The Acorn 1991

Foreword

BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL J W M ELLERY

In 1989 we anticipated changes in 1990, but in the event und erestim ated them by a mile. I wrote last year 'W hen yo u read the se notes we will be in Sennelager - or will we ? Will the crumb ling edifice o f Communism cause us to mov e elsewhere?" It is anyo ne's guess where we shall be in 1991or 92. Your Regiment has dem onstra ted exemplary flexibility by converti ng fro m light to heavy armo ur,exercising in Germany and Canada, preparing 2 fleets of Challenger t anks for Opera­ tion Granby, dispatching A Squadron to the Gulf and prepar­ ing The Regiment fo r a tou r should the situation there wo r­ sen. Given the uncertainti es of the next few months, I am no t th e best person to writ e about next year - how ever since Saddam Hussein is not a member o f the Association ... read on.

Befo re we left 5 Airborne Brigade and Combermere Bar­ racks, Windsor - indeed the very night before - we beat 2nd Battalion Scots Guards 6 .3 in th e finals of the London Dis­ tri ct Box ing Comp etition. It was a splendid Ho usehold Divi­ sion evening and laid firm foundations for our bo xing team which loo ks like becoming the BAORchampio ns;albeit most o f the oppos ition has taken the easy way out by de ploy ing to the Gulf! Exercise activity in 5 Brigade quite properly co nti­ nued right up to the mo ve to Sennelager and although some men were co nverted to Challenger Main Battl e Tank skills beforehand, and a large reserve of instruct ors trained, co n­ version proper was scheduled to take place in Germany Thus on arrival in Sennelager,fortuitou sly named Athl on e Barracks after ou r distinguished Colonel o f fo rmer years, we set abou t that conversion in earnest. As a regiment we co nti­ nued to welcom e conv ersio n as a challenge and our deadline was co mpJetion by Ap ril in time for low level trai ning at Sol­ tau. In the memory o f many o f ou r readers Solta u was a Training Area" - no longer . it is no w an area where training takes place alongsi de picnickers, scrambler motorcycle riders and miscel1 aneou s "greens". Woe betide anyo ne whos e tan k shou ld spill fuel- or wo rse still oil. Non etheless after a period of adjustme nt and with our tanks festoon ed abo ut with drip tra ys and oi l absorbing sand we relearned the

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lesso ns of tan k manoeu vre, camouflage and the phases of war Troop tests were co nvincingly wo n by Staff Co rpo ral Lindsay who the Training Major at t he British Arm y Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) in Canada later descri bed as quite simply the best tank com mander he had seen. Unsolicited praise but welcome non etheless.

Conversion firing foll o wed and this too was successful so that. by t he followin g tr aining period in July, we felt we had bro ken th e back o f co nversio n and co uld sta rt to enjoy a more measured pace Well, we did all get away on leave, but during August it became clear that life was to take a very dif­ ferent tu rn - and for the bett er in many ways.For th e first tim e in 45 years armour from BAORwas to be dep loyed opera tio­ nally. Initially, we hoped against hope that The Life Guards . were to be amongst the first troo ps committed; our tanks were all manned and operationa l and our perso nal skills were sharp We shall all vividly remember the telep hone call from Headquart ers 33 A rmo ured Brigade, co inciding with a visit from The Colo nel. telling us not to deploy but to hand­ ove r our tanks to 7 Armo ured Brigade. For the next t wo weeks we lived in th e Scots Drago on Guards' barracks and assisted in their prepara tio n. Sadly we ther efor e missed the opportunity to trai n wit h our Battl egrou p which includes ou r new comra des from 3rd Batta lion The Light Infantry and 127 Dragoon Field Battery, Royal Ar til1ery.

How ever, the disappointme nt was quickly shrugged off as we prepared o urselves for dep loyment to Canada. BATUS with out a doubt pro vides th e best possible training in peace­ tim e. The Life Guards Battlegro up o f a th ou sand men o f all Arm s and Services - includin g a do zen Seamen from HMS Intrepid - set abo ut taking ove r hundreds o f armoured vehicles, guns and lorri es in freezing co nditio ns to fire and manoeuvre o ver a th ou sand or so square kilo metres. We were pretty green at th e start but with the deter minat ion o f all. lea rned the lesson s th e hard way in bitterly cold condi­ tio ns and returned after a month infinitely better prepared for t he task which no w faces us.

Above all it is co mmitment and high mo rale which are our hallmarks. A full ORBAT and good facilities are luxuries we enjoyed but it is the esprit de co rps refreshed o ver genera­ tions which makes us a ready choi ce for op erations and we were pleased to be tasked to pro vide first A Squadro n and th en th e remainder for Operatio n Granby.

As I write these no tes we are t raining flat out and resus­ citating the "scrap" tanks inherit ed in exchange fo r th ose deploy ed init ially. Strange that men shou ld want t o go on operatio ns but we all (nearly all) do and we hope t o add fur­ ther hon our to ou r lon g history. Whatever changes lie ahead for The Hou sehol d Division after Operatio n Granb y, it will be our fervent wish t o continue th e unb roken tra dition o f 300 and mor e years o f service The general public sees the tradi­ tion exemplifi ed by ou r Mounted Squadron and you may read in the notes which foll ow their hard wo rk and unstintin g effort t o demon strat e excellence where medi ocrity is so o ften the expec tation of today These are the last no t es I shall write as the Commanding Officer and custodia n o f you r great Regiment I have been bowled ove r by the support I receive daily from my serving Officers, Warrant Officers, Non Comm issioned Officers - and their families - and j no w wish yo u all. serving or reti red, my tha nks for all that is past and my heart y good wishes for 1991.

And remember .

"Fo rtune Favours The Brave".

Editorial

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Jt is evident fro m th e articles in The Acorn that 1990 was an ext rao rdi­ narily busy and ambitio us year It wo uld be wro ng to let the journal go to bed without a brief update.

A Sqn. The Life Guards. dep loyed to the Gulf o n 26th Decembe r 1990.

Majo r Hewitt was spotted stret ching out on th e sands in front of the Prime Minister, John Major, just a few days later o n News At Ten I .

B and C and HQ Sqns spent a week at Sennelager Training Centre for "Battle Casualty Replaceme nt" training. This began o n the 7th January 1991. The course was invaluable. It invo lved a realistic and practical progra mme of essential survival skills; NBC, First A id, desert navigation , as well as thr eat and recognition lectures. Having heard abou t all th e enviro nmental hazards which we will face in the desert. it seemed that enemy fire would be the least of our pro blems Mo ut h-to -mo ut h resuscitatio n was drummed into every last man until it became second natur e. Apa rt from lectures o n battl e shock. there was anot her kind o f shock t o be seen from tim e to tim e on the faces of Maj Waterhouse B Sqn l.dr. and Capt Madde n. The first had arrived from a staff appointment and the second from the Mo unted Regiment at Knightsb ridge I They adapted with a hearty sense of humour.

