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Corps Notices
Scribe: Daughter Lyn Francis
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It is with regret that we inform the Corps of the death of our dad, Basil Ainsworth, who died suddenly following a short illness on 13 January 2022 aged 89.
Born in Leek, Staffordshire, Basil enlisted as a Craftsman in the REME in February 1950 and undertook basic training at Blandford. A posting to Berlin as part of BAOR took place in 1951 and it was whilst in Berlin that Basil received a penfriend letter from the daughter of a family friend. On returning home to the UK, Basil met his penfriend who became our mum, Shirley Ainsworth, with the couple marrying in July of 1954. Basil left the service for several months in February of 1955 but re-enlisted in July 1955 with uninterrupted service. This was followed by a tour to Cyprus from June 1958 to February 1959 and a return to the UK. Basil completed a further tour for BAOR from 1962 to 1965 and was based in Paderborn and Detmold before returning to the UK. In 1969 Basil was posted to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates for a year-long tour and the photo of him riding a camel is still a family favourite. Basil went on to complete further tours in Cyprus (1971), Northern Ireland (1971-1972) and completed his 23 years’ service in September 1972. As part of his service Basil completed his Vehicle Mechanic (A) in March 1952 and went on to complete his Artificer Vehicle course in 1962 at Bordon and subsequent promotion to Staff Sergeant. Basil enjoyed a number of hobbies including fishing – his favourite spot was Chesil Beach in Dorset. An avid music lover Basil joined the Abertillery Orpheus Male Voice Choir when he moved to Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, and went on to sing for the Pope in 1982. Basil was a top tenor, music master and publicist during his 32 years in the choir. Choir practice was often followed by a pint in the pub and a singsong. Basil also enjoyed painting and drawing landscapes and always signed his pictures B Ainsworth. It was a family joke that we all had a Bainsworth on the wall. Basil also enjoyed his German classes to improve his fluency and the social aspect of the weekly get together.
Post Army life Basil worked as a supervisor at Michelin in Newcastle-under-Lyme and a Plant Manager at Seddon Plant Hire, Stoke-on-Trent, before deciding to buy a shop in the South Wales Valleys. The latter part of his working life was spent as an instructor at a local skills centre in Blaenau Gwent where he passed on his knowledge regarding bricklaying, motor mechanics and literacy/numeracy skills.
Basil was extremely proud of his REME service and enjoyed talking to people about his time in the military and the places he had served. Basil was a hardworking, loyal, dedicated soldier and strived to be the best at everything he undertook. As well as being a soldier, Basil was a husband, dad, Son, Brother, Grandad and great Grandad extraordinaire whose values of honesty, reliability, respect and commitment have been passed down through the family and will continue to do so. Basil also had a great sense of humour and loved a family party or get together. You were always greeted with a twinkle in his eye and a broad smile often accompanied by the words What do you know?
Basil is survived by his Wife, Shirley, and Daughters, Lyn, Julie, Helen, nine grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren and will be very much missed by all of us.
The funeral was held at The Heart of England Crematorium followed by a wake at Weston Hall. As a veteran, funeral rites were provided by Richard Marsh, Corps of REME, Standard Bearer; L.Cpl. Brendan O’Neill, RE 66Wks, GP RE Bugler and Warrant Officer Class 2 Kelvin Redshaw, Corps Welfare Warrant Officer, RHQ REME. Basil’s ashes will be dispersed at his favourite fishing spot on Chesil Beach on what would have been his 90th birthday with the family present. Donations in lieu of flowers will be sent to the REME Charity.
Scribe: SSgt Steven Phillips
Sadly, my Father passed away at the age of 76 on the 6th December 2021. 23847768 WO1 (ASM) Jeff Phillips joined the REME in 1960 as an Apprentice at the age of 15. A 3-year apprenticeship as a Vehicle Mechanic, then specializing in A Vehicles (Track) at Bordon. He married my mum; April in 1966 who followed him throughout his 22-year career in the Army. Most of his career was spent in Germany with his last few years in Hong Kong opening up a new workshop in Kowloon Tong (Osborne Barracks). He retired at 40 as an ASM which he had been for over 6 years. He then joined the Civil Service at Andover working his next 20 years supporting REME. Finally retiring as an SPTO in EME 11b (Tools and Test Equipment Manager) in 2005.
