, 79 assorted
assistants (gon e a re the days of pressed ganged A a nd B vehicles, 203 radios in addition to our
rifl e m e n dressed in <it~l ims ). W e h ave a s m a ll , wide ra nge of over 970 modern weapons. Drivers
but well-used library, and a n Edu cation Officer, a nd our excell ent REME mechanics put in long
who with his s uba ltern volunteers, using old- hours of work to satisfy the vehicle examiners,
fas hione d m e thods backed up by military disci- whilst our s igna lle rs a nd riflemen got o n with
pline, churns out ACE Ills on a conveyor belt overhauling, cleaning and checking our other
system that could well be a dopted by local edu- complex equipment. And let 's not forget the
cation authorities. Younger relations are more Orderly Room a nd Pay Staff- those quiet back-
progressively taught a t our own BFES School , room boys, whose records a re a lso inspect ed . In
whilst our youngest scholars are made to work 1968 they published over 10,000 P a rt II and Ill
in our kindergarten. A helpful MPBW staff, under casu a lties that e n able d some DM 3,630,227 to be
Mr. Richardson, distribute self-help kit, as they pa id out in cash , and handled petrol coupons
never have any money to spend on the barrack s a m ounting to DM 35,386-that's over two million
themselves. Our BIA listens politely to house- miles of private m otoring. 1,500 warrants were
proud wives, quote a ntiqua t ed regula tions, a nd issu ed a nd 25 people were flown hom e f o r com-
say "NO! " Our NAFFI has improved, but the passionate r eason s. Y es, 1968 was a good year-
staff sti ll ha ve to put up with m a ny trivial com- 52 babies were born to Queensmen, that is on e
plaints. To complete the Station roundup, we for every five married men!
h ave our own AKC Cinema, and WVS Club,
w h ere you a re assure d of a friendly welcome The individual leave season started again
from Miss 11Pem" P e mberton . Fina lly , we would the week before Christmas. During the last six
like to mention our German Staff, particularly months, n early 700 m en h ave been sent on three
H e rr Helmut, Herr Z eeb e r, Frau Ruth Selbucher weeks' leave, of which 140 fl ew back to spend
and Fraulein Gerda K ampel, whose assistan ce in Christmas in the UK. No doubt they had a great
the fi eld of A nglo-Ge rm a n relations is greatly time-so did those that remained (well, at least
ap preciated . they ha d a beery one)-Company Clubs made
record t akings. The cooks put on the traditional
Besides 41 Qui ck Trains,' ' ino cula t ion s, fillings , feast in the Dining H all whilst the Band could
edu cation a nd the nightly film show, it is sur- just be h eard a bove the exuberant babble of well
prising how much we manage to fit in each g inne d "waite rs" and junior ranks. An All-Ranks'
winter. D a n ce, Amateur a nd Profession a l Variety Shows
a nd a Battalion Carol Service were h eld in the
In November, a composite platoon from the gym. The Amateur Show produced the usual
Battalion took pa rt in the Paris celebrations t o hidden talent, and spoofed gently at authority,
m a rk the 50th a nniversary of the 1918 Armistice . whilst actor s a nd actr esses enjoyed themselves
For the 11th November Parade, contingents even more than the audience. The snow came on
formed up lining the Cours de Vincennes in the Boxing D ay, but not before the WOs and Ser-
order of entry in the First World W a r . Each
Ally was represented by a company; the British
Co mpa n y con s isted of an E n g lish, S cottish , Welsh

3(, During the last three month s we h ave said
cl/lt.{ wicdeTse hen to Maj . Nigel K n ocker a nd hi s
gean ts h ad beaten the Officers in the annual family who h ave moved t o HQ 2 Infa n try Bde.
Christmas hock ey match- thanks t o the potent in S h orncliffe, a nd Capt. L ew (E Type ) M ack en -
punch produced by their Mess Cate rer at half- zie a nd hi s fam il y, who r e turn ed to Canada a fte r
tim e. the ir two-year a ttachm e nt to t h e Battalion .
Majors B ill Wren , Pau l Cou rtenay a nd Peter
W e are now at the e nd of the cad re season . Johnson h ave been welcomed back into the fold ,
To carry out our ro le we n eed over 300 m e n a nd a lso 2/ Lts. John Salmo n and Philip Bell
trained as drive rs and/ or operators. This is a from RMA, Sandhurst.
tough training com mitment, and in add ition to
the many other infa ntry courses run a nnu a ll y. 1969 promises to be a noth er good year a nd
although we are n ot scheduled to move off to
~~ snow Qu een " courses last in g for two w eek s tra in in other la nds, no doubt a ll w ill e njoy the
at L enggries, in the Bavarian Alps, have been delights of Halte rn and Solta u as a w elcome
running s in ce January . Like last year, over 125 break from the swinging little town of Lemgo.
men will be given the opportunity to ski for a
nomina l charge, part paid for by the PR!.

(Top): The British Coy., with 3 QUEENS, r epr esenting the "English Pla toon," m a r c h pas t the
Saluting Base

(Lower): "A b e wilde red-lookin g Burgemeister tool< the Salute . . "
P hoto : E. C. Armees.

31

Letter From Lemgo

D ear Mum, just like the ad verts say, "IT'S A MAN'S LIFE
I N THE REGULAR ARMY." Anyhow, Mum, we
a nd then
som e very Senior Office r are n ow all so fit that
got a rush of blood t o thi s ve ry Senior
Officer sa id we
hi s h ead and d ecid ed could actually st ay in
that w e were not flt bed on Sundays till
enough, even thoug h we breakfast .
are a ll MECHANISED
rifle m e n and ride from your eve r
loving so n.
eve ryw he re, so we
were m ade to get up " QUEENSMAN."
every morning and do
B a ttle PT a t DAWN-

(Left): " Get up every morning and do Battle P.T. at DAWN"! (Centre): "This is me in m y new
s pecs . .." (Right): "Look-no hand s!"

A COMPANY The main part of the Christmas break w as
spent in the us ual way-a large number of solid
Ma j. N . B. Knock er ; Capt . D . A. Beveridge; and liquid "replens"; it was all most enjoyable.
WOII H a rt; C/ Sgt. Prince; Sgt. Turner; S/ Sgt.
Brie rley, REME ; 1 PI: 2/ Lt. B . D . Thompson, After Christmas w e sent two parties of
Sgt. L a wrence; 2 PI : 2/ Lt. T . C. Wilson , Sgt. soldiers down to Feldburg for skiing, a nd to
Oakley; 3 PI : 2/ Lt. H . M . Braithwaite, Sgt. Gar- make it more unusual, they had to hitch-hike
ton. there a nd back. Ma ny stories w ere told of these
a dventures-too many to allow us to print them,
Thanks to a lot of hard w ork by everyone- in fact. Suffice it to say that everyone made the
not least "Those Magnificent Men in their Fight- journey in very good tim e , a nd that '1apres-ski"
ing Machin es"-both the UEI and FFR w e nt w e ll. proved to be very popular.

Now, at last, w e could r elax, as the Christ- On a s lightly more seriou s note, w e have just
mas season got under way. The Battalion Vari ety complet ed a week's Winte r Training at Soltau.
Show gave us the e normous d e light of see ing There, night was turned into day (and vice
our CSM acting ( ?) the pa rt of a n "Ugly Siste r." versa)-very good value and it gave us all much
(W e understa nd that the show was rather short n eeded practice. It also proved that you can get
of make-up, and WOII H a rt was, therefore ,
chosen for the part!).

3:l h ave gai n ed their first s tripe-our congra tula tions
to the m a ll. W e h ave lost Cpl. Horne r to the
used to eating a main "lunch" m eal at midnight D epot , a nd Sgt . Paterson, Cpl. Cox, L / Cpl. M c-
and a titfln m eal at four in the morning. Leod, Ptes. Brown, Carter, W a tson and W ebb
have a ll go ne to HQ Coy. In r e turn we w elcom e
W e congratulate our Cross Country runners Sgt. Garton (cong r atula tions on his promotion ),
on doing so w ell in winning the Battalion Cup . L / Cpl. Whittington a nd Ptes. Dimond, Pitchforth,
Ma lon ey, Dowsett, Twiggs, Evans, Couper, Friend ,
The Laz y "A" has seen a lot of c hanges si n ce Davidson, Lee a nd Lloyd.
our last notes: L /Cpls. Macer, Pitchforth a nd Gill
have been promoted to Cpl., whilst Ptes. D a rragh ,
Dennis, Dickens, Guscott, Thomas and Toop

A Coy. ski-ing at Feldsberg und e r the direction
of the CSM, W.O.II Hart. "... Bend the lmee

and s how the moveme nt."