We com pleted a hard, satisfying week at SIC, hoping (perhaps) for a long weekend before deploying to th e Gulf.

We were Warned that from mid-day Sunday 13th January, that we would be put on stand -by to be at 72 hour s noti ce to move. At 9 am o n Sunday we were notifi ed to move in 72 hours !

Having packed up all personal kit in rooms, each man had abou t 48 hour s to sort his life out. quite literally We deploy o n Wednesday 15 Ianuary, a date we may never forget.

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·A Squadron The Life Guards A s this is being writt en the Squadron is preparing to deplo y to th e Persian Gulf on Ope ratio n Granby L 5. The Squad ro n is go ing wit h th e 14/ 20th Kings Hussars and will make them up t o a four squadron Regiment with 59 Challen­ ger tanks (most ly MKIls). The 14/ 20H is the th e only Arm ou­ red Regiment in 4th Armoured Brigade The infantry batta­ lion s are; The Ro yal Scots and 3rd Batt alio n Royal Regiment o f Fusiliers, with whom we wo rked close ly dur ing Op Buxton earlier in the year.

We have increased in strengt h t o 112 officers and men.

Apart from taking on strengt h Cpl St ephenson RAMC and Cpl Farrell REME, the add it ional manpower was foun d fro m with in the Regiment. This is part icularly unique as nearly all the other regiments or batta lions and sub units who have gon e or who are going to Saudi Arabia have had th eir ranks made up to strength by taking men, platoons, troops and even companies or squadro ns from other regiment s' batta­ lion s.The Squadro n is in a marvellou s pos itio n from which to deploy for active service having had the opportunity to exer­ cise together for the past year. On this confident note let us take a look back at what the Squadron has achieved in 1990.

A s you can imagine the early part of th e year was taken up by the need to co nvert from Recce to Armo ured Soldiers.

The co urses for this training started in earnest on 19 February 1990, t he Regiment having arrived in Sennelager o n 4/ 5 February 1990. The interim period was spent sett ling in and redecorating th e barracks; which cont inued well int o the summer. Most of the Squadro n were o n the co nversio n courses which finished at the end of Marc h. Soon after,at the beginning of April , our men found their skills put into practi ce when we went Troo p Training on Soltau.

"Sorry Corporal Major, I thought you shouted 'FIRE'''.

Alth ough SCM Whatley infor med us from expe rience th at it didn't get coJd on the Luneburg training area in April, the sno w and frost arrived and stayed with us to the bitter end.

East er Leave was a most welcome break and we returned refreshed to mo ve back north again to Hohn e for recruit firing. This time th e t emperatures went compl etely the oth er way and Tank Commanders firing at 10.00 am were having to

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enter temperatures o f 29 C into th eir co mputers. Although the firing perio d was a great success much tim e was wasted due to range fires caused by the hot and dr y conditions.

The period between May and June saw th e Squadro n split and undergoing a variety of tasks which included Site Guards, Intern al Trade Cour ses and the pr eparation of th e Challenger for Regiment al Training in July. While Band C Squadrons remained in The Life Guards Battl e Group , A Squadron sup­ po rte d 3LI Battl e Group.Training advanced quickly and in no time at all the Squadro n and 3Ll were achieving good results.

Grouse Shooting A fter we return ed from Soltau at the end of July we wor­ ked flat out o n th e vehicle park to get the Challengers fixed befor e going on leave. It was important that we had th e vehicles in to p co nditi on because directly after leave rehear­ sals co mmenced for Op Buxto n. Op Buxton was a tactical demonst ratio n o f A rmo ur and Infantr y using training aids such as simulated fire (SIMFJCSl. This dem o nst ratio nwith 3rd Batt alion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was for General Snet­ kov, the Commander West ern Group Forces Germany,a very senio r Soviet Officer. This visit was descr ibed by th e Corps Comma nder as th e most important thin g happening in BAOR t his year. Little co uld we have known that th is state ­ ment wo uld pale int o insignificance when com pared with events which were t o co me about later in th e year.

During o ur time o n Sennelager Ranges rehearsing for Op Buxton we had the good fortune to be visited by the Colo nel of the Regiment who spo rtingly jumped int o t he comman­ der' s seat of a Challenger tank and destroyed an enemy tank with Simfics.On the day o fth e visit Mr Wheeler was comman­ ding o ne o f 2 Troo ps tanks and was ab le to speak to General Snetkov and int roduce his crew to the General.

This visit coin cided wit h Pre-Batus train ing, but the Squa­ dron moved up to Soltau onc e again to take part in the final phases of this exercise. At this stage much o f th e organisa­ tion for sending t roo ps to the Gulf for Op Granby 1were well underway and th e latt er half o f Octo ber saw the handov er o f our Challengers to the Royal Scots Drago on Guards. lt was an unbelievable situatio n to be in and, on ce ove r the initial shock of having to give up one's o wn tanks, the Squad­

ro n undertook the task o f preparing their vehicles for someone else to take to war with determinatio n and a pro­ fessio nal att itude.

We received early MK tanks in exchange for our good cond ition MKIlI vehicles and feverishly worked on t hem to ready t hem for the ranges in December; this was a huge task which was achieved in about one mon th .

"TANK IN ACTION" LCoh Douglas und LCpl Young on Recruit Firing

A Squadron remained behind in Germany whilst Band C Squadrons went to Canada (16 Oct-20 Nov) for Exercise Med icine Man 7. Wor k co ntinued o n th e tanks and a compre­ hensive tr aining programme was follo wed. This comprised mostly of gunnery training During thi s extraordi nary perio d in 1990 it became clear that there was a stro ng possibi lity that the Regiment may go to the Gulf as part o f a contingency plan - Op Granby 2.

This in fact did not com e to fruition but a more immediate plan invo lving 4 Armou red Brigade gained momentum . We all moved up a gear t o meet new o rders and co unte r orders and the art o f ant icipatio n was perfected in days.The reins of the Squadron were passed to the Squadro n 21C, Captai n Aste r. as Majo r Hewitt at shor t not ice new out to Canada to tain and we were ordered to hand over our Challengers again - this time to the 14/20 H. This was a real blow t o mo rale.

We heard on 27 No vember 1990 that the Squadron had been elected to accompany the 14/20 H o n Op Granby 1.5 and from th ere on in it was all go once again.Ou r t anks had at thi s stage been handed over, so for th e th ird time in th e year we had t o take ove r othertanks to comp lete a mos t useful fir­ ing package at Hohne. From 10-14 December the squadron fired on the ranges both night and day and came away having achieved excellent results and valuable training.The gunnery staff at Hohn e ran the ranges in an excellent way which meant that progressivea nd realistic training wasachieved.Everyon e thor ou ghly enjoyed it.