Former SSgt David Charles Giles BEM
Scribes: Col (Retd) Mike Crabbe and Maj (Retd) John Plumb
We both served with David at different times, came together as members of Art Avionics 17 and kept in touch with David and Sylvia up to his untimely passing near his home in France in November last year.
David joined the Army Apprentices School in January 1964 and was allocated to ’B’ squad for training in the aircraft trade. This was the second intake of Apprentices to have the Aviation trades as an option. At this early time in training for Aviation, Apprentices were not assigned to Aircraft or Electrics, Instruments and Radio (E, I & R) until they reached the third term and had been assessed for their suitability for a particular trade. David was selected for E, I & R. We were never sure if it was the training or David’s innovative nature that led to the David Giles Mouse Trap – an upside-down cardboard box with an access hole, either side of which was connected to the mains! – sadly no mice were caught.
As a talented runner, David competed in Cross Country and in 1965, whilst attending military training in Brecon, he completed the retrieval of the safety flag from the top of the mountain on the Cym Gwdi ranges in record time – a record that stood for some time. On passing out from the then renamed Army Apprentices College in December 1966 he moved to Aircraft Engineering Training Wing at Middle Wallop to complete his training before
his initial posting to 70 Aircraft Workshop for continuation training in April 1967.
After his continuation training David was posted to Development and Trials Sqn AAC which was in many respects “a match made in heaven” as it required the installation for trials purposes of equipment new to the Army Aircraft in existing helicopters. Proof of David’s problem-solving ability and acceptance of new ideas resulted in the award of the BEM in the 1969 Queens New Year’s Honours List.
David was selected for Artificer training and attended Artificer Aircraft (EI&R) 17 from November 1971 to July 1973. This course was renamed to Artificer Avionics in January 1972. When we returned to SEE for a period of revision for the HNC examinations in 1973, it coincided with the national power strikes called “the winter of discontent”. Fortunately, to beat the power cuts, we discovered that the “Old Leathern Bottle” on the Wokingham road was on the hospital circuit and thus immune from outages – a great place to revise!
On completion of his Artificer course David was posted to 652 Sqn AAC in Bunde, Germany where he served from 1973 -75 and managed to include a tour in Northern Ireland. On his return to the UK, he joined the UK Standards Team based at Middle Wallop, which took him to all the UK based AAC units as well as Jamaica and Belize.
After 13 years of Army life, David decided to try life in Civvy Street. By this time, he had married Sylvia, and they were bringing up their 4 children. He acknowledged that his Army career had given him a great deal, but it was time to move on.
Computing was just coming to the forefront, so, with his electronics background, he chose to work in a fledgling American computer company, which took the family to Dublin, and he was soon promoted to Operations Director. The family became somewhat travellers, moving house on average every 3 years because David was frequently offered lucrative and interesting job offers. From Ireland, David worked for Mitel Telecom in South Wales, then for an American company making blood analysers, based in Luton. As time went on and the children were reasonably settled in careers or University, David was head-hunted by a major international company based in Singapore. This opened up a whole new era for him. He and Sylvia became world travellers in their 40s, visiting Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Africa and the USA, wherever David’s work took him. David progressed to high management, and eventually ran his own company.
In the late 90s he fulfilled a dream and bought a second home in SW France intending it just for holidays, where the expanding family could gather in the sunshine. However, he found that he enjoyed life so much in France, that he made the decision to retire early and move there permanently. As the family grew to include 10 grandchildren, he adored them all. He would organise treasure hunts for them, spoiling them and treating them, and generally being the ideal Grandfather.
He was well known for his love of renovating houses and could often be seen outside the local ‘Brico’ in shorts and sandals or wellies all year round. He was a very generous, fun-loving man, always whistling and optimistic. The morning he died, he left the house after bringing Sylvia a cup of tea in bed, went off to meet a man about a digger, had a heart attack in his parked car, and died instantly.
David was an extraordinary man and will be missed by his Wife, Sylvia, children, Andrew, Sarah, Louise and Claire and all his family and many friends.
AINSWORTH – Former WO1 Basil Ainsworth passed away 13 January 2022 aged 89. Dates of service 1950-1972.
