April 1967

Iary of about 30 words permitted . All that r emains 49
in commctnoration is a carefully p reserved inscrip-
tion o n the chu rch WP. ll a nd a picture postcard of (Top ): Blenlte im village across the Nebei
a memoria l stone knocl{ed down some time ago. brook.
And a house by the church with a large upper
window which may well be the one from w hich (Lower ): Ramliiies--the Tomb of Ottomund.
the Cou nt of Me rode-Weste rloo leapt in his small through housing. The bend in t he Schelde where
clothes, caught at an unguarded moment. Unter- the pontoons were placed by Cadogan for hts
g la u Obe rglau , Lutzm gen, a ll are t h e re, probably advance, and that of Ran tzau's Hanoverians, pre-
littl ~ a lter ed, for this i s an ci ent farm land and its sents a very different aspect from that of 11th
f"le lds h ave b een cu ltivated for many generat ion s. July, 1708, and that ove r-worked organ - the eye
The fi elds, where the you n g Fre n c h recruit regi- of faith- cannot do very much here. A pity, for
m ents were c ut down in their Jines by the in many ways this was the most interesting battle
Imperialists, are still down to corn. One wonders of t h em a ll, t houg h a s logging match rather t han
what lies a little und e r t h e b la d es o f th e t he tactical masterpiece of Ramillies.
harvesters.
Malpl aq uet lies athwart t h e present Franco-
The place so aptly described as the g raveyard Belgian frontier . Little h as happened in t he way
of the military reputation of the old French of building but a n obliging Belgian Captain of
monarch y is appropriately quiet now. And few of Do uan iers took a keen interest in our quest for
the descenda nts of the g rave digge rs seem evrr knowledge and h elped greatly by making enquiries
to v isit tt. for us in the impossible Flemish lang uage. H e
assured us, in impeccable English, that h e had
For t hose who can not go that far but lil{e read the French translation of Churchill's
their battlefields unenriched by guides, touts, " Marlborough," a nd t h e manager of the Bureau
restaurants, souvenir shops and c inemas, (Water- de Ch a n ge a.t t h e fronti e r post-also a ch armi n g
loo boasts a ci n e m a pl easing lv named the man- delivered a short eulogy of the w riter.
"Naporama" : these eyes h ave seen it) R am illies has
much to commend it. In many ways it has much From these two gentlemen we learnt that t h e
in co:nmon with Blenh e im, fo r it, too, is a ll good wood of Tais nhhes was cut down som e time about
farm lpnd w hic h has been unde r cultivation since the middle or last century a nd r eplanted some
before the plough '\Vas inve n ted . The re is the sam e distance away. Th e old maps are t hus unreliabl e,
s lig ht ridge, this time to the Alli ed sid e, th e but apart from this the action, perhaps the
swamps of the Mehaigne a re civilise d and canal- bloodiest until Borodino, can be quite easily fol-
ised in the sam e manner as the Nebel, a nd the lowed. By t h e roadside is a monume nt e rected in
vill ages of Tavie r s , Offuz and Autre Eglise seem 1909 by patriotic Fren chmen to t h e m emory of
to have dozed peacefully for two a nd a half Villars a n d the valliant old Boufflers. Incidentally,
centuries. a photograph exists in the Imperial War Museum
of a battery of R.F.A. marching past it in the
On ce agai n one finds a greater flatn ess t h a n w ron g direction at t h e e nd of August, 1914. But
ex pected but th e four-mil e lo ng Franco-Bavarian of Marlborough, Eugime, Cadogan and the r est no
position must have been a strong as well as a monument rem ains.
colourful one. Sixty thousand men, Vill e roi 's w hi te
coats, red and blue c lad Bavarians a nd masses of The on ly artifact to sho w that British Armi e>
resple nden t cavalry, all described by the Duke
himself as "(the Fre nch Army) looking the best
he h ad ever seen ," against the May green of the
you ng co rn . Th e: line on the Ramillies plateau
was, of course, much studied by the Generals of
the day for its obvious strategic significance. The
fe int by Orkney, w ith the Eng lis h a nd Danish
foot, against Autre Eglise and Offuz, the disen-
gagem ent and t he unobserved wheel to the south
of Lumleys a nd Overkirks horse can easily be
followed .