On the sporting side, the Squadron has been equally suc­ cessful; our first and majo r achievement was on the 26 June when we conv incingly won the Int er Squad ron At hlet ics Competition by o ver one hundred point s. It was a very hot summer's day and Brigadier Browne, our Brigade Comman­ der presente d th e prizes. SCpl Pickard came sto rming hom e t o victory in the lOOm hurdles and celebrated with a cigarette.

LCo H Lo we prod uced a fine cricket team and led it to triumph at t he end of July when we met HO Squadro n in the finals. LCoH Wells and LSgt Chapman took mos t of the wickets.

A lthoug h we didn't win the Boxing, LCoH Godson coa­ ched th e team and pro duced some fine box ers.TprCrouc her and Tpr Davies wo n th eir bouts and Tpr Crouch er was pre­ sented wit h a meda l forthe best boxer LCpl Clubley was dec­ lared the best loser Again, in the cross-country competition A Squadro n held mos t of t he first 21 places wit h CoH Robe rts taking lst place but we didn't manage t o secure the ove rall prize. A similar fate befell us in the Tug-o -War when the heavy weight team wo n all their pulls but the light weight o nly succeeded in one .

The inte r-squad ron rugby competition was our mos t pri­ zed victory and SCpl Gratton, who t oo k over fro m SCpl Ormiston as SOMC, coache d a veteran side and wo n an overwhelming victory by beating firstly B Squadron th en HO Squadr on wit hout either of the teams scorin g against us.

Unfortunately SCpl Gratto n aggravated an old injury which turned out t o be a chippe d bone in his foot Alth ough most of the Squadro n remains unchanged there has been some movement of men to other Squadrons and for ERE. We are sad to see Captai n Astor step off to take co mmand o f B Squadron pending th e arrival of their new Squadron Leader. He has given ste rling service, friendship and gunnery adv ice and we wish him luck. W02 Whatley, who has been with the Squadron for the past two years and has helped with the move from Windsor t o Germany in such a marvellous manner and remained wit h the Squadr o n right up until th e completion of our preparatio ns to go to war, has sadly mov ed on to beco me the next ROMC.

The triumphant Athletics Team A t a Squadro n Part y o n 12 December W02 Whatley was presented wit h a brandy decanter and glasses o n a tray and a print from the Squad ron . SCpl Pickard handed over his Troop to Mr Lo ndo n who came to us from the Troop Leaders Co urse having excelled himself by winning the coveted A rmourers and Braziers prize. SCpl Pickard was att ached t o the 14/ 20H at the end of November as LO and will no doubt be seeing much of us in the Gulf Capt Tarling return ed in November from t he RGOs Course where he t oo excelled himself by achieving a grade "A"; the first since 1975 in t he whole ofth e Ho usehol d Cavalry and RAC.The Commanding Officer achieved this accolade in 1975.

We welcome Captain Mackenzie-Hill from th e Pathfin der Platoon who co mes wit h us t o th e Mid dle East as Battl e Cap­ tain, Mr Masterto n from the Recce Tro op who comes as an LO as does Mr Miller RHG/ D.

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B Squadron The Life Guards 1990 has witnessed reassuring repetiti ons o f 1989 : joint first Sab re Squadro n in th e regimental spo rt s co mpetiton, winners o f Crew and 'Troo p Tests (bo th by SCpl Lindsay and 2 Troo p) - in fact we had thr ee tr oops in th e first five, and were the o nly squadro n to attempt batt le runs at Hohne ranges in May during co nversio n firing It has been parti cularly satis­ fying to have achieved all this no w that we have the same equipment as A and C Squadro ns. Above all, my ambit io n as state d in December 1988, to go to BATUS at the end o f 1990 has been fullfilled. Witho ut being melo dramatic we are now ready for war l

clear th at the autumn was going to be good flexibilit y training.

BAru S pro ved that the famou s B Squadro n spirit is indomi­ tab le. Cold climate and ol d kit pr esented problems that were ov erco me, and capturing a crucial bridge in fact o n the last morn ing meant we end ed o ur tr aining o n a real "high".Special tribute must be paid to our LAD Sectio n. Several likely mem­ bers o f theirteam had already been taken to the Gulf,yet the y pro vided a fantastic service durin g what was a tough start for o ur new "Tiffy". SSgt Ho pkins SCM Holbrook has calculated th at B Squadron manp o­ wer has changed 75% in 2 years. How ever th e B Squadro n "Buzz" still seems to motivate the te am. The SCM has again admirably met the unrelentin g manpo wer demands impo­ sed o n us in barracks and by courses durin g th e seco nd co n­ versio n year. For exampl e SCpl Lindsay and Co H Dangerfield made a new team, and went o n to win both crew and tr oop tests. Our new bo ys Bo wen, Cannell, Fo rsdick. Latham , Osb o urne and Zoilin o more than prov ed a match for th e trai­ ning at BATUS, and CoH KeJland has return ed from Cadet 'Training Team with a new wife to take o ver 2 Troop.

Hail and farewell are not certain at t he tim e o f writing because o f ou r pending rol e as Battl e Casualty Replace­ ments. The Squadron Leader's new job at the Arm y Presen­ tation Team may be postp on ed if ho stilities o ccur It has been a pleasure having Co H Dangerfield back in B Squadron this year The last time B Squadron went to BATUS in 1983 he co mmanded the B tank in the Squadro n Leader's Troo p In 1990 he tre ated us to another exemplary perform ance, and his irrepressible sense o f humour is always stim ulating. In the Wives Club, Mrs Dangerfield has typifi ed the lo yal and selfless support that we have co ntinued to enjoy despit e an inten ­ sive training year and most recentl y "Saddaml" CoH Bellrin­ ger, spo rtsman par exellence be it drill and weapons, moun­ ted dut y, gunnery,cricket or soccer, has been selected for th e Sandhurst Cadre. He is ideally suited for this as his Troop Leader, Mr "Champagne Charlie" Meynell will testify "Chuck" leaves us for the Guards Depo t initially, then he will mo ve o n to be Adjutant at Eton. So he will still be in his CoHs beaten zone. M r Goodchild hand ed o ver 3 'Troo p t o Mr Graves in o rder to become ADC to the Major General in the sum mer.

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Troo pers Rogers imd Patemotte with the Corps Com mander eeggg, 1990 has not been with out its frustration s, especially since 2 Augu st when Iraq invaded Kuwait, and obvio usly Saddam Hussein's subsequent intransigence has meant that we are co ntributing very significantl y to Op Granby. Having handed o ver our CVR to A Squadron, The Blues and Ro yals, and taken ov er their B Squadro n's Chal­ lengers, we embarked in mid-Februar y o n a training pr o­ gramme that was both demanding, and ultim ately rewardin g in that our aim was to gain a place o n th e BATUS orbat. The Regimental calender bor e all the hallmarks o f a con venti onal year back in Germany : individual, crew, and troop trainin g included regular visits to Soltau, firing at Hohne ranges, the Rhine A rmy Summer show, a sit e guard, adventure tr aining, and all th e tr aditi o nal athletic and drill co mm itme nts asso­ ciat ed with being Life Guards.