B COMPANY Stunt and Cli ve "Lofty" N ewham on be ing
a ppointed L/ Cpl.
Maj. J . M. H . Johnson, MBE ; Lt. D. K. Ross ;
WOII Morris; C/Sgt. Crick; Sgt. Roberts; S/ Sgt. We welcome 2/ Lt. J . A. B . Salmon from
Rose, REME; 5 PI: 2/ Lt. M. H . G . Pann ett, Sgt. Sandhurst, Sgt. Dave Robe rts, Cpl. Tom "Jock "
Charman; 6 PI: 2/ Lt. P . R. P . Howe, Sgt. Archer; Donnelly, L / Cpl. Dave Allaway a nd Ptes. Mar-
7 PI: 2/ Lt. J. A. B. Salmon, Sgt. Tonks. shall, Davies, Smythe, Golding and Dobie, a ll
from the D epot.
Our 2IC has been "promoted" to MTO, having
very successfully put the Company Fund back "Leaping Lemgo" has a new discotheque, and
into the BLACK, with a bar profit for the final sin ce the cl ub was rebuilt a poltergeist has
quarter of 27.2 per cent. Exit a lso our Sergeants moved in; it is a friendly fellow, so we have not
Three - John "Paddymack" McEniry, Dave yet asked the Padre to exorcise it. L/ Cpl. Derek
' 1Polly" Perkins and John "Smudger" Smith; our Cooper and a band of volunteers completed it in
best wishes for their tour of duty at Canterbury, three months at a cost of £150.
Horsham and Brighton respectively.
A short visit to Soltau, to practise the junior
Dave "Hanky" Tanks now wears three very NCOs in navigation and give the operators' and
white stripes. Con gratulations a lso to Bren W ebb drive rs' cadre practical experience in winte r con-
and Mick Salt on their promotion to Corporal, ditions, was a g r eat success. A 40 km. night
and Pete Botting, Mick Eastman, Mick Kane, Vie navigation exercise under filthy weather con-

33

B COY

(Top, left ): Our Club Bar, as seen
through the eyes of our polte rge is t!

(Centre, left) : A fe w of our drive rs
with 22 painte d in its n e w p s yc hed-
lie colours of green, black and grey.

(Lowe r , le ft ) : S / Sgt, Rose, Cpl.
K eech, Cfn. Mills and the ve r satile

Cfn. Clulow.

(Top , right): A01 man's life."

d itions took place on the feature less R E D area. A nd rew; 10 P i : 2/ L t. R. J . H ardin g, Sgt. Cat t;
Th e le ading t e am cam e in a t 03.00 hrs.; the last 11 P i : 2/L t . A. N . Arm it age-S m ith, S g t . Turner.
A P C r o lle d in a t dawn ; a ll t eam s h a d go t "l ost "
at one stage or anothe r. D u ring the past th ree m onths we, unfortun-
a t e ly, h a d t o say good bye t o Capt . L ew M ac-
Fina ll y, a word of th a nks f or th e exce ll e n t K e n zie, w ho r eturned t o Can a d a; C/ Sg t . H od ges
work carried o ut by S/S g t. R ose a nd hi s c rew in w h o jo in ed the civ ili a n s, a nd Sgt . Sh a r pe who is
" 28" throu g h out the yea r . No t onl y did they h e lp in te m po ra ry c harge of the cala boose.
us t o achieve a n excell e nt UEI repo rt, but a lso
a ve ry high se rv iceability rate for ou r APCs. W e we lcom e Capt. M ark T a r ver as 2IC, a nd
2/ L t. P hili p Be ll (w h o h as ye t to be seen f o r a n y
C COJ\IPANY len g th of t ime) a nd C/ Sgt. B utler, wh o is, no
M a j . W . N. W re n ; Cap t. M. R. Tarve r ; W OII doubt, g lad t o be back a t the sharp end!
W ood ; C/ Sgt. Butler ; Sgt. H a rris; S/ Sgt. H ous-
to n, REME ; 9 P i: 2/ L t. C. H. G . C h art er, Sgt M uch credit is d ue to the compa ny for t h e
ve r y fi n e r eports they achieved in the F F R a nd
UEI in November a nd D ecember.

34 Pan ama must learn tha t if you stick a knife in
your stomach you must expect some blood!
Apart from the norma l h eavy bill of m a inten-
a n ce, the company has, for the past few months, The Company has avai le d itse lf of a ll s kiing
been decimated and not really functioning other opportunities a nd apart from Pte . P a ntry breal<-
than as a n HQ ; t his was due to cad res, leave a nd ing his ankle, have escaped injury remarkably
the various winter s kiing h o lidays, cane d Exer- well. The last group went to Feldburg, where
c ise "Snow Queen ." 2/ Lt. Ch arter a nd Cpl. G il l found goi n g up hill on
skis (on the ski lift) just as difficult as coming
In th e sporting field we were runners-up in down; they eve n managed to fall off!
the inter-compan y boxing competition - loosing
by one point to HQ Coy.-and in the soccer world One p la t oon h as so far managed t o get in
we have maximum points so far in the H erford som e proper winter training. Many thanks to OC
Minor League competition. Cpl. Rainey, L /Cpls. B Coy. for looking after the m a t Solta u a nd for
B a rdwell a nd Hilton, a nd ?tes. Strevett, Marman being gen e rous enou g h to a llow o n e of the com-
and Connon a r e on the Batta lion T raining Squad. pany to w in the night orienteering competition .

The Battalion Variety Show was a great At time of going to print the company is a t
s uccess this year in spite of its le ngth. A lot of last gathering together a nd will be subjected to
credit for this show must go to Ptes. P a na ma some rigorous fitn ess a nd w eapon tra ining. Cp1.
and Hitch, who did a great deal to hold the show Chinn a nd L / Cpl. Askem are relaxin g in the even-
together . (The OC hasten s to a dd that he would ing by redecorating the company club for the
prefer t o wear long socks when they n ext d ec ide com ing soc ia l season!
to show his prefer e nce of dress in the fie ld !) And

C COY.

(Left): Vehicle pre-
paration - by Ptes.
Prangn ell and L ea r.

(Right): Sgt. Catt
a.nd Pte. Palme r,

UEI Stores Cle rl<.

SUPPORT COMPANY train" and it was most heartening, if somewhat
frighte ning, t o see Pte. Allerton, our Coy. Cle rk-
OC: Maj. P . H . Courtenay; CSM: WOn dressed for war a nd carry ing a Carl Gust av.
Bromige; CQMS: C/Sgt . Bailey; Mor PI : Lt. I . R. (He'd ha d a n intensive five-m inute cadre before-
Jones, Sgt. Hutchinson; A Tk PI: Lt. D . Bardega, h a nd ).
Sgt. Booth ; A sslt Pnr PI : WOn Martin, MM, Sgt.
Furey; Trg Wing OC: Capt. R. W . Acworth, The m a jor event during the period was Ex.
WOII Cakebread; Admin : Sgt. Major. "Snow Quee n II." On 15th January a party of
twe nty went dow n to Bavaria f o r a fortnig ht's
Since last going to press, life in th e Coy. h as s kiing. The bas ic skills we r e learnt the hard way,
been qui etly "ticking" over- there have bee n but a fter a few days we set about tackling Seeka,
"ticks" about this and "ticks" about that! w hen a strenuous climb was made worthwhile
by the magnifice nt v iew from the top. Need less
W e emerged unscathed from the a nnual UEI to say, the trip down , covered as it was getting
a nd everybod y is to be con gratulated on the ir d a rk, was n ot wi thout incide nt ; a nyone w ho fe11
e ffort s. had to move fairly rapidly out of the way to

W e were required to turn out for Ex. " Quick-

35

avoid the on coming traffic. All in a ll, it was a HERBERT CHAPPELL
very pleasant two weeks and an experience no-
one was likely to forget, though, unfortunately, I22, SUFFOLK STREET 50, GRESHAM STREET
Pte. Chapman (44) sustained an injured ankle CITY- EC2
a nd was removed to Munich Hospital ; h e has HAYMARKET - SWI
yet to return.
Tailors Appointed to The Queen's Regiment
W e congratulate Cpls. Drew and H endrie,
and L / Cpls. Holcombe and Haselden, on their Obtainable only
promotion, and L / Cpl. Venner on his marriage.
Major P . H . Courtenay and WOn Cakebread we FROM
w elcome to the fold.
Herbert
HQ COMPANY Chappell

Maj. M. J. D . Brady; Capt. R. Waite; WOn The new motif design Tie
J ephcott; C/ Sgt. K err . officially approved by the
Queen 's Regiment . An
Before the writer came to Germany, he had overall motif design of
heard that after the training season was over one the new badge in
put one's feet up. Disillus ioned again! UEis and Gold and Silver on
FFRs have played the ir part, the latte r consist- Navy Blue ground .
ing of a sprint round by a team le d by the Brig-
ade Commander. Fortunate ly, our two bathrooms IN TERYLENE
had not been fixed since last year's inspection, so
most of the head shak ing/ sucking of t eeth was 19/6
spent in there. (Have you guessed already?-the
following week, a Battalion of MPBW descended (Postage 6d . )
on them, ripped everything out and-have now
packed up!) . They did find one thing wrong-A To: HERBERT CHAPPELL
HOLE IN A BEDSPREAD! In hushed whispers, 50 - GRESHAM STREET - CITY - LONDON - EC2
this was passed round the Coy. and umbrellas Please supply -····-·······--·- Queen's Regiment Ties at
sprang as if by magic from lockers, various, GP. 19/6 each (Postage 6d .). 1 enclose Cheque/ P.0 .
Name
The Coy. HQ firm of "Brady and Jephcott" Address
are trying to reduce the numbe rs still to classify
by 31st March (the annual battle). Sgt. Joe Briggs
has left us to do his last six months with the
2nd Bn .; at last everyone seems to have enough
accommodation stores. Cpl. Hugh Gill has arrived
as a Coy. storeman (from the Provost); h e's one
of the currently-victorious Bn. Footba ll T eam,
so h e 's ex cused everything but Pay Parade. Cpl.
Joe Singleton has a lso left to do his last six
months in UK at the D epot; he then gets his
brass handshake. Sgt. Ted Harper has joined us
and at last we have what HQ Coy. should always
have-TWO CLERKS . To end on a happy note,
congratulations to Fte. John Cheesman, who has
just married; he had a guard of honour from the
Dagenham G irl Pipers (Corps of Drums, pull up
your socks before Mrs. Cheesman's arrival! ).