The tom b of Ottomund stands symmetrically
loo king down on the fi e lds w h e r e the Maison du
Ro i broke, 2.s it stood long b efore history was.
A d ecr epit man engaged in obscure agricultural
activity a round its foot volunteer ed that this
hemispherical and plainly man-made hill was
indeed Ottomund's tomb. But w ho was Ottomund ?
A king, he observed, long ago. Perhaps his de-
scendants form ed the Danish a nd Dutch squad-
rons w ho swept round him pursuing Ville roi's
disordered rig h t, in the classic cavalry role, for
mile upon mile. U nfortuna t ely, the tomb is too
t hi ck ly wooded to provide the grand-stand view
that the map m ight lead one to exp ect, but it Is
easy to follow the development of the battle
pretty much undisturbe d, w ithout the necessity
uf making this fruitl ess ascent.

Oudenarde is far less rewarding, though this
is n ot to be \Vondered at. The town has grown to
one of some importance in textile m anufacture.
If one approaches from the east the road runs
along an escarpme n t ove rlooking the town and
Rive r Schelde, from which the re is a s plendid view
of the entire scene. The inevitable marshes are
long-s ince drained and the lon g left h ook of Over-
l<irl< a nd W eek can o nl y be roughl y t r aced

50

passed t his way is a handful of crosses In t he From : Lt. R. D . B . Talbot. Oast Court,
village cem etery to a numbe r of young soldiers Barh am.
of t he R oyal Warwicks and the Worcesters, killed
(p itifull y enough) on 8th November, 1918! The 22n d March, 1967.
J;'Iemis h fa rmhous e, reputed to have provided
q uarter s for t he Duke aft~ r the battle, still stands Dear Colonel Grace,
nearby and the a miable owner allowed us to Jinny and I were abs olutely thr illed with the
photograph it.
c igarette box which Lt.-Col. Knock er presented
So much for Marlborough's victories, for not to us on our return from Hong Kong. Since
eve n the keene"t could hope to find the lines of Jinny 's grandfath er was an ex-Buff we were both
t h e Geet e, or make a nything of the sieges. In delighted to see that it has the old crest on it.
addition to these the Dormoblle permitted us to
explore w it h minimal difficulty the 1870 battl e- W e were so sorry that our wedding In
field s of Spicheren, Gravelotte, Mars-la-Tour and Rhodesia could not be attended by a single mem-
St. Privat. The museum at Gravelotte repays a ber of the Regiment. Mike Butler, who was to
v is it a nd includes one corn er dedicated to the late be my best man, was the only one to attempt it.
Gener al George S. P atton, Junr., and the U.S. Unfortunately Mr. Wilson vetoed the idea for
IIIrd Army. It a lso hou ses the origin al Mitra illeuse. "political reasons"! P erhaps best men come in
From th ere by way of Verdun, the Somme (where the same category as shamrocks!
a new n1otor road is being constructed
through the middle of th e old battlefi eld), Ypres However, In spite of the "crippling sanction s,"
a nd the Salient to Waterloo . But that is we had imported French champag ne a nd s m oked
salmon. Moreover, during the honeymoon we
another story . drove over two thousand miles in a 12 m.p.g.
Studebaker! A nice K entish touch was provided
at the church by the presiding padre who h ad
been the Vicar of Womenswold before leaving

for Rhodesia. we leave for Can ada on 30th
As you know
March. I hope that a ny serving or ex-Queen's
Own Buffs, who find themselves in that part of
the world, will contact us. Our address wiJI be:
1st Bn. The Queen 's Own Rifles of Canada,
Work Point Barracks,

Victoria,
British Columbia.
Please convey our grateful thanks to all
those s ubscribers to our super wedding presen t.
Correspondence Yours sincerely,
RICHARD TALBOT .
From : Maj. R . G. Winstanl ey, Queen's Regt.
H eadquarters, The Heath,
Allied Forces Baltic Approaches, Beacon Hill,
Kolvra, D enmark. Hlndhead, Surrey.
8th March , 1967.
The Editor, 13th March, 1967.
The Editor,
Dear Sir, The Journal of The Queen's R egiment.

