June 1976

The Journal of
THE QUEEN" S REGIMENT

UNCONQUERED I SERVE

Vol. 10, No. 1 June, 1976

Battle Honours borne on The Colours

The Regimental Colour:
"Tangier, 1662-80," "Namur, 1695," "Gibraltar, 1704..5," "Blenheim," "Ramillies," "Malplaquet," "Detingen,"
"Louisburg," "Guadaloupe, 1759," "Quebec, 1759," "Martinique, 1762," "St. Lucia, 1778," "Seringapatam,"
"Maida," "Vim.iera," "Corunna," "Douro," "Talavera," "Albuhera," "Almaraz," "Badajoz," "Salamanca,''
"Vittoria," "Affgbanistan, 1839," "Punniar,, "Moodkee," "Sobraon," "lnkerman," "Sevastopol," "Lucknow,"
"Taku Forts," "New Zealand," "South Africa, 1879," "Nile, 1884...85," "Burma, 1885-87," "Chitral," "Relief
of Ladysmith," "Relief of Kimberley," "South Africa, 1899-1902," "Korea 1950-51."

The Queen's Colour:
"Mons,, "Mame, 1914-18," "Aisne, 1914," "Ypres, 1914-15-17-18," " Hill 60,, "Festubert, 1915,,. "Somme,
1916, 18," "Albert, 1916, 18," "Vimy, 1917," "Cambrai, 1917, 18," "Hindenburg Line," "Italy, 1917-18," "Mace-
donia, 1915-18," "Gallipoli, 1915," "Gaza," "Jerusalem," "Palestine, 1917-18," "Defence of Kut al Amara,"
"Mesopotamia, 1915-18," "N.W. Frontier India, 1915, 1916-17," "Dunkirk, 1940," "Normandy Landing,"
"North West Europe, 19<10, 44-45," "Abyssinia, 1941," "Omars," "Aiam el HaHa," "El Alamein," "Longstop
Hill, 1943," "North Africa, 1940-43," "Sicily, 1943,', "Sangro,u "Salcrno," "Anzio," "Cassino," "Italy, 1943-
45," "Malta, 1940-42," "Malaya, 1941-42," "Hong Kong," "Defence of Kohima," "Burma, 1943-45."

Allied Colonels-in-Chief
HER MAJESTY QUEEN JULIANA, Queen of the Netherlands

HER MAJESTY QUEEN MARGRETHE 11 of Denmark

Co lonel of Th e R egim em: Major General F. A. H . LING, CB, CBE, DSO, DL

D eputy Co lonels of The R egiment
Surrey: Major General R . S. N. MANS, CBE

Sussex: Brigadier B. R. COLEMAN

Middlesex : Colonel J. N . SHIPSTER, CBE, DSO

2

Commanding Officers

1st Battalion-Lt.-Col. ]. G . W. DAVIDSON
2nd Battalion-Lt. -Co l. C. G . C H AMPI ON
Jrd B attalion-Lt.-Col. ] . W. FRANCIS

Sth (Vohmteer) Battalion-Lt.-Col. P. H . COURTENAY
6th / 7th (Vo lunteer ) Barralion-L t.-Col. F. B. HERD, TD

AFFILIATED UNITS OF THE CADET FORCE

C.C.F . School Conti11gents
Ardingly College; St. Aloysius College; Brighton College; Collyers School, (Horsham); Cranbrook School;
Cranleigh School; Dover College; Dulwich College; Eastbourne College; Haberdashers' Aske's School (Elstree) ;
Hampton Grammar School; Highgate School; Hurstpierpoint College; The John Lyon School; The Judd School;
The King 's School, Canterbury; Kingston Granunar School; Lancing College; Mill Hill School; Ottershaw
School; Reeds School; Reigate Grammar School; Royal Grammar School (Guildford); Sir Roger Manwood's
School (Sandwich) ; St. Edrnund's School (Canterbury); St. John's School (Leatherhead); St. Lawrence College
(Ramsgate); The Skinners School (Tunbridge Wells) ; Tonbridge School; Whitgift School; William Ellis

School; Wilsons Granunar School.

A .C.F. Ut~ its/Sub-Ut~its Cadet Goys. Nos. 25 and 26.
Greater London: Cadet Coys.
Nos. 194 ( Hounslow), 195 (Staines), 205 (Willesden), 211 (Edg.
N.E. London Sector ware ), 225 (Totteoham ), 226 (Homsey ) .

N.W. London Sector Nos. 133, 141 , 143, 147, 151, 152, 155, 161 to 165, 167
1st, 2nd and 5th Cadet Bns., The Queen's Regiment (Surrey A.C.F .).
S.W. London Sector Cadet Goys. 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cadet Bns., The Queen's Regiment (Kent A.C.F .).
Cadet Bns. No. 6 (Crawley) and Mayfie1d College.
Surrey: Cadet Bns. Nos. 2 ( Seaford ), 3 ( H astings ), 4 ( Lewes), 7 (Chichester) , 8 (Crow-
Kent: Cadet Goys. borough), 10 (E astbourne), 11 (H orsham), 13 (Shoreham), 14 (Bexhill),
Sussex: Cadet Pis. 15 ( Brighton ), 17 ( Bognor ), 18 ( Littlehampton ) and Lewes old GS .

ALLIED REGIMENTS
Th e Ca11adimz Armed Forces-
The Queen's York Rangers (RCAC)
The South Alberta Light Horse
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
The H astings and Prince Edward Regiment
1st Battalion The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (Carleton & York)
The Essex and K ent Sco ttish

Th e Australian Milita ry Forces-
The Royal New South Wales Regiment
The University of New South Wales Regiment
The Royal Western Australia Regiment

The New Zealand Army-
2nd Battalion (Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough and Wesr Coast)

The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regimen t
5th Battalion (Wellington West Coast and T aranaki) The Royal New

Zealand Infantry Regiment

The Pakistan Army-
12th, 14th, 15th and 17th Battalions, The Punjab Regiment

Sierra L eone-
The Royal Sierra L eone Military Force

H ong Kong-
The Ro yal H ong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers)

AFFILIATED HM SIDPS
HMS Excellent, HMS Kwt, HMS Chichester and HMS Brighton

ED I TOR-M ajor G . U . WEYMOUTH, MBE (Retd .)

REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS RHQ The Queen's Regiment

H owe Barracks, Canterbury. (T el. : 65281 )

R egimental Secretary: Maj . G . U. Weymouth, MBE ( Ext. I )
R egimemal Association Secretary: M aj. E. A. M cCarthy (Ext. 42)
R egimemal Careers Officer: M aj. S. T . W. Anderson, M C (Ext. I 2)

COUNTY OFFICES

S~ Office: Kent Office: S ussex Office: Middlesex Office:

Portsmouth R oad, Block 21 , Roussillon Barracks, T & AVR Centre,
Kingston upon Thames. H owe Barracks, Canterbury. Chichester. Deansbrook Road, Edgware.

Secretaries: M aj. F. f . R eed & Col. H . R . Grace, OBE, ]P, DL & Ll.-Col. E . G. Hollist. Maj. A. E . F. Waldron, MBE.
Maj . G. T . Faulkner. ( Tel .: Chichester 86311. Ext. 28). ( Tel .: Edgware 2625).
M aj. P. G. E . H ill. ( T el.: Canterbury 65281. Ext . 4 ).
( Tel .: Kingston 6248).

REGULAR UNITS

1st Bn. 2nd Bn. 3rd Bn. QUEENS RIT
Canterbury (HQ ) and
Albuhera Barracks, Airport Camp, Somme Lines, M aidstone
W erl, Belize, atteri ck, Yorks.
BFPO 106. BFPO 12

T & AVR BATTALIONS 6th 7th (V) Bn.
Bn. HQ : T & AVR Centre,
' Denne Road,
H orsham, Sussex.
5tb (V) Bn.
Bn. HQ & HQ Coy: Col . D. A. H . Sime, OBE, MC, TD.
LerQS T & A VR Centre,
Sturry Road,
Can terbury.

Hmwrary Co lonels:
Col. H . H . Prin ce Georg of D enmark, KCVO.

D JV IS IONAL DEPOT-B assingbou rn Barracks, Royston, H erts. Senior Regi men tal Rcpre•entati vc: Maj . M. ] . ] an·a11

w

4

editor: c 0 nt e nt s
Major G. U. Weymouth.
Forecast of Events Page
M .B .E. (Ret'd.) Editorial 5
Regimental Headquarters. The 1st Battalion 7
Howe Barracks, The 2nd Battalion 9
Canterbury, Kent. Crossword Puzzle 17
The 3rd Battalion
Oap Bad~re The Regimental Information Team 25
The 5th (Volunteer) Battalion 27
Oollar Oadge The 6th/7th (Volunteer) Battalion ... 30
Depot, The Queen's Division 32
Button The IJLB 36
The Regimental Association ... 40
Book Reviews 42
Officers Location List
Senior NCOs Location List ... 44
London Gazette (extracts) ...
Births, Marriages and Deaths 46
Obituaries 48
Letters 50
Alliances/Affiliations 54
The Regimental Golfing Society 55
The Officers Club 57
The Queen's Surreys Association 62
The Queen's Own Buffs Association 63
The Royal Sussex Association 65
The Middlesex Association ... 69
The Regimental Shop 69
Journal Order Form 71
73
Articles 75
"Working for Field Marshal Monty'' 81
"Hunt the Dragon" ... 83
" The 57th Regiment on Parade in the Crimea, 1855"
47
52
77

Printers : COVER PICTURE

Kent County Printers Cpl. A. Cotton provides medical assistance to
Canterbury, Herne Bay and the natives of Toledo District during the 2nd

Dui , Kent Battalions' tour in Belize

5

Forecast of Events October 2/7th Middl esex Annual Dinner, Victory
Ex-Services Club.
July 2 Queen 's Surreys Officers' Club Annual
3, 5 & 6 M aidstone C ri cket-Kent v. H ampshire. Dinner, London.
4 Queen 's Own Buffs Assn.-Maidstone 6 Queen 's Surreys Assn. Annual Reunion,
7/ 8 Kingston.
R eunion . 9 ACF Officers' W eckcnd-Canterbury.
Queen's Own Buffs G.S. match v. Liphook 15
22 Middl esex R egt. G.S. Autumn M eeting N.
G.C. H ants G.C. Fleet, H a nts.
Regimental Golfing Society M atch v.
RMAS, Army GC, Aldershot. Queen 's Surreys G.S. Autumn M eeting,
23 Meeting of the Managing T rustees. Richmond .
24 Queen 's Own Bu ffs G .S. match v. No rth Queen's Surreys WOs' and Sgts' Assn.
H ants G.C. L ad ies Nigh t, K ingston.

August Queen's Own Buffs Assn.- Canterbury Officers' C lub Cocktail Par.y, House of
I Comm ons.
R eunio n. Queen 's Own Buff s Assn. Luncheon.
7/ 13 Canterbury Cr icket W eek (v. Gloucester-
shire and Surrey). N o v e mb er
10-20 2 Q UEENS return to Bullord. 12 Middlesex Regt. Officers' Club Cocktail

S e p t em b e r P a rt y.
3 Regimental G olfing S ociety A nnual M eeting,
Army G olf C lub, Aldershot. 13 Middlesex Assn. Ceremony, Field of R emem-
8 Sevastopol D ay-2nd Bn. brance, W estminster Abbey.
9 Salem o D ay- l st Bn.
14 Queen 's Surreys Remembrance D ay P a rades,
13 Quebec D ay-3rd Bn. K ingston & Guildford.
14 R egimental Golfing Society-match v. Midd lesex Assn . Remembra nce D ay Service,
Inglis Barracks, Mill H ill , followed by Re-
R A nglian G .S . union at TAVR Centre, Edgwa re.
Gog and M agog G.C.
14-1 8 6/7 Q UEE N S Camp, Ottcrbum. 19 6/ 7 Q UEENS Cocktail P art y H aberdashers
Hall, EC l.

Fora secure
and rewarding
career as a
Police Officer
in the Kent County Constabulary
contact

Inspector Peter Hermitage

Recruiting Officer

Police Headquarters· Sutton Road· Maidstone· Kent ·ME 15 9 BZ

Te lepho ne : Ma idst o ne 65432 Exte nts io n227

6

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Bntl sh Army . Th e Rapter ultra-low-level a1r
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by the Army and the Royal A tr Force Regtment.
The sh tpborne Seawolf will prov1de Royal Navy
vessels w1th powerful self-defence aga1nst a
wtde vane ty of antt-shtp mtsslles and aircraft,
and a un1que capabJIJ ty agatnst sma ll , high-
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7

EDITORIAL

So much seems to happen in a six-monthly review of our affairs, that it is
difficult to contain the canvas within a manageable frame .

The 1st Battalion's feet have hard ly touched the ground! Conversion to
the mechanized role, interspersed with individual and specialist training ; a most
successful Glorious First of June/Albuhera Day celebration coupled with an impressive
Trooping Ceremony; and preparation for its forth coming tour in Derry ha ve all had
to be crowded into the already busy BAOR commitment.

The 2nd Battalion's leisurely plans for its move to Belize were rudely
interrupted by preparations for and execution of an emergency trip (for two com-
panies) over the Irish Sea; and the 3rd Battalion had hardly settled into Catterick
before it was off, once again, to Belfast for what emerged as a most successful tour
in the Andersonstown area.

Our two TAVR Battalions ha ve concentrated on recruiting and seem to have
achieved marked successes. Moreover, the splendid news that our 5th Battalion has
been selected for an imponant role within the new 6th Field Force is eloquent
testimony to its highly professional reputation in the Reserve Forces.

We now know that Howe Barracks is to become a battalion station when
works services, starti ng earl y next year, are completed. The oft-stated hope (in this
column)-that one day we shall again see the Barracks permanently established as our
Regimental " Home"-seems now a bit nearer to reali za tion.

Perhaps the high-light of the period-and a most welcome sign-has been
the up-turn in our success rate on recruiting for both officers and men. The hard
slog by dedicated men of our Regimental Information Team, ably led by the Regi-
mental Careers Officer, is paying off. Provided such effort and the new sense of
urgency now apparent throughout the Regiment is sustained , we could be among the
leaders in this field , instead of near the bottom of the league, as previously. We all
owe a debt of gratitude to the RIT and to the hard-pressed Commanding Officers of
regular battalions who release the NCOs and soldiers for these important duties.

After fony-nine years of service, Mr. Fred Turmaine, ou r Oerical Officer
at RHQ, retired on 16th June-his sixty-fifth birthday.

All hi s friends-and they are many-will be sad to see Mr. Turmaine end
a long and distinguished career but will surely wi sh to join this writer in thanking
him for his very considera ble contribution to the administrati ve well-being of the
Regiment, and to wish him and hi s wife every happiness in the future.

8 C ol. J . B. Ogilvie OBE TD was appointed
TAVR Col South East, in Apr. 1976.
Mainly About People
Maj. (For Lt.-Col. '76) M . W. Ward was
Maj.-Gen. R. S . N. Mans CBE completed his appointed GSO I ( W ) OR HQ N Ireland in M ar
tou r as DMAO at the Min istry on 5th J anuary and 1976 ( a nd not as stated in the last issue of the
retired on 2nd F ebrua ry. Journal) .

Northern Ireland Awards Majs. G . Bulloch MBE and S . M. Boucher are
We congratulate the fo llowing on their Awa rds : to attend Course No 6 at the DDC ( 13 Sep 76--
7 July 77 ) .
For Service 1 May-31 July 75
Queen's Gallantry Medal A/ Maj. R. M . M . Low and Capts. R. Gancz and
WOI M . D onnelly (whilst with 1 QUEENS ; M . H. G. Pannett passed the 1975 S taff / Promotion
E xa ms at S taff level; Capt. P . G . Truman p assed at
now with 10 UDR ) p romotion level.
Sgt. ( A/ S / Sgt.) S . R. Bream ( I QUEE N S )
2/ Lt. K . J. Hayley recei ved the Infant ry Pri ze
Mentioned in Despatches a t RMA S, 19 D ec 1975.
M aj . H. M . du V. L ohan ( wh ilst with
The following officers, having successfull y com-
Q UEE N S; CO designate D iv D epot). pleted Div III of 9 Army S taff Course at the RMAS
M a j. R . C . Pitman ( whilst with I QUEEN S; ( 2 O ct 74 to 20 D ec 74 ) and the Staff College,
Camberley ( 27 J an to 30 O ct 75 ) are entitled to
now at Sch of lnf) the symbol 11 psc" aga inst their n ames in mil records:
Cpl. B. F . Winder ( whilst with HQ Bde; now with Majs. P. P B. Critchley, A. C . Dawson and Capt.
2 QUEENS ) C. H . St. John Perry.

For Service 1 Aug-31 Oct 75 Capts. G. C. Brown and B. D . Thompson have
M aj. J . D . W . R eid ( whilst with 9 U DR ) passed the 1975 ( promotion onl y ) examination.

New Years Honours, 1 J an 1976 Maj .-Gen. A . R. (Roddy) Fyler CB OBE has
been appointed President of the Squash R acquets
Congratulations also to the following: Associa tion.

OBE Maj. John Langhome was a member of the
Lt.-Col. }. R . H eywood ( C O R oya l H ong K ong crew of Grea c B ri cain II whi ch was triumphant in
the Finan cial Tim es C lipper R ace from S ydney to
Regt. (The Volunteers )) Dover.

MBE Maj. P. G . E. (Peter) Hill, of the Surrey Offi ce,
M aj. G . M ason ( D epot ( H S ) ) retires in Jul y after fifteen yea rs with the Count y
M aj. P. F . P ackham ( R C O ) Office. P eter was commissioned in the E as t Surrey
Regt. in 1933 and retired from the Acti ve List in
BEM 1961.
W02 D. T. Ellis ( SSO Fallingbostel)
Sgt. R . D . Fiddy (1 QUEENS ) Col. David Sime, H on. Colonel 6/7 QUEENS,
Cpl. S. J . Browning ( 5 QUEEN S ) has been appointed M aster of the H aberdashers'
C ompan y for 1976.
Col. A. S. J, de S. Clayton OBE h as resigned
his appointment as a D eputy Lieutenant of Greater Staff College Nominations 1977
London ( Daily T elegraph 7 J an 76 )
The foll owing officers have rece ived nom ina tions
Maj. P. V. Panton, ha ving successfull y com- as shown in brackets: Capt. R. Gancz ( Div 2,
pl eted a Course at the Canadian Staff College ( 3 J an )) ; Capts. P. C. Cook, N . P. Harris and J. A.
Aug 74-5 Jul y 75 ) , is entitled to the symbol " psc" Hodges ( Div 3, O ct )) ; A / Maj . R. M . M. Low
against his name in mil records. ( Ca nadian S C, T oronto, Aug ) ).