Signal PI.

Capt. P . M . P . Broadbent; Lt. P . C. Pearson,
R. Sigs.; C/Sgt. Moodie ; Sgt. Holder.

This year at Christmas we held a most suc-
cessful dinner/dance at the Neuer Krug, attended
by n early everyone with the ir wives and girl-
friends ; it was a memorable evening, particularly
for Sig. Patterson .

We were all aware that these Christmas
f estivities were really an opportunity to say fare-
well to Cpl. "Scouse" Thompson and his wife,
who have just left us. It took a run of parties
to achieve this, for he has been a most conspicu-
ous m e mber of the Platoon (quite unmistakable
on the air) a nd HQ Coy. H e has been in L emgo
for H years a nd a lthough h e will no doubt be
glad of a change of scenery, we trust h e will
r em ember us, and we hope he likes the Royal
Sussex Regimental Crest we are sending him. All
possible luck to him in the future.

Meanwhile the signals world is steeped in
Std II and nr Cadre activities. W e hope to have
put 15 students through the Std n a nd some 45
through Std Ill. Let us hope that "on ce learnt,
n ever forgotte n"-not in 1969, anyway.

36 who, o n 31st Marc h, will lay down his binos for
ever and transfer to the RCT ; H eaven knows
Recce PI. what they will g ive him to drive!
Capt. A. C. Dawson; Sgt. Paterson .
Eve ryone has been stretched through the Travel seems to be the theme for the coming
year, with trips to such places as Soltau, Senne-
Cadre machine and has dropped off the produc- lager, H a ltern and, to cheer the heart of Pte.
tion line bursting with every conceivable type of Mario D'Agostino, a trip to Ita ly.
information.
The next exciting instalment may well come
W e give a big welcome to Sgt. "The Back" on the back of a post card from Venice.
Paterson, freshly dug from the turf of the
Brecon Hills, and a sad farewell to Pte. Whittl e

RECCE PL.
HQ COY.

(Left): Pte. "Jake"
Giles. u. . . and this
is where I keep my

snakes"!

(Top, right) : Pte.
Ray Nye, trying the
j'tingle tongue" test.

(Lower, right): Pte.
Agostlno.

CORPORALS' MESS Our Mess darts t eam is currently riding at
the top of the 20 Bde. League and it looks (with
Due to the pressure of work on a most a bit of luck) as though the cup may come our
rigorous winter training programme, these notes way for the first tim e.
are being written in the small hours by candle
light, ably assisted by the old bottle of hooch, so The Battalion football team, which includes
please forgive any errors. Cpls. Hughie Gill, Willie Barron, Davie Rainey
and Andy Anderson, is doing very well ; they
The Christmas dance was held in the gym- reach ed the final of the 4 Div. Cup with a fine
nasium and all the local Messes from 20 3-0 win over 10 Hussars and have great prospects
Armoured Bde. were represented. A special note for the BAOR championship.
of thanks should go to Cpl. Kenny Guyah, who
is th e present 11fodder mem her" and who laid on Cpls. Doug Jones, John Graham, Dave Bull,
a most exce ll ent spread. Harry Marjoram and Dimple Knight have en-
joyed a couple of months' skiing down south and
A most successful raffle was held, with the have done quite w e ll in the 4 Div. and BAOR
usual host of prizes, and even our unmarried Langlauf and downhill championships.
Adjutant managed to win a lady's purse! Is this
an omen? Several of our members are now relieved
that the Senior NCOs Cadre is a thing of the
Several of the regular "mingers" staged an past, and tales of fantastic hardships and endur-
impromptu carol service and managed to collect a nce can be heard for the price of a pint.
a sizeable sum for the Wireless for the Blind
Fund, and were even invited for an encore in the It is now the turn of our newer members,
Sgts.' Mess (though renumeration was less than who are at present enduring a couple of weeks
expected!) . on the square and a week of purgatory at RaJ-
tern under the watchful eye of the RSM and his
This was followed by a Discotheque on N ew m erry men.
Year's Eve, ably run by L / Cpl. Car! Foste r and
enjoyed by all. We have lost several members in the last
few weeks with Cpls. Colin Garton, Dave Tonks,

Harry Harris, K en Blenkin and Paaay Turner 37
all departing to the n ext Mess up, and we wel-
come Cp l. Bill Wilkinson (who joins u s as a m ent appears to have been well worth while to
molar m echanic) and Cpl. Willie Willmot, on Judge from our administrative report! We also
his return from the Depot. invited Capt. L . W . MacKenzie, of the Queen's
Own Rifies of Canada, who was shortly to leave
Our ..Jacks" have been in the news lately us after a memorable two years; he has done far
with the bald-headed wonder attaining a score more than he needed for the Battalion and we've
of 13 for his GPMG classification. enjoyed having him . The last away were the
h eavy gang (at 04.30 hrs.)-Maj. R. E. Willsher,
We have been getting quite a r eputation RAPC, Capt. P . P . Drew, RAEC, and Capt. F . D.
lately for livening things up in a ny of the local Thomas , RADC-but they were in better order
messes; the alcohol manufacturers certainly can't than some of the m embers who appeared sweat-
complain that we are not doing our bit for ing profuse ly on the RSM's 08.00 hrs . Rambl e the
Britain. next day!

Our barmen, who have the unenviable task Our old friends and rivals at sport, 3rd Regi-
of keeping the "mingers" topped up, have been ment RHA, were hosts on 24th November at Det-
L /Cpls. Ken Arey, Slim Harbinson; Joe Laker mold a nd despite hard play by the Mess Team,
takes over shortly and we hope he manages to and the Master Cook, Fred Pantin, who tried to
stay his s ide of the bar for the forthcoming stag score as a full-back to tip the scales, we only
night. secured a 1-1 draw.

(Top): " We Three Kings ..." L / Cpl. Car! An enjoyable night was had by 30 members
Foster, Cpls. Barron, Ralney and Hilton. who went to Munste r to support the Bn. Boxing
Team in the second round of the 4 Div. Cham-
(Lower) : Cpls. Gill, McKenzle, Ashe and pionships. The 2nd Grenadiers did us well after-
Masser. wards and a strong friendship was struck up
which has led to a couple of Sunday football
Acknowledgement: Kent Messenger. matches. To round off the evening the coach,
WOS' AND SGTS' MESS which was shared with the Officers' Mess, had
So far, the Winter Season has proved even bar facilities on board ; this was not used by
more hectic than the events of the long hot CSM Hart, as he was asleep on the fioor, but was
Summer. We belong to the Detmold Indoor Games enjoyed by the rest- drink now- pay later!
League and this means two home and two away
games nights per month, plus the fringe benefits The Mess was challenged by 2nd Grenadiers
of football matches arranged (usually by non- to a football match on 8th December, which we
players) late at night with opposing darts teams, accepted and wo n 7-0, in spite of the fact that
for the following Sunday. they were allowed to field Lance Sergeants. The
The period under review started on 8th return match took place on our vastly superior
November with a Mess Dinner, to which we in- ground on 19th January, a nd this time the Mess
vited several local personalities whom it is politic 1st XI was able to play.
to be in with-viz: CSM of the local RMP Unit,
the Brigade Chief Clerk, BOWO, etc. Our invest- Christmas was a packed programme. The
traditional Ladies' Dinner Night was a maximum
seating affair, splendidly run by CSM Hart and
rounded off with some spirited carols, which
made the Padre awake from his grave some two
miles away.

On 21st December all seating and furniture
were reorganised quickly for a large attendance
(some 160) at our Christmas Draw, run by that
professional Draw M eister, Chippy Wood. All
went well a nd even the CO won a prize; all
that remains is to pay for it all. Our resident
comedians, RQMS Joe Bass and Doe Watret,
were on form in a duet.

The Battalion Variety Concert at Christmas
(of which mention elsewhere) was produced by
our talented REME artist S/ Sgt. Alan Johnson,
w ho invited several Mess notabilities to perform ;
but we must mention the "B" vehicle fairy
Smokey Funnell, who won an Oscar instead of
his expected two extras for driving a bike whilst
drunk!

The Postings Season is nearly over and
amongst others we have said a sad farewe ll to
"Minger" Martin, who now influences London
University and commutes regularly to BAOR for
cheap far;s ; h e has threat ened another visit at
Easter. Sgt. Paterson's interpretation of a
"Minger" is "one who burbles coherently until
2359, the n collapses." Sgt. Joe Briggs has le ft us
for six months in UK, or to be exact in Northern
Ireland, prior to his discharge, after an unknown
number of years' service-LS & GC to follow.
Best of luck to both of you, and to Sgt. Paddy
McEniry, who leaves us for the Depot.

New arrivals in the Mess have been numer-
ous, some in transit to various nebulous posts in
UK. W e welcom e-with the gift of a M ess Rule
Book and the dreaded phrase "Mess Kit £15"-
Sgts. Turner (C Coy.), Tanks (B Coy.), Garton
(A Coy.), Harris (C Coy.) and Blenkin (Sp. Coy.)