One particular not eworth y benefit o f serving abroa d is that the o peratio nal co mm itmen ts we underto ok at Wind­ so r, such as th e Heathr ow and Gatwick airpo rt guard for ce,o f which the former was kept o n sho rt noti ce to move , have ob viously disapp eared. Co mbine this with th e end, albeit probably temp or arily, o f Operation al Readiness Tests, and the fact that the Regiment was com plete wit h no Squadro ns o r Troops deployed elsewhere, guard dutie s were co nside­ rably reduced. This was a real bo nus.

It has been demorali sing t o take and hand over two Chal­ lenger fleets in Germany, and a Chieftain fleet at BATUS When in early September we were redirected to Fallingb ostel en route to Soltau for Pre-BATUS Battlegroup Training, and t old to give our tanks to The Desert Rats, it became quite

"VERBA NON FACTA"

1990 has also featured o ur "Duty Dink". LCoH Shatliff and his German wife jo ined us in February. His signalling and tank skills have proved invaluable to Mr Hanson, while his sport ­ ing talents have help ed many Squadro n teams. Our Joss will definitely be The Blues and Ro yals gain,and we wish him best luck with 'P Comp any" and CVR! A newly prom o ted LCoH Gray goes up to wn for th e first time leaving a memory of a wicked grin, fun in 3 Troop, and so me o utstandingly "gutsy" performances most recently as heavyweight in the int er­ squadro n boxing. He took on a farrier, who was a junio r Welsh Champio n He will be joine d in Lon do n by LCpls Butler and "Dot" Stephens, who are return ing to ceremo nial, and last but never least the uniq ue "Sir James 'Iumbull Bart" Just down t he road at Headqu arters Hou sehold Cavalry Tpr Hurst has mo ved in to demonstrate his clerical prowess, which has kept the Squadron so well served. His successor, Tpr Nixon , has an act to foll ow, but "so far, so good".

SCpf Linds II!. wil 'it'r oi troop lests

Finally 4 Troop 105 Mr Hanson to Recce Troo p literally ov er­ night at S:\ TU giving 1r Rhodes-Starnpa a baptism of fire.

CoH Hunter swaps armour fo r ho rseflesh after 13 years in the same 4 Troop. He will be pursued by CoH Lanahan, who almost miraculou lv gained his armoured and "mech" tr ades in reco rd time and now returns to Lo ndon o n pro motion.

Many would do veil to fo llo w his examp le o f "gett ing stuck into ' a I ew Challenger with inspirational relish.

SCpf Lindsay, winner of troop tests

The last tw o years have proved that reassuringly B Squad ro n remains cheerfu l, dete rmine d, and tough. The results say it all "Facta non verba" - "Deeds not wo rds"speak for th emselves. Any potential enemy beware I

The Squadron at BATU S

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C Squadron The Life Guards 1990 has been an ext rao rd inary year for C Squadr on as it has, ind eed, for th e who le o f th e Regim ent. The year began with the mo ve t o Germany and the takeover of our Challen­ ger tanks. Durin g the first few months we ran co nversio n courses which ensure d tha t everyo ne had at least one Chal­ lenger trad e. In April we ventured up to So ltau for Tro op 'Iraming. Everyon e enjoy ed this shor t exercise which culmi­ nated in Crew Tests which gave us a go o d basis of knowledge on w hich t o progress.

General Wa/lace lGOC 3 Armd Div) with LCoH Richards at Soltau In early M ay we went to Hohne to carry out conversio n firing. The week was dema nd ing but great fun, giving us a good o pport unity to see th e impressive power o f a 120 mm gun. The clim ax fo r the Squad ro n was a Bundeswehr sho ot in which the crews reacted to snap targets down the range.

LCo H Squ ires and his crew sco red 100% and were du ly re­ warde d with a Mars Bar by Co mmander A rmoured , Brigadi er lenkins .

Following a sho rt bre ak at Easter the Squadron dep lo yed to Hemer Menden for a site guard It was not a task th at we were looking for ward to but it pr o ved to be both inter esti ng and rewardin g. On o ur return fro m th e site guard we carri ed out mo re inte rnal training.

SSgt Paul in BATUS advertising Colgate

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In July, we carried o ut Regime nta l Training and Troop Tests at Solta u, that marv ellous tra ining area whic h seems t o get smaller every time we visit I All tr o ops did well in the te sts, particularly l Troop who were run ners up During the seco nd week o f th e exercise The Life Guards Battlegroup starte d to co me togeth er and o ur tr ainin g moved up a gear. We spent a very useful weekend o n t he Hohne impact area with C Com­ pany, 3rd Battalion The Light infantry, practising th e mech an­ ics ofthe Squadro n Compa ny Group A tt ack. Mem bers of the Squadro n had th e o ppo rtunity to rid e in th e back o f an APC and disco vered quickly that it was an unp leasant experience !

LCpl Crawley got his fingers caught in a mortar hatch I Follo w­ ing a short battlegro up exercise o ur training perio d ended and we retu rne d t o Sennelager to service o ur vehicles before departing for summer leave.

Fro m the mom ent th at our leave ended and we returned to Sennelager, the character of the whole year changed. No longer was t he For ecast of Events a reliab le planning guide to what might happ en next. Saddam Hussein had changed all tha t by invading Kuwait in early A ugust. Speculati on gre w as to whether military units would be sent from Germany. The decision to send 7th Armoured Brigade was taken du ring early September and so me o f us were naturally disappo inted that we were not go ing also We did , ho wever, have an impor­ ta nt ro le t o play by handing ove r o ur Mark 3 tanks to th e Scots Drago on Guard s.This was a difficult task under the cir­ cumstances but o ne which all mem bers o f th e Squad ro n car­ ried ou t efficiently. We also said go o dbye to Captain Smyt h­ Osbo urne. LSgt HaUe, LCpl Cleland and LCp l Taylor wh o were all de tached to the Sco ts Dragoon Guard s.

For a while it lo oked as if o ur Pre-BATUS train ing would go ahead , aJbeit wit h unservicab le t anks. Sadly, it was alm ost comp lete ly cancelled altho ugh we did spend a rather frus­ trating day buzzing aro und in armoured perso nnel carri ers.