Maj. I. G. Baillie, h aving successfully completed ***
Div II of No 9 Arm y Sta ff Course at the RMC S
( I Oct 73-13 D ec 74 ) and Course No 48 at the Acknowledgements
Roya l Nava l S C ( 27 J an 75-1 Aug 75 ), is en-
titled to the symbol "psc(N ) t'' agai nst his name in Th e Edicoo· acknowledges, with tha11 ks, receipt of
mil records. the fo llowing publications:

2/ Lt. W . W. Redford, having studied at the The Roya l British Legion Journal (D ec. 75 to
U ni versity of N ottingham under Service arran gements, May 76);
was awarded a BA ( History & Art H istory ) upper
second class H onours degree a t the end of the 73/ 74 The Star & Garter M agazine (Autumn 75 &
Academ ic yea r. New Year 7 6);

Col. H. C. Millman OBE has been awarded a Owl Pie (1975);
D efen ce F ellowship for the academic yea r 1976/ 77 . The Fusilier (D ec. 75);
H e will be doing this at Kin g's College, A berdee n The L egion (Canad a) (O ct. to D ec. 75 and J an.
University. to Apr. 76 numbers inclusive);
The Cadet Journal & Gazette (D ec. 75, Feb.
W02 R . H . Kitson, who attended a n All Arms and Apr. 76 numbers);
RQMS / C QMS Course in J an/ F eb 76 at the School "Blesmag" (Winter 75/ 76);
of Ordnance, received an ' A' grading. R oussillon G azette (Autumn 7 5) ;
" The Gra pevine" (m agazi ne of 2 RNZ IR) (Jan.
W e regret to announce the death of Pte. A . R . 76).
Dalley, 2 QUEENS, as a result of drowning in
BELIZE on 22 February 1976. The Queen's S urreys Association News L etter,
M ay 76.

9

The lst Battalion

HONOURS AND AWARDS Sennelager put th at right ; we disappeared to that
infamous training ground, where a great dea l of use-
I T was with considerable pride and pleasure that ful battle shooting was completed. With Derry in
we heard on 30th December that four mem- mind, we left APCs behind in W erl and began to
bers of the Battalion had been honoured by Her concentrate on those specia li st skills required for the
Majesty the Queen for gallant and distinguished
Service during our tour in Belfast in the early Emerald Isle.
part of last year. The awards, which included the Despite this flurr y of training acti vi ty, we have
only two QGMs on the Operational List were:
managed to achieve considerable success in two areas
Queen's Gallantry M edals to: of sport. Details of our first yea r on the BAOR
skiing scene and our successes in the boxing field
W02 M. Donnelly-CSM T angier Kirkes Coy. appear elsewhere. Suffice it to say here that having
(now RSM, 10 UDR); and
taken over an extremel y good "Snow Queen" hut
Sgt. S. R. Bream-Int. Sgt. Holland Coy. (now from the 2nd Bn., we have enjoyed a lot of good
CQMS Holland Coy.) skiing which should enable us to enter Divi sional
and BAOR competi tions in the future . The excitement
Mention in Despatches to : of the BAOR boxing semi-finals is self-evident in the
separate acco unt; although defeated, our team emerged
Maj. H. M . du V. Lohan-Bn . 2IC (now GSO with full honours and in the best traditions of thi s
2 Int. Gibraltar and CO designate of the Divisional
Depot); and boxing battalion.
It has always been the Commancling Officer's
M aj. R . C. Pitman-OC Quebec Coy. (now GSO
2 at the School of Inf.) policy, despite the many other demands made on our
time, to give full weight to our R egimen tal days
Sgt. G . Belcher, who has now left the Army, and Sobraon was at its traditional best. Sgt. Stapleton
was awarded a GOC's Commendation for his work carried the Regimental Colour for the day, but it is
as Quebec Coy. Int. Sgt. not clear how distinct this memory will remai n to him I
On Ypres Day, the East Surrey silver drums appeared
We were also delighted to hear that Sgt. Fiddy's on parade before the Battalion for the first time in
yea rs of hard, painstaking, sympathetic and often many yea rs. The Corps of Drums, although they
thankless work in the Families Office was recognised double as a rifle pl atoon these days, acquitted them-
with the award of BEM in the New Years List.
se lves extremely well.
We in the 1st Bn .- and, indeed, the whole Before we become tota lly immersed in pre-
Regiment, congratulate all the recipients on their well
deserved awards. parations for Ireland, we have, at the time of writing
one more Regimental Weekend before us which should
Editorial prove memorab le. From 14th to 16th May, we ce le-
brate both the Glorious First of June and Albuhera
The period covered coincides neatly with the D ay. We look forw ard not only to a good cricket
time since our arrival here in Germany. match against the Navy, who are travelling out to
play us, but also to having an extremely enjoyable
Having worked ourselves up into a tremendous weekend at a Battalion famil y occasion*. A full report
fervour of mechani sed conversion in Bulford, we
eventually arrived in Werl to be assured that if we will appear in the next issue.
drove all the new APCs hard enough, we would have
no troubles. No comment! However, putting this * You can say that aga in!-Ed .
theory to the test, the Battalion went off on the
Brigade Commander's exercise "Red Rum." Reality TANGIER (KIRKE'S) COY.
is never quite up to one's expectations for we spent
the first weekend sitting in the woods. The second Our first task was to take over the new APCs.
week (so we were told) would be our great oppor-
tunity, but it rained so hard, the exercise had to be We have pleasure in announcing that these are
foreshortened and we never really clid get mobile! now fully "serviceable" despite a few X jobs still to
be done. The fir st chance to test thi s new equipment
Nevertheless, " Red Rum" was a useful pipe- came at H altern. Six tracks plus one (which Staff
opener for BAOR before we spent one of the best
Regimental Christmases since Berlin (some of us Lowe wishes to remain nameless) were thrown in the
wondered if the round of company and departmental last half hour. Lt. Pielow late r said that this and his
parties was ever going to end! )
resignation were quite unconnected! Back in camp,
Conversion from an airportable to the BAOR Cpl. M awbey was still frying eggs, demonstrating
role involves much more than just learning to care why he was given an 'A, grading on the Dunmore
for the tin cans. The period immediately after Christ-
mas was a melee of individual training cadres. With course.
our first period at Sennelager due in M arch, followed Next came " Red Rum" which was enjoyable
by Northern Ireland later in the year, this was the
only time in the whole of 1976 when we could carry and a success. The Colonel, in his debrief, pointed
out effective individual continuation training. Some- to the Coy's position as proof that the principles of
how, all was completed by the end of February, by defence hold water in a mechanised as well as in an
which time Company Commanders had given up all airpo rtable setting. Sgt. Delaney (in his own personal
hope of ever reclaiming their own companies. swamp) proved that he doesn 't hold water and L/ Cpl.
Odell, with the help of hi s Iri s, spotted 6 . . . 15 .. .
(or was it 27? ) wild boars approaching the position.
Honk, honk! Good luck at the Depot, Cpl. Ode!I.

Particularl y successful during the Cadre season
were Sgt. Issacs on education; Pte. Todd on the B3
Clerks Course, and Pte. Dell, who leaves us to be

10

(left) The Corps Commander talking to C pl. Green wood. (righ t) The 2IC meets the Commander, 6th
Armoured Bde.

a Bn . dog handler in D erry. In exercise " S now helped us to wea ther the storms fo inspection reports
Queen u, Yogi, our answer to Franz Klan1mer, wo n
the " K amikazi " scarf on the last day for the most and XI jobs which fell about the Annexe li ke snow,
spectacul ar " heap" thus robbing L / C pl. R obinson of and now we are learnin g (from the QM T ech) that
the hat- trick. On Capt. Carter' s Border P atrol,
"spirits" remained high, despite the occasional hi tch " light preserva tion" involves more than a thin coat
with the ve hicles. of oil. H owever, APC dri vers have had thei r moments
of actua lly dri vi ng, notably on exercise <IRed R um ."
It was good to get together again at Sennelage r
for some basic soldiering, including two ni ghts spen t The exercise gave us our first taste of mechan ised
out in patrol bases. Two-thirds of the Coy. classified
first time on the SLR, and all nine G MPG teams wa rfare; we hid, attacked, withdrew, defended, tried to
were successful. So much activity has left little time communicate with each other, and som e of us even
for serious sport, but Ptes. Lowe and B adri ck fini shed m an aged to find our wa y abo ut the training area.
near the head of the Battalion x-country run and, in
the semi-final of the BAOR Boxing Championship, Capt. Simmons speci alised in findin g hides fo r us and
Ptes. Atherton, M cKatherine, F eltham and Harrison the Company learned some stran ge new cri es, such
represented the Coy. Congratulations to them and
also to Sgts. P aine and Broad, L / C pls. Bamford, as " Hubba Hubba" and " C iacky" . A t Wickede, in
C arter and Batten on their promotion; to Ptes. S alt the woods, we du g through frozen soil, tr ying out
and G ardiner on their marri ages; and to L / C pl.
Booker and Sgt. P aine on their daughters (one each new toys such as the high-cycle diggi ng too ls.
so far). Appointed as "Cowboy Coy.", we were tasked to

A warn1 welcome to M aj. W ard, the new Com- convert our 43 2s into PT 76s for a suicide mission
pany Commander and all new arri va ls including Sgt. against 2R Irish (5 PI. gained a num ber of C D M s !)

Hedges and L / C pl. Jennings who h ave returned to Sg1. Brown, H amm y H ampshire and Ginger E nock
guided their Gazelle heli copter into a high tension
the fold . Lt. Pielow, Sgt. Kirk, C pls. Ode!! and cable, and had to m ake a forced landing and change
of underwear ; and a falling tree nearl y got K ojak-
Johnstone, L / C pl. L ee and Pte. D ell h ave all left he thinks it was the wind that blew it over !

us and so has M aj. G ybbon-Monypenn y, w hose de- Af ter C hristmas, Battalion cadres decimated the
parture signifies the end of an era (T angier Coy.
having become T angier/ Kirke's). Fin ally, one dea th- Compan y; so much so that the O C and C SM might
2/ Lt. Go ulde ns' P C D report ! No flowers please. have moved the Coy. offi ce to the golf course if the

HOLLAND COY. weather had been better. 5 and 6 Pis. sent their
respecti ve ski tea ms to Hinterstein in F ebru ary and
Sin ce converting to " M ech" we have learned promptly got the flu ; some spectacu lar descents were
somethin g about APC s, the G erman scene and, most ma naged, however, to the amusement of the locals.
important of all, quite a lot about G erman beer!
A border patrol, under 2/ Lt. Les Edwa rds, went
We soon discovered that we had to maintain our to wa tch the East Germa ns watching us, wa tching
APCs in sub-zero temperatures, not just " cabby about"
in them. Sgts. A rthur Stapl eton and Ronald Corni ck them wa tching us; any criti ci sm of the P ay Office was
stilled when we learned the r ates of pay of the East
G erm an Arm y !

Field Firin g at Sennelage r allowed everyone to

fire everything; Ko jak missed with our last 84mm
HEAT round at 400 . At the weekend, du ring a

Compan y patrol exerci se, 2/ L t. " Gon ker" Gibson
gained his ni ckna me; 5 PI. cheated by han ging their

lantern 6 ft . off the ground inside the G PM G tur ret

of thei r APC ; and the Drums lost their sense of 11
humour, but then retrieved it for the final march
and shoo t. Thi s satisfactory competi tion ended up together wi th some of our REME LAD under Cpl.
wi th all three platoons coming equal first. White and others.

Easter leave was followed by a Site Guard, and, At the time of writing everything seem s to be
as we write, we are se tting our sights on the P arade bearing down on a cringing company but no doubt
to mark the anniversary of the presen tation of the when these notes are read all will have been accom-
East Surrey Silver Drums ( Ypres D ay), the Trooping plished and the company even roaming the roads of
of the Co lour and preparation for Londonderr y. The the Enclave on No rthern Ireland behind the ri ver.
Drums are back in scarlet and C pl. Ray Cameron is Another world . (S ub-editor : music off, sadly and
wi eldi ng the maracas (in the Stee l Band, who are whim')ically: '' But come ye back etc. .. ,"
now getting some good engagements arou nd the Werl
area) although they have lost some of thei r origina l ALBUHERA COY.
Belize flavour). Dmr. Anderson now plays in a kilt Pay Team
(Millwall and Uxbridge tartan! ) and hi s knees add a
new element to the rhythm section. Sammy Trent, H aving settled down after six mon ths in Werl,
as the " hunchback of No tre D ame" (complete with we are beginning to explore the amenities and country-
limp and horrid scars) ca rri es unwilling maidens to side in this plea sant part of Westphalia. Cp l. Snape
the dance floor. has succumbed to the ca ll of the ri vers and is to be
congra tul ated on winning a gold medal in the 4l km
To all those who have left us, and to the many race at the North Rhine and Westphalia Annual
who have joined, go our sincere th anks and a warm Ca noe R all y out of 148 starters. We are upholding
welcome respectively. the sporting image of the Corps with represen tation
in va rious battalion sides: the SQMS a t badminton,
QUEBEC COY. squ ash and rugby; Sgt. W ard at football (he also
played for the RAPC BAOR team), and Sgt. M aso n,
The first six months under new management- who has ju st joi ned us from P ay Services Scotland
M aj. M ellotte (whom it will be reca lled gained much (that golfer's paradi se), now pl ays it straigh t down
experience of Support Weapons in Bahrai n whilst the middle.
under the command of the then Lt.-Col. H . C.
Millm an)-h as coincided with our first six months in Cpl. C ritchell has left for civili an life on PVR ,
Germany. No one expected the "Zone" to be like C pl. Bishop on posting to 16 Lt. AD R egt. (onl y
Berlin but this mad ex istence ( that is, BAOR ) ca me 22km away) and C pl. Murrell on posting to AFCENT.
as a bit of a shock. In their pl aces we have been joined by Pte. Armstrong
from the Training Centre (his Border Countr y wit
Exercise "Red Rum" was followed by Christmas, is slowly being recognised-even by the WRAC), and
which ex haus ted all but the hardiest. Lt. ("Nick the Tpr. Squires, a potenti al transfer-in from 3 RTR .
Slick") Carter organised a successful Company party
in the Qu een's C lub at which C/ Sgt. Lawrence pro- With our summer holidays booked- a govern-
duced three nurses from BMH Iserlohn. Although it ment sponsored package deal to the Emerald Isle-
follow ed the famili ar format-includin g a welcome we once again get used to Harmed patrols" going past
" Punch" (not quite a knockout) and carnations for our windows and have to convince the P aymas ter it
the girls, the buffet supper was especia lly delicious and isn' t an armed robbery.
C/ Sgt. Brown 's Draw, an evening-stopper.
BN O rderly Room
J anu ary and Febru ary rolled by agai nst a back- Although we are settling down to the BAOR
ground of cadres but high lighted by the Support PI.
Commanders' convention at S ennelager. Captain routine of paper work, we did not entire ly escape the
(Rocky) H itchcock produced copious notes about how B attalion 's involvement in its conversion to the M ech
it rea lly ought to be run which means that the Ro le; we took part in 11Red Rum'' and (one or two
Compan y will be a dead cert for running it next of us) in the FTX in la te F ebruar y, so have not
yea r (by which time, of course, we will ha ve bowed quite lost the art of so ldiering-and ri ghtl y so.
out gracefully! ) The mortars had lots of very fresh
air, not much shoo ting and an opportunity to expl ain Ptes. arpenter, Pinion, Todd and Cava nag h
things to the Brigade Commander personall y (amongst joined us, although Pinion and T odd have since gone
o t h er s). to the Compan y Offices. Sgt. Tombling is soon to go
to the D epot as ORC.
It was a t thi s time that the Anti-tank pl atoon
found itse lf under comm and of a rather bewildered We congratulate " Chippy" Carpenter and "Cav"
and newl y-commissioned 2/ Lt. M artin F ea therstone. Cavanagh on their marri ages, and Pte. I an Todd and
Thi s move will allow Capt. L awso n (social engage- "Chippy" on attaining ' A' gradings on their B3 C lerks
ments permitting) to become the Company Ops. Officer courses thi s year.
in Ulster. Fortunately our next tour in Londonderry
coincides with the summer months; anyway, skiing In the world o f sport, the Adjutant goes sub- aqua
(or anything else for that m atter! ) isn' t ver y good diving; the C hief C lerk fishes; the ORC goes "Trim-
th ere! Di ching" (and has now retired from the Battalion
Footba ll T eam); Sgt. Tombling is our original road-
Spring has found us lurching from cross-countr y runner and came second in the B attalion Inter-Coy
runs to dut y company, to alternative E as ter holidays, C ross Countr y C hampionships (he'll beat Swanson
to specia l reaction for ces to a crowd of fift y school- ye t! ); he has also found time to get his Bronze
girls (how did we buy that one? !) Following Easter, awa rd on a recent C ross-Country Skiing Course. Ptes.
the company welcomed a new composi te platoon ( 10 Cavanag h and Carpenter were also in the Compan y
PI.) to its midst in preparation for our forthcoming C ross-Coun try team.
Northern Ireland tour. Lt . K evin H aggerty, the
military policeman in disguise, commands it with that Cpl. M anji has now handed over the job of
old Recce PI. hand, Sgt. H all, as his able assis tant. M ovements C lerk and has gone to work " hard" for
Cp l. Preston has also sidestepped (from the M ortars) the 2IC. Cp l. Berr y is the new Movements Clerk and
Cpl. Gurr, the Documents Clerk.

At the time of writing we are attem pting to
pass our APFA and PFT tests. Cavanagh and
Carpenter got an 'A '; that "Chippy" just keeps going!

12 the Battalion pulling back from losing the first three
bouts ("We was robbed, cried our supporters on one
QM's Department decision), to gaining the next three convincingly. The
Due to the layout of the barracks in Werl, the final bout was the " cliff-hanger" of the evening; Pte.
" Charlie" Barrell held off his taller and more ex-
QM(A) and QM(T ) Departments have cea s~d to peri enced opponent in the first two rounds with
function as one Unit and arc now under thelf re- considerable skill but the fight had to be stopped
spective chiefs in the Barracks and the Annexe. in the final round in favour of his opponent. Spectators
from both sides were openly demonstrative of the
We h•d a very successful Department Party in courageous battle which our Charlie h ad offered .
the Queen's Club . Our reputation for giving good
parties has seemingly spread and we had to expend (co ntinued on n ext page )
a lot of effort in keeping out gatecrashers; even so,
(top) Welcoming the new member (see Officers'
we all had a good time. Mess report). "L/ Cpl." Mieville seated front
We welcome Sgt. Owen to the Clothing Store; centre; "Lt.-Col." Covill, centre of centre row:
"The Rev" Hitchcock (with dog collar) and
he took over from Sgt. Froggy, who will soon take
up his new post in the accommodation stores. C/ Sgt. "Capt." Lewis, centre of back row.
Crcane is to leave shortl y for UK pending retirement, (lower) L / Cpl. Broome on his way to victory in
as are Ptes. Tickner and J ohnson. the Novices Competition versm 1st Bn. Irish

RQMS Marshall left us whi lst we were at Bu lford Guards
and the new RQMS, B. Upson, has joined from the
Royal Anglicans. Shortly after he arrived, he jumped
all of seven feet in the air when he thought he was
being add ressed as "Ah Kid" ! (the Brum accent is
hard to reproduce here, but most of our readers wi ll
know who was involved). Strange to say, he is still
with us !

MT Platoon
After two months in Werl, we welcomed our new

MTO ancl MTWO, Capt. W. C. Guscott, PPC LI
(we are still trying to make him think Briti sh) and
WOZ N. Jamieson, who was CSM HQ Coy. We said
goodbye to Capt. G. Simmons and WOZ Roberts
(now CSM HQ Coy.)

L/ Cpl. " Slug" Collis has joined us from Belize;
Pte. N. Thornton from RIT (Gui ldfo rd) and Pte.
"Andy" Anderson from the Depot. Sgt. N. Lee (RRF)
and Pte. C. Ellis were left behind by 2 Queens when
that Bn. moved to Bulford (the former now thinks
that the Queens Regiment is the "Greatest"- apart
from the RRF !) We were sorry to lose Pte. D.
Boorrnan, who has started a new life in Civvy Street,
and we wish him all good fortune .