38 year in the Army Cup, for the t eam , w hose tra in-
ing is we JI s upe rvised by CSM W ood a nd L /C pl.
who promptly went t o the SASC. A welcome back F ost er, a r e exception a Jl y fit . In a ddi t ion t o the
(this time as a Sgt.) to Sgt. Roberts from the four BAOR members of the team m en t ioned
D epot, and cong ratulations to Steve Rose on above, t h e foJlowing com p lete the line-up for
becoming, like the r est of 'em, S t a ff Ser geant in m ost of our games: Cpl. Hug hie Gill (capt a in ),
the LAD. S/ Sgt. Houston n ow wears crowns Cpl. Trevor Ch eesem a n , Cpl. Willy Bar ro n , L/Cpl.
a bove his chevrons on both sleeves - tha nks to A nderson CREM E), Pte. Bob by K nox, B d s m . D el
his seam stress-so he can now be assumed to be B r ya n t, Dmr. E rnie ·white (our min i-'keeper),
substa ntive; never mind, you nearly got away L /Cp l. Bobby Bard weJI a nd Pte. J ohn Ma rm a n .
w ith it!
The su ccess of the Batta lion X I h as infect ed
During the r est of the winter, w e sh a JI h ave t h e co m pany team mat c h es, w h e re double-figure
more games nights a nd a lthou gh we we re scores are f requent in the local m inor unit league.
thras h ed b y 3 R HA, the r est a r e ru bbis h , so we E ven t he Sgts'. Mess h as got the m essage and
should end up second in the L eagu e. In M ay, our now play friendly Sunday morning matches !
Cup Final nig ht, orga n ised by CSM Morris,
should prove a winner for someone-even if it is Sports Roundup
Morris! Althoug h we h ave n ot m a de a ny great pro-
g ress in other team s ports, indiv idua ls have set
FinaJly , w e sh ould like to tha nk a JI those a hig h st anda rd. Ma j. Wren has been select ed
who sent us cards at Christmas; they made a fo r the B AOR s quash t eam a nd 2/Lt. Bra ith-
nice display and please forgive us if we forgot waite for the BAOR Rugger XV, whilst ou r
you, but many of you r a ddresses were not known. bask e tba ll t eam a r e throu g h t o the qua rte r-fina ls
Would you kindly include them n ext tim e, so we of th e Div is ion a l Competition . All in all 3
can re ciprocate. QUEENS are w ell-known in the sporting circles
Postscript: of Rhine Army.

2nd Grenadie rs, by the injection of a Drill 22,000
Sgt. into their t eam , beat u s 6-5 on a wet a nd
greasy pitch . However, it was an enjoyable match Limbless
and the issue rum punch must have given our Ex-Service Men
M ess t eam just tha t little extra, as we wer e 2-1
down at half-time. await a word from you

Sailing A word of encouragement and a token of help-
OFFSHORE - Unfortunately, the BKYC needed, now by British Ex-Service men who have
Helmsman Course Progra mme h as not yet been sacrificed a full life. Many of them are completely
published, but approval from the Ba ndmaster has unable to help themselves. Money is urgently needed
a lready been give n for Bds m . King t o t a k e up a to help these men conquer their handicap-money to
party of potential helmsmen for this course a t equip and maintain homes in which they can be given
Kiel in May. Capt. Broadbent will be s kippering conva lescence, or care and comfort in their old age.
R asmu s, a b eautiful 15 t on k e t ch (six b e rths) f or BLESMA is not aided by the State. Will you help ?
the annual Battalion c ruise. This w iJI be known
as Ex. "Baltic T empest Ill" but we hope it doesn't Another way you ca n help. D o you know any Brit ish
live up to its name as much as it did in Aug u st Ex-Service man o r woman who has lost a li mb and
last y ear, whe n we had more tha n ou r fa ir wo uld benefit fro m s pecia li st help and ad vice? Let
share of tempestuous w eathe r. Cruise dates are BL ES MA know.
from 23rd May to 8th June, including a speJI of D onations and information: Major the Earl of Ancaster,
some three day s in Copenhagen-any volunteers?
It is hoped to enter two classes for the Wh it s un T.D., Chairman of Appe~ l ( 5.25) Midland Bank Ltd.
R egatta with the a im of doing jus t a little better 89, Charterhouse Street, London, E.C.l.
than July last y ear, when we were runne rs-up in BRITISH LIMBLESS
the 4 Division R egatta. Bdsm. King plans to
skipper his ow n cruise in August a nd hopes to EX-S ERVI C E MEN 'S ASSO C IATION
be available to instruct on the Seama nsh ip
Course in September. (Regis tered ;, accorda11ct with the Nario11al Assisrana Ac t
DINGHIES - Capt. B everidge has agreed to 1948 and, as a chariry, unde~· the C hariries A er 1960).
"get things going" this year a nd has a lread y
been up to the Dummer See to recce. This lake
is ideal (though it is about H hours drive a way),
pa rticularly for inexpe ri en ced sailors, a nd h e
hopes to have som e ding h y sailor s t rained by
the end of this summer .

Soccer
Soccer has been the highlight of our winter

season. The B attalion team, unbeaten in the
Major U nit L eague (they w o n it last season ), a re
through to the quarte r fin a ls of the BAOR sec-
tion of the Army Cup. They m eet 4 Division
Engineer s in the division a l fi nal on 7th F e bruary.
With four players in th e BAOR t eam- L /Cpl.
Anderson (REME) , ptes. Fost er, St revett a nd
Middleditch-and six tha t play for the B rigade
representative XI, the st a nda rd is very high . The
morale is exceJle nt a nd s upport for the t eam as
good as tha t for a semi-professiona l side in Eng-
land. At a r ecent di v is ional semi-fina l against
the 10 Hussars our own supporters were joined
by local citize n s of Lemg o to sweJI the c r owd t o
something like 500. This could weJI be our lu c k y

39

The 4th Battalion

Editorial 13th J anuary, Brother of Gen. Man, D eputy
Colo nel (Middlesex), he commanded the 1st Bn.
LOOKING back over the past three months, The Middlesex R egiment (DCO) in Hong Kong
Christmas stands out as a memorable occa- and Korea from 1951 to 1953, and dur ing this v is it

sion-it went very well considering that it was he met many form er acquaintances.
the only occasion recently for which we did not
have two or more rehearsals before the "actual."

D ecember was n evertheless distinctly busy.
W e broke up on 19th D ecember and before that
managed to fit in, apart from the normal run of
School of Infantry Comm itm e nts, the Annual
Administrative Insp ection (on 17th December)
Christmas activities, includi ng the
and the usual Mess Draw, Corporals' M ess Draw,
WOs' and Sgts'
children's parties, All Ranks "Diehards Dance"
and Christm as Draw, MT and other "private

army" parties. All these f estivities culminated in
the traditional mud-bath of large-side soccer.
Usually we played 57-a-side, but this year we
decided on 50-a-side in honour of our forebears
in the Queen's Own Royal W est Kent R egim ent.
Five company teams, each consisting of a truly
"dirty half-hundred ," competed a nd eventually A
Coy. won the final, which was foll owed by the
50-a-side Tug-o'-war contest, won again this year
by HQ Coy.

Preparations for the All Ranks Dance on 18t h
D ecember were somewhat bedevilled by the con-
fli cting requ irements of pre paration s f o r the
ual Administrative Insp ection. It never rains
Ann it pours; the Inspection was conducted by
but Commandant of the School of Infa ntry, Brig.
the and was d esigned to test
C. A. Gilbert, MC, military activities, rang ing
G. in a wide variety of
us
from the establishment in a nearby much-exer-
c ised-ove r wood, of the Bn CP in a nauseous
gaseous environment, to orienteering against the
clock, riot control on the mob-infested road by
the Officers' Mess, and the skills of GPMG work
and weapon training generally.

Christmas leave came as more of a surprise
t han a privilege and it lasted until the New Year,
when it was soon forgotten in our k eenness to
get stuck into the 1969 series of courses. W e have (Top): Batta.llon Headquarters
w e lcom ed back 9 PI of C Coy ., which is now at
Warminster with t he rest of the School of Infan- (Lower) : Inspecting a modem "carrier." (Left
try, since the Small Arms Wing, H yth e, closed to right): R.S.M., C.O., Capt. T . I. McMillan

down. Warminster, therefore, is housing more (APC PI. Comd.) and Col. A. M. Man.
fe~1 ~~r~rfe~~m(:necrtc!~a~e!n~ T~u~~~t~.c~~m'Y;_

m ent Diary"! ).