Fo rtunat ely, and by a very narrow margin , th e highlight o f o ur tr aining year was no t affect ed. We began o ur deployment to Canada in early Oc tober and most of us were away fo r at least a month. The exercise was excellent in every way

although op erating on Chieftain did have it's frustratio ns I Both the crews and the LAD wo rked tirelessly to keep the old wagons o n he road. Neverthelesss, we did have a few days when our combat po wer was very lo w I The weather, despite the many warnings that we received was no t too bad alt hough o n at least ne night the temp eratur e did drop to - 25 degrees Some peo ple were frighte ned to get into th eir sleeping bags. le t th y didn't wake up! Nonetheless, we all survived and learnt much from the exercise.The hectic life of German. hit us immediat ely o n our arrival hom e. Sho rtly after 0 r return 2 Troo p. under 2 Lt Earl, was detached to the I,. 20 th Hussars en ro ut e to the Gulf. A few days later it was deci ed that A Squadro n would also go and they were joi ned

by Tpr Bro v n 144 fro m I Troop. Alm ost all o f o ur LAD were po sted to vario us unit s off to the Gulf before Christmas. The remainder o f our vehicles, both A and B were slo wly being handed o ver to unit s bound forthe Gulf.Atthetime of writi ng it loo ks as if th e remainder of the Regiment will go sometime in the New Year. We live in excitin g but uncerta in time s!

In concl usion, it has been an extrao rdinary year in which the Squadro n has achieved much and wo rked hard, pro­ babl y harder than we were expecting . In the past ten months we have fully converted to our new rol e and co mplet ed a BATUS exercise and who knows where we may be in a few

SCpf Gratton and LCpl Barratt on Hohne Ranges

mon t hs time ? And , of co urse,while all thi s has been goi ng on the who le reason for our presence in Germany has disinte­ grated. Do wn came the Berlin Wall in No vember 1989, then the who le bo rder.This was foll o wed by econ om ic unio n and, finally, co mplet e unification o f Germany. Our first year h re has seen some exciting changes and 1991 looks as if it co uld be every bit as exciting I

Headquarters Squadron The Life Guards In all respects 1990 has been a year o f great change;pol iti­ cally in Germany and in the Middl e East, and for The Life Guards with the mo ve to BAOR. This compl icated situat ion has given HQ Sqn a great challenge but o ne which has been met with enthusiasm and flexi bility

Major Griffin Cl nd W02 Evans pick up some poin ters on the Corpo­ rals' Coursefrom the Gold Stick

Squadr o n Leaders have come and gone. At the end o f 1989 we bade farewell to Major Hew itt who now co mmands A Squadr on and welcomed Majo r Clark.Yetby Octo ber 1990 after a very full year, he had been mo ved on t o the Oman as the OC Schoo l o f Armour and Major Griffin has replaced him.

Some thi ngs ho wever never change and W0 2 (SCM) Ste­ phenso n retains his firm grip o n the Squad ro n mo ving into 1991.

January 1990 brought us the great hando ver/takeo ver with The Blues and Royals The magnitude of th e admin ist ra­ ti ve task should not be unde restimated and it is a credit to all depar tm ents t hat the Regiment was able to depl o y co mp let e with Challengers to Soltau for training in early Ap ril.

This first depl o yment pro ved to all t hat th e administra­ tio n of a Battlegrou p in th e field is a far more com plicated and sophisticated beast than our tasking with 5 Air born e Brig­ ade Cooperatio n with squadron echelo ns and t echnical support for the MBTs b ecame more slick as th e exercise pro ­ gressed, wit h enthus iasm making up for exper ience.Lessons learnt here were co mpo unded as the Regiment mo ved to Hoh ne in April for a successful conversion firing pe riod .

The summer o f 1990 was a brilliant o ne duri ng which we were able to send peo ple adventure tr aining in the Obers­ dorfTriangle in Bavaria, compete in, organise and enjoy a larJ1

ger t han ever Rhine Army Summer Show and still have ti me to remember o ur roots with a sharp Adj utant's Dri]] Parade.

Following th e festi vities o f June we embarked on Regi­ menta l and Batt le Group t raining in July, again at Soltau. Con­ ceived with progressive training in mind, the exercise deve­ lop ed from Tro op training to Troop Tests, th rou gh Squad­ ro n/Company gro up t raining, t o a Batt le Gro up exercise.

This enabled HO Sqn to build up its support for the Batt le Group in a similar way and thro ugh demo nstrations, such as the replenishment stand run by W0 2 Collins, (MTWOl, we were able to establish all form s o f SOPs with the various Battl e Grou p co mponents. Particular praise must go to SCpl (SOMC) [ord an for his efforts with this As it turned out this was o ur last opportunity for such d rills befor e BATUS. Therefore we were able to relax on a well deserved sum­ mer leave but with an eye to unfolding events in the Midd le East. Back fro m leave in Septembe r we had to turn our hand to supp orting the departing 7 Brigade. The OM (E) Captain Kelly brilliantly handled th e diffi cult task o f handing over M BTs and the LAD wo rked horrific hou rs to ensure that th e Desert Rats could leave as scheduled

No w back in BAOR we are co ncentrating on supporting Op Granby 1. 5 and whatever else the con flict springs at us.

Some member s o f the Squadro n, notab ly from t he LAD are already in Saudi Ara bia with others soon to follow. Naturally we wish th em the very best.

OA and {lis Crews Even when wor king flat o ut there is always time for sport and this is borne out by the achievements of HO Squad ron in the int er-squadron sports co mpetition. For th e second time in three years we appear to have sewn up the co mpetitio n, th ough a cou ple of events remain.To date we have had 5 first places in th e separate events wit h perhaps bo xing as the most pleasing win. The Regiment pr ides itself on this sport and, thanks to the sterling work by the tra iners, HO emerged vict or io us with Farrier Smith perhaps the star in the Heavy­ weight category A fine perform ance in boxing was supported by co nvinc­ ing victories in both swimm ing and water polo . Sgt Hurnph­ ries of th e LAD sho uld take much credit for organ ising and tr aining for t hese befor e the com petition as well as for his individual victories in the 50m freestyle and butterfly.

The Regimental Corpo ral Major and Trooper Carvell ierretun« Despite BAOR's changed prior ities The Life Guards Battl e Gro up remained on co urse for BATUS Exercise Medicine Man 7 for which mem bers of HO Squadro n were in Canada from 6 Octo ber and did no t leave until 2 Decemb er, ensuring that the Battl e Grou p had an efficient set up to move thro ugh in Suffield.

Short of war, BATUS provides us wit h the hardest test of our ability and Medici ne Man 7, by its co ld weather, exagge­ rates t he pro blems thro wn up in training. When one consid ­ ers that over 100 different natures of ammunit io n are used by the Arms and Services with in a Battl e Group, it is clear t hat the task o f coordinating supply and mainte nance is a part icu­ larly taxing one . The exercise build up was progressive and ensured that we were able to imp ro ve o n the lessons learnt at each stage; we arrived in BATUS an interest ed team and emerged on R& R at the end a well trained, if ti red, unit.

Following another handove r miracle perfo rmed by the OM (E), the Squadro n were scattered to the fou r corne rs o f the North American continent ; as far south as Flo rida, west as San Francisco and Vanco uver and to the Niagara Falls in the east.