We wish L/ Cpl. Leslie Gillett, Ptes. Gray and
Dignam luck (they will need it) in their new role as
Riflemen.

BOXING NOTES

After the clisplay of talent in the inter-company
Novices boxing competition held at Bulford, one of the
first priorities, following our arri va l in BAOR, was
the preparation of our novice boxers for the A Div.
Novice Boxing Competi tion in 1976.

The results refl ect the enthusiasm of our novices,
their coaches, and, not least of all, the Boxing Officer
(ali as QM (T ech)}-Capt. Les Wilson; when certain
Company Commanders were muttering about priorities
and non-availability of boxers because of training com-
mitments, Capt. Wilson threatened to take all their
APCs off the road !

T he results of the preliminary rounds were: versus
16th Light Air Defence Regt. RA-a Battalion win
by six bouts to one; and versus 24 Missile Regt. RA)-
a Battalion win by five bouts to two.

The final of the competition, agai nst 2nd Bn .
The Light Infantry, was held on our home ground
when supporters were present in force, some having
been recalled from the STC at Sennelager for the
occasion. There were some extremely hard-fought
bouts and although the final ended in a convincin g
win for us by six bouts to one, great credit was due
to our opponents for the spirited fight they put up.

Encouraged by this, our novices were entered for
the BAOR competition and drew against 1st Bn .
Irish G uards. This proved an exciting competition,

t'Boxing Nor cs'J- co NliNu ed ) 13

Space does not allow men ti on of . every boxer, missioned officer arri ved, it was decided (principally
but the following exemplifies the batta lions spmt: by Messrs. Hitchcod: and Mieville) that there should
be a certain change of identity. To th1s end, L/ Cpl.
Pre. F clrh am. On the night of the match agai nst Lewis (a Mess waiter) and apt. Mieville swapped
the Irish Guards, he was roped in to represent the roles for the eveni ng ; M aj. Douggie Covill ma s-
Battalion at short notice after one of our regu lars had queraded as the Commanding Officer,. and Capt.
been prevented from boxing. He clid magnificently Hitchcock dressed up as the RC Chaplam. All went
against a more skilled and prepared boxer. well until Capt. (L / C pl.) Lewi s demanded of L / Cpl.
(Captain) Mieville (standi ng rigid ly to attention) :
Prc. Arherron, An outstanding fight in the finals "Wha t abou t the gravy then, Cp l. Mieville" , to which
M ess " W aiter" repli ed (deadpan) : "The gravy is in
of the 4 Div. Competition . front of you Sir".
SI ("Arfcr" ) L each APTC, Sgts. Brazier and
RECCE PLATOON BORDER PATROL
l saacs. They all injected enormous enthusiasm, passing
on their experience to our novice boxers. by Lt. Nick Carter

Some of our more experienced boxers have been The B attalion was given a five-week period of
trai ning and fightin g with a loca l G erman Boxi ng responsibility for a section of the East-West German
Border at the beginning of the year and the Recce
Club at Soest. Both L / C pl. 1ean-Pierre and Pte. PI. carried out a part of this task at the end of
M arch.
Worrell have represented the C lub in outside com-
petitions and have rece ived special mention in local The P atrol, consisting of fifteen and mo unted
German papers. One report says: " L / Cpl. J ea n-Pierre in stripped-down R ecce L androvers, moved to the
is now entitled to represent the District of Ruhr-Ems Border area on Saturday, 28th M arch. The first
and the Prov ince of Westphalia if nominated by the evening was spent settling in to an old, gaunt and
Westphalian Boxing Association . He has the title of draughty village hall, which fortun ately ad joined the
2nd W estphalian Champion of 1976 and was presented local G as rh aus; the owners (E as t Germans), who had
fled to the W est vi a Berlin some yea rs previously,
with a medal confirming this". made us very welcome. The next day a TEWT was
Two fin al credits: F irstl y, to all our supporters held in a nearb y area to consider the locations, sites
and t asks of certain aspects of R ecce PI. t actics.
who remained loyal to the team throughout the com-
petition and whose tribal cries of " oggee, oggee, On the following two days, the pl atoon de ployed
oggee, oi oi oi!, have often lifted a boxer from to the Border area, accompanied by a me mber of the
prospective defeat to the winning of a bout. Secondly, British Frontier Service and several members of the
SI Leach, our APTC instructor, who was such an Bundes GreNze Schutz, the German Border F orce.
enthusias t. His dedication was marked by the boxing Our area of responsibility stretched for appcoximately
team who presented him with two mounted P ewter 30km. north of the W eser-Elbe Canal nea r Wolfsbu rg
soldi ers on the night of the match against the Iri sh where the countryside varies from marshl and and
Guards, sad ly his las t appearance as he has been scrub to thick coniferous woods.
posted to the RMA at Sandhurst to " teach them young
Our initial view of the Frontier was the stark
gentlemen what its all abahrt". barbed wire and mesh fence which stretches as far
as the eye can see and along its length, concrete
Officers' Mess watchtowers are interpersed every kilomc:tre or so.
The re-establishment of the M ess, inherited from Immediately on the other side of the fence was an
anti-vehicle ditch, an access road, and then an ex-
our sister Battalion, has caused great pleasure. The panse of cleared countryside. Beyond that was a
well-equipped bar met with instant approval, although Skm . prohibited zone, strictly enforced by the East
the somewhat shrunken ''bum-freezer" in the Ante- Germans. In certain places guard dogs on long leashes
room meant that some lesser mortals have to stand! patrolled the fence and in others, claymore-type
shrapnel mines were fix ed to the fence posts, to be
Once the long-familiar " Stag with a Pipe" h ad detonated by pressure on a tripwire. It has been
been installed in the Bar, all agreed that the new estim ated that the complete border works h ad cost
Mess was "home from home"-so much so that our £200,000 per km.
Padre, Mike Waiters and side-kick Douggi e Covill,
SSO M enden, an honorary member, sent their wi ves The patrol weaved its way in and out of the
home for a long spell and virtually became li'l'ers-in . woods along rutted tracks to in spect the wire; the
West has seen no reaso n to build roads along their
M aj. P eter G ybbon-Mon ypenn y, who made such side of the fence. In ever y watchtower sentries with
a success of the job of PMC (notwithstancling the binoculars followed our progress and at one location,
outside pressures of a rifle company commander) h as an East German W arrant Office with a tele-photo
retired from post and been repl aced by M aj. D avid lens camera, took numerous photographs of every
member of the patrol and its landrovers. In one
Dickin s. village, the fence passed clean through the centre.
Many a successful Gu est Night has been held Close to the wire was the inevitable tower, the occu-
pants of which di screetly aimed a powerful directional
and few newly-arrived young officers put through their microphone at the crew of one recce vehicle; doubtless
initiation test (to the chagrin of our QM, M aj. Ron some technician was later mystified by the incom-
Morri s, who is responsible for acco mmodation). prehensible cockney aired for his benefit!
Thanks to the fatherly approach of our PMC, how-
By the end of the two days, the Border h ad
ever, damage has been minim al. made a strong impression on every men1ber of the
Sunday curry lunches have proved a success

although some wives complain that these occasions
are turning them into teetotallers.

A successfu l L adies Guest Night was held on
23rd December. Happily, coaches were organised,
allowing the wine to flow freely. The entertainments
committee organi sed presents for all, and whilst the
Ladies received feminine-type gifts, the gentlemen
were not Jet off so lightly-little respect being paid

to rank or seniority.
One occassion, when a certain newly corn-

14 4 Div. So ldiers C up Competi tion, it shou ld have gone
furt he r but the B attalion was never able to field a
platoon; all vere stru ck by the vast scale of such a fu ll team and the 'fl u epidemic didn' t help.
barrier and its implications. It was with a sense of
relief and noticeable easing of tension that the pl atOon I niti al en thusiasm for the Soest G arrison Squas h
returned to Werl . The reasons for our de ployment League turned so ur at the prospect of ni ne games in
in BAOR had been made starkl y clear as a result of eight weeks over the "G lo rio us First" preparations
the patrol. and the No rthern Ireland training period . A fin al
and much regre tted decision to withdraw from the
SNOW QUEEN competiti on thu s had to be m ade.

Shortl y after our arri va l in BAOR (and amidst Squ ash coaching sessions have been arranged
the initi al upheaval of our fi rst m ajor exercise) HSnow although the B attalion's o ther commitments have com-
Queen" got off the ground . T he hut se lected was the bined to make copin g with the large response almost
one used by 2 QUEENS the previous yea r. I t con- im possib le.
sisted of four fl ats grouped together in the vill age
of Hi nterstein which lies in a narrow va lley abo ut 8 WERL WIVES C LUB
miles from Sonthofen; here everyone was dropped T he Battalion coach h as enabled the C lu b to
at the beginning of the course. (Austria, although make several success ful trips, including various
about 2 miles away, involves a climb of 3,000 feet). sho pping excursions, a visit to \'V'interberg and one
to MUnster Zoo.
Abou t 130 peop le attended the courses and I n F ebruar y, the C lub had a ve ry successfu l
although there were a few ex perts, the m ajorit y were Dinner, after which members were joined by their
experiencing their first ti me on ski s. The " K amikazi husbands for d an ci n g. Some unexpected talent was
Scarf" was awarded to the student on each course revea led b y the surpri se Cabaret. (Never thou ght the
who consistently am azed his instructors by his ability P adre wo u ld make such a good impressario! )
to survive spectacular crashes. The Scarf also con- The monthl y evening meetin gs ha ve included a
tai ned the names of those who were awarded the demonstration by a glassblower and a display of por-
" cr as h of the day". (T he li st includes all (save one) celain- both ve ry successfu l. W e have now acqui red
of the instru ctors aud the Commanding Officer !) an exce llent venu e for o ur coffee mornings and o ther
meetin gs, which has been ca ll ed (aptl y, according to
Apart from one period (when the Adjutant some of the men), " The Baggage H u t" .
visited), there was always enough snow to ski on . The C hildren 's gymn astic classes, run by Mrs.
G reengrass, are now in full swing and very well
instru ctional effort was boosted by 441 Jaeger Bn. a t t en d ed .
The "Keep F it" and " W eight-Watchers'"
who lent us ski instruc tors throughout the season but sessions run each week by Mrs. Fudge, are also very
despite their efforts, the British soldier conti nued to well attended.
show his abi li ty to "ski ugly" ! As well as showing
them how to ski in the present, trips to see how 1. Holland and Sobraon r epresentatives at
they might ski in the fu tu re were also arran ged; these "Snow Queen"
included the l OOm. ski jump at Oberstdorf (the G er-
man Na tional Championship) and one day a t the 2. C pl. " Yogi" Friih (441 J aeger Bn.) with
W inter Ol ympics. 2/ Lt. Riley (wearing the " Kamikazi" scarf )

The Battalion now has a nucleus of reason able (" Snow Queen" 75/ 76)
skiers and despi te our late return from Londonderr y
(towards the end of 1976) it is hoped to bui ld on 3. T angier/ K irke's C oy during their stint on
this and, perhaps, run a famili es cour se. R elations Border Patrol
with the locals in the area are good and the visit
of the Band on the last course ensu red th at we left 4 . S choolchildrens' visit sponsored by Quebec
the area on a high note. Coy

QUEENS SHOOTING CLUB 5. The Battalions' Cross Country Race: Pte.
Brown receiving his prize from Mrs. D avidson
O n arri va l in W erl, we found that 2 QUEENS
had left behind an excellent clay pigeon trap and a . . . and . ..
lot of G erman friends. C learl y, we had no wish to
lose either, but the sport of clay pigeon shooting was 6. . . . the start of the race
somethi ng quite new to thi s Battalion.

On ce we had mastered the basic art (and taken
on L / Cpl. G rundy from the 2nd Bn .), the task
became great fu n and a few enthusias ts increased their
ski lls week by week.

T here are some 40 G erm an members and the
ai m is to attract at least an equ al number of all
r anks from the Ba ttalion . A lthough we have not
yet ach ieved th is there is now a kerne l of enthusias ts as
well as the odd American an d Belgian member to add
a touch of NATO colour.

On our return from D erry, we hope to be taking
on the Ge rma ns both at sma ll bore and shotgun
com petitions. The social side has alread y proved itse lf,
wi th plans to move into a bigger clubhouse !

SQUASH

It wo u ld be less than honest to say th at the
non-u ntalented squ as h team h as had a successfu l
season . Although it did reach the semi-fin al of the



16 and see that you take an interest in G erm an current
affairs from the television programme.''
SOME LOCAL IMPRESSIONS
Pte. 'X ': "Not rea lly. Can' t speak the lingo can
As this is the first report for the J ournal sin ce we. Reckon there'll be an American fi lm coming on
we arrived at Werl, your roving reporter thought it soon. G erman sub-titles are a bit orff but yo u soon
might be expedient to interview an anonymous married get used to them. "
couple from the "Patch, to gauge their reactions to
the new environment. A s background information it Interviewer : " Do you get much opportunity to
should be noted that Pte. 'X ' is a nine-yea r regular vi sit loca l places of interest?"
whose only previous fora y from England has been to
cross the Irish Sea and his wife (of recent acquisition) Mrs. 'X ' : " Oh yes. Once a week we take a trip
has never previously left either the county of her on the PRI bus to the Soest NAAFI. Much better
birth or Mum. 'n ours, innit.,

Interviewer: (trying to compete with a German Interviewer : " Thank you both for the interview.
news commentary on television, played at full I must in all honesty say that from my interview,
volume): "Tell me, how are you finding life in neither of you seem terribl y anxious to get to
Germany? " know Germany and its people."

Pte. 'X ': "Not bad really. C heap fags and booze; Pte. 'X ' (indignantl y) "'ang abahrt! Got a crate
English papers come the same day; bingo twice a of ye r actu al D ortmunder P ils here. Bloody cheek!
week. Pretty good on the 'ole." Get one of these down for a rea l bit of G erman
culture .. ."
Interviewer: " What do you mi ss mos t abo ut the
British way of life?" Interviewer : (sipping madly) " I nearly forgot!
H ave you tried the G erman cuisi ne?"
Pte. 'X': (wi thout hesitation) " Coronation
Street" . Pte. 'X' : (sadl y, shaking his head) " Not rea lly.
Don' t go a bundle on all thi s Sauerkraut and
Interviewer : " Do yo u find buying on the Ger- Brockies" . (Then visibly brightening); " But we often
man economy expensive? " nip round the Queen's C lu b for some fish 'n chips."

Mrs. 'X': "Never use it. Got the NAAFI just Sub -Edi t01Js fo otnoce: Whilst P te. 'X ' and his
across the road. " wif e m ay never become leading lights of th e W erl
Au glo-G erman Society, they can surely hold cheir
Interviewer : " But surely you need to go else- h eads high w hen ever the R egim ental Bm1d plays
where for cJothes?" " L a11d of H ope a11d Glory".

Mrs. 'X ': " Not really. Mrs. P eabody, two doo rs
down, runs a mail order catalogue. C heaper, innit."

Interviewer: (in desperation) " But I can hear

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The 2nd Battalion

It is with deep regret that we announce the
death of Pte. A ndrew Richard Dalley, who was
drowned whilst swimming near Plassey Camp, Belize
on S unday 23rd February, 1976

Editorial was towed in fitting st yle from the barracks after he
had handed over command to Lt. -Col. Cnspm
T HE world has prov ided a constantly changing C hampion . Flight detai ls of our move to Belize
backdrop to our activities since the last arrive and A and B Coys. returned from N. Ireland
Journal notes and by the .time this number is just in time before the Battalion broke up for leave
published, will change agam. on 16th J an uar y. They had obviously enjoyed their
short trip ; was it because it was so short ?
The backdrop to Act I Scene 1 wa s a utumn at
Kiwi Barracks, Bulford where the Battalion reformed Act Il , Scene I opened on 26th J anuary with a
on 20th November aft er a spell of leave. As the days sm all party of seven climbing in to a H ercu les f or
grew colder and the nights longer we . prepared. our- the 24-hour t.rip via Gander and Nassau to Belize.
selves for three tasks; conversiOn to a1rportabllny; . a They were joined, on 4th F ebruar y, by the Advance
spell on Spearhead and, after a short break, our tour m P arty whose arri val heralded the earthqu ake that de-
Belize. No time was lost m settling ourselves mto o_ur vas tated Guatemala. Both parties had already acqUi red
magn ifice nt tan s by the time th e ,~emain ?e r of th~
new homes and starting essential cadres for potenti al Battalion arrived (I Oth-1 9th). The Manrung Game
NCOs, budding mor tar and anti-tank enthusiasts, and was lost when the ante went up to 520; we were
hopeful si gnallers; in addi tion, we had to get used ;o delighted to receive Lt. Leonard and hi s platoon from
using our feet for a change (Oh for the AP C. ) 3 RRF and Lt. Holme with his band of men from 2
Weapons had to be zeroed . and equipment tri al- R Angli an. It was during this scene that the back-
packed and tri al-p acked agam and the many m- drop changed sharpl y from En gland grip ped in an
structions on air trooping and hazardous cargo fully icy spell to tropi ca l Belize with clear skies,. bh!e
understood. (R emember the passports Sgts. Brad ley seas waving palm trees and temperatures up m the
and Linscott?! ) A short period (1-5 D ecember) was 90's: How many Cays trips were pl anned and aborted
spent at Lydd and Hythe, in preparation for Spearhead at the las t mi nute, R SO? A Coy ., the first to am ve,
with the emphasis on Northern Ireland ; R ype village were rapidly dispa tched south to Sa lama nca camp,
became a famili ar spot in 24 hours and Fort R• ch- hidden deep in the jungle of Tol edo d1stn ct, _by a
mond a safe haven from the screaming mob provided combination of R oyal Nav y (thank yo u, HM S Zulu )
by a squ adron of the Life Guards. The recce party and RAF Puma helicopters (thank yo u 33 Squadron).
went to Belize and the 2 IC began to whet everyones C Coy. followed and left immediately for Holdfas t
appe tite for the promised land . (Who nearly re- Camp by bus, whilst B Coy. rem am ed at A1rport
fu sed the offer of six months on the Cays> ) Camp with Bn. H Q . Certain selected individuals found
In Scene II (with the same backdrop, though themselves deposited in other stran ge loca hues such
colder) the Battalion assumed its Spearhead as St. Georges Cay and Hummi ngbird Cottage with
responsibilities and re-organised itself from ~o rifl e the task of preparing the first courses in Adventure
companies to three. There were also conungency Training and Jungle Warfare.
pl ans for other options which nearl y confused every-
CS M s cou ld be seen rushing to the Scene II meanwhile was being played to the
oOnpe~· b em u se d pl ay the " M anning Game" with C pl. fami liar back drop of winter at Bulford as the R ear
Room to P arty and ga llant wives began to ad just to the absen ce
Winder (480 to win). E ven those who considered of the Battalion . The Wives C lub, under the fim1
themselves safe suddenly found themselves exposed direction of Mrs. D awn Champion and her ab le
and vulnerable to rifle section duties. Meanwhile the Comn1ittee began to organise a succession of coffee
QM's depa rtment became a cornucopia of stran ge mornings, Sunday lunches, outings and blood-donering.
items-OG, jungle h ats and boots-not forgettmg Maj . Bri an Finch began to CO(Je with the va garies of
the two vi tal sweat rags; whilst the Adjutant suddenly the RAF in fl yi ng freezers, fndg es, M ercury engmes
became absorbed with dress regulations (buff and other misce ll any to the Battalion. (Easy, Brian-
cummerbunds? ) C hristmas was celebrated in the just take it to the n earest ai rfield ! ! I ) The first cargo
traditional manner with the Officers and SNCOs of fruit from Belize for the wives was not a success
serving lunch to the ear-splitting sound of the band. but the second consignment (grapefruit) was much
The unannounced Cabaret by Messrs, H arper , Hurley appreciated and the next load will go under the
and Wells was listened to in amazement by all. eagle eye of M aj. Forbes Bum who leaves u s for a
Scene Ill began on 5th J anuary, with the 2IC Staff appointment. H e will be replaced by Capt. Brian
absent on a security cou rse and A and B Coys leavm g M orris (described by OC R ear P arty at one stage as
in a hurry for South Arm agh. O ur Spearhead efforts being on intercourse leave!) whilst Capt. K eith Yonwin
had not been in vain and the move went extremely joins the Rear P arty.
smoothly. Maj . C ritchley b rea thed a sigh of relief
having just assumed comm and of Sp Coy. from M aJ. Scene Ill-The Mad H atters T ea Party. The
T arver (Where is the Sp. Coy. C hallenge Cup ?) The Batta li on qui ckl y ad ju ted to its tropical surrounds
RSM managed to find a White H orse (thank you though it took a little longer to stomach PT at
M orecambe and Wise) on which Lt.-Col. Mi ke Newall 0600 hrs.-FOR EVERYONE. Travel by Puma was