The CO's £5 prize to the first soldier who
could prove he had performed the sam e task on
the same exercise five times, has been awarded Visitors to Bn. HQ are now "covered" by a
to L / Cpl. Sandiford, of the Drum s. The award Vickers MMG in the hallway opposite the door;
t his gun was resto red to immaculate condition by
is again open to competition-no entry fee. W .O .I Doig, REME, of 27 Command Workshops,

Demonstrations, both rehearsals and "actuals," to whom a Regimental Plaque was presented as a
continue at the sam e lively pace. By now eve ry gratitude. The gun was acquired from
rifieman is aware of the pretty problems of skir- s ig n of our Navy in Gibraltar and serves as a
mishing lightly and rapidly through the a nkl e- the Royal
reminder of the Battalion's previous existence as
d ee p, glutinous mud preserving the m om entum of a machine gun Battalion.
the advance. Salisbury Plain n ever ceases to thr ill
Other visitors to the Battalion have included
us with its variety of climatic whims and panora- Col. Boshell, DSO, OBE, the n ew D eputy Com-
mic vistas. One rehearsal for the Cornbat T eam mandant, accompanied by Lt.-Col. H. C. Tulloch,
Attack was carried out in frost, rain, sleet, h a il , the Administrative Commandant; and Capt. Platt
snow and sunshine.
from OIC R ecords, Exeter. F or all these visitors,
we were pleased to bre ak the ir respective re gi-
We were delighted to greet Col. A. M. Man, m ental flags from the yard-arm outside Bn. HQ.
DSO, OBE, when he visited the Battalion on the

40 taken place within the Platoon. Our commitments
to t he School of Infantry remain much the same
Organised sports at major unit level, while a nd our drivers n ow know the Salisbury Plain
possible to pursue, are difficult for us here at training a rea like t he backs of their ha nds- or
Warminster to carry o ut continuous ly, N eve rth e- perhaps this is quotin g the wron g portion of the
less, we try and the graph of progress can be a natomy, since trans port work tickets are fre-
read in the individual sporting notes. Individuals quently made out to "Oxendean Bottom" or "W ar-
have s hon e more than the team s. L t. Barstow minster Bottom" ! Cpl. Brian Leadbeatter, only
won his longed-for rugger cap against the Royal w it h us s in ce w e cam e to W armins ter, has now
Navy and Pte. Clements has played f ootball both left for the rigours of civilian life, whe r e h e
for the Army and Wiltshire. Pte. Ryan is a intends to work as a driving instru ctor. L / Cpl.
regular m ember of the Army Boxing training Eric Ramadan has go n e, t oo, a lthou g h h is future
squad at light middleweight. Minor sports are is shrouded in the mists of ind ecis ion. L / Cpl.
gaining in popularity s t ead ily. The squash court "Acke r" Beall goes in a few d ays' time to take
becomes eve r more difficult to book and golf is over managing director of Highland Transport
now in such demand that we a re building our Co. L td., som ewh er e far north of the bord er in
own course (all of three holes!) around the Bn. Invernesshire; w e can only hope and pray that
HQ. There is an a nonymous group of individuals the Scots can und erstand his accent- although
who fall off the wings of a eroplanes regularly and h e was a lways v e ry good at sign language. To
one or two are starting to ride. all three we wish the best of good fortun e a nd
hope that they will drop in to see u s if they are
In the immediate future we look f orward in down our way.
March to a three week n ear-gap in our commit-
ments to the School. During this time we w ill take One ex-member seen recently is ex-Sgt. K en
ourselves up to the Brecon and Sennybridge Baxter, who rolled up in his big lorry with which
Areas for a series of Battalion-inspired Coy. exer- he d elivers stores all round the country for a
cises among the forests and foothills of the well-known firm of paste manufacturers; w e said
famou s Brecon B eacons. P etrol being as s hort as there was always som ething fi sh y about him!
it is. and we (as a Battalion) be ing k een ramblers,
we shall once again do without vehicles. The bulk Fte. Cost ello h as gone to the R egim ental
of the MT and APC Pls will remain at War- D epot as a driver and Pte. Daly has got married ;
minster, while the Signal PI are planning to send our commiserations to the one and good lu ck to
a party to visit the German Army in lieu of a the other-we leave it to the readers to sort out
ramble in Wales-thanks to the combined effort s which.
of the RSO and Hauptmann G. Riecken, of the
7th Panze r Grenadier Brigade, whom we had with Our last course resulted in passes for a ll and
us during last summer. they now swann happily around the countryside.
Another cadre for learners is in progress under
Our W elsh rambling over, we will then have Cpls. Tyde man, Boyd and L /C pl. Ridsdal e.
completed our first year as D emonstration Batta-
lion here at Warminster. It hardly seems a year Our football t eam captain, L /Cpl. Elliott , be-
since we were sending the advance party to look liev es w e are on ljth e up and up"; his t eam are
around in readiness for our arrival, and yet soon doing quite well in the inte r-departmental tourna-
the Band and Drums must begin to practise a ment; lying third at the moment, they have yet
n ew repertoire to accompany "Berliner Luft" and to do battle with the Bn. Orderly Room, Signals
already German classes are in the offing-two of and APC Pis.
the very longest of the very long-term prepara-
tions for 1970, and our move to the B e rlin Brigade. On the social side, we h eld a most enjoyable
dance on 27th November with raffle and spot
HQ COMPANY prizes ingeniously worked in by L / Cpl. "Acker "
OC: Capt. R. C. Pitman; CSM : WOII Waite r s/ Beall and his mates.
WOII Shlnn; CQMS: C/ Sgt. Argent; Coy. Clerk:
Cpl. Williams. At Christmas, in common with the othe r d e-
As can be seen by the D epartment Notes, HQ partments of HQ Coy., the MT h eld a small party
Coy. is composed of a number of very independent in the NAAFI to usher In the season of good will
groups and at the hub of things is Coy. HQ, -but not until they had locked all the trucks in
looking after their various Interests. Maj. Wollo- the garage.
combe, at short notice, was posted to SWW
Netheravon after some 15 months . Afte r 20 Now the dark mornings are getting lighte r,
months WOII Waiters has been called to Canter- drivers can see the oil on their dipsticks and the
bury to keep them on the right lines and WOII pressure on their tyre gauges. With the
Shinn takes over. coming of summer and warmer weather, most
In the office Cpl. Grant and Pte. Smith (19) members look forward to "a good long cabby"
are leaving the Army and Pte. Rolph from the into the countryside a nd are anxious to beat Bed-
Signal Platoon comes in ; his recent increase in ford three-ton drive r L/ Cpl. Macla nnan 's epic run
family, a n ew son, has not come to work h ere of 450 miles In one day, to As h c hurch. Donninton
yet so w e are on e down on manpowe r. Howeve r, a nd Chilwell. Not much chance of that, though
productivity from the office will remain at its old Sgt Whitt was h eard to r emark : "The furthe r
level a nd it's a pity the Prices and Incomes away they are, the better as far a s I'm con-
Board doesn 't come and take note. cerned!"
In the Coy. Football League, admirably run
by Cpl. Jarvls, RAPC, the Orderly R oom / Pay Signal PI.
Office team have dropped only one point-a draw The day after Chris tmas leave, we were faced
with the MT PI. The League should end In March
when the winners will collect a handsom e shield with a 10-mile PE Test; readers can imagine,
being made by the QM for the Company. a fter living it up for a couple of weeks, how we
received that particular bit of n ews. Being Signal-
MTPL lers, we plodded on and everyone completed it.
MTO : Capt. (QM) M. Wild; RQMS(T) : WOII
Our n ew boss, Capt. R . H . Graham, has
M. A . Elston; NCO IC FAMTO : C/Sgt. D. Burke; taken over the arduous duty of RSO from Capt.
MT PI. Sgt.: Sgt. G. Whitt. P . J . Gybbon-Monypenny; we welcome him and
three others to the fold- Ftes. Langar, Walton
Since our last journal notes, f ew changes have and Bell-who have b een put through their
training and are now helping out with all the
exercises-to the accompaniment of gleeful cries

from t h e old er members of- "less for us to do." 41
Cpl. F eath erston e and Pte. Wilkes are back
to see they had the best possible training a s,
from a short spell in Cyprus looking browned off on present planning, we might be taking over
(lite ra lly s peaking that is), while Cpls . Hutton a nd their vehicles in BAOR n ext y ear.
H am ill a r e away on an All Arms R ecruiting
Course. Pte. Edwards has just been away on an The pre-lunch gathering and Christmas lunch
FAC Cour s e a nd can n ow be seen soaring at sent everybody on leave in a festive mood, and
2,000 feet all day. Pte. Rackley is taking a n MT we began t he New Year with a Platoon social on
driving cadre and now goes by the n ame of "Big 8th January, in t he form of a Games Evening.
Wheel Man!" No. 3 Section were declared the winners at the
end of t h e night, due to Pte. Frank N eale's
W e have three m embers on an NCO's Cadre- ability in drinking a yard of ale faster than any-
Ptes. Todd, Wilkes a nd H affm a n- and we wish one else. Pte. John Paxton was convinced he could
them the best of luck . do better, but as one onlooker so aptly remarked,
he merely demonstrated he is far better at
C/ Sgt. Scott, Sgt. Barratt, L / Cpl, King a n d s weeping t h e yard t han drinking it!
Pte. Stones have just gon e down to Brecon to
test communications for a long walk we are to do In an attempt to improve the standard of
in March . "Civ ilian cloth es may be taken ," ap- vehicle maintenance w e have recentll form ed a
peared on detail; are they testing commun ication s central "ervicing team cons isting of / Cpls. Bob
or the local brew?! Mead, Philip Roberts, Brian Murray and Terry
Fla ha n t ; this system is a lready proving its worth
L /Cpl. Con stant, our clerk, has just noticed in helping to keep our vehicles on the road.
that no m ention has been mad e of his prom otion ;
so rry! Congratulations to yo u and to L / Cpl. King. QM Department
QM: Capt. R. E . B . Morris ; RQMS : WOII
On "B oots ie" Plimsaul's return f rom Brecon,
L/ Cpl. Lagden was sent in his place, leaving us G. H . Brown, BEM; Accn. WO: WOII A. J . Brlggs.
with the cry, "H ow will yo u cope?" We w elco m e Pte. G illett to the staff, who