12

Bodies beautiful- the Swimmillq Team The Squadro n's o ther victor ies came in orienteeri ng and cross country In or ienteering the individual winner was W0 2 (ROMC) Lo dge, and the cross co untry was won by a good aJl ro und Squadr on perfo rmance It is impossible to mention all the ind ividual spo rt ing achievemen ts o f 1990 but perhaps the most notable was that by Co H Margan who wo n a Bronze Medal for England in this . ear's Com mo nwealth Fencing Champio nships. Congratulations!

We lo ok forward to what 199/ will bring us.We can be co n­ fid ent that if th e approach is as for th is year it will be another successful 12 mon ths.

·RHQ Troop Understa temen t is one o f th e m o re charming cha ract eris­ tics o f b eing Britis h and wit h t hat in m ind I th ink it is fair t o say that the RHO tro o p has no t had a dull and idle year. C~nver­ sio n. exercise (tactical, lo gisti c and ph ysical) and t he Gulf p re­ parat io ns are themes t hat will un dou bte dly run t hrough many art icles in th is jo u rnal and t his, along with th e o ccasi­ onal reference to cer ta in pe rsonal and humorous incid ents in \ hich they were invo lved , will be no excep ti on It \ as with ver y muc h a new t eam t hat RHO Tro o p beg an the year and right from the b egin ning th ere was mu ch to do.

The administratio n of the move out and takeo ver of all t he equipm ent was expe rtly m anaged by by t he Regim ent al Sig­ nals Warrant O fficer, t hen a Corporal o f Hor se and no w a Staff Co rpo ral.

LCpl Davidson plaIJi l1 9 "Spo t the Mustache" It wasn't lo ng,Feb ruary in fact , be fore the t ro op was offon exe rcise and t his was a co m mand post exercise fo r us although there wer e troops p laying. lt was ru n at Divisio nal level and had different nam es at all levels, Iron Charge, Flying Falcon , Picad o r's Lance but we called it Ex Warm Barn am ong o t her t hings. It was set near t he Dut ch Borde r and we t ra­ velled appr ox ima te ly 400 mi les on t he exerc ises, whi ch inc­ lud ed d riving back t o A th lone Barracks. Ma rch was taken up with courses and qu ite soon we were o n exercise again, this time in So lt au. RHO Tro o p playe d it s du al ro le, as it qui t e ofte n has t o ,o f running t he Regime nt du ring low level tr aining and also fitting in it s own t raining.A t t he end , it s first ro le p re­ vent ed the troop from taki ng pa rt in a series of crew tes ts .

The sam e thi ng happ ened in July wh en t ro o p t ests too k pl ace, also on So ltau . These were cleverl y worked o ut by th e Ops Officer in t and em with th e Co mm andi ng Officer and

A d juta nt and proved int erest ing and illuminat ing.The Signals O fficer wit h the help o f his German speaking side kick LCo H Baraugh (p ronounced Bat h ex RHG/D!) pro vid ed int erfer­ ence and jamming on the radio nets, t hus putting th e t ro o p lead ers and co mma nd ers und er p ressure, wit h an im it ati o n Germa n ta xi service, several different disc jo ckeys and var i­ ou s o the r dirty t ric ks for 48 ho urs. They enjoyed th em selves enormou sly. The rest o f t he t est s were very succe ssful and upo n th eir comp let ion t he Regiment wen t to t rain as a whole.

The Regim ent we nt on summer leave with the prosp ect o f 3 weeks o f sunsh ine an d p re BATUS and BATUS to foll o w Who but t he mo st astute wo uld have imagined the situ at io n on retu rn fro m leave? Certa inly noone in RHO troop , o r if they d id they kept it pr etty quiet. The new situation in th e Gulf me ant many chan ges of p lan, o ne o f which was to the Troo p's advantage. Whilst th e Sabre Squad ro ns we re b usy handi ng over their p risti ne t anks in exchange for rath er less p ristine o nes, RHO troop had virtually th e who le of Soltau availab le t o it fo r several days . This time was very usefu l and man y m ino r pr o b lems wer e iro ned ou t and much was practised .

The situat io n in the Gulf had its effect o n BATUS t o o .The Regim ent be ing warned o ff fo r Op Granby 2, went to Canada as a high p rio rity and m eant t hat we had suff icient bac k up t o co m plete all the exercises. One o f t he m o st int eresting changes for us was usingAFV 43 2s inst ead o f CVR(T) Sultans, t he chief b lessing be ing masses of ext ra ro o m in t he back which was, o f course, put to good use.

Thanks t o the Red Indian infl uen ce of Canada , Indian nam es wer e thought of for t he maj ority of th e troop and I feel it wo uld be churlish not to pr eserve a few of t hese fo r post erity.

Capt Ro bertso n (the A djuta nt) LCplBenge Capt A nse ll (t he EME)

- Small M an Bagging - Tall Man Whingeing - No Packs Co m ing

Certa in o ther m em bers of the troo p also des erve a men ­ tio n because o f their effect o n morale within the troo p LCp l Davidso n and his "cheeky grin", Co H (O'A rta gnan) M argan "The Jnt Bo d ", LCo H Poynter (ap art fro m the sad mome nt wh en he t em po rarily lo st his "cockles hell hero es" hat ) and a dr aft in from th e Ou eens O wn Highland ers by th e nam e o f Mac gillvr ay, who se cutti ng Celtic comments were rar ely unamusing This report ing period ends wit h t ro o p m em bers go ing t o t he fo ur w ind s (a pu b in Lo ndon !l. the lo ss of Capt ain Tho r­ neycroft, LCp l Curson , LCp l M cLeish and Tprs Wailer, Rees and Bar rett to t he Gul f, CoH M argan t o Knightsbridge , LCo H Tove ll to C Squadron and the Signals Officer all of which thro ws next year int o a cer tain amount of uncerta inty, but I t hink that's situatio n - no change.

13

Recce Iroop Recce Troop arrived in BAORas a newly for med body but in some ways at an advantage to th e sabre squadrons; the Regiment had just co me from a recce ro le with 5 Airborne Brigade and so there was no change o f vehicle invo lved In other ways tho ugh the task was a difficult o ne - close recce bears little resemblance to airborne recce - and the so phisti­ catio n o f th e new ro le was not easily acquired.

Tra ining began in earnest o n So ltau in Apr il,a yo ung team finding its feet through proced ures and crew level asses­ sment A necessary share o ut which went well with all recce troop crews being placed in the first 50 % on regimental crew tests and W02 Evan's crew breaking into th e to p five.

Basic tactics mastere d, we moved to Ho hne at the end o f A pril as part o f a regimental firing period t o pratice the skills learnt in 5 Airbo rne Brigade. Due to limit ed ammunition we were o nly able to co nfirm gunner skills and con tented o ur­ selves with developi ng oth er military skills such as weapo n­ handling.