18 holiday. These Ad venture Trainers were offered 3
choice of courses wh ich took place on one of the two
accepted gratefully in exchange for a road trip even coral islets at St. G eorges Cay: th ey could canoe or
though MT prices ma y be lower. E ven Beer cans lea rn to sa il one of the two loca ll y made boats ; or
prefer to travel by air (Pte. M oore, or at least A Coy. after a coup le of days basic instruction , go sub a qu ~
think so! ) Accommodation, in Airport Camp especiall y, di ving off the mass ive Barrier Ree f which runs parallel
was cramped as a result of the build up in Force to the coas t. At Airport amp, every one was able to
levels; there is no truth in the rumour that the 2I C do one of these courses; most did two and a few paid
and Adjt. sleep together, they merely share a room. three visits. Undoubtedl y the most spectacular was
The seams fin ally began to split in the first two the sub-aqua cou rse-the colours and striki ng shapes
weeks of April with a visit by seven members of of the multitude of fi sh, the exotic cora ls and the
Southern TV (p lus one female), the recce party vf I sheer size of the reef stretching over a hundred miles
Queen's Own H ighlanders and the emergence of all and plunging down thousands of feet sti rred even
our Captains and Suba lterns from the jungle and the greatest philistines amongst us. The fourth course
Ca ys (RSO ?) to attend JOE. However, the situa tion offered was island survival on Ambergri s Ca y, to the
was saved by the return of I (F ) Sqn. to England and north . The course title was a mis-nomer for there
the departure of the H arrier(s). We even found time wa s not too much surviving amid scattered vi llas,
to fit in a Combined Services Entertainment team the few pleasant ba rs and the unexpected addition of
visit in each location with comedians, singers and American tourists who certainl y had not come to
dancers. (Who was it that claimed Commanding "survive". This was the most popular cou rse; each
Officer's privileges ') We also managed a comp any party was greeted a t the San Pedro Airstrip by the
changeover of locations and to receive a parting gift local "hunter" who took them away to a hut . H aving
from the H arriers-a fire on the field-firing ranges sorted ou t their ki t and their one 24hr. ra tion pack,
which has curtai led all trai ning in the area. they we re taken out to his boat and taught the subtle
a rts of fi shing and hunting for lobster. Other topics
The next scenes and acts have yet to be written; included the construction of lobster pots and fi sh
however the y will include many more visitors in- traps, hunting for Iguana ( a 4-foot green tree lizard
cluding the CGS and VCDS not forgetting our that ta stes like ch icken ) and the use of atap for
Band. There is the Queen's Birthday P ar ade, Guards roofing . D espite the fac t th at they ate all that they
of Honour for outgoing and incoming Governo rs and ca ught, no one suffered anythi ng wo rse than a queezy
the Belmopan Agricultural Show. Another Company stom ach .
change round and our final departure in August with
many more stori es to tell and a few more "wobblers" A s a counter to th is the company sen t one platoon
thrown. The last scene of thi s act wi ll see us reunited up to M ounta in Pine Ridge, an extensive area of pine
wi th our Rear P arty and wives followed by a spell of forest stretching across the northern edge of the main
leave. Act Ill will see A Coy. off to Cyprus for a mountain massif. Yes, it was just like those familiar
month whi lst B drum up some recruits (remember stampi ng grounds of Sennelage r and Soltau to look
the figure is 650) and C (possibly) vi sit the Cambrian a t-miles of pine forest broken by sandy tracks a nd
Hills. even the clinging yellow dust seemed familiar. But
there the similarity ended. Platoons were on their own
The Hying Trunks and were able to carry out energetic dry training in
the ve ry h ot sun watched by exotic parrots and then
A cautionary tale for new Subalterns ( M essrs. swim in one of the many fa st-fl owing creeks that not
Laylor and Robinson please note). It is not a Colour only provided a source of recreation but were the
Sergeant's job to rescue trunks from a VC I 0 which wash ba sin and kitchen sink as well. During one
has just started to taxi down the runway for England such vi sit, platoons gave training assistance to the
even if they do contain your en tire wardrobe. How loca l Belize Volunteer Guard-a reserve force of
did you manage Rowney ali as Sailplane? Company strength-some Company! Their sections
( of 19 ) outnumbered ou r platoons ( Queen's Div.
The Adjutant's Hat please note ) . They did have the odd seemingly quaint
custom which the RSM might have wished to change ;
The Adjutant's gigo lo hat, designed specifically boots were sometimes carried rather than worn and
to cover his ba ld patch, went AWOL. Every sympath y marching seemed to have the odd lilt. So wi th such
was exten ded to the soldier discovered preening him - opportunities as these the prospects of guards and
self at the swimming pool sporting the afo resaid item . the " Big C ", ( d idn 't we tell you what tha t was?)
didn't seem so da un ting.
AIRPORT Coy.
ITEMS IN BRIEF
by Maj . P. J. Hubert, MBE
l. Surv iv al A gainst the Elements
T he glossy pictures a nd the blurb of the pre-tour
briefing on Belize encouraged us all to believe that Pte. Alexander G lynn was one of a party of
our tour would give us unrivaled opportunities to island "survivors" eking out an existence amid the
enjoy all the wate r sports one associa tes with a barrenness of Ambergris Cay. In h is desperate sea rch
Caribbean holiday. for food-arn1ed with a shotgun and spear-he set
out to hunt for the ferociou s cr abs which haunt the
How often have we all swallowed such optimistic sea shore. Showing great courage and skill he stalked
talk and then found that the rea lity was very different. one and, at four yards range shot it. Alas, it was
And so, as we clambered off the VC 10, the already obliterated . Undeterred he noticed a brace of " some
we ll-sunburnt adva nce party warned us of endless odd bird" roosting in a palm and tried again.
guards, dock unloading parties, engineer fatigue Success- two coconuts !
parties chores and yet more chores. That was Friday
and the bad news; on Monday, however, we had the
good news a nd the first twenty five of us set off
by plane or boat for two islands and a weeks adventure
training . This wa s the fi rst of the groups that skipped
away every week for a 5-day sunshine C aribbean

2. En orm ous Snake takes on Safari P ar ty 19

L/ C pl. Alexander Stork in compan y with Ptes (top) Dmr. Brewer checks his equipment before
Mike Sage and Mike Butler took part in an arduous a subaqua expedition to the Barrier Reef
hunting expedition . Armed to the teeth with shot
gun and machettes, the part y set out in sea rch o f (centre) One of No. 1 (F) Sqn. RAF Harriers
big game. L / C pl. Stork spotted a giant constrictor under test before flying a Support Mission for
advancing towards them. The party deb ussed and
lea pt into action, Butler covering the rear from a the Battalion
sa fe di stance down the track whi lst S tork and Sage (lower) Cpl. Buddle, L / Cpl. Kemp, Ptes Sage
advanced tow ards the att acke r. A swift blow with the
side of a m achette stunned the snake whi ch was then and Tweed return from patrol
securely caged. Back in camp the troph y was duly Pictures by Cpl. J. P . O 'Neill

displ ayed before being skinned.

3. R ese ttlem ent T raini11 g

After long yea rs of fightin g obstru cti ve OCs and
waywa rd subalterns, CSM ! an Barn acle was warned
for redundancy in the company. T o prepare himse lf
for the ri go urs of the outside world of the Batta lion,
he was sent for vigorous resettlement training on St.
Georges Cay prior to a daunting three months at
Holdfast where, in addition to being the local Ca mp
Command ant, he has special responsibilities towards

the Camp parrot .

4. Military Trai11in g Miss ion

In late March the talented 6 PI. were sent as
specia l Military Advisors to train the Belize Volunteer
Guard. That man of military presence, Pte. P aul
C haffe, soon made his presence felt amongst the 50-
strong BVG platoon on the " Pirbright Style" muster
parade. Those experts Blue King, D ave Buddle and
J ohnny Knowles set about pointing out the mysteri es
of camouflage and concea lment maki ng copious use
of cam cream to the bewilderment of the Cari bbean
recruits. (That the BVG uniform included red and
whi te footb all ves ts and socks and white PT shoes
only gave the instructors greater incentive !) Other
difficulties were teaching them not to run in 58
pattern webbing without a belt; and that boots were
best worn on the feet rather than around the neck.
On the post-training '(wash up ", Pte. Frank Butler
was recommended to attend an SAS Prisoner-handling
course; M.ike Sage and Bob G olding qualified for
the permanent staff at Kew G ardens, and th at loca l
expert- whom the BVG insisted on referring to as
" the Colone l"- (Lt. Andrcw Robcrts), narrowl y
avoided a move to Ne tl y.

FOUR MEN IN A BOAT

by S / Sgt. M. M. Forrester

On the 23 rd M arch, the good ship HMS I nvicta
(ali as Guerro) set sail from St. Geo rges Cay on a
voyage of di scovery and adventure. The crew com-
pri sed "G unners Mate Second C lass" Bernard Lively
(otherwi se known as the sertior Drum M ajor Caribbean
Area ), " Foretopman J ohn H amill, Seaman Third
Class" Mick Forester and "A ssistant Ships Cook"
John Rolfe, all under command of "Captain "
( Ca rib bean L / Cpl. ) Phil G eorge. The object of the
voyage was to practice the crew in the hazards of sa il
drill , navigation by the st ars (s ans sextant) and a
sight-seeing tour of Cay Corker.

Steering first north (with a lot of cast in it) and
then west, the ship was under full sail and m aking
good progress in li ght breezes. The water was cr ys tal
clear and we could see the starfish and sea urchins
ve ry pl ainly as we rushed along, closely followed at
one stage by a school of dolphins (or were they
porpoise?)

(continued on next page)

20 stars, the clarity and brightness of which had never l• I
before been noti ced.
The first scn ou:, incident occurred wi th the ship
Rudel y awakened at two bells in the dog watch
well up in to the w ind and Montego ay o n the (or two in the morning) by a brisk shower of rain we
•tarboard beam. Gunners M ate Live ly let out a were then rocked from our h ammocks by the
scream, tore off his clothes and threw himself into noise of the engines of a power boat warming up at
the sea! A rope was made fast around his wrist so the next berth . After threa tening the engineer of the
that he was towed behind the ship . (He on ly needed power boat wi th kee l-hauling, ou r crew proceeded
a cooling off period). Soon he was follow ed by to swab the decks prior to an earl y breakfast and
Forctopman H amill and Seaman F orester whi lst cook casting off. W e breakfasted we ll and it was at this
Rolfe just sniffed and ad justed his tricorn hat wi th stage that the pickles from the night before began
the noncha lance of one born to the sea. to take effect ; one crew member had to make at
least two trips to the Seaman's R oom.
HMS l11 vicra rounded the point of Montego Cay
and there it was destined to stay wi th our destination Fin ally we hoi sted all sail, cast off and kedged
plainly visible in the distance. A vision of days be- ourselves away from the jett y. Once again the wind
calmed under the blazing Caribbean sun, crossed our was off shore but we fai rl y thundered out of the
bay sai ling home in just under four hours.
minds.
T he adventure was over, but for four weary
The sun bea t down, the crew looked about warily,
each ma n afraid he would be the one to crack fir st landlubbers- turned-seamen, the memories of that nine-
and throw himse lf upon the water barrel in the hold. hour voyage, the songs and the ya rns, wi ll li ve forever.
Hour after hour we drifted. At four be lls the cr y
from the ga lley: "No more rat pie, it's all gone". HOLDFAST CAMP
Muttering amongs t the crew grew stronger and Captain by Maj. P . A. Gwilliam
George looked abo ut him for something wi th which
to beat off any attacks that might be lau nched upon This Camp lies on the Western Highway, twelve
the qu arterdeck by the fear-crazed sailors. The threa t miles from the Guatemalan border and 200 feet above
of mutiny grew even stronger when G unners sea level. It is surrounded by Central Farm, a Govern-
Mate Lively ca lled up to Foretopman H amill who ment research statio n of 1400 acres and the fields
was in the crows nest "How long have yo u been up are ve ry remi ni scent of K ent (except for the palm
there, matey?" The answer came back loud and trees!) N issen hutted and thoughtfull y laid out-
with trees, shrubs, flowers and w ell-manicured
clear! "Caw Caw". grass-it is the pride of the DOE who m ai ntain it.
The camp normall y holds two platoons, the Mortar
Suddenly ,w hen hope had almost been lost, the and Anti-tank sections, a Sapper section together with
wind pi cked up, the boat began to make way and Company HQ.
Cay Corker grew larger in the di stan ce. By six bells,
when about a league off the coast, the second blow The third platoon of the Company, together with
fell : the wind had backed and was now blowing off the R ecce PI. , lives in Plassey Camp, six miles closer
shore. We prepared to tack. " Ready about" called the to the border on the ou tskirts of the sm all town of
helmsman . "Lee Ho"-the rudder went over with a San Ign acio . Thi s again is a little mo re spartan. Not
far from Plassey are the (by now) famili ar M ayan
vengeance, the sails came around with a crack and we Ruins of Xunantunich which attracts tourists in
found ourselves sailing back the way we had come! droves; even the RAF and the Americans risk their
Ships Cook Rolfe handed round the hard tack (ships li ves by crossing the river in the onl y avai lable
biscuit and weevil) while Seaman F orester stood in transport-a r ather wobb ly dugout canoe.
the main chains altern ately swinging the lead (an
acco mplished art), calling off the depths and About an hour's drive South West, along the
practici ng his Boy Scout semaphore a t every power inevitable potholed roads, is M ountain Pine Ridge-
boat that passed in an attempt to get a tow into a vas t area, be longing mainly to the Forestr y D epart-
harbour. Hi s efforts we re in vai n. HMS I nvicca ment-where dry training takes place. There is also a
sailed on, tacking and tacking yet again . The harbour good Field Firing range which no doubt would give
came closer . But then a horrible thought struck us- the experts in England grey h ai rs, but gives us a chance
wou ld we m ake land before the sun went down or to do something different. The fire ri sk is extreme;
would we have to attempt this at night. For the
first time that day L ady Luck smiled on us, for, with (conti1111ed 011 page 22 )
the crew manning the starboard chains and singing
that o ld sea shant y " On Moonlight Bay", the good 1. HE, The Governor (H. R. Posnett) visits Yr\
ship HMS l 11victa sai led up to the wharf, literall y the Battalion. Also in the picture are ( I to r ) :
seconds before the sun disappeared below the horizon the RSM (WOl T . G. Pamell), the Command-
with a brilliant purple fl as h. ing Officer and the Cmdr. British Forces Belize,

The crew prepared to disembark and tas te the Col. D . R. Green MC)
de lights of the grog shops of Cay Corke r. Dinner was
has til y prepared and eaten, with the aid of a jar of 2. Ptes. Brown, Birch and Cox check the
local pi ckle--la ter to p rove di sastrous for one or Mayan ruins at Chetumal, near the border into
two stomaches. We had been at sea for nine hours
wi thout a drink- some sort of record surely, and one Mexico
which had to be celebrated. This we did, at the H otel
M artinez, with vast flagon s of foaming C harger. 3. Cpl. Buddle briefs L / Cpl. Kemp, Ptes.
Tweed and Sage, before a jungle patrol
But the ce lebr ation was not to last, for having
spent such a long day in the sun our gall ant band 4. Cpl. Manning and L / C pl. Vessy obviously
just wa nted to sleep. Making thei r merry way back enjoying the plight of their unidentified comrade!
to the jetty they slung thei r hammocks and, by eigh t
bells (or half past nine) all we re prostrated under the 5. L / Cpl. Tanner and Pte. Peachey prepare
stars, either on the fore deck or on the jetty. Sleep to spend a night in the jungle
came easily after an ini ti al period of starin g at the
6. Cpl. Bradley (A Coy) instructing the Belize
Volunteer Guard in the intricacies of the SLR

Pictures by Cpl. J. P . O 'Neill



22 Gone are the glorious days of " petrol feet" in
BAOR where a pla toon conm~ander had stacks of
( continued from page 20) maps in his vehicle and energy enough to use them
all. H ere ea ch crossing of a grid square brings 3
when the RAF H arriers used it, they managed to celebration sip of water and the prospects of meeting
burn 50 acres as a farewell gesture! Close by the " Stanley". Every hint of a hiccup on the contours
range is Baldy Beacon, rising to over 3000 feet. The means more blood, sweat and tears must be shed to
two stalwarts from the Signal PI. who operate the cross that damned re-entrant. Energy is a scarce
Bn. Rebroadcast Station from here are responsib le commodity to be preserved, especially as 40m contours
for m aintaining communications between the far flung do not reveal I 00 ft. high jungle covered hillocks.
companies, and are a vital link.
" Lost dri ll" consists of collapsing, desperately
To the South East of the ridge, abo ut an hour's staring at the map, consulting all and sundry as to
drive from Holdfast via the capital of Belmopan, is possibilities and sending the more stout-hearted off
Hunm1ingbi rd Cottage-the Battalion Jungle W arfare on a recce to dispel all doubts. The frequ ency of the
School. R ather grandly named, it is actually a small dri ll coincides with the Platoon Commanders need
wooden hut on the side of the Hummingbird Highway, for a cup of " Rosie Lee" or the need to collapse;
which leads south. The ten permanent staff run 10- bemg lost need not have an ything to do with it.
day courses for the platoons from H oldfast and Tracks, especially of " J ake the snake" are plentiful
Plassey, and have done an excellent job. The course and reveal the presence of picarry (pig) tapir
is wearying, both physically and mentally and every- (mountatn cow) and antelope; the occasional partridge
one from Platoon Commanders down has learnt a can be seen following streams and even "Mother
great deal about how to live, fight and survive in the Care" has been known to vi sit. Among the more
jungle. Those who thought they were lithe and unnatural cries of the jungle come the taunts of the
at hletic as a result of the daily 3-mile runs, discovered tnstructors: "The jungle is neutral " (especially after
that they easily lost another half stone climbing the being bitten by a taran tul a because you sat on her
steep hills and " bas hing" the jungle at Sibun! hole! ) "Think like an animal" (some find that
difficult ?); and "Freeze if he sees you-he probably
Life during C Coy's two months at H oldfast hasn't" is no inducement to let the snake crawl over
and Plassey has been hard work and fun . Each platoon yo ur foot.
has had a week at the Field Firing range, ten days
at Sibun and done local patrolling and individual We are offering the place for sale in August with
training. Some have been away on R & R and for runmng co ld . water from the river (boi l before
those whose turn is yet to come, the lights (not dnnkmg); effictent waste disposal (the fish will empty
bright) of San Ignacio provide entertainment at week- and clean your mess tins), and a well stocked garden
ends. We are now looking forw ard to going south of fruits- some of which may be eaten and some
to Salamanca, where we can put into practice what whi ch definitely may not. We shall be sorry to dispose
we learned. A great deal was achieved, despite re- of this asset which many members of the RAF (and
marks by certain other members of the Battalion that mdeed our own Battalion) wish we had never acquired.
Holdfas t was a place where it is " Summertime and
the livin,s easy"! ODE TO SIBUN