Exe rcise "Black Cobra" is on us today and join ed WOII Briggs a nd Cpl. O 'Brien (the one-
with the RSO scraping the bottom of the barrel a rm bandit) in the accn. stores. Cpl. Burns
looking for likely partic ipants, your scribe will has r eturned to the fold from A Coy.; after two
now go and hide. years in a Rifle Coy. h e is a mine of information
on "how to soldier." Cpl. Burns relieves Cpl.
APC PI. "Froggy" French in t h e G1098 store; t h e latter
PI. Comd. : Capt. T. I . McM illan ; PI. WO : m oves to t h e clothing store to relieve Sgt. "Bllko"

WOII J . Williamson ; PI. Sgt. : Sgt. G. Stredwlck. Your livin~J Prin1er
In the previous publication of the Journal we on Current Afiairs

enjoyed the distinction of being featured on the That elu siYe su bj ect CU RHE~T AFFA JRS which oount s for
front cover and this was one ed ition very much :-.o mu ch in Staff Coll ege and other Entrance and ProJTI()tion
in demand by m embers of the Platoon. exA. m8 h.a<: bee n captured for you. once 1.nd for all , in
KEE SJNG'S W eekly Dia ry of W orld E\'ents.
W e do, however, f eature on the silver sc reen
in a small way as Cpl. Bob Wright and Pte. Dick T his obj ec ti ve rl ocumentati on o r nati onal and intern a ti onal
H erridge were engaged in providing an APC for P o liti c~. Eco nomi cs. Social Qu estions has proved the idea l aid
a PR film, shot on the Plain towards the end of for tho~e seekin g promot ion in H .M . Armed F orces, and durin g
last year and which is now part of a TV com - th e 37 year" o f KEE SJXG'S ex istence many sponta neous
m ercial. Unfortunately (from their point of view) , m essa~es. o f a ppreciation have been re<:e ived by th e publishe rs
neither of the two soldiers concerned actually fr otn ~ u cce~s ful entrants in all grades.
appear in the film-<ml y the vehicle !
Th e pre:::e nt is a suitabl e time for obtainin g KEESI NG 'S, a nd
Congratulations to Sgt. K en Toohey a nd Cpl. \ ' OU are th ere f10 re advised to as k now fo r free particula rs a bout
Bob Wright on their recent well-deserved pro- t his in\•a lnabl e N ews-cum-R eference Ser vice whi ch is purely
motion. The former has been sent off on a rather factu:\1 nnd sensibl y concise ye t fu11 y comprehensive. It is
lengthy detachment, taking with him as crew compl et ely ind eHcl in quite a uniqu e way <' nd always up~to-date
m e mbers Ftes. Peter Harding and J effery B eam es; throuR"h t he publica tion o ( a. f res h suppl ement every week .
they are down at Bovington on a trials project
and we don't expect them back for about a year. N. B. Just out: TREATIES & ALLIANCES OF THE 11

Ptes. Frank Neale, Patrick Travers-Hill and WORLD. A W1ique internaU6nal survey for factual
Trevor Roge rs are a lso away on detachment with information and reliable reference in the true
their vehicles at Netheravon. Until r ecently, Pte.
R eg Wills was with them but has now rejoined 11 KEESINC tradition.
the Platoon and moved into a married quarter.
KEESING'S-KEYNSHAM- BRISTOL. BSIS 2BD
Pte. Guy ••Biscuit" Crawford, a popular m em- • Pl ease suppl y free deta il s <Yf your l>ubli cations.
ber of the Platoon and a prominent figure in
many sporting activities, has recently left us fo r Na me&. Rank _ _ _ -- - - · - - - _ ------
civilian life. Pte. Brian Jackson has been unwell ( Kindl y prin t)
for som e time and h e, too, will s h o rtly be leaving
us; we are sorry to see them go but wish them l 1ni t -------- ---·-------- ___
both the best of lu ck for the fu t ure.
Add re~~
A driving cadre has been running since early
January under Cpls. Harry Lovegrove and Bob (QRJ )
Wright, and if they are successful, we will be rein-
forced by the addition of Ptes. B eaney, Bradshaw,
Penfold, Thurston and Ward.

Throughout January we were hosts to five
drivers of the Argyle and Sutherland Highland-
ers, who were undergoin g APC training with a
corporal instructor from the Black Watch. The
Jocks enjoyed their stay w ith us, a lthoug h they
never understood that the vehicle was known
to the Cockn ey as a "mo'er." It was in our interest

42 Alr PI.
Stubbings who, in t h e 11 years h e has been in t h e Winter is n ever a good time for flitting about
QM's Dept., has served unde r thr ee quarte rmaste rs
(almost a "founder" m ember on e might say), W e t he skies of Southern England, a nd this one has
all hope he w ill be happy in his new appointmen t so fa r proved to be no exception. Luckily the
(QM's D ep t. of HQ 3 Div. a nd S ignal R egt. at rain, mist a nd eternal low cloud has coincided
Bulford) where he joins RQMS Roy Benson who with a r em ark ably dull period in our programme;
last served in t h e Bn. in Gibraltar. As WOII we are not therefore suffering the double agony
Briggs is going to A Coy. s hortly (as CSM), we of starin g forlornly out of the windows, as well as
hope their cle rk has ple nty of cigarettes ! Pte. missing out on something at the same time.
H ynes, the clothing storeman, is due to attend a
carpenter's course shortly before joining t h e O n t he credit s id e, h owever, t h e aircraft have
Pioneer Section. a ll had a good go ing over in t h e warmth of our
new quarters ; much paper has been pushed
The pools syndicate h ave h a d a "win"! H a lf t hrough t he mill and out of the way; the pilots
the staff had book ed Continental holidays for have m anaged to convin ce their inquis itors at No.
the summer block leave period in anticipation of 2 Wing AAC t hat t hey know something about
the share out when the post a l order a rrived- fl y ing; a nd the coffee sw indle is thriving.
for lld.!
W e are looking forward to the a pproaching
W e welcome Pte. Amor back from t he NCO's spring a nd a break in the clouds, thoug h whether
Cadre-less his voice; h e is the onl y on e w h o we are likely to see much of the sp ring in Wales
cannot appreciate the joke. remains to be seen.

W e thank the Air PI. for making our last
two monthly m a rches so inter esting; they ferried
the marchers to barracks.

"WE ARE POOR LITTLE LAMBS . .."
or-the C.O. held an invitation 15-mlle march one morning ln D ecembe r. (Left to right) : Maj. Robin
Chappel, Capt. Jlmmy Wild, Maj. Pat Wollocombe, Lt.-Col . "Nick" Ca.rte r (C.O.), Lt. Mike Robe rtson
(R.G .J., Air Pl), Lt. Ric hard Adams (R.R.F., Air PI.) , Capt- Paul Mallalle u, Capt. Bob Lay, R.A.P.C.,
Maj. Tony Pielow, Capt. "Buster" Carlston and Capt- Richardson A'Sh e nden (R-. Hamps, O.C. Air PI.) .

A COMFANY L / Cpl. J ones still manages to remain firmly
deployed beh ind his typewriter though he has
OC: Maj. J. S. B. Pollard; 2IC: Capt. B. A. threatened to assemble his CEMO! Pte. Corbett,
CSM: WOII Ford ; CQMS: C/ Sgt. Sh ave;
Carlston ; H . B. W . Barstow, Sgt. Stewart ; 3 P l. : however, was quick to desert his stores to lead
1 Pl.: Lt. Moseling, Sgt. Rogers; R ecce Pl.: Lt. a recent 15-mile cross- country dash (someon e's
2/ Lt. P.
R. N . Colbourne, Sgt. Elkington. "fi r st" since Takama days!).
The Coy, won t he Christmas soccer competi-
t ion; congratulations to a ll 57 of them. Encour-
By t h e end of F ebruary a ll t h e c hi efs in Coy. aged by this 3 Pl. then won a Coy. Saturday
HQ, with t he exception of t he C/ Sgt., had
changed . Maj. H ewson has dese rted t he Plain in morning competition, d efeating HQ and Recce Pl.
favour of the huts of Stanmore ; Capt. Lofting has on t heir way to t he cup.
gone to Can terbury (for cricket?) a nd WOII Ford Congratulations to L /Cpl. Ferryman on play-

has a lready done a recce for his n ext posting ing for t he very successful Battalion football
as RQMS of 2 QUEENS, back in Holywood . Th e t eam; to Lt. Barstow, w h o is play ing regularly
arrival of WOII Briggs gives us a fearsome, if for the Army rugby XV a nd should get his second
"f ront row." The platoons a lso are cap this year against the Navy; and also to Capt.
slightly ageing, Sgt. Stewart is off to Can terbu ry Lofting, who has been selected as this year's
ever cha ng ing:
(cricket too?) ; 2/ L t. Moseling is on t he Platoon Army cricket captain.
Commanders' Course here; a nd Sgt. Elkington is By kind permission of th e school we have
off to Cyprus, then to the Army Air Corps.
some time of our own. In March we set off for a
five-day marching exercise in the Brecon area,
After all t hese changes the unfortunate Recce after w hich we hope to fire t he Army Inter-
Pl. find themselves on ce more bafflin g the same
Compan y Commander they h ad two years ago Platoon Challen ge Trophy at Lydd. Unfortun ately ,
t he Recce Platoon will not be available for t hey
in C Coy. remain at Brecon as "enemy" to all three rifle
As yet no-one in the Coy. has claimed the companies. Bribes are now being taken!