My wife a nd I recently had the pleasure of Dear Sir,
enjoying a splendid evening at the Annual Dinner May I, through the medium of the R egi-
a nd B a JI of the Princes Life R egiment in t h eir
Mess in Viborg in Northern Jutland. mental Journa l, thank all the Officers of The
Queen's R egim ent (Queen's Own Buffs) for the
I feel sure that m embers of the former 1st s ilver cigarette box which they have so kindly
Bn. Queen's Own Buffs (including many still g iven Caroline a nd m e as a wedding .presen t.
serving with our present 2nd Bn.), who served
w ith the battalion when it visited Denmark in W e were very sorry that more Officers from
March, 1965, w iJI be interested to learn that Col. the 2nd Bn. could not get back for the wedding,
Lyng, the R egim ental Commander, and many of but it was surprising how many did manage to
the officers from his HQ and all three battalions, turn up from Hong Kong and other parts of the
whom we m et on that occasion and who looked
after us all so well, are still soldiering on in world.
Viborg in good h ealth and form. They w er e full Th a nk you once again for what will always
of enquiries about the battalion, to whom they be a much t r easured possession.
offered their warmest greetings, and very manY Yours sincerely,
enquiries were made concerning Colonels "Bill" JIMMY REID.
a nd "Tony," to whom partic ular good wishes
were extended. Shangrl La,
Sandyhurst Lane,
Th e beautiful old s ilver jug presented to the Ashford, Kent.
P rinces Life . R egiment by our battalion during 15th March, 1967.
•ts v is it was m a place of honour in the centre of
the top table, and from remarks made It is The Editor,
evidently very greatly treasured. The Journal of The Queen's R egiment,

As a member of the battalion at the time of Through the Journal and with your kind per-
its visit and now Qu een 's Own Buffs r epresenta- mission I would like to express m y sincere t h a nks
tive in D enmark, it was very h eart-warming to to aiJ m embers of The Buffs P . and P . who have
h ear so m a ny sincere compliments paid to the sent m e their good wishes for my complete
ba ttalion . I a m s ure that both officer s a nd other recovery to health.
ranks who participated in the visit would like to
know that t hey are still fa r from forgotten in the It was a great surprise to m e to receive t he
Viborg Garrison. much autographed "Get well" card from those
members and friends present at the Brighton
Yours s incerely, Bra nch Dinner and D ance on 11th March. This
GEOFF WINSTANLEY. token of goodwill will be greatly ch erished as a n
expression of re~ard so s pontaneously given ; my
thoughts were w•th them ail that night.

My thanks also to m embers of my own
Branch (A shford) for their good wishes for-
warded through their Secretary.

HAROLD A. S. F . COLEMAN.

The Western Front-1918 51

From: Maj. G. Blaxland. Lower Heppington, The Army
Street End,
Canterbur y. Benevolent Fund
3rd April, 1967.
The following letter, dated 30th March, has
To the Editor, been received from the Secretary of the Army
The Journal of The Queen's Regiment. Benevolent Fund:-

Dear Sir, LORD KITCHENER MEMORIAL HOLIDAY
Should be very grateful if I might be allowed HOME- LOWESTOFT

space for a private plea. Dear Secreta!"y,
I am engaged in research about the fighting You may not have heard ot the Lord

on the Western Front during 1918, with special Kitchener Memorial Holiday Home or o! the
reference to the retreat by the Fifth Army and facilities it h as to offer. It was found ed in 1919
the subsequent advance by the Fourth. I am very with the object of providing a free seaside holi-
keen to obtain personal experiences from those day for ex-Servicemen in need of, and who would
who took part in these great events and should otherwise be unable to afford a holiday. Since the
be much indebted to any such person who would H ome started a free fortnight's holiday has been
care to get in touch with m e. g iven to well over 20,000 ex-Servicemen.