Death Notices
Death Notice Requirements
In order to publish a death notice we require the following information: Surname, first name, rank, full date of death, ages and dates of service. An obituary with additional career and life information is welcome. To inform us of the death, please contact Ms Bev Bate, Corps Welfare Manager on ( 01249 894523 or benevolence@reme-rhq.org.uk NAME ASSIGNED TO DATE
Lieutenant Colonel BURDEN WDH OP HALLEX – HALLEXPAK001 Hd Pakistan Conflict Sec and Stabil Fund 04 Apr 22 EDWARDS MJ BDS US – ASST UK STRATCOM ATTACHE BDS (US) 01 Apr 22 GRAINGER AR PJHQ (UK) – SO1 J4 ESS Project Officer 01 Apr 22 SEKHON TS DIRECTOR CAPABILITY – SO1 Log & Eqpt 01 Apr 22 SOANE GS HQ 102 LOG BDE – SO1 ES 01 Apr 22 WATTERS EG JFD – DEFAC TECH SCHOOL – SO1 LETHALITY 18 Apr 22 Major BURCHELL DS ISS DEVELOP LOG ABW – BATCIS ENGINEERING ASSURANCE SO2 13 Apr 22 McNAMEE OP JOINT ENGINEERING SQUADRON – OC 19 Apr 22 Captain BARRACLOUGH WJ 1 RHA WKSP REME – OC 11 Apr 22 BROWNLIE AS 6 ARMD CS BN REME – OPS OFFR 25 Apr 22 BURDON G 7 AVN SP BN REME – UWO 04 Apr 22 BURKE K 2 CS BN REME – RCMO 18 Apr 22 DALEY J 6 ARMD CS BN REME QM DEPT – QUARTERMASTER 04 Apr 22 HARDMAN AK 4 ARMD CS BN REME – ADJT 25 Apr 22 MARENGO J 103 BN REME 118 COY – COY COMD 25 Apr 22 MURPHY RB D CAP HOC AM DELIVERY – SO3 MATCHA TT Avn ES 01 Apr 22 SHAW W LEAT CHILWELL – SO3 LEA 18 Apr 22 SIMPSON PG 16 REGT RA WKSP REME – 2IC 11 Apr 22 WEBBER CS 101 BN REME – ADJT 25 Apr 22 WHITTAKER G 1 CS BN REME – ADJT 25 Apr 22 Second Lieutenant DEOSO K DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL - REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 HARRIS T DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 HILL J DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 HIRST C DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 HUTCHINSON J DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 McMILLAN H DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 THETFORD J DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 TYRIE S DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 WESTON PA DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22 WOODYEAR A DSEME REME ARMS SCHOOL – REME YO Course 26 Apr 22
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15 February 2022
The following have been awarded the 1st Clasp to the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Military) WO1, D. A. BENTON, REME, 25056799 WO1, B. D. HOUGHTON, REME, 25057833 WO2, N. R. HULME, REME, 25044839 CAPT, S. C. HUNT, REME, 25056810 CAPT, D. O’BRIEN, REME, 24957366 SGT, D. A. SMILES, REME, 24934627 The following have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Military) SSGT, M. S. BLACKMORE, REME, 25223295 CPL, J. BUDDEN, REME, 25228022 WO2, C. J. CARLIN, REME, 25179263 MAJ, C. L. COWARD, REME, W1056862 MAJ, D. DALRYMPLE, REME, 25003848 CPL, C. W. DOW, REME, 25227745 SGT, G. J. EVANS, REME, 25091254 CFN, C. A. FLUDE, REME, 25221387 SGT, S. J. MACKENZIE, REME, 25226695 CPL, A. M. MILLS, REME, 25230796 CPL, B. M. S. PATEL, REME, 25229675 SGT, C. E. R. POPPLE, REME, 25221708 SGT, C. A. B. ROBERTS, REME, W1061869 SGT, O. N. RUDKIN, REME, 25224530 SSGT, A. SKINNER, REME, 24875686 WO2, A. R. SOETENDAL, REME, 25223616 SGT, S. A. SUTHERLAND, REME, 25022810 CPL, K. A. SUTTON, REME, 25230810
22 February 2022
No Entries 01 March 2022
REGULAR ARMY Regular Commissions Lieutenant Colonel J. F. WATT 539060 retires 28 November 2021 Major J. R. LENG 562200 from Intermediate Regular Commission 4 November 2021 to be Major with seniority 31 July 2013 Regular Commissions (Late Entry) Captain S. M. S. BATTISHILL 25023558 from Intermediate Regular Commission (Late Entry) 4 November 2021 to be Captain with seniority 3 May 2016 Captain P. A. BROWN 25047128 from Intermediate Regular Commission (Late Entry) 4 November 2021 to be Captain with seniority 3 May 2016 Captain (Acting Major) L. S. CHERRINGTON 24896502 from Intermediate Regular Commission (Late Entry) 4 November 2021 to be Captain with seniority 3 May 2016 Captain J. R. DOCHERTY 25080069 from Intermediate Regular Commission (Late