CO's "five r" for taking part in the same exercise afte Cpl. Burns has r eturne d to the QM's store
or dem onstration five times (thoug h we suspect r two years' su ccessful section commanding,
the CO has an a lly in the School of Infantry!). Instructing on the pre-
A change in the course structure has meant that a nd Cpl. Crookston, after on a recruiters' course.
last year's exercises have n ew titles- just to con- sent NCO's Cadre, is off
fuse the iss ue. Though every exe rcise normall y Finally congratulation s to the followlng:-
requires more than our posted strength, we have Hatch es: Pte. H awk es. Matches: Cpl. R y la nds ,
yet to see our new Compan y Commander out as Pte. Hubbard . D espatches: Nil!-but the following
a section commander; perhaps he has learnt from h ave been promoted:- Sgt. Morley, Cpl. Barnett,
the experiences of oth er trench-digging officers! L /Cp ls. B arrett and Pauley.

on parade,
city and country. ••

Fine tailoring counts, wherever you are. We can
meet all your needs, suits for city and country,
sporting and riding clothes; and we're abreast of
all developments in lightweight and tropical
materials too. If you wish, personal credit
facilities can be arranged.

ROGERS, JOHN )ONES LTD

Tel : 01-734 2248.
16 Clifford Street, Savile Row, London, WIX IRG

Also at: 40a London Rd ., Cambe rley , Surrey. T e l: 24071 .
(Afternoons T ue., W ed. & Fri. during R .M.A. T erm s .)

REGIMENTAL TAILORS TO

THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT

44 The guard duties w ere fairly t edious, but we
had our own platoon canteen which was always
Exercise "Sly'' well stacked; surprisingly there we re many more
sports facilities than one would expect on top
Cyprus, 11th October-2nd December, 1968 of a mountain. A nearby engineer troop provided
us with some very keen competition and several
On Friday, 11th October, three vehicles full c rates of beer changed hands. Some enjoyabl e
of 4 QUEENS soldiers and their kit left rainy evenings w e re had in the canteen and a large
Warminster for the Guards Depot at rainy Pir- Queen's badge was painted on the wall over the
bright. This was the start of what was to be a bar by Ptes. Hayward and Walsh. The RAF
most interesting and enjoyable trip overseas for mess was very hospitable. too, and Lt. Watts
40 of us attached to 1st Bn. Welsh Guards . Every- (Winkle to his friends) was, no doubt very
one was rather apprehensive about how we pl eased with his reception there. '
would fit in with what we thought would be a
very different sort of Battalion; however, the first The following Thursday we returned to
comment made to our platoon commander by Dhekelia, where the Prince of Wales' Coy. took
the CSM of the Prince of Wales' Coy. (to which over duty company. This was a busy time ; people
w e w e re attache d ) was that everyone was much were doing two consecutive 24-hour guard duties
smarter than he had expected! on ammunition compounds or stores depots and
then spending their third day off duty but at
On 14th, we left for Devizes where we four hours' notice to move as Standby 'Platoon.
stayed overnight and then on to Lyneham, leav- How~ver, w e were able to do some sight- seeing
ing on a Britannia for Cyprus at 0700 hours the provided we w ere no more than four hours' drive
next morning. We arrived at Nicosia in sweltering away and always in radio contact with the "Ops
heat feeling ve ry overdressed ; then after a hair- Room" in Dhekelia. A particularly enjoyable day
raising initiation into Cypriot coach driving and was spent in Kyrenia, a very attractive little port
road manners, we reached Alexander Barracks in on the North Coast. Here Cpl. "Beast" Morley
Dhekelia, on the South-Eastem point of the (as he then was) was unfortunate in damaging
island. h1s camera under rather obscure circumstances ·
one can't imagine why he should have thrown it
These barracks were first occupied by the 1st at Cpl. "Fevvers" Featherstone at all ( ?) ! The
Bn. The Middlesex Regiment (DCO~ in 1958 and evening was spent in taking in some of the local
Sgt. Stewart took great delight in showing every- colour in Larnaca on the South Coast; all infor-
one a post box he had helped to build when in the mation about that night is very restricted' (Cpl.
Assault Pioneer PI. Rylands please note!)

The following day was spent settling in and Mention must be made here of the three "out-
"recceing" the beach; by mid-day it was really siders" with the platoon- "Trooper" Borthwick
hot and the NAAFI shop was doing a roaring from 15/ 19 Hussars, the Demonstration Squadron·
trade. in ,.juices," not to mention sun-glasses, sun Cfn. "Mac" McMurthar from 27 Command Work:
tan 011, spear guns and a variety of sand shoes! shops; and L / Cpl. Ballard, ACC, from our own
The potential playboys in the platoon soon came cookhouse . They all fitted in very w ell and
to the fore and Ptes. ''Neddy" Clayton and New- p~ov~d to be very interesting characters ; Borth-
man must have set a record for fast sun tanning. wtck s hancut, for instance, was a constant
The first kill with a spear gun went to Pte. source of amusement to the Drill Sgt.
,.Mousey" Calloway, who even persuaded a Welsh
Guards cook sergeant major to cook his octopus After the two-week period of duties we
for him! started on Company training. Although we might
concede that the guardsmen were best at drill
The remainder of the working week was spent and turnout (but only just), we were able to take
in sweeping the camp, removing all stones over a lead on map reading and fieldcraft.
2 inches in diameter and whitewashing kerb-
stones; then loads of small chippings were A few days were spent on simple exercises
brought in and raked over the "grass" areas to in and around the camp area, with particular
form what is now known as ~~welsh Guards emphasis on patrolling as the Welsh Guards
grass." This all caused considerable amusement to have an annual competition for this. We also
the platoon at first, but after a while the novelty spent two days on the ranges where our Platoon
won the inter-platoon shoot and proved to be
(b.;';e~pJ~~r~~:.. dBs;o~~!o ~~:it~~~~net"o wr~~~ro~~ much better at shooting a line, too, than the
young guardsmen!
"Welsh Gardeners"-but don't tell the Drill Sgt.).
On Saturday the platoon went to Famagusta The training culminated in five days of
bivouacking at Evdmimou in the South-West;
for the day, supposedly to see the famous sandy here we were right on the beach in a more attrac-
beach and swim, but some people took their tive setting and the "Company Smoker" held there
sight-seeing a Jot more seriously . . . The 4 proved to be a great success. The Welshmen
QUEENS "jet set" were up to their usual antics were best at singing, despite Cpl. Hills' attempts
terrifying all the bathers by water ski-ing in a at a very diverting cabaret. Training was carried
somewhat erratic fashion. out by platoons and when we acted as enemy
for the company, some keen rivalry developed
During the following week the working day ("No, McGregor-you may not throw large rocks
was only from 0700 to 1300 hrs. and the afternoons down the slope to start a landslide"!) The platoon
were spent on the beach or in a leisurely sport. also acted as part of the enemy for the Battalion
On the Thursday we started our most interest- patrol competition. The unfortunate Welsh
ing single adventure--a week-long stay in the Guards subaltern who is alleged to have thought
Troodos Mountains guarding the RAF Radar that 4 QUEENS were a TA unit had very limited
Station (affectionately known as "the golf balls") success in his recce of and attack on our posi-
on Mount Olympus. This was a platoon com- tion; he was very nearly captured himself, but
mander's paradise; an isolated post with a platoon we took a corporal instead. Another subaltern
of 32 and only some very helpful RAF (not to was not so lucky; he went over the cliff, injuring
his leg, but not seriously, and Sgt. Stewart
m ention WRAF) personnel around. One was a assures us he was not pushed (well, not very hard
anyway!) .
Squadron-Leade r, but he liked the soldi ers' cheer-
ful, but sometimes unconventional, approach to
life.

After this competition a ll companies returned 45
to Dhekelia a nd began to pack f or the r eturn
home. Once again, we were all in one chalk, the Corps of Drums and we understand he is
though we returned in an Argosy and t h e trip settling down well!
took 2~ days; however, 24 h ours of this time was
spent in Malta where everyone took t he oppor- S h ould any reader wonder what we do at
tu nity for more s ightseeing a nd many drinks are Warminster, they should come and see the Jungle
believed to h ave been taken at the American V illage D em onstration and find out how we fill
Navy's exp ense. on e very small fraction of our time. They would
also learn about "tunnel rat teams," "spider holes''
I t was certainly a very enjoyable a nd worth- a nd other aspects of a type of operation, the
while trip ; certa inly 4 Queen s a nd the Welsh techniques of which might otherwise be forgotten .
Guards now h ave increased their adm irat ion for (In the n ext issu e we will focus attention on
each othe r. For som e unaccountable reason they a n oth er B Coy. s p ectacular.)
liked our soldiers' "cockney" accents and were
int rigued by the inev itable card gam e w hich Congratulations on their promotion s to Sgt.
started-wh erever they were. Most of the platoon Jones, Cpl. Beedles, L / Cpls. Tanner, Melvin and
brought back presents; sh eepskins a nd lace were G ly nn, a nd to L / Cpl. Hardy , on getting a "B" at
t h e most popular, along with cigarette lighters. t h e A ll Arm s R ecruit Instructors Course. Con-
Although the duty-free w ines a nd spirit s probably gratulations, also, on the increase of their families
did not last very lon g back h ere, some of t h e to Sgt. and Mrs. Butler and Pte. and Mrs. O'Sulli-
m emories will live on f or a long time-in particu- van, and on his marriage, to 2/ Lt. Nivelles.
lar, t he very moving speech and presentation to
us of a plaqu e by the W e ls h Guard s Comma ndin g Fareweii to Sgt. F elton, who is leaving the
Officer, L t. -Col. N. J . W ebb Bowen, without whose Battalion after a long stint with the Company
en thus iasm and example the integration would to h elp train t he Volunteers of 5 QUEENS (V ) .
not have been complete.