Yours faithfully, For some years past the Home has been
GREGORY BLAXLAND. suffering from lack of funds, and consequently
the accommodation has not been very attractive,
From: Lt. R. H . Graham. but recently the Army Benevolent Fund has given
Sub-Editor, very considerable financial aid towards the mod-
4th Battalion, ernisation of the Hom e, and it can now offer
The Queen's Regiment (Middlesex), first class holiday facilities for a free seaside
Palace Barracks, holiday for old soldiers who need one and would
Holywood, Co. Down, otherwise not be able to have it.
Northern Ireland.
16th March, 1967. The Home is open for the six summer months
from the beginning of April to the end of Septem-
The Editor, ber, a nd is In a splendid situation on the sea front
The Journal of The Queen's Regiment. at Lowestoft. It is very popular amon g its guests.
There are a lot of amusements on the front,
Dear Sir, plenty to watch and enjoy, a long ]eve! promenade
We h ave recently received a letter from Band- for exercise, and the continual interest of the
harbour and the fishing fleet. There is no doubt
master D . Carson, a former Diehard and now too that the bracing East Coast air is of great
Bandmaster of the 1st Bn. The Gloucestershire benefit to eld erly men and convalescents.
Regt. He refers me to 'Th e Black Badge,' Journal
of the Gloucestershire Regt., and in particular to All guests have to be sponsored by some
an article which deals with rugby in that Bn. organisation such as a Regimental Association ,
between 1917 and 1944. H e quotes the following the Old Contemptibles or similar societies. The
paragraph:- only conditions are that application can only be
m ade for bona-fide ex-Servicemen who must be
"One of our chief rivals at Aldershot was reasonably fit and capable of fending for them-
the Middlesex Regt. Some members of their selves. Disabled men are certainly not debarred
team were J. R. Worton, who played scrum- providing th ey can manage for themselves and
half for England, Jamey Clin ch , the Irish for- need no nursing. therapy, or regular medical
ward, and Capt. (now Lt.-Gen.) Sir Brian attention as the Home cannot provide any of
Horrock s. They were n ever good enough to these facilities. The Home is for men only, and
beat us, however, although I remember it was no wives or female relatives can be accepted.
a very near thing on one occasion. The match
was being played on the Command Central The sponsoring organisation is required to
Ground In the fourth round of the Army Cup, pay a subscription of £7/ 10/ - for each fortnightly
and a very strong wind was blowing. Capt. holiday. The actu a l cost to t h e Home is con-
C. W. Hayden, of the "Middles," got the ball siderably more than this and the balance is found
in his own 25 and took a drop at goal. Th e from the Home's own charitable funds.
referee had to ask Ginger Crocombe, our full-
back, it the ball had gone over the crossbar. I do hope that if you have any members of
Ginger had to tell him he was too far up your Association who need a holiday and would
field to be able to decide! What a kick to otherwise not get one, you would sponsor them for
remember!" a fortnight at the Home. The more guests the
I wonder if this might c laim som e space in Home takes in the wider is the spread of the
your columns, especially since the present-day overhead expenses and consequently the better
Diehards, with no internationals in the side, seem the facilities the Home can offer.
to have improved on the p erformance of their
predecessors, by beating The Gloucesters in the Applications should be made to the Secretary
quarter-final of this year's Army Cup! of your R eg imental Association at the County
Office concerned. -Ed .
Yours sincerely,
RICHARD H. GRAHAM. Yours sincerely,
T . ARDEN-CLOSE.

52

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

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THE JOURNAL OF THE QUEEN~s REGIMENT

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Editor : R .H .Q.. The Queen's R egiment. Howe Barracks . Canterbury , K ent.

Forecast of Events -1967

M6ayQu ee n' s Surreys W arra nt Officers' a nd Ser- August
geants' R egim e ntal A ssoc iatio n Din n c r-
Kingston. 1 QUEEN S- Return from B.A.O.R. to Hobbs

7 R. Sussex Aub e rs Ridge / Dunkirk Parade- Barracks, Lingficld.
Lew es. Can terbury Cricket W eek

10/ 12 Canterbmy Cricl<et T e nt Club- K e nt v. 517 K ent v. L e icester shire.
In dia. 9/ 11 Kent v. York s hire .
13 Qu een's Own Buffs Ca nt e rbury R e m e mbran ce
11 Qu een 's Surreys V eteran s' Comp a ny Supp er
- Kingston. Service a nd R eunion. ·
16 Regimental Cricke t Mat c h v. Ba Bes at th e
14 Albuh e r a S e r vice of Rem embran ce at Middle-
sex R eg i_m e n~al War Memoria l, In g li s Bar- Depot.
r acl<s, Mill H1 1l , N.W.7. R . Sussex- Goodwood Races- R. Sussex

16 ~E~'l ~~~-EENS-Regimental Day-ALBU- Stakes.
25 26 R. Sussex-Goodwood Rac es.
17 Quee n 's Own Buffs Go lf Ma tc h v. K ent Police
- Littlestone G.C. Septemb e r

20 5 QUEENS- Annua-l Ca mp starts - Senn y- 7 2 QUEEN S -Regimenta l Day- SEVASTOPOL
bridge. DAl'.