Burning Question of the Tour-No. 1 by Sgt. A. Kennedy
Is there any truth in the rumour that the platoon
Up in the jungle, out of the way,
Commander of 11 PI., C/ Sgr. Robinson (whose live all the J unglies, so people say.
platoon is made up entirely of new recruits) will They work on the soldiers most of the ti me
adopt the radio appointment title of "Mothercare"? and some look for mountains for others to climb.
They talk about harbours, IAs and drills;
Jungle Living they stng abo ut basha's, tracking and skills.
Most of us think of pigs as bacon on the hoof, They take off the kit "Tommy" has on his back
then m ake it, in minutes, into a flotation pack. '
but who would think of one as a bedmate? Ask Pte. They' ll often be wading around in a creek,
Brian Duffield of I 0 PI. Settling down in his basha their love of water makes "Airporters" weak.
deep in the jungle at Sibun, he was just dropping " THE JUNGLE IS NEUTRAL" for one complete
off to sleep when he felt a touch on his legs. Swivelling
eyeballs revealed a wild pig snuggled up against the minute,
crook of his bent knees. With eyes like saucers, he then echoes the cry of
waited until first light, when the refreshed porker " ITS GOOD 'ERE, IN IT" .
yawned and ambled off, leaving Duffield in a state
of cramped exhaustion. No wonder he would not eat JUNGLE TRAINING WITH 2 QUEENS
baconburger for breakfast! (EXPURGATED)

SIBUN-LAND OF THE LOST by Flt.-Lt. N. Mitchell of
33 Sqn. RAF, in appreciation for a never-to-be
by Capt. J. N. C . Myles (with assistance)
forgotten experience.
Set on the edge of the Hummingbird Highway
(a road which "eats" landrovers at a rate of one a The detachment commander was very h appy, but
month) is the only remaining Jungle W arfare School most people were a bit dubious, when places were
in the British Army, staffed by a small select band offered to us on jungle familiari sation courses. (Us,
from the Battalion. In addition to the ten-day courses of course, means the 33 Sqn. P uma Detachment,
the~ ru!' for each platoon, they also run a jungle Belize.)

!'umafamthan satiOn course lasting two days for the RAF The first people to jump at this heaven-sent
helicopt~r cr:ews and Harrier pilots. The pace opportunit y ( ?) were: the boss, Sqn.-Ldr. Chris
ts fast (and slimnung) from the moment of arrival
with a rapid entry into the jungle and an equally
rapid movement out agai n at the end of the course
for a good wash.

Chambers (he had to go); F lt.-Lt. D en H olland (a stations some 150 miles to Bn . HQ . Fortunately this
one " reb ro ." and C p l. Rowe and his
pi lot) · FS G raham Bearham (a crewman) and FS was reduced to achi eve almost I 00% comms. T h i n gs
Frcd ' T ape- the NCO i/c Sqn. Engineering. They tea m did well to
were made more difficult for them because the rebro.
took their lives in thei r hands and went on an in- was often manned by that formid able team of self-
credib ly arduous, 2-day training co urse at Sibun .
Quite apart from the terrible journey to Sibun styled mad mountai n men, C pl. Booker and P te .
Bicker (the Platoon hippie).
by landrover (rea lly, it's so much quicker and more C Coy. went to H oldfas t Camp in the west-
comfortab le by Puma, fellas), the group had more
the Butlins of Belize. The camp was built by-
di scomfort to come: co u r se involved long treks yo u've guessed it-the Sappers. The confusion this
W et Boots . The name ca used in the r adio world can be imagined.
through deme secondary jungle, streams and ri vers.
The horrifying indignity of getting their boots wet L/ Cpl. Lemare and Pte. J onas did well to overcome
was a frequent occu rence. Fred Tape, after the first the chaos, and despite " Trumble" J onas occa ss i o n a l l y
two stream-crossings, was heard to apologise aloud eating or cannibali sing chargi ng engin es, kept the

to his boots for yet another wa ter change ! ki t on the road, for themselves and the rebro. Another
Nig ht Formation . The ni ght was spent in one of loca tion they had to supply was the Ju ngle War fare

the most terrifying parts of Central Ameri can jungle. School at Sibun-an hospitable spot, with many
seen, practicing night formation, friend ly insects, much loved by L/ Cpl. Grieve, Pte.
L arge bugs were their an ti-colli sion li gh ts switched Singers and others who have spent happy holid ays
amazingl y, wi th
there.
on! T arantula . The eve nin g m ea l w as Fin ally we come to the TX Site at Airport
G i a 11t
sumptuouly laid for 4, but a guest ap peared in the Camp. H ere are to be found signallers performing
form of a giant tarantula spider, who "sa t down beside the normal signal skills, such as early morning
running, painting vehicles, cutting grass, visiting
'em". The unfortunate crea ture was deftl y bi-sected by the Cays, manning a telephone exchange, sunbathing ;
G raham Bearham, using an aircrew knife-their uses oh, and running a Battalion net on which appear the
seem endless-but the party declined the offer of spider
occasional Navy Frigate, RAF and Army H elicopter s,
stewed. and (rarely) our own substations. A shift system is
J un gle N i g h t m are. The party expertl y b uilt a organised by our resident uexplorern on loan to us

4-man hasher to sleep in . While Fred cuddled the from the Briti sh Museum, Sgt. D oughty; it consi sts
com fort, screams were heard all through
Boss for e as D en's wo rst nightmares were being of two-men teams such as L / Cpl. W eare and Pte.
the jungl he was being kicked by Grah am with his 'Cash' Money, or L / C pl. F allows and Pte. Green .
rea li sed : We have greatly ap preciated h aving the loan of

boots on! E n d i n g- M ore to Come. The part y re- some signallers from 5 Bde. HQ and Sig. Sqn.-
H ap py L / Cpls. Allsop and Sirr and Sig. Selkirk.
turned to Airport Camp the next da y, happy but Sadl y, we have said farewell to Cpl.
very smelly. The Boss is looking forward to sending 'Flash '

more lucky squadron members on future courses. Wilson, who is leaving the Army. L / Cpl. Morriss
has moved to the R ecce PI., and W02 H amill is to
Cri es of "I' ve done it before in Singapore"; and leave us shortly (no pun intended) to make life a
" ! did it in '52" (from the older members). mi sery for B Coy. C / Sgt. F ensom is b ack from hi s

THE SIGNALS PLATOON RSO course, on which he gained a 'C' grading;
L/ Cpls. Grieve and Munday both gained 'C' gradi ngs
by W02 J. P. Hamill on RSI courses and L / Cpl. F allows and Pte. Money
both passed the Std. I course.
Like the rest of the Battalion, we were close
to breathing a sigh of relief towards the end of an
uneventful Spear head period . All the excitement of Foowote: "Sorry, RSO 's not here- he' on the
Cays again".
learning ten different correct ways of preparing
batteries and vehicles for air moves was, we thought,
behind us but our confidence was rudely shattered BELIZE CITY

when A and B Coys. were suddenly warned of an by Maj. C. M. M. Grove
immediate trip "over the water". We sent tvvo strong
detachments with them, under the command of Cpls. "Good 'ere, innit ?" is the theoretical question
Rowe and Brimming. Thei r tour was short and posed by everyone to everyone. Now we have h ad a
successful , and all concerned learnt some new chance to sample Belize, we are perhaps in a better
signa lling skills. On their return they were met by position to suppl y a balanced review of the attractions

W02 H amill who dis hed out P aludrine, and demanded it offers.
One mile from the camp, up a potholed lane
leave addresses. As we dispersed on leave, the RSO which one learns to recognise as the local equivalent
(Capt. Willis) departed for Belize. We then tried, of a first class highway, lies the vi llage of L adyville.
with help from 16 P ara Bde. HQ and Sig. Sqn., to
teach the Companies the A l 6 in preparation for the It consists of a number of wooden huts on stilts,
with an ominous lean away from the coast, a
jungle. Stores were successfull y handed over to the ma ny of several hurricanes. The few bars offer little
Glosters- well done Sgt. Boden-and the Advance legacy
attraction and the adventurous tourist soon gradu ates
Party (Sgt. Boden and the Corporals) set off for to Belize Ci ty, usuall y by hopping on the free bus
Belize on 2 Feb . A/ RSO and Cp ls. Wilson and
Gower, who were to stay behind, were left to fini sh se rv i ce.
H alf an hour down the major international high-
packing, cleaning and or ganising. way linking Belize Ci ty with M exico (which might
W e took over the Net in Belize on 15 F eb.- a
fairl y dema nding job. A Coy. went south into the pass for a B road in UK), and after passing through
jungle, taking with them Cpl. Rowe, Ptes . Love a major industri al zone ( I b r ew ery, I industri al gas

and Pullen and sundry r adios to ensure comms. plant and the E sso t ank farm) brings one to the
Initia lly, they had to work through two rebroadcast Belize ity. This 300 yea r old, 95 % wooden ci ty

24 station was manned on Little Qu artz Ridge. At 3,500
feet and in the middle of remote jungle, this was an
of 40,000 inhabitants is quite unlike anywhere except unusual and memorable section commitunent.
in the Wes t Indies. The inhabitants, of all shades
from jet black to European pink, jostle one cheerfu ll y Our seventh location-sad ly closed down-was
on the pavement (which exist on ly in the main street). en ex rebro. station where our fri endl y FAC team
The shops have amazingly little to offer as the Maj . Miller and L/ Cpl. Gilbert, li ved permanent!/
average income here is only £250 per yea r. The
unwary find that loca l ideas of sizes vary considerably The remai:'der of. the area, consisting of primary
from the norm . Exotic fruits can be purchased from and secondary JUngle, IS popul ated by M ayan Indians
stalls but the sight of the century is the catfish the two tribes being the K ekchi and the Mopan. '
feeding on the offal when it is poured into the river
from the slaughterhouse! There wi ll be rich memories of a fri endly, poor
but proud people, many of whom have never seen
There arc a number of reasonable restaurants in the military before. In the remoter areas the nurses
Belize and a couple of good hotels patroni sed notice- (two for the whole area) are unlikely to visit; the
ably by RAF crews who sensibly will not stay in Distri ct Officer visits, perhaps once per yea r. They
camp overnight lest their beauty sleep be disturbed live thei r own remote existence. Sickness and mal-
by aircraft noises. It is reported that there are more nutrition abound.
attractions in Belize than your scribe has ye t
discovered. Details might be obtainable from the "H earts and minds" is a wonderful conception
Tourist Board but this is unlikely. and we have tried, through the section patrols, by
regul ar clini cs (Cpl. Cotton) and by ou r " Bush
A major attraction lies in the Cays (pronounced Doctor" (Ca pt. Edey), to gain the confidence of a
Keys). There are over 17 5 of these offshore islands, superstitiou s people, within the in adequate and limited
mostly sandy spits but including three perfect coral resources ava il ab le. If ever there was an urgent need
atolls (more common in the pacific than the for medical supplies, it is here .
Caribbean) and also the larges t Barrier Reef in the
Western Hemisphere-175 miles of it. These islands Finally, by complete contrast, perhaps one of our
are ideal for sunbathing, swimming, sailing, canoeing, las t memori es will be of the farewell visit of H . E.
scuba diving or water skiing, and there are frequent The Governor, and the Guard of Honour; a strange
expeditions to these havens of rest and peace. setting for a ceremonial occasion. Y et even stranger
and thoroughl y en joyable the evening performance
TOLEDO DISTRICT (SALAMANCA) by the CSE Show and " Archie", held in the vast
marquee, and the voluntary (?) striptease by H erman!
by Maj. A. B. Cowing
***
This is the most southerly district in Belize.
Over 600 square miles, but inhabited by only ten Capt. Reg Ford, swinging to victory!
thousand people, the District is bounded in the North (winner of 3 Div. 36-hole Scratch C hampionship,
by the main divide of the Maya Mountains. To the
West and South it borders Guatemala, the latter by Tidworth, 22 Apr.)
the Sarstoon River. The East is coast line and mainly
mangrove swamp .

Sited in the centre of Toledo District is sunny
Salamanca, a camp selected for A Coy. HQ and based
~n a disused forestr y camp . Miles from anywhere and
hewn out of the jungle it was to be home for all
of us some of the time and for some of us, all of
the time. We leave it a very different place from that
which we found on arrival.

There is one East-West road running from
Punta Gorda (PG) to Pueblo Viejo (PV) and at both
these settlements we had Platoon locations. By
rotating sub-units every five days and each Platoon
every fifteenth da y, everyone managed to enjoy a
variety of tasks, while gleaning a wealth of experi ence.

Punta Gorda is a Carib. settlement with con-
siderable creole content and, as the fourth largest
town in Belize, is about the size of Bulford Camp. It
has an airstrip with scheduled flights from Belize City;
it is also a shallow water port. Along the coast is
Cattle Landing where the Mortars and the assault
boats are based. From the Platoon at PG, a section
was supplied to man the Cadenas OP.

Cadenas is situated in the most South-Western
part of the District overlooking the Guatemalan border
and indeed the Guatemalan Camp of Puerto Modesta
Mendez. Though only 600 feet high, the OP is
reached by roping up the side of the hill. (Does thi s
take the place of BPE tests? !)

Pueblo Veijo (the old village) was our third
platoon base. From here foot patrols would scour
the area for 3 to 5 days at a time; in addition, local
patrols would probe towa rds the border and a rela y

25

Queens Crossword

NO PRIZES

SOLUTIONS IN NEXT ISSUE

ACROSS DOWN

1. Second base in the 1. In the second place, ...ior personal service...
a small creatu re
W est. ...in COLOURS
6. Cap fitted fo r ha rd buzzes round little
Elizabeth . MANY by official appointment to t he
t r ave llin g. 2. Lu ran back from REGIMENTAL
8. Va ti can head mixes the moon. Queen's
3. W ork with two TIES
with the S panish points, otherwise IN Regiment
shut up!
crowd . 4 . A coloured STOCK Silk Tie (Plain Weave)
I 0. Led around and revo lutio nary. £2.95

alighted . 5. An old penn y to Silk Tie (Uncreasable
12. Y oung L eon ard h as ring ? By all means. Weave) £4.1S

an old penn y to 6. The French go after Postage U .K. 1Op extra .
a drink.
lo a n. LE WINEST. Phone :
14. Song about the 7. Write to New Y ork
for a copper. 1898 of Jermyn Street 01-930 4291
terrorist mob.
15. S wi tch on? Cer- 9. Pl ace it in the T . M. LEWIN & SON LTD., 106 jERMYN STREET, SWIY 6EQ
factory? ( Nur Piccadilly Ci rcus)
tainly not.
16. The wizard returns 11. A sapper of
different age.
to round on the
13 . 5 also m akes a sort
Q u ee n . of p art y.
18. Breathless sma lls?
20. Li ttle than ks for 17. G randfather clock,
maybe (3 -5).
vo lunteering.
2 1. Fishy campaign in 18. More than one piece
of fruit ?
the North S ea (3-3 ).
25. Small servi ce for 19. Capital sovereign is

the sick. after a brown con-
27 . The Queen inter-
tain e r.
venes to m ake a ca t 21. Vessel ca r ry ing
tick in Yorkshire.
29. R at about his ser- heavy weight in

vice initi als. C hina.
30. Starters for the 22. Back to the Old

Irish R epublic. T estament capi tals.
31. ... dear wh at can 2 3. Station well kn own

the m atter be?)) to one or two . .
24 . . but all three are
32. An abbreviated
gunner. f amili ar with these

33. Back-handed t r o u b les.
childish 26. L oosely acknow-
appreci ation.
ledged after initia l
34. Like the Sphynx, short listing.
she initi ally h ad an 27. Trace around the
inscrutable smile.
box.
35. N ight bird returns 28. T o the wo rke r it's a
to power for Fren ch
sma ll C hurch type
smokers.
37. It looks, to me, like of song.
32. A f as t one from the
a large book.
39. From opposite ends Armo ured Corps?
36. It doesn ' t no rmally
to ackn owledge
stop yo u from
mea l. drinking in it.
40. Disquieted gu ardia n 38. A capita l fo r m of
Ser vice transpor t.
of the gate.
41. 40 less 2 points for

4 at T wickenham.

J

FREEDOM.THAT'S WHAT YOU GET

OUT OFA BANKACCOUNT WITH LLOYDS.

Freedom from so much of the fi ll in the cou1x m belo w fo r a

wo rry, routine and paper work that copy of our leaflet ' Lloyds Bank

can surround the business of mo ney. Sen ·ices fo r the Army,' or call into

Lloyds Bank has been associated your nearest Lloyds Bank.

with the Anny fo r manygenerations.

and in that time we've built up a real 0-=
understanding of the kind of money LLOYDS
problems that sen ·ice life can some-

times create.
W e can help with financ.ial. tax

and insurance advice. r-- BANK - :- ,
We'll take the wo rry out of

remembering to pay regular bills on

time-we'll pay them by standing I IA LOT MORE THAN MONEY
o rders. I IAT THE SIGN OF THE BLACK HORSE.

And of course, we'll gi ve you a I I would like mo re informatio n I
cheque book to rake away the need to 1 abo ut the freedom a Lloyds bank 1
I account can g ive me. II
carry a lot of cash around. I
All these services, together with I _t-J AJ\IE (B LOCK CAPITA LS PLEASE)
I .ADDRJ;SS -
o ur Cashpoint dispenser for instant
cash, o ur savings schemes, and o ur II
current and deposit acco unts, a re
examples of wnat we mean when " ·e
say we can g ive yo u freedom.

So feel free to find out mo re about

how our services can help people in -----------I ITo:D.P.GardinerT.O.,ServicesLiaisonOfficer,
the Services.
L JLloydsBank,6 Pai!Maii ,LondonSW !Y5NH.