"A change is as good as a rest" and this was the theme for June with an adve nture training exercise - Ex Oberst dorf Triangle planned by the troo p leader (Lt Mast erto n) Ten membe rs o f th e troop were able to enjoy good weath er, climbing, trekking, swimming and cycling in Bavaria o n what pro ved to be so successful an exercise that it was underta­ ken on a regimenta l basis !

LCpl Pa tterndte LCpl Wood Once back in camp, training and maintenance became the prio rity again until we dep loy ed to Soltau for regimental training in mid July; it was planned on a pro gressive trai ning basis. The troop was involve d in troo p tests in which bot h halves performed well and moved on to squadron and battle gro up train ing. The latt er part o f the exercise was by far the

14

mo st useful and it wasat this stage that we were able to deve­ lop our skills as a battlegro up asset Aside from CoH Cole's excursio n as the R d Fo ce in the Op Buxto n presentatio n to a visiting So viet military delega­ tion in Septe mber, the troo p geared itself towards BATUS and Medicine Man 7. The sit uatio n in the Mi ddle East was now hott ing up and thu s the prairie landscape of Canada achieved a new significance for us.

:t The Troop 011 the Prailie The BATUS setup is an immaculate one in terms of bo th facilities and uper isio n: an environment in which on e can­ not fail to learn. There are no real limitations t o training and we realised by the end that there is also no limitatio n to ho w much one can improve . We arrived as a nov ice team yet returned having survi ed and thrived in the toughest envi­ ronment training ca o ffer at a difficult time of the year.

The level o f build up is a pro gressive o ne; from tr oop to squadro n to batt le group which gave us the chance to refine the skills a the factor of difficulty increased. By the final attack Recce Tro o p as providing the "timely and accurate info rmatio n" required by com mand and proved the ir value to the squadro ns.

BATUS also pro vided us with some lighter moments; th e Tro op Leader u.r Hanso m. sho o f ideas ran o ver a T64 to its surprise whilst LCpl Taylor disappeared do wn an old infantry tr ench with his Sco rpio n for a w He. There is much to do in \99 \ ei er here in Germany or o ut in the Middl e East. 1990 \ as a "p od _ear where \le acquired the base fro m which to fine tune. Pa icular thanks in 199 0 must go t o Major Griffin 'or - . his ime. expertise and energy and t o W0 2 E ans. backbo e o the tro op in 1990 who moves to A Squadro n a

Regimental Orderly Room Deja 't , February [99 0 was Feb ruary 1980 all over again: o thmg seems to change; from packing up, to Clerks leaving th e service, 0 mo ving families to Germany In fact, if we had rno veo into Lo thian Barracks I don't thin k it wo uld have been ssi le 0 tell which year we were in. Germany never c' an es - o r so it was t hou ght.

Le 'ling so many friends behind in Windso r was a wrench.

A gain we said farewell to so me of our lo ng serving clerks LCo H Harman left in February to live in the wilds o f Glamo r­ gan. LCpl Smith left to wo rk in Slough. LCoH McSherry finally made th e break and is wo rking in Bracknell, having te amed up with an ex Chief Clerk by th e name o f Cherrington. We managed to drag LCoH Bishop out to Germany for abo ut 4 mon t hs, gett ing our last drop o f blood o ut of him. A ll the clerks in Germany wish them the very best o f luck fo r the future

From helpi ng to recruit po tentia l Life Guards last year, LCoH MeAl pine has mo ved to the Training Wing where he no w most efficientl y processes training cou rses.

LCoH Golli ngs spent most of the ti me as the Mo vements Clerk movi ng himself from golf cou rse to golf cour se or cricket pit ch to cricket pit ch. How ever, he did manage t o fit som e wo rk in during R&R in BATUS. He is pos ted to the Mo unted Regiment in the New Yea r.

The Squadron and departm ental clerks have bee n play­ ing Musical Offices, changing so much that it is hard to keep tr ack o f them. LCpl Smith left A Squadron in Febru ary, and was replaced by Tpr Usher who in turn was replaced by LCpJ Gandar who by the time you read this will be in the Gulf ! Tpr Hurst has Jeft us for Headquart ers Ho usehol d Cavalry to be replaced by Tpr Nixo n from th e tank park Tpr Ward was replaced by Tpr Lavers as filing clerk, Ward th en replaced

THE BED PUSH TEAM Tpr Ward LCoH Lugg LCoH COrier LCoH West CoH Price Arri ving in BAOR we met up with LCoH Lugg o n his first po sti ng to the Regiment. He has spent the last 9 years with the Mounted Regiment as a Dutyman and latterly as a clerk.

He is the 1990 resident expert o n discipline and the Int Wagon Clerk.

CoH Price had a quiet start to t he year venturing out on ly for Annu al Firing at Ho hne in May Ho wever he kept badger­ ing abo ut going to BATUS with the Regiment. Being a "soft to uch", I allowed him to go : The t emp erature reached - 2 5 C l LCpls Coke r and West were pro mo ted LCsoH in July LCoH Coker is our budd ing com puter expert beavering away at Pampas, the perso nnel data system, and puJling o ut what littl e hair he has left. LCoH West spends as littl e time at the docu ments desk as poss ible. also pulling out the little hair he has left.

LCpl Home who replaced LCoH GoUings Tprs Usher and Collier have settled down in t he OM's and OM (El Depart­ ments. Who said "Nothing seems to change"?

On the spo rting fro nt CoH Price and LCoH Gollings have co ntinued to play golf and cricket. The Ord erly Roo m en­ te red a team for the Paderborn Garrison Charity Bed Push in aid of t he Across Trust, a charity which gives handicapped and underpri vileged children ho lidays The team co mp rised CoH Price, LCsoH Lugg & Coker (LCoH West was th e patient) and Tpr Ward. Needless to say th ey did not finish first (5t h of 13) Service in Germany has changed o ut of all recognition ; no more Ope ratio nal Ready Tests or Bo rder Patrol s, no t so much paperwork and t hen when we thought th at everything had settled do wn... Op Granby. lfw e do deploy t o Saudi Ara­ bia ther e will be so me very interesting art icles for next year's A co rn.

15

Light Aid Detachment "That was the year that was" is the phrase that certainly spri ngs to mind when reflecting upo n t he achievements and disappoi ntm ents o f the LAD over t he last twe lve mon ths.

The year started well with a 100% PRE and the handover/ takeo ver o f Alt ho ne Barracks fro m RHG/D. The LAD soon realised that it was in fo r a busy year when th e Regimental Seco nd in Command issued the Lo ng Range Forecast of Events, consisting of numerous exercises, live Firing at Hohn e.a Battl e Gro up exercise in Canada and more Gunnery and Conve rsion course s than you cou ld shake a "Troop 3­ Bar" at The LAD sett led into life with t he th ird Regiment pre­ siding at At hlone Barracks in three years, meeting new per­ sona lities and learning to cope with the intricacies o f cleaning white buff belts.