21 R. Sussex C ricket Matc h v. Duke of Norfolk's 9 R. Sussex C ric k et Match v. The Sussex Mart-
XI- Arund e l. lets-C hi c h es t e r

22 /2Lrut~':;fct . Go lfin g Society Spring M eetin g- 13 3 QlJEEN S - R egim e ntal Day - Q UE BEC
DAY.
27 6 QUEENS A nnu a l Camp ~tarts-St. Martin's
P!a.in . October

31 Queen 's R eg ime nt Annual Golf l\1eeting- Ca n- 2 QUEENS-Return from Hong Kong to
te rbury G.C. Gordo n Barrach:s, Chatha_m.
5 Queen 's Own Buffs Golf Match v. K ent Police
June - L eed s Cas tl e.
6 217 Middles ex (1939/ 45)-Dinn e r - E x -Se r v ice
1 1 QUEENS- Regime nta l Day- GLORIOUS
Club.
F IRST OF JUNE. 7 Middlesex R egimental Association's Annual
3 5 QUEENS-Annual Camp ends.
10 The Otlicial Birthday of H .l\'1. The Quee n . R e union at T .A . Centre . Edgware, Midd lesex.
Qu een 's Own Buffs Golf Match v . Household 7/ 8 Queen 's Own Buffs Golfing Society Autumn

Brigad e-New Z ealand G .C. Meeting- Littleston e G .C.
11 Qu een's Surreys R egim e ntal S e r vice-Gui ld- 14 11th Bn. Queen 's Own ("Corfe's I rregula r s")

ford . Annual Dinner - The Victoria, Buckingham
23 R . Sussex R egimental D inn er/ Buffe t Lun ch-
Palace Road , London , S .W .
London. 6th (S) Bn. The Buffs. Annua l Dinner at
24 :otegimen tal Cricket Match v. J{e nt Police at Tower of London R estaurant.
th e D epot, and Annual D e pot Cockta il Partv. 28 1 / 4th Buffs Reunion Dinne r.
25 R eg imenta l Cric l<et Match v. D epot, Roval

1\'Iarines, at the D e pot. ·
30 Quee n's Own Buffs Golf Match v . North

H a nts. Go lf Club .

July Novembe r
1 R e gimental C ric l<et Match v. Free Foreste r s
9 7 Middlesex-Offic e r s' Dinner- United S e r vices
a.t the D e pot. 11 Mx. Cer emony at Fi eld of R e m embran ce-
2 R egimenta l Cric k et Matc h v . Band of Broth ers
Hil l Hi ll.
at the D e pot. 12 Mx. R e membra n ce Day S ervice, W estmi n s ter
1/ 4 Cante rbury Cric k et Tent Club - K e nt v.
Ahhey.
Pakistan. 17 Otlice rs ' Club Cocl<ta il Party, Un ited Services
9 DEPOT AT HOME.
16 Qu een 's Own Buffs Go lf Match v Liphook Club, Pall .l\lall, Lon<lon, S.W.l.
18 Queen 's 0'\vn Buffs R egimental Association
Golf Club- Liphook. ·
21 Middl esex Regiment Officer s' Club Dinn er - Ramsgate Branch Annual Dinner.
29 Qu ee n 's Ow n Buffs R eg imental Luncheon at
¥ .W .'id S e r vices c lub, Pall Mall. London,
Co nn aught R oo m s.

23 Queen 's Own Buffs Maidstone Reunion and D ecember

S erv ice of R e m e m brancc. 13 Birthday of H .R .H . Princess i\larina, Duchess
London (Buffs ) Branc h Quee n 's Own Buffs of K e nt, C.I ., G.C.V.O., G.B.E., Colo n e l-in-
R eg im e ntal Association S e r v ice of R e m em- C hief.
brance at The Chapel Royal, H .M. T ower of
Londo!l , at 10.30 a.m .

25/ 28 R. Sussex- Goodwood Ra ces.

,