Entry) 4 November 2021 to be Captain with seniority 8 May 2017 Captain (Acting Major) P. K. HODGSON 25044093 from Intermediate Regular Commission (Late Entry) 4 November 2021 to be Captain with seniority 3 May 2016 Captain S. D. JACKSON 25065524 from Intermediate Regular Commission (Late Entry) 4 November 2021 to be Captain with seniority 4 September 2017 Captain (Acting Major) S. I. KITCHEN 25018060 from Intermediate Regular Commission (Late Entry) 4 November 2021 to be Captain with seniority 5 September 2016 Captain R. E. V. MATAITINI 25113841 from Intermediate Regular Commission (Late Entry) 4 November 2021 to be Captain with seniority 5 September 2016 Intermediate Regular Commissions Major P. W. WARD 25174573 retires 14 November 2021 Captain R. J. MURPHY 30187378 retires 21 November 2021 Short Service Commissions Captain S. WILKINSON 30202686 retires 21 November 2021 Captain F. T. W. JONES 30221593 retires 25 November 2021 ARMY RESERVE The following have been awarded the 2nd Clasp to the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Military) LT COL, J. P. LOCKWOOD, REME, 565053 The following have been awarded the 1st Clasp to the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Military) WO1, N. S. B. KNIGHT, REME, 25058080 The following have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Military) SSGT, C. R. I. BARON, REME, 25224090 CPL, A. S. HALLIDAY, REME, 25235020 MAJ, C. J. MAITLAND, REME, 559006 CPL, T. C. PAINE, REME, 25229608 CPL, D. G. STEGGALL, REME, 25230745 SGT, J. G. STOKES, REME, 25229762
The REME Charity
The Trustees of The REME Charity acknowledge with sincere thanks the donations received during the month of FEBRUARY 2022. They also wish to acknowledge the regular subscriptions received from the Officers and Soldiers of the Corps and retired members of the REME Institution:
Donations
Feb-22 From Amount 01/02/2022 In memory of Valentine Frank Cross . . . . . . . .£25.00 01/02/2022 In memory of Albert James Self . . . . . . . . . . . .£50.00 09/02/2022 In memory of Mrs Peggy Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00 15/02/2022 Much Loved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£228.43 23/02/2022 Thetford & District Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£100.00 23/02/2023 Keith Potter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£200.00 23/02/2022 Amazon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£659.03 25/02/2022 Liz & John Wright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£25.00 25/02/2022 Mr Nicholas Brock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00 25/02/2022 Mr Gerald Newton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£18.00 25/02/2022 Mr Alistair Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£120.00 25/02/2022 Raised by Sgt Paul Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£303.60 25/02/2022 Daniel Johnstone 32 RA LAD Craftsman Cup Minors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£19.20 Date sent to Craftsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28/02/2022 Total Donations (Feb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£1,788.26 Total £’s paid in Grants (Feb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£22,178.00 No. Grants (in Feb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Average Grant (Feb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£616.05
If you would like to see how your money is spent, we welcome one or two observers at The REME Charity meetings. The meetings are held midweek, approximately every three weeks. If you would like to observe a meeting, please contact The REME
Charity Secretary on ( Mil: 95481 4527 or Civ: 01249 894527 in the first instance.
The REME Charity is here for both veterans and serving personnel in times of hardship or need. Contact via SSAFA ( 0800 731 4880 www.ssafa.org.uk or The Royal British Legion ( 0808 802 8080 www.britishlegion.org.uk or your Unit Welfare if serving. All enquiries and information is dealt with in the strictest confidence. If you wish to discuss any benevolence need you can contact us on ( 01249 894523.