27

The 3rd Battalion

QUR last notes were written as we were prc- R ather more unusual was the mortar attack of
panng for our NI tour and now these arc Fort M onag h when the camp was stradd led with
required after we have completed it. Such is the Sgts' M ess, ad jacent to the
the pattern and pace of army life that "todays bombs landing in the Canteen, and all at tea time.
highspot is tommorrow' s low spot" and it is Officers' Mess and
diffi cult to recall what was a fairly momentous M erci full y nobody was injured al though the 0 and
period for us all; (at least that is what the sub- RSM have been arguing ever since as to who was
editor supposes) having read the meagre con- closest! The " Kremlin" of course blamed Sp
tributions dribbled in for the battalion- (with for a sense of humour failure-until next day, Coy.
the exception of the QM's of course! ) when

the latter got theirs (a lthough not as close as T ac,

so there I) very pl eased to h ave " Mi ss 3
We were
QUEENS", }ill Precey, from N ewhaven , visit us and
C hristmas was celebrated well (and on the whole
F or the record, we were responsible for the wise ly). W e re-established contact with our female
enemy from CPTA in the shape (big man, big . . .)
Andersonstown area, known by us in the pas t, although of Coffee pots, and <ven r an a Childrens' C hristmas
considerably ex tended and certainl y changed in attitude
Party.
sin ce those days. T ac HQ and B Coy were stationed
in Fort M onagh, B Coy. being responsible for the After a spell of leave we returned to Catterick.
Turf Lodge; A and C Coys. stationed in " Silver City" M aj. Bateman has gone " down under " (to Australi a)
havi ng handed over B Coy. to M aj. Arnold and M aj.
Glassmullin Camp, being res pon sibl e for Lenadoo n and T arver has handed over A Coy. to M aj. D awson .
Andersonstown/ Riverdale respecti ve ly; Sp Coy. were RSM Barrell has departed for 5 QUEENS and we

on a limb (as ever, did we hear? ) at the burned out welcom e Mr. M arshal!.
H o tel, respon sible for Protes tants and We h ave stud y perioded,
\Voodb urn in Suffolk, the fastgrowing new estates of PWTed, TEWTed and
Catho li cs
Twinbrook and guarding that graveyard of military even acted as a Bde. HQ (without the pay). W e held
our first Skill at Arms M eeting and all the other
reputations, the GOC's residence, C loon a House. chores associated with "proper soldiering'' and are
"VVc were lucky,', said the old stagers, that our
accommodation was in Portakabin s complete with just starting the cadre season prior to KAPE, test
sauna and (more important) reinforced concrete walls! exercises and Spearh ead . . . but all that is for next
time (and could it perhaps be another nex t sub-
"Now in the old days . . . "
There being officiall y a cea se fir e, our activ iti es editor ?!)

were mainly the routine, albei t tiring strain of in- S DEPT.
form ation-gaining patrols, VC P , bomb threats, abuse
and stoning, processions and funerals, with searches The reader may be surprised to learn that the
late Field M arshal Montgomery was a Quarter-
on {(good information old boy". master ! -as quoted in the Sun day T elegraph: . . .
However within the first two weeks we were
involved in the OIRA/ PIRA feud when, althou gh "It says much for Montgomery's growing reputation
for energy and application, that he was made Assistant
ma jor acti vities were int erf ac tion al murders and knee Adjutant and R egi mental Qu arterm as ter, with the
jobs (some 10 in our patch in four days), the weapons rank of Lieutenant. H e actu ally appeared to en joy

were out and inform ation started to come in. During the ritu al of arms drill, p arades and musketry and
B Coy. recovered an SLR and the Drum revelled in its minutaie. It was widely observed that
thi s period nearl y brained by a No. 4 rifle. Good work he tended to over-concentrate on his military duties;
M ajor was
by L / Cpl. H arbinson in a B Coy. lurk patrol led to
gunn1en in possesion of two very but for those who preferred not to do so, he was
the cap ture of two are glad to hear they got 12 obviously a useful man to h ave around". We should
nasty pi stols; we th at the qu aliti es of a quarter-
like readers to note 1903, are still applicab le to thi s
and 9 years apiece. ve hicl e checking and t r a pping, master, as outlined in
By some very good
Sp Coy. captured an ASU on its way to a job and day.
(we do not care to ask how) rwo brand new Sub Editors commeut: "Yes, but what do I cml-
found pistol s tucked away in a young ladies panties.
9mm cludc from. th e fact it now rakes three of you Cap tains,
to do th e JOb of that one Lieutenant?"
They shed crocodile tears when the PIRA managed
to leve l the OIRA drinking den in Twinbrook. A and The author cannot recall writing any previous
departmental notes since returning from K enya in late
C Coys. were less involved at this time but then 1974-and they were not published !* However, havi ng
became full y engaged with the Frank Stagg
" Sponsored starve for Nimble" celebrations ( ?) leading been in vited to contribute an article, we will begin
up to hi s death. Over three days A and C Coys. were by observing that some five thousand demands have
been flo ated in the las t year in support of the
involved in some thirteen shooting incidents with a B atta*lioVnservyarsioend·yn-enedos. 1·oom- Ed.
total of 200 rds. fired and had some very close shaves;

man y arrests were m ade but with sadly no hits. Pte. It is only now, in mid-April 1976, that the whole
F at rs (A Coy.) was very lucky not to lose his leg depa rtment is together again having been permanentl y
after being hit and hi s thanks must go to Cpl. split into two h alves since June 1975 when we left
Gibraltar to the mercy of 2 RG} . Cynics will ob-
Rodziewicz for his prompt first aid; Pte. Kent (C serve that we can therefore always work at h alf
Coy.) was also injured at thi s time, but less seriously,
and 1s now on the way to recovery.

28

strength (S ub Editor: "That is you are overstrellgth" )
but the fact is that the department is fl exible enough
to main tain both forward and rear ends of the
Battalion at any time and still maintain a sense of
humour. The RQMS , R ay Shave, has even been seen
to deal in techni ca l items whilst the QM(T ) often
delves into the com plexities of P]M which is ("Pre-
Jointed-Meae' and not, as was thought, "Plum Jam",
or " Pre-jigested-Mea t").

During the Battalions recent No rthern Ireland
Tour, the Echelon, which consisted of some 80 all
ranks, commanded by the Quartermaster and assisted
by the Paymaster, were located at Musgrave Park, a
pleasant area in rural surroundings on West side of
the Motorway from Andersonstown amid the erstwhile
respectable citizens of an Orange area . The location
was so pleasant (and of course clean) that it rapidly
became a ve nue for conferences and any other
gatherings when the chiefs wi shed for a change of
scenery from the battlefields to our East.

Special menti on must be made of SQMS Ashley,
BEM, our master Cook, and his team of ACC
personnel who produced fodder par excellence
throughout the tour. They achieved an enviable
reputation and among tbeir many satisfied customers
were the QM(D-curry every day, the QM(A)-
chips with everything, the Adjutant-one steak per
tour, and of course the Commanding Officer-avocado
pears-but not until he boarded the LSL Sir Geraint
on 27 February I

The REME attached, under the guidance of
S/ Sgr. Nicholson and Sgts. Cannon and Riley also
deserve praise; after all, it's no good havi ng well
fed soldiers who are immobile or cannot fire or
communicate. The REME worked hard throughout
and kept everything working as well as taking their
share of Guards and E scorts; a thoroughl y competent
section of the Echelon.

In addition to its primary role of resupply, the
Echelon also had some extra mural responsibility:
i.e. to guard "W ard 18", where criminals were treated
for ailments contrived in prison (such as poisoned
toes) or were merel y malingering. None managed to
escape and the RUC and RMP who provided the
inside gu ard we re most impressed by our security
in spite of the fact that they themselves were
occasionall y "done over" during our snap searches.

The dail y guard commitment of some 15 men
meant every man in the Echelon taking hi s turn three
times per week as well as performing escorts and, of
course, their normal jobs. The MT drivers, very hard
pressed, performed well. Latterly all replenishment
of companies had to be comp leted by 1000 hrs. daily
which meant an 0530 hrs. start .

At the end of it all we reckoned that we had the
opposition defeated, which included the OIRA, PIRA,
UDA, UVF, BHQ, C Coy. and, of course, the
Matron!

(top) "No, of course my Aussies can't beat your
Welsh!" (The Commanding Officer makes his
point to the Secretary of State for N.lreland, the

Rt. Hon. Merlyn Rees, M.P.)

(centre) Dmr. Crofton of Sp. Coy

(lower) Glenveigh OP Lenadoon Estate--a far
cry from the first post established by C Coy in

A ugust 71

(More pictures on page 29)

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29

'!. "Miss 3 QUEENS" and Pte. Beaney (B Coy) in Belfast
2. "It's time you sorted this out, Sergeant!" (a room in the Sgts' Mess after a Mortar attack)
3. Black Watch handover/ takeover
4. " Support Company admit no liability since it was 11 01 hit by a doughnut! (" Rearrangement" of

Twinbrook LESA)
5. "I found it in her drawers, Sir!"-a Sp. Coy "find"
6. The C O presenting prizes to 7 PI-Winners of the Platoon Team C ompetition in the Skill at Arms

Meeting

30 The Clim ax of the winter season came wi th the

The Regimental Cumberl and Sword Competition held between 9-11

Information Team April at Warren Camp, Crowborough, Sussex. 88

H aving appeared a t nearl y two hundred major Cadets representing over 50 de tachments took part
events during the summer of 1975, the Regi mental
Information T eam spent the winter concentrating on in the competition which is designed to find the best
its "out of season" tasks which include visits to ACF
detachments, schools, job centres, and just mee tin g cadet in the Queen's Regi ment ACF. First prize is
the public. Planning for this yea r began in earnest
in November and it promises to be even busier than the "Cum berl and Sword" recen tl y presented by The
1975. (At the time of writing, we have three firm
bids for 1977 !) Colonel of The R egi ment. The competition wi ll take

The regular turnover of soldiers continued with place an nu all y in April and this yea r included Marks-
the departure of:
manship, Observation, Regimental Hi story, an Assau lt
L/ Cpl. W atson and Cpl. O'Connor (to 2
QUEENS), Pte. Thornton (to I QUEENS), Sgt. Course, First Aid and O rienteerin g. The winner was
Sinden (to ACIO Canterbur y) and L / Cpl. P endle to
Civilian life. not known until the very las t scores were recorded

We welcome as replacements, Sgt. Rutter and at the end of a long and, for the Cadets, exhausting
Pte. Heath from 2 QUEENS ; C pl. Carter from The
School of Infantry; L / Cpl. Stickland and Pte. day. However, everyone soon recovered to attend an
Langridge from I QUEENS and Pte. D avis from 3
QUEENS. exce llent concert given that evening by the band of

Maj . Paul Courtenay left us in September to 2 QUEENS . The event was m ade more enj oyable
command 5 QUEENS and he was replaced, for a
brief period of two months, by Maj. Patrick Gwilliam by the attend ance of Miss 3 QUEENS, ] ill Precey
who left for 2 QUEENS in early December . M aj.
Peter Packham has commanded the team since then who recen tl y vi sited the battalion in U lster. ,
but as these notes are published he too will be handing
over, this time to M aj. Stu art Anderson M C, on The Prize-giving took place the next morning
return from a staff tour in Canada.
and, in the absence of The Co lonel of The R egiment

(who was recovering from an operation), the prizes

were presented by M aj.-Ge n. R. S . N. Mans, CBE,

D eputy Colonel (S urrey).

Cp l. Wentowski of The Addlestone detachment

2nd Cdt. Bn. (QUEEN'S ACF) won the coveted

ucumber land Sword11 and the highest scorers from

Surrey, Kent, Sussex and London won inscribed

regimenta l pl aques. The whole weeke nd was a great

success and special th anks are due to W02 Knight

and 42 A.Y.T., who organised the orienteering, and

M aj. Earnest Wood who so ably set the First Aid

tes t.

We are now enterin g the usurnmer Season" of

events, Open Days, Fiestas, Carni va ls, Fairs,

Bonanzas, Spectaculars and M edieva l Tournaments.

It's going to be a lon g hot summer!

The Cumberland
Sword

Competition,

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I enclose £... plus £.......... for engraving.

1. Maj.-Gen R. S . N . Mans CBE presents the Cumberland Sword to Cpl. Wentowski, Addlestone Det.
2nd Cadet Bn. (Surrey ACF)

2. C.Sgt. Laming of Canterbury PI. (Kent ACF) receives the prize for the Best Runner-up from Kent
3. Cpl. Palfrey of 25 Coy, the Best Runner-Up from N.E. London
4. A group of Cadets engaged in the Military Observation test
5. Under Officer Franl< Greenwood, Sussex ACF, tests a cadet during the First Aid event
6. Cpl. Underhill, Dor)<ing Det., 1st Cadet Bn. (Surrey ACF), the Best Runner-Up for Surrey
7. Preparing to give the "Kiss of Life" in the First Aid event
8. L/ Cpl. Warren of 195 Coy (Staines), the Best Runner-Up from N . W . London

Pictures by Brian Pearson

32

The 5th (Volunteer) Battalion

General Acrise Training Area and a further two hours march
across Romney Marsh, teams eventu ally reached Lydd
THE Banalion is now firmly under conunand Camp in the earl y hours of Sunday morning exhausted
and ve ry damp. Most so ldiers were glad to get moving
of HQ 16 Para. Bde. and, as part of the again-even at reveille at 0630 hours. After crossing
the treacherous Assault Course, followed by a S-mile
major restructuring of the Army now in progress, timed rou te ma rch, teams took part in the all-
important team shoot. Finally with the rain still
HQ 16 Para. Bde. will shortly become H ead- unrelenting, all found suffi cient strength to stagger
to the Naafi W ago n which had miraculously appea red.
quarters of 6th Field Force. The latter will be All teams had put in a fine effort but somebody had
an All Arms formation-rather larger than a to win and Bri g. G. H . W. Howlett, OBE, MC,
Commander of 16 P ara. Bde. who had watched
brigade-including at least one TA VR infantry throughout, presented the prizes to HQ Coy. (Canter-
banalion. We have high hopes that the latter bury), lead by C/ Sgt. H older, with B Coy.
will be 5 QUEENS, in which case the future (Broads tairs), lead by 2/ Lt. Al ain Chissel, a close
second.
prospects will be extreme ly high as we prepare
to take our place in what wi ll be SACEUR's The main ac tivity for February was the Officers
training weekend , held in H owe Barracks . B y com-
reserve formation, avai lable for deployment any- bining th e weekend with cooks training th ere was a
where from the Northern to the Southern Flanks most successful Guest Night, enhan ced by a sterling
turnout of the Band.
of NATO, Europe.
Despite some officers being ra ther white-faced
With this bright future ve ry much in mind the and limping badly, the following day's trainin g kept
Battalion has taken part in the Nationa l R ecrui tin g everybody on their toes and our thanks go to Maj .
Drive with considerable gusto and the resulting P . D . Orchard-Lisle, TO of 100 Medium Regt. RA
successes have increased our strength dramatically. (V) for hi s R egiment's excellent presentation on fire
support.
Following their success in 1975, A Coy. em-
barked on an am bitious recruiting drive in the A variety of Compan y exerci ses have been held
Guildford area . Over 18,000 leaflets and 3,000 letters around the southern counties, while the Support
we re distributed during the cam paign and resulted Weapons Pis. have been live-firing a t L arkhill. A
in 170 enquiries and 75 recruits signing on. Two Coy. had a successful trip to W ales over "Easter.
recruiting days were held in Guildford and amongst
the visitors were the Colonel of the Regimen t, M aj- It was proposed that the Battalion take part in
Gen. R . S. N. M ans, CBE, Brig. G. B. C urtis, OBE , an exercise in BAOR in November but unfortun ately
MC (late QUEENS ) and the Mayo r and M ayo ress of this parti cipa tion had to be can celled. Nevertheless
Guildford. For addi tion al colour and glamour to the all is now well underway for Annual Camp 1976 at
campaign, the company can thank M iss Great Britain Westdown Camp on Salisbury Plain . It is a far cry
(Miss Carol yn Moore) and Miss Guildford (Miss from BAOR las t year but 5 12 officers and men are
] ulienne Eve) who, though not on display alongside due to go, and all bodes well for two good weeks of
the ve hicles and weapons, undoubtedly charmed a training and entertaining. A full report will appear
few young men into uniform . D espite all the efforts in th e nex t issue.
however some o f the success mu st be attributed to
the ex tremely good "catchmen t area)) with w hich A P ersonalities
Coy. is blessed.
Amongst the man y visitors to all parts of the
Equally sterling efforts, although perhaps not Battalion, specia l mention must be made of the man y
quite so glamorous, have continued with the other visits by Brig. G. H . W . H ow lett, OBE, M C (late
companies. With di spl ay stands set up in shopping P arachute Regiment and formerl y Queen's Own Royal
centres, thousands of letters and leaflets di stributed West Kent Regt.) We also welcome Col. ] . B. Ogilvie,
and with a wide coverage given to our efforts in the OBE, TD, the new Field Force TAVR Colonel.
loca l press, the message of the TA VR has spread
considerabl y. B Coy. (Broads tai rs) and E Coy. (T on- A Coy. was visited on 6 M ay by Lt.-Gen.
bridge) are now over their establi shment and, with Sir J ames Wilson, KBE, M C, GOC South East
renewed efforts for C Coy. ( H asti ngs) underway, it is Di strict when he presented Cpl. Stuart Browning with
hoped that they too will be up to strength very soon. his British Empire Medal, awarded in the New Years
All companies should be congratulated on their efforts Honours List. C pl. Browning has long been a st alwart
but the support especi ally in advice and fin an ce, that member of the TA and TAVR and his efforts both
the South East TAVR Association has given during in the Officers' M ess, but more especially as Company
the las t few months must not go unmentioned. C lerk and R ecruiting Co-ordin ator, are most
pr aisewo rth y.
Amongst all the efforts on recruiting, normal
trai ning has continued . In November a most arduous Sadly, the las t six months has seen the departure
" M arch and Shoot" weekend was held at Lydd . The of M aj. Frank Oram, our Qu artermaster for five yea rs,
weather was atrocious and all the teams we re soaked who retired in M ay after 41 yea rs service. H e joined
to the skin almost before they started. The exercise the E as t Surreys in India as a boy in 1935, reached
began at 1800 hours with orders and rehearsa ls for the r ank of WO I in 1954 and after ten yea rs as
the Night P atrollin g Phase and the first team set off
at 1930 hours. After three hours patrolling across

RSM , he wa' granted a QM Commi ssion in 1964.
l-I e i:, to live in D over.

RSM 1ack C haffer, MM has also now retired
after 34 yea rs service . In 1anuary he took up a post

as a Yeoman Warder at HM Tower of London.

Our good wishes also go to Co l. D . A. Willows,
DL, ADC, at one time CO of 5 QUEENS bu t more
recentl y a frequent and welcome visitor, who has
retired as the TA VR Co lonel S .E . Di stri ct.

We say farewe ll to Maj. Graham Gamsey, TD ;
Maj. Ton y Bingham, TD ; Capt. Charles Bates, TD ;
M aj. M alco lm Muirhead and Lt. Bob 1ewson.
Amongst the PSi s that have left, are Sgts. Dunn and
Laine; every good wish goes to them and also to
W0 2 "Sticky" Glew, who has retired .

We welcome M aj. Reg Palmer, the new Qu arter-

master ; WO! 1. R . Barrell the new RSM ; W02
D . Screene, C/ Sgts. R. Worthy, BEM and 1. D .

Bl an chette and Sgt. ] . Ashe. Finally we welcome M aj.
1im Bailey, MC, late of lOth Gurkhas, who has taken
over from M aj. Gerald Dineley, TD (now 2IC) as
OC B Coy.

T ailpiece
The strange case of Maj . Peter H arrington, TD

(our las t 2I C) who transferred to CV HQ RA on 3
M arch and immediately transferred back again as
OC HQ Coy. on I April ,-picking up his TD on
the way!