*** W.O .II Blac kwell, CSM B Coy., the exp ert
Hfree-faller''!
B COMPANY
OC: Maj. A . E . M cManus; 2IC: Capt. R. A.
Bartlett; CSM: WOII C. Blackwell; CQMS: C/ Sgt.
M. 0 . Quinn; OC 4 PI. : 2/ Lt. P . Nivelles, Sgt. D.
W. Butler ; OC 5 PI.: 2/ Lt. D . W . Simpson, Sgt.
J . F e!ton; OC 6 PI. (Brecon): L t. D . H odgetts,
Sgt. G. Robinson .

The Jungle ViUage
The stops a r e in pos ition ; t h e leading platoon

has c losed to within 100 metres. From t h e cover
of the trees surrounding the village, some shots
are fired; some enemy are making off through
the scrub.

Quickly the platoon comm a nder gets his m en
forward . With great dash a nd d etermination they
penetrate d eep into the village and deep into a
trap ! The platoon is exposed to fire from cun -
nin g ly-s ited positions to the fla nk a nd rear a nd
is suffe ring heavy casualties.

F ortun ately, the above is n ot on account of a
B Coy. platoon in some new counter- insurgency
campaig n, but A ct 1, Scene 1, of the " Jun g le Vil-
lage D em on stration."

W e took over this D emonstration from B
Coy. 1 Ch eshire in June last year. It had been
devised by their Company Command e r, Maj. W a i-
t e r Bixto n, on loan from the US Arm y. It incor-
porates lesson s learnt in many counter-insu rgen cy
situations. including recent experience in Viet-
nam and Borneo. However, any older readers with
World War II experien ce in Burma would feel
quite at hom e.

As the demonstration continues a w ide range
of explosive and other booby traps are sh own by
the A ssault Pion eer s, and the problems of clearing
a fortified village containing n eutral civilians are
con s id ered.

During the D emonstration members of our
Compa n y act variously as guerillas, cult ivators
and concealed snipers, as w ell as friendly forces.
On e problem has been to find a suitable under-
study for on e brilliant p erformer playing the part
of a heavily pregnant w oman ! H e has left us for

46 A Coy.), who has come to command 8 Platoon
while 2/ Lt. Carter is on a course, and 2/ Lt. J . C.
C COMPANY Acworth from RMA Sandhurst. Many congratu-
lations to Sgts. Kaye-Lesser and Curtis, C pl. Mor-
QC: Maj. M. E. Girling; 2IC: Capt. B. K. rison, L / Cpls. McCaig and Spicer on t h eir recent
Donovan; CSM: WOII G. Overton; CQMS: C/ Sgt. promotions.
J. Redmond; 7 PI. : Lt. M. J . Ball, Sgt. Kaye-
L esser; 8 PI.: Lt. J. Ward Brown, Sgt. Curtls; The most welcome event in January was the
9 PI.: 2/ Lt. J. C. Acworth, Sgt. McFadyen. return of Cpl. Frost after a protracted attachment
to the Regimental D epot.
For the Remembrance Day Service at the
War Memorial in Warminster, C Coy., reinforced Con gratulations to Ptes. Cam ill e and Bryant
by HQ Coy., found a Guard of Honour and Escort on their marriages.
to the Regimental Colour. It felt good marching
down the white line in the centre of the High Sgt. McFadyen was hardly installed as Platoon
Street with the Military Band and Corps of Drums Sergeant of 9 PI. when he was whisked off to-
blowing hard at "Mounted Infantry." W e don't geth er with Cpls. Frost and Bartle to instruct the
know what became of the copious photographs Potential NCO's Cadre.
that were taken; we can only assume the worthy
PRI/ Messing Sergeant failed to load his came ra We welcome back, as our CSM, WOn Overton
with a film! -we will all b e expert signallers if we don't
watch it-and w e say goodbye to CSM Shinn a nd
In D ecember we again "rioted" in the village thank him for keeping us moving in the right
for the benefit of the Platoon Commande r's Battle direction over the last two years; every good wish
Course. The Company Commander was again to him on his transfer to HQ Coy.
arrested. this time by a young officer w ho is by
now with the 2nd Bn. Lt. Ball joined us for this D COMPANY
exercise and very n early lost his pants to a
tracker dog; however, h e managed to evade cap- OC: Capt. J. M. B. Westing; CSM : WOn
ture down the sewers. Edey; CQMS: C/ Sgt. Higgins (C/Sgt. H egarty at
Netheravon); Mor. PI.: Lt. Yates; A/ Tk. PI.: Lt.
The Christmas Inter-Coy. Games w ere n otable Gouda; Band: WOI M a 11 as; Drums : WOn
for the fact that C Coy. played more games at Howells; Aslt. Pnr. PI.: Sgt. Whittle.
57-a-side football and more tugs-of-war than any-
one else (as usual); we were runners-up in both BAND
competitions. Cpl. Major excelled as a "Geoff
Hurst," a nd Cpl. Dent as a "Bobble Charlton" and We open our 1969 notes by welcoming Mr.
we surprised ourselves by winning one pull Peter Mallas, ARCM, our n ew Bandmaster. Mr.
<tgainst HQ Coy. Mallas was with the RA Woolwich Band before
going as a student Bandmaster to Kneller Hall;
Having welcomed Capt. Westing in our last his instruments are or were Clarin et and Violin.
notes, we must now bid him farewell as he leaves In the sporting world Mr. Mallas is a "rugger"
to command D Coy. We welcome Capt. B. K. player a nd has been readily accepted by the Bat-
Donovan to the Battalion as well as to the Com- ta1ion team; his debut was in a "friendly" in which
pany. We also welcome Lt. J. Ward Brown (from

C COY. GUARD -R EMEMBRANCE DAY
Fonned up opposite the War Memorial In Wanninster, Lt. S. M. Dowse is carry ing the R egime ntal

Colour.

THE ASSOCIATION OF SERVICE NEWISI'APERS ADYERTIRMENT PAGES,
67/61 JERMYN STR£ET, ST. JAMB'S, S.W. l . TEL. 01-UO IIOI.f

Start THEG
saving with
National NAME IN
·savings
CIGARDIES
The surest way to make your money
grow is in National Savings. WOlllOCOf'niOJff

It's the safest way too- with SUPI'LEMENT No. 1- PAGE ONE
a regular interest rate that will give you
a steady return.

Or, if you like a gamble, but don't
like to lose- have a crack at the
£25,000 prize with Premium Bonds.

National Savings Securities.
The Post Office Savings Bank and
Trustee Savings Banks:
National Savings Certificates:
British Savings Bonds:
Premium Savings Bonds.
Ask your Unit Savings Officer
about National Savings.
Or write to: The Secretary,
H. M. Forces Savings Committee,
Block B, Government Buildings,
London Road, Stanmore, Middlesex.

3169-1 Print.d In Gr..t Britain

THE ASSOCIATION OF SERVICE NEWSPAPERS ADVERTISEMENT PAGES ,
67/68 JERMYN STREET, ST. lAMES'S, S.W .1. TEL. 01-tlO 1108-9

Look Dad. Fourdoor.

New family-tuned Viva.

Look Dad ! Success-story Viva now comes fourdoor too.
For fourdoo r freedom. And getting-in-and-out-ease.

11 59 cc economy or 1600 cc power.
Deep body-contou red seats. And a 16 cu. ft boot.

Viva fourdoor or twodoo r. Now with a safety
package including energy absorbing steering column.

TheVauxhall Breed's got style.

Posted ove rseas? Then your Viva
(or any Vauxhall) comes pu rchase tax-free.
Contact Vauxhall Motors, Luton , Beds. Phone Luton 21122.
In West Germany contact: Bie/efe/d-Neotheckn ik Goethe and Prior,

Herfo rderst rasse 110-11 4, Tele: 0521 61637.
Monchengladbach- Egbert Menke, Erkelenze rstrasse 8, 02161
29091 . Soeslj Wesi{.-Fe ld man & Co. GMB H Arnsbe rgerstrasse 7,

02921 3842. OR General Motors Deutsch land GM BH ,
62 Weisba den, Mainzer Strasse 131 , 06121 7041.

Don't be vague

Ask for

Balg

BRITAIN'S LARGEST-SELLING
SCOTCH WHISKY

"'

SUPPLEMENT No. I-PAGE TWO Printed in Great Brit21in