OCLEE

to t he Kent Cou nty E COMPANY
(top) Cpl. Ryan being presented with the TE
Regime nts for over Medal by Brig. Geoffrey Howlett OBE, MC,
sixty years.
the Brigade Commander
35 SANDGATE ROAD ,
FOLKESTONE (centre) The Brigadier talks to recruits

Telephone 52654 (lower) Cpl. Snell and Pte. Day <m Acrise
Training Area

Pictures by Sevenoaks C hronicle

34 a number of years, rising to the rank of W02 and
receiving the Efficiency M edal on the way. This was
WO! (RSM) JACK CHAFFER, MM- part of a long and happy association with Guildford,
OFF TO THE TOWER for he was later to return as SP SI and RSM after
Sandfield Terrace became part of the 5th (Volunteer)
In January, a great personality retired from the Bn.
Army after 34 years service and promptly went to
H .M. Tower of London where he now lives and In 1956 he re-enli sted, this time with the Queens
works. Surreys, and since then , except for a short tour as
RSM of the Junior Infantrymans Wing at Canter-
Jack Chaffer, born in Kingston Barracks, Guild- bury in 1972/7 3, he served with both regu lar and
ford, the son of a stalwart 'East Surrey, spent much volunteer battalions; his final tour was as RSM of
of his childhood abroad with hi s father's Regiment. 5 QUEENS at Canterb ur y.
After a posting to Hong Kong in 1925 and thence
to India in 1927, the family eventually returned to Jack C haffe r is now a Yeoman Warder at the
England in 1936. Tower of London, where he hopes to be for many
years. His training certainly necessitated hours of
However despite such a Regimental background, learning and for six weeks he wa lked round and round
Jack Chaffer enlisted in the Grenadier Guards in the moat talking to himself and relating 900 years
1941 , very much against his father's wishes. It was of Tower histor y. Thankfull y that is now over .
with the 6th Bn. that he was in North Africa and
Italy where, at Anzio in 1944, he was awarded the Besides routine duties on the Bridges and Tower
Military Medal. In fact rumour has it that, on a recent Green, he now undertakes the guided tours and with
pilgrimage to Anzio, armed with pick and shovel, he up to 200 tourists to control he finds it ve ry much like
set about filling in some of the holes he dug there being back on parade.
years before !
W e wish J ack C haffe r and his wife every good
In 1947 Jack left the regular army but joined wish for the future. Knowing him has been a real
6th East Surreys (TA) and remained with them for pleasure.

In Civilian Life

RSM j ack Chaffer MM (on Albuhera Day 1975) Enjoy
Picture by Kentish Gazette
Service and

.Comradeship

T'"HE ROYAL

BRITISH LEGION

Your service to Queen and Country
needn 't stop when yo u leave the Forces.
The Royal British Legion has much interest
in and responsibility for young ex-servicemen
and women of toda y as it has for those of
two world wars and looks to them for its
leaders of the future.

THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION

49 PALL MAU SWlY SJY

35

WE HAVE
OUR

TRADITIONS
TOO!

We at Gieves and Hawkes may enjo y a sense
of hi stor y because we dressed the Iron Duke
and Ne! on, invented the Shako, the cavalry
head-dress, were first to make the So lar Topee
and have been tailoring uniforms for over two-
hundred years, but we 're certain ly not
hidebound!

Each garment-uniform or suit- is cut and
tailored by hand to our own exacting standa rds.
We have, after all, bui lt a tradition of success
by providing clothes which, for generations,
have been accepted as the ver y best .

Today we not only continue to tailor uniforms
and sui ts to the highest sta ndards, we also offer
a fine choice of ready-to-wear clothes. Suits,
blazers, trousers, knitwear, shirts, ties and shoes
in classical and modern styles, including Britains
largest range of Chester Barrie suits and top-
coats, all await you a t Savile Row.

1. A Company's Recruiting stand at Guildford •G IEVES l!t HA~~
with (I to r) Pte. Leonard, Miss Great Britain,
Sgt. Bigwood, L / Cpl. Knight, The Mayor, ofSavile Row
Maj.-Gen. R. S. N. Mans CBE and Maj . Wright
No 1 Savile Row, Lo ndon W .l. Telephone 01-434-2001
2. Miss G uildford, with some of A Company's
new recruits, learning to handle the SLR No 1 High Street, Camberl ey. Te lephon e 0276-63659

3. Sgt. Thundow (HQ Coy) turning a page of in d at:- Bath , Bexhil!, Brockenhurst, Chester,
the Buffs Book of Remembrance on the 30th Eastbourne , Edi nbureh. H arrow , Leicester, Plymouth,

Anniversary of his first doing so in 1946. Portsmouth and Winchester.
Pictu re by K .G . Photographic Service

4 . C pl. Dolly (C Coy) receives his TE Medal
from the Brigade Commander

36

The 6th/7th (Volunteer) Battalion

0 UR last notes ended with the banalion at retai n the trophy. In the fallin g p late, the three D
Coy. teams took the fi " t three places out of 14
camp. But only two months later, 150 all entri es. The ba ttali on small - bore compe tition resu lted
ranks took pan in a fonnight 's training and in a win fo r 0 Coy., the best individ ual performance
coming from S / Sg t. D oublcday.
operational tour in Gibraltar ; thi s is the subj ect
In April , all offi cers attended the South Eas t
of a separate anicle. Distri ct Study P eriod, at whi ch we were pleased to
mee t offi cers of the 5th Bn . and also Col. Jim Ogi!vie
On return, the nation al TA VR recruiting cam - resplende nt in his new red tabs. T he wee kend wa~
paign occupied most of our time (in F ebruary and onl y marred by the sounding of the fire-alarm in the
earl y March) so it is hardl y surprising, that training RAOC M ess (in whi ch we were accom modated) at
has been in a somewhat lower key since O ctober. 0200 hrs., and the impossi bility of turning it off for a
The emphasis has been on completing annu al whol e hour. M ajors were seen fly in g in pani c, led
class ification and ba ttle effici ency tests. M aj. Richard by O C A Coy., whereas more junior offi cers slept
Hopper made HQ Coy. earn their bounty by in- on in bli ssful ignorance-in the case of Lt. Go rdon
Andrew, until 1200 hrs. ! We can onl y surmi se that
cluding a It mil e stretch of old railway line, with one of the brighter subalterns had noticed the recent
amendment to paragraph 02 11 (a) of TA VR
ball as t, in th e 7 mile march . Regul ations which deleted the line: " H e (the
C ommanding Offi cer) is also to check any tendency
The one major exercise was B Coy's "Final among his officers to practica l jokes." !
Fling" on Sali sbur y Pl ain . This involved heli copters
and enem y provided by H aberd as hers' Aske's Schoo l Visitors on drill-nights have included Mr. Robert
CCF and 226 (City of London) Coy. ACF . At the Brown MP, Under Secretary o f State for the Arm y,
end, L / Cpl. Spalding, whose last training weekend who vi sited Wandsworth and Ca mberwell; Lt.-Gen.
thi s was before marri age, w as s tripped bare, hi s Sir J ames Wilson , GO C South E as t Di stri ct, came
clothes distributed over a wide area, and w as covered to Horsham and C rawley where he spoke to every
with camoufl age cream. (It's rea l fun with the TAVR soldier; Maj .-Gen. d ' Avigdor-Goldsmid, and the
-unless you get married! ) B Coy. also held their C hief of Staff HQ London Distri ct. P arti cul arl y
annu al inter-section compe tition for the Cutler's welcome visitors were M ajs. P add y P anton and
Sword . C pl. M ason was presented with the troph y by Richard Dixon from HQ S .E . Di strict.
the Master of the Curlers' Compan y in a ceremony
at Edgware.

The recruiting campaign went ex treme ly we ll in

all companies. W e were undoubtedl y helped by the

amount of publi cit y surroundin g our tour in G :bra ltar
which appea red a t just the ri ght time. All companies

set up di splays in busy H igh S treets and the prize
for best sa lesm an of the yea r goes to Capt. Ri chard
Ratner, who nearl y recruited a 70- yea r-old lady in

Horsham! In fact our WRA C platoon is now full y

recruited and we are pleased to have 2/ Lt. J oan

Morters in command . Our best news, however, was
the re-establi shment of a TA VR presen ce in
Camberley, where a new hut was opened by M aj.-Gen.

M ans on 22 nd April. H avi ng got rid of some "dead

wood ", our streng th showed a ne t increase by the end
of the campaign of 28, bringi n g us up to 90'fr of
establishment.

C pl. Mason (B Coy) receiVIng the Cutlers' On the social side : all com panies had C hristmas
Sword from the Master of the Cutlers' Company, parti es and L/ C pl. Bonner (B Coy.) got hi gh praise in
the Hornsey J ournal for runnin g a party for loca l chil-
March 76 dren. The Sergeants' M ess Draw, at whi ch WOII
Bowen was M C, was held at W andswo rth and was ve ry
Picture by Middlesex C ounty Press well supported, not leas t by the Burma Star Association.
The RSM has also succeeded in openin g a Sergean ts'
Since RSM W ard started training the battalion M ess at H orsham, due in part to th e decorative work
shooting team, D Coy. provided encouragement by put in by S gt. Atkins. The offi cers' main entertain-
their convincing win in the W andsworth Shoot. Nine ment was a cocktail part y at the H aberdas hers' H all
TA VR and AC F units rook parr, and our 'A' T eam, o n 14 No ve mber; amongst th e guests we re th e M as ter
consisting of S / Sgt. Lindup, Sgt . Bi cker, C pls. Jolley of the N eedlem akers' Compan y, M aj.-Ge ns.
and Wren, Ptes. Gl ass and Montague, came first, to d 'Avigdor-Goldsmid , M ans and Shapland and Lt. -Col.
H anke of the Bu11deswe hr. The Surrey Yeoman ry
Band, unde r Bandmas ter D erek Butlin, have con-
tinu ed to support the ba n ali on w ith a series of

( co111i11ued 011 page 37 )

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( CO IIIiiiii Cd from page }6 ) 37

concerts at dri ll -halls. They p roved thei r high standard Comm and ing Officer, a composite company of 150 all
by coming second , by one point on ly, in the "Mi litar y ran ks duly arri ved after many jabs and vaccinations.
The composite company (Albuhera) was drawn from
Band of Britain" contest. men of all five companies. uR ed Spider" was
a four-ph ase exerci se in which the resident battalion
On 24 March, WO II Derek H arwood of B Coy. on the Rock- 2 RGJ- was relieved, one company at
was awarded the Lord Lieu tenant's Meritorious Service a time, for trai ning in Britai n. Phase 1 involved a
Certificate by the Lord Lieutenant of G reater London , company from I RWF from whom we took over on
Marsha l of The Roya l Air Force, Lord E lwo rthy. arriva l.
We say fa rewell (and our ve ry rea l th anks) to those
leaving who have done so much for the battalion. At 0730 hrs. on 17 J anu ary, our company was
at the service area on the M4 about I0 miles so uth
As to the futu re, we shall be at camp this yea r of the Ai r Mounting Centre at South Cerney. W e
at Otterburn from 4-1 8 September, and we look for- were due there at 1030 hrs ! At 2000 hrs. a Belfast
ward to seeing something of the 3rd Bn. By the time ai rcraft of RAF Air Support Command landed under
this appears in print, both our present Commanding the commanding face of the Rock bringing in the
Officer, Lt.-Col. J ohn H ewson, and the T raini ng fi rst cha lk of 122 men; three hours later another
Major, David Shephard, will have fini shed their tours Belfast fl ew in the remai ning 28 plus all the equ ip-
with us- ending (in Co lonel J ohn's case) five con- ment and baggage. We were met by M aj. D avid
tinuous years with th ree TA VR uni ts of the Regiment. Shephard, who had been appointed OC and who
\Y/e wis h them both every success in their next had flown out earlier "to get things organised". This
appoinunents and thank them for doing so much to he had done particularl y well from the officers' point
make the ama lgamation of 6 and 7 QUEENS such of view; the y found themo;e lves living in th e RAF
a happy and successfu l one. Mess at North F ront, in which lived some ve ry
a ttractive WRAF officers and school-teachers. The
EXERC ISE RED SPIDER 2 sergeants and so ldiers also lived at North Front.

(6/7 QUEENS tour of duty on the Rock of Gibraltar) The main purpose of the tour was to take over
from 2 RG J the duti es on the frontier with $pain-
by M ajor J. R. G . Putnam detai ls of which are we ll known to the 3rd Bn . The
latter had undoubtedly m ade their mark on the Rock,
I t was du ring our an nual camp in October 1975 and a Queen 's cap-badge ensured a warm reception
that we fi rst hea rd tha t the Batta lion had been se lected whe rever we went. The 3rd Bn . had left other ma rks
as the first General Reserve TA VR battalion to behind for it had taken 2 RGJ about seven months
serve overseas. At the time we were told that our to cover up all the orange pai nt left b y them! We
two-week tou r in Gib ral tar wou ld be in February were sore ly tem pted to re paint the rails around the
1976 but with true mi litary precision , we heard (in Four Corners Guard Room but never quite got round
December) "You are going on J anua ry 17" ! The to it.
Training Major, Adjutant and Q uartermaster thought
we would never make it, but thanks to them and the

On the
Rock

(left) Pte. Jenkins during an IS Exercise. (centre ) Men of A Coy with a Ferret of 2 RGJ
P ictu res by PR H Q SE Dist

( right) The flag lowering ceremony at The Four C orners Guardroom

38 th e latt er gave us a daily "spot' , during the second
week. C harles himself gave seve ral radio talks and
The du ty platoon on the frontier and the two interviews ; I got ca ug ht for both radio and te lev ision ,
reserve platoons formed th e training e lemen t and the and the CO, who visited us for fo ur d ays, also gave
balance enj oyed recreation al trainin g and days off. a radio intervi ew. H Q S.E . District lent us Sgt. Di xo n,
an RA OC photographer who, with our own unit
Those in the trai nin g e lemen t and no t o n th e border photogr ap her (Cp l. H ardy) took some 2,000 shots
carried out dry train ing on the small area at Buffadero d uring the fortnight and made a recruiti ng film . The
Vi llage on the south point of the Rock in conjunction resultan t press coverage was costed by Mr. Bitton at
with the Green J acke ts. They were most generous over £2,5 00, which shows what can be done with
in their assistance and almost every day we had the ca reful pre-pl anning and persuasion of those who
use of the I S Vi llage, assault course, gas chamber, hold the purse strings.
lOOm and 30m ranges and the exce llent .22 r ange
with proj ecti on faciliti es. W e were also given a da y PROFILE
with their Recce PI. and F errets.
M aj. D avid Margand, relinqui shed command of
Border du ties required a pl atoon of one officer B Coy. on 4 April. The end of the G ibral tar exercise
and 20 men . E ach had two 24 -hour tours of frontier also marked the end of hi s service with the TA VR
duty during the exercise. \Ve took over the Four and the occasion was ce lebrated by a mini-fl y past
Corners guardroom complex, and carried out all the by Wessex helicopters of 72 Squ ad ron RAF. Origin all y
work on the border including the fl ag-raisi ng and commissioned into the Ro ya l Signals in 1955, Nation al
lowering ceremonies. Although th e ceremonial dut ies Service took him to th e F ar 'East for two yea rs. In
1962 he joined the TA as O C 4 PI. 5th Middlesex
were new to us, we had the first 24 hours to re- (TA ) at C hu rchfield Road, We;t E aling. H e sub-
hea rse and one of the outstandin g accom plishments sequent ly served (as a result of the various
of the tour was the hi gh standard achieved by those re-organisa tions of the Reserve Arm y) with IO(T )
on fronti er dut y. The on ly snag with ceremonial was Queens, I 0 Queens Cadre, 6 Queens and fin all y 6/7
on our first evening, when the Regimental flag could Queens. His forceful and extrovert personality was of
not be persuaded to come dow n the pole. With M aj. immense va lu e in ensuring a happ y ama lgama ti on of
Shephard going several shades of red and frothin g the va rious elements of what is now B Coy. of the
at the mouth and the Spanish ·'Tiruana" Band 6/ 7 Bn . M aj. M argand li ves in Bagshot and is the
approaching, the compa n y 11ape'', Sgt. Cadywould , Director of S ales and Marketing of the C losures and
shinned up the pole and honour was restored . It was Pl as ti cs Divi sion of the United Glass Group . H e
subsequentl y discovered tha t the Green J acke ts, who was presen ted wi th a silver cigarette box at the
r aised the fl ag that morning, had seen to it that we
should ha ve our difficulties. Those on dut y in the annual compan y dinner on 24 March, and we wi sh
OP towers along the frontier filed reports of all
him every success in "retiremen t".
activities seen and the resident battalion wa s pleased
to get fresh reports, w ell written , with much new
information.

The recreational training wa s ex treme ly rewarding
thanks to the grea t assis tance rece ived from a va rie ty
of sources. The Gibraltar Regt. took every m an on
a guided tour of the R ock, and entertai ned us most
ro ya lly at their HQ on drill-nights-which seemed
to go on much longer than ours (possibl y due to the
cheaper drink). The Roya l Navy took a large number
of men to sea almost daily in a va riety of craft in-
cluding HMS H ampshire, HMS K epp/e and HMS
Amazou, all giving us a w arm welcome, much pleas ure

and interes t. In exchange we entertained parties of
sailors for dr y training; they obviously enjo yed them-
selves but thought us quite mad to volunteer for the
assault course follow ed by the gas chamber. The
Navy also took parties for sai ling lessons in the

harbour and some w ere even shown round a sub-
marine. The RAF took small parties round the Control
and Operations T ower, and the Roya l Engineers took
four potholing parties through the Lower St. Mi chael's
Caves. 2 RGJ also lent us an instructor for absailing
down the rock face at the end of the trai ning area.
No t a bad program me for a two-week tour and we
hope we conveyed our gratitude to all the m any
people who helped us so generously.

W e took the opportunity to carry out a ve ry
comprehensive publi c relations exercise under 2/ Lt.
C harles Hoste, who did a reall y exce llent job. Never
in a fortnight has a unit received so much worthwhile
publicity. L ew Bitton, the senior PRO from South
East Di strict, together wi th reporters from the Evening
Standard and local London papers, spent four days
on the Rock. A team from So/die>· magazine also
sta yed with us and subsequentl y produced an exce llent
ar ticle in their April edition . Char les Hoste m ade
contact with the Gibraltar R adio and Television Co.
and with the British F orces Broadcasting Service, and

1. Pte. Jill Carter, the first girl to join HQ Coy Picture by Evening Argus

2. Brig . C. S. F. Carroll, OBE, MC, Comdr. Aldershot Gm., talks to C.Sgt. Spillett (C Coy PSI) .

The CO is on the right

3. Training at Buffadero village

4. Maj .-Gen. Mans CBE and the Mayor of Surrey Heath (Mrs. Valerie Richards ) being shown a 7.62mm

LMG by 2/ Lt. Anthony Lemard ( the Opening of the new Cambcrley Detachment of A Coy on 22nd

April) Picture by PR SE Dist.

5. Lieut.-Gcn. Sir James Wilson, GOC S . E . District, talking to new recruits during a visit to HQ Coy

in March

40

Depot The Queen 's Division

by Capt. N . C. G. Cann

It is with regret tha t we anno unce the death of
Mrs. Beckham, wife of Cpl. K . Beckham, on 12 M ay,
the result of a car accident.

The last six months at the D epot have produced land P en tathlon, held at Aviemore on 24th and 25 th
some noteworth y events which I shall endeavour to
relate. We have had the norma l succession of visits April. This con s i s t~d of swimmi~ g, shoo tin g, skiing,
by the " Brass" , including the GOC Eastern D istrict,
(M aj.-Gen. T abor) and the C GS , Gen. Sir P eter cross country runrung and curling and the D epot
Hunt. Our Bandmaster, WO! " Wally" Bibby, who
joined the Regiment in 1972, was presented with the team, whose aver age age wa s B3e5a, rssdcoernedSk1i30C8l5ubp.oTinhits~
M eritorious Service M eda l on 5th M arch, after 30 fini shing 120 pts. behind the
years in the Army. RSM Len H art is now com-
missioned and serving in Belize wi th the 2nd Bn . was a considerable achievement as A rm y teams have
Our congratulations to both on their achievements.
M aj. P eter Collman has left for NORTHAG and a reputation there of not being of a very high standard.
the D epot is indebted to him for his untirin g efforts
(except, of course, when he was playing golf I ) Capt. The previous best result by a Military side was in
Mike J arratt has taken over command of J S Com-
pany from M aj. David Beveridge and W02 D ick 1973 when the APTC came 3rd. W ell done to all
M archant is the D epot's new RQMS.
three of this team.
The Rugb y team reached the fin als of both the
EDIST full team and 7-a-side competitions, losing A COMPANY
on both occasions to 1 DERR. The 7's team is now Stalwarts who have left us recentl y include Cpl.
competing in the Army fin als at Aldershot. P . M arshall (to 3 Queens), Cpl. M . Potts (to 1
Queens), Cpl. A . E ntwhistle (who was discharged at
The Squash team lost n arrowl y to 22 SAS in the
U K fin al of the Soldier M agazin e Competition. The the beginning of J anua ry) and Cpl. D . Mockler who
Cross Country team also excelled and was well left in M ay. All are thanked for their efforts and
represented by former members of the 1st Bn . i.e.
Col. Geoff Strong, Lt. John Rogerson, Sgt. Juhel tremendous enthusiasm. Sgt. A . C lark joined us from
and Cpl. Buckle. They won the EDIST competition,
were second in the E astern Area Competition and 7th JS Coy. at the end of 1975 and is to be congratulated
in the Army fin al at Aldershot. on his recent promotion . Cpl. E. M acMurray
arrived from the 2nd Bn. at the end of last
At C hristmas, once again a show of dubious
origin was produced by Capt . Don Pryce, our O ctober, and C pl. C . R odzeiwicz (ex- 3rd Bn.) arrived
Director of Music. It contained many stirring per- in M arch, closely followed by C pl. W. M off att (ex-
form ances including "T op of the Form", with Lts.
W ake, Mills, Harcus and Rogerson all portra ying 1st Bn .) in April and Cpl. C ullinane (ex-2nd Bn.)
obnoxious schoolboys, and Mrs. H arcus (in a some- in May. All are welcomed and we hope their tours
what delicate condition) a schoolgirl, who had ob-
viously gone off the r ails ! The show was an uproarious wi ll be memorable ones. C pl. D avison (now with
success. J S Coy.), L / Cp l. W aldron, Ptes. Burke, Braisier,

A mention must certai nl y be given to the JS Brett and Russell (all of 2nd Bn.) worked with us
Coy. (looked after by M aj. Beveridge and WOZ from Oct.- D ec. las t year, as the Company D emon-
" Dutch" H oll and) who set about raising £ 600 for an stration Sec.
obstetric bed for the Ro ys ton H ospital. This was
christened "Operation Stork" and, inside five months, Between November las t and the end of April,
the Company had r aised over £900. The Company
is to be congratulated for its fin e efforts, and earlier we provided 68 recruits, of which 28 have gone to
this month cheques were presented to three sep arate 1st Bn ., 25 to 2nd Bn. and 15 to 3rd Bn. A number
orgarti sa ti on s.
of these are to be congratu lated on wi nning prizes.
Our ACC representati ves r an off with fo ur 1st W02 V . Ebbens, Sgt. B. Camile and this writer
prizes and a 2nd prize at the EDIST Cookery Com-
petition, and they are now cookin g furi ously for the have been playin g hockey for the D epot, and Lt.
Army fin als, to be held at Alde rshot in the near D . W ake, Lt. R . Whithouse, C pl. M arshall and m yself
future. The recruits have "never had it so good";
there is certai nl y nothing to scoff at! ! all played Rugb y for the D epot. Lt. W ake is still
unable to walk properly having in jured his leg, whilst
S top Press- S ports R esult
yours trul y continues to be injury prone.
The D epot P entathlon T eam consistin g of
QMSI P egler (APTC), Lt. R ogerson and Sgt. Graham H ere and There
came second in the J ohn Playe r N inth Annu al High-
Congratul ations to L / C pls. J . Graham and
M . Cowan-Aston, both ' 0 ' type Queensmen who
gained selection to RMAS . with the M ay and Sept.
in takes respectively.

2/ Lt. R obinson, an "old boy" of ours visited us
in M arch, having successfu lly completed his Officer
training; he is now with the 2nd Bn. P te. G . Luton
(another ' 0 ' type Queensman) who comes from
Ca lgary, is shortly going on a sponsored cycle ride
from Roys ton to Grossa lmerode (Royston's twin town,
just south of K assel in G ermany).

C pl. B. S. Bishop was married just before C hrist-
mas; Sgt. B. Camille r ecentl y passed his Drill Course
at Pirbright and is to be married in September and
Pte. Ri chert was married at the D epot on 1st April.

C pl. M acMurray has written off his brand new
car, when a tyre burst du ring his leave in Scotl and.

41

On a bomb scare in M arch (a t 0200 hrs.) W02 Champion ship with six individual Champions and one
Ebbens and Lt. Whithouse plus 6 soldiers were Runner-Up. The team then entered the Army J unior
among the few who heard the alarm and paraded Inter-Unit Championships and were narrowly beaten
successfull y. They then proceeded to search most of in the last rou nd of the final bout by IJLB Shorncliffe
the Depot. Well done, good and faithful servants I ! (who went on to win the Championships convincingly).
Fin all y, we entered some of the boxers for the Army
A contingent of form er 1st Bn . Officers and Jun ior Individual Championships at L itchfield and
senior NCOs attended the trooping of the Colour in came away with two Champions and one Runner-Up
in thi s ve ry high-stand ard competition.
Werl in M ay.
Apart from the boxing, the Juniors have been
B (TRAINING) COMPANY kept busy with a ten-d ay Battle Camp on Dartmoor;
a week's skiing in Aviemore for each platoon (in-
The Regimental element in the Company has structed by Lt. Rogerson, Sgt. Graham and Cpl.
been strengthened by the arrival of Sgt. Rylands and Bickham); a week's climbing and mountain walking in
C pl. Ode! I from the I st Bn. and Cpl. Bennett from Snowdonia; and finally our Spring Battle Camp at
the 3rd Cpl. Cordingley left us for civilian life, and C rowborough (which pleased all the Queensmen).
we wish him the best of luck. We were joined by
Ca pt. J arratt from the Ist Bn. for a short period, In the time to be found between these activities
before he moved on to greater things as OC of J S and their normal training, the Juni ors have been en-
gaged in some C harity Fund- raising. The project,
Coy. named "Operation Stork", was started with the aim
of producing enough money to pay for a new obstetric
The improved recruiting situation has meant that bed in Ro ys ton Co ttage Hospital. The P ad re put in
we are bursting at the seams, causing CSM Maloney about £ 150 to start the ball rolling, and it was hoped
some headaches. In his own inimitable style, how- that each platoon would raise abou t £75 to bri ng the
ever he has coped-his on ly aggravation being the total to £600. The Juniors set about their task so
CSM of A Coy. Platoons passing out over the last enthusiastica lly (running a disco, staging a marathon
six months have been, on average, thirty strong, whilst table-tennis match, doing a sponsored fifty mile march
Quebec (Lt. Russe ll) recentl y passed ou t 53 strong. and sponso red peak-climbing in Snowdonia, and or-
Despite the ad ministrative difficulties of a platoon of ganising a giant raffle), that in the end they raised
thi s size, it gives us a rea l sense of achievement. over £900. As a result, we were able to donate the
surplus to Meldreth Manor School for Spastics and
We have passed 5 I recruits to our three to the local British Legion's Home for the Aged. Not
to be outdone by all thi s enthusiasm, the Juniors from
Battalions since November last year, and four of these Bussco PI. and the Corps of Drums (whose activi ti es
were not needed for uoperation Stork, , since the
have been prize winners. money had already been r aised) took part in the RNLI
Sponsored W alk round the airfield here and rai sed
Congratulations to Pte. C. L. Cruden (one of the amazi ng sum of £379 between them for thi s
our Queensm an '0' Types) who was selected for worthy ca use.
RMAS in May this year. Pte. Andrew Bickerdike,
another ' 0 ' Type, received his Duke of Edinburgh We look forward to anothe r bu sy Summer; abou t
Scheme Go ld Medal at Buckingham P alace in April. 200 new Junior Recruits (between M ay and Septem-
ber); the Depot Open Day, and another Battle Camp.
HQ COMPANY
(See pictures on next page)
WO! M . J . Flynn (formerly 4th and 1st Bns .)
was posted to the Depot in J anuary as the new THE REGULAR FORCES EMPLOYMENT
Superintendent Clerk, having completed a tour of
du ty with HQ D of Inf. W02 R. Marchant (ex-2nd ASSOCIATION
Bn .) arrived in April to take over as RQMS (Clothing).
In the meantime Maj . P . Collman has left the D epot exists
for BAOR, and WO! (RSM) L en H art, now com-
missioned, is with the 2nd Bn. Lt. J . Mills has to help Servicemen to find suitable employment when
taken over the duties of Cadre Officer. they leave the Forces. It also takes a long-term interest
in ex-Regul ars, who may use its services as often as
Congratulations to S / Sgt. J . Manuel , who runs they wish.
the MT PI. , on hi s recent promotion; congratulations
also (and for the same reason) to Cpl. Butcher (a The Association has 42 Branches in the major
citi es of the United Kingdom, and its Employment
Clerk at Depot HQ). Offi.cers- a11 ex-Servicemen-are in close touch with
employers. It provides all its services free.
Lt. J . Rogerson came third in the J ohn Player
Highland Pentathlon-a notable achievement. In 1975 the Association pl aced over 6,700 men
and ""_'Omen from the S ervices in employmen t; of
Fin ally we are pleased to welcome Lt.-Col. H . M . these Jobs some 2,500 were for men and women from
du V. Lohan Commanding Officer designate at the the Army and 54 were from the R egi men t.
Depot and hope that his '1reign', will be a memorable
If you are leaving the Service, it would be well
one. worth your while to get in touch with your local
Employment Officer. The telephone number and
JUNIOR SOLDIERS COMPANY add ress of the nearest Branch can be obtained from
R egimental H eadquarters or from Post Offices and
W e h ave said farewell to Lt. Harcus and C pl. Employment Offices.
Wells (who returned to their Battalions) and to Sgt.
Cheeseman who has left the Arm y. We h ave been
joined by Lt. Grant and Sgt. Davies (from the 3rd
Bn.), and we congratulate Sgts. Baker and Clark
on their promotion. We also welcome Lt. J ohn Bullock
on commissioning into the Regt. from APTC; he
now joins Lt. Rogerson on the EL Wing.

Our boxers have had a busy and successful
season under the management of Sgt. Juhel, who took
on the team from Sgt. Isaacs. First we hosted the
Infantry J unior So ldiers Coy. Championships and
emerged after three days as winners of the T eam

42

I. Maj . Gen. D. J. St M. Tabor M C, GOC EDIST, presents Bandmaster Wally Bibby with his M S M

( 5 March 76 )

2. Pte. Stephen Oliver ( B C oy) receiving h is award for the M ost Improve d Recruit in PT from C ol. H .
W. Bishop ( late RA VC) on 20 February 76

3. W02 G . Holland, S gt. R. Davies and S gt. B. C harman (seated; right ) entertaining two of the
P ensioners from th e Royal Hospital, Chelsea, on 5 March 76. The C O-Lt.-C ol. C. D . Piggins MBE-

is seated (centre)

4. RSM L. H . H art (now 2IC B C oy 2 QUEENS ) talking to the D irector of Anny Training (M aj-
Gen. G ow) during his visit in F ebruary

****
IJLB

LETTER FROM S HORNCLIFFE

by Lt. Bill Knight-Hugh es

D ea r Editor, ca use of this new wave of latrine gossi p and w ishful
thinking.
Just a no te to re fu te the rumours at present
going the rounds th at M aj. Raymond Low has won F irstl y, C/ Sgt. K ayc-Le,ser has arri ved, lead ing
th e Bn. C ross Count ry Competition and that thi s ( more or less) a mot ley contingent of 3rd Bn .
writer was last seen doing it on L t. John Pratten's ::.talwa rts, namely Sg ts. M oss and Turner, not fo r-
moto r-bike. I would like to warn all concerned th at ge tting Ca pt. D ave S impson. The sudden loss of these
rumo ur-mongering of this nature spreads alarm and has h it that battalion ha rd enough for them to want
defeatism and wi ll, in the long run, jeopa rdi ze the Lt. M a rk Q uinn an d C/ Sgt. S m ith back; they are
war effort and postpone indefin itely the fin al v ictory. soon to leave us.

H owever certain ha rd irrefuta ble facts have been Obviously th e adve nt of a " Blue M afia" at
diffi cult to concea l and these could be the root I] LB was the cue for a God father and this arrived
in the form of M aj. P aul M allalieu wh o m ade the

previous 2 IC an offer he cou ldn't refuse. 43

This Spring T erm brought m any " h its" . Four The fin al and most lud1crou s piece of latrin e
Queensman JLdr;-Doody, Whi tfield, Shales a nd gossip is th a t M a j. R aymo nd Low ha ~ passed h"
13ashford ass isted the A C IO Brighton on 26th Staff Promotion Exams and h as been granted a pl ace
a t the Can adi a n Staff College.
F ebruary .
The writer hopes, by means of thi s lette r, to
A less success ful "contract " wa s put out on the stimulate something of a polemic in the R eg imental
Platoon Commander by Queens R egt. ]Ldrs whil st M agazi ne on the s ubj ect of goss ip and rumours. I n
climbing in Scot land in J anuary. Numerous eff ort; th is way perh aps more light may be shed on th e
to di slodge yo urs tr u ly from the rock face by dropping ma n y strange incidents which have la tely occu rred
boulders on him fail ed. H e later ex pla ined that in Salamanca Coy.
working for M a j. Ra ymond Low enured him to
objects or substances being dropped on him from a R ecentl y L t. C hris P olden was seen in a skull
cap lurking in a corner with C / Sgt. K aye-L esscr
grea t h eight. murmuring and ch anting. W ere the y cooking the
books or were the y celebrati ng the C / Sgt's Bar-
Salamanca Coy's ]CS M this term was a Queens- Mit zvah?
man - ] CS M Martin, a nati ve of darkest tribal
No rwood; he soon saw the light a nd has now gone Yours etc.,
to the 2nd Bn ., but before leaving, he wa s presented
wi th the CO 's prize as runn er up in the competition Kaffir
for ]RSM.
SCOTLAND I N
T o return to m y original theme- the dangers J ANUA RY
of defea tist rumou r-monger ing :
( I to r ) ) Sgt. Kenny,
The continued co-operation between Salamanca JLdr. O'Toole, JCSM.
Coy and 41 A YT, under Lt. Co lin M cEwan and M artin and JLdr. Prid-
C / Sgt. Watson, is a fact and there is no n eed for dey listening to ) C pl.
this to make us fee l despondent . Also recent tactica l Mann ( Queensmen all )
defeats at the hands of 617 QUEENS under Lt. briefing his patrol on a
Stephen Northda le must not undermine our determin- search operation-for L t.
ation to meet them again in combat on the much- Knight-Hughes' toupe!
contested grounds of P ippingford Pa rk. A great
factor in mainta ining mo ra le ( and our contribution
to winning the uwar" fo r recruits) will certainly be
the induction of young cadets and their education
in the superiorit y of our R egiment a nd its trad itions.
Rumours that all ranks of the R egiment at l] LB are
working towa rds this end a re now officiall y con-
firmed . ( Y ou ma y " dig for Britain" but we will
recruit ca dets !! )

44 by Maj. E. A. McCarthy

The Regimental Association

A sum m ary of rh e C hairman's Amwal Report the names and add resses of br anch Secretaries wou ld
for 1975 is reprod uced below: be given to each so ldier before hi s discharge.

General It will be seen from the accounts that a profit of
£58 1 for the Benevolent Fund was made from the sa le
During the past year the Regimental Commi ttee, of regimenta li a through the R egimenta l Shop . I would
at the direction of the Colonel of The R egiment, ex- like to thank all those who have continued to support
ami ned the progress of the R egimental Association this venture and hope all members of the Regiment
during the first ten yea rs of its life. The benevolent especia ll y battalion PR! s, will conti nue giving suppor;
work of the A ssociation was found to be, in every of this worthy cause.
way, well executed and on a sound basis. A total of
44 cases were dealt with and a tota l of £1500 from Membership
R egi mental fund s, and £840 in grants from the ABF I am pleased to say that tota l membership is
was disbursed to those in need.
now 2026 Life M embers, but I am sure there must
It was however felt that the Association had not, be more who could be brought into the fo ld from
so far, been very successful in fostering the spirit of ba tt alions .
comradeship between past and present members of the
Regiment which was desi rable if the Association is Finance
to flouri sh; the Reunion, proposed at the last M eeting, A special effort was made during 197 5 to push
was cancelled due to lack of support. It is to be hoped
that the Association will be able to develop in thi s the total of subscribers to the " Day's P ay" Scheme
respect in the future. up to lOO% of members of the Regiment. Some
success was achieved but the total is still some 10%
The relationship between the Association and the short.
Associations of our form er Regiments was examined
and it was considered that the present arrangements The total income from all r anks was £8630 which
should continue It was further decided that Com- refl ects great credit on the R egiment. From this total,
manding Officers should be asked to encourage soldiers £4240 was paid to Count y Offices as grants to assist
abo ut to leave the Service to join a branch of one of with their Benevolent work and £1000 donated to the
the Affiliated Associations. To faci litate this, a list of Army Benevolent Central Fund on the 1st J an. 1976.

B. R. Coleman, Brigadier
Chairman

REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION GENERAL PURPOSE FUND

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
YEAR ENDING 31st DECEMBER, 1975

THE QUEEN'S REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION

1974 Expenditure 1974 Income

63 Admini strati ve costs 93.79 138 Subscriptions from M embers 169.60
29 Sale of L apel Badges ( 202 ) 60 .60
! 56 Excess of Income over Expenditure 191.3 6 50 Building Society Interest 54.4 5
2 Don ation
50
2 19 285 .15 219
285 .15
= =

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st DECEMBER, 1975

ACCUMULATED FUND LOAN

As at 31 st D ecember Secured on Freehold
Bungalow
1974 .. . .. . 1136.03 3340.57
Less Repayments 624 .00
113 6 Add Excess of Income 3341
3341 341.10
over Expenditure 191.3 6 139 99 7.79 27 16.57
943 13 38.89
13 27.39 CURRENT ASSETS
61
CURRENT LIABILITffiS 4 Cash at Bank ...

Loan from Army Bene- Building Society D eposits

volent Fund 3340 .57 Stock of Lapel Badges

Less Repayments 624 .00 Cash in H and

27 16.57
11 Sundry C reditors Audit

F ee 11.50

2728.07

£4488 £4055.46 £44 88 £4055.46

= =