Challenger may be on e of the latest additi on s to the Brit­ ish Army vehicle fleet, but it did not take long for the squad ­ ron fitt er sectio ns, led by SSgts Heywood, Ho pkins and Paul, to realise that the tanks were not as reliable as some people wou ld have us believe. Oil and coolant leaks, gunkit malfunc­ tions were often cries heard from commanders on Soltau.

The LAD saw quite a turnover of perso nnel throu ghout the year, not least the arrival of a new ASM in August in the form o f WOl Winspeare. There were also two detachments; LSgt Coleman went t o t he Falkland Islands for five months and LCpl Martin went to BATUS for six months o n the Tem­ porary Staff. Bot h are still wo nder ing what they did wrong to be sent of to these far flung co rners o f the earth .

A week's Ad venture Tra ining on Sont hoffen in Bavaria in lune saw 25 o f the LAD, ably led by W02 Swirles and SgtMal­ len. scaling all sorts of heights and wo ndering where the snow had co me from and generally "messing about on the wate r, " canoeing and white water rafting.

Preparation for BATUS was ov ershadowed by prepara­ tions fo r Op Granb y 1. The LAD lost twe lve tradesmen to 7 Ar mo ured Brigade in o ne afternoon . The remainder lived on the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards tank park for two weeks, worki ng as directed by Divisio n and became known as the Op Granby Cannibals or Rent-an- LA D.

A last ditch repair

EME's Team

16

BATUS is a provi ng groun d for all. no t least Cfn Farrand who, whilst driving the EME, learnt to map read, listen to t he radio , make co ffee, jump out o f the back of pickup trucks and break his colla r bone . Para ro le next time SSgt Lutt on had quite a time t rying to recover an A rmo ured Repair and Re­ cov ery Vehicle which had thr own its track o n a steep bank in a red template area which was o ut o f bounds 18hours each day He eventually succeeded with a lot o f grit, sand and determination .

The LAD is presently in the grip ofOp Granby 1. 5. By the time most o f its memb ers have dep loyed with ot her Regi­ ment s and Workshops,a total of 12 will remain at Ath lon e,the ASM left in charge whilst the EME att empt s jCSC and all await the callup Withou t exception everyone has worked extr e­ mely hard this year, recognised by all who m they have assisted bo th in and outside of the Regiment To those th at have just joined th e LA D and have been whisked off to the Gulf, you don 't know what yo u have missed.

Mounted Squadron The Life Guards Ceremonial 1990has been a very full and busy year for the Squadron, which did 0 foll o w the more traditional patt ern of previous years. The Squad ro n was involved in an Esco rt before th e . ajor G neral's Inspection, provided a Divisio n fo r the Qu een o ther's 90t h Birthday Celebrations and th e Tricen­ tenary Celeb ratio n o f Rotten Row, as well as our more usual commitments.

The main ceremo nial seaso n started with Tro o p, Squad­ ro: and Regimen tal drills during March . This was in prepare­ io for a -isit by th e President of India on 3 rd April 1990.

Un ortunatel y, the President did no t get the Royal Train at Gal .ick bau cl fo r Victo ria Stat ion but was d riven inst ead by car - rai ht to Buckingham Palace, th ereby mi ssing t he Esco rt enti rely. The Escort co mmanded by LG Squad ro n Lea er reu rned to Hyd e Park Barracks, so mew hat co ld afte r a Ion and frui less wait. Happil y, th e Captai n's Escort did take place the next day The i ajor General inspect ed t he Regiment in Hyde Park o n 2 .1-'1 April . Unlike past years t he weather was very good and ground hard eno ugh not to lo ok like a battlefield once the Re imen t had cantered over it. The Majo r General co mmended the Sq uad ro n on its turn out, dre ssing and ho r­ semanship. The pa rade drew undue attention from th e press a it was the first time a woman in the shape of th e A ssistant A d jutant 12 Lt Morley WRAC) had taken part on ho rseback. lune was as busy as ever with the Queen' s Birthday Par­ ade a d i s rehearsals which all went exceptio nally well wit h fine weather.The onl y rain whic h fell in Jun e dec ided to coin­ cide with th .... Garter Service which went ahead after a short delay The Squad ro n too k up its pos itions , whereupon the rain fell harder and we were di smissed from o ur duti es half way thr ugh th e Service to save o urselves dro wnin g.

The Squadron provided a Division for the Queen Mother's 90th Birth day Celebratio ns o n 27th June which was a part icu­ larly inte rest ing and exceptio nal parade, and o ne which no one who was present will ever be likely to forget. The Division kept remarkably steady and calm in spite of the crowds and vol ume o f no ise.

The lat ter part of t he ceremo nial season was t he same as usual wit h a State V isit, Stat e Opening of Parliament and t he Lord Mayo r's Sho w

ne

Summer Camp The highlight of the year for the LG Squadron was un­ doubtedly the t raining period for 3 weeks at Bodney Camp in No rfol k. As the horses became fit, so d id all the so ldiers with early morning runs, mid morning rides and afte rnoon sports/ training.All activ ities for th e 3 weeks to o k part in blazing sun­ shine apart from 2 days - Jong may glo bal warming co ntinue I Ninety nine perce nt o f Squad ro n person nel successfully completed ATDs, CFTs and BFTs, but very few escape d uns­ cath ed acro ss t he Squadron o r Regimental hand y hunte r co urses.

3 Troop's LCoH Irving, Troopers Willlinson and'Fearnlelj at Summer Camp The Squad ro n was d elight ed to host The Go ld Stick for a visit o n th e day o f th e Squad ro n int ert ro o p Hand y Hunt er pairs co mpetit io n, which was wo n by Tpr Bo ardm an o n "Churchill" and Tpr Dogs o n 'Langtry". Overall, 3 Tro op wo n.

The Squad ron's fine run of success in th e Regimenta l Handy Hunters com p et it ion continued with Lt Madden and Co H Oldman from 2 Troop winning first prize much to the chagrin of Major Watson and SCM Ritchie who were denied t his much coveted prize by half a second, In the show jumping arena Tpr Boardman on Churchill wo n th e Junio r Ranks co m­ pet itio n

Other Events Individual troop winter camps have again taken place thr ou ghou t November,and have proved to be an enormo us success. 3 Tro o p sta rted th e ball rolling by jou rneying to Bra­ ham Park in Yorkshire, where no doubt th e Knightsbridge brand o f hum our and int ellect delighted and amused th e lo cals. LCoH Walker and LCpl Slingsby will no doubt bear tes­ t imony to this. 2 Tro op and I Tro o p both went to A rdingly in Sussex but at different times and t horoughly enjoyed th em­ selves.

On the 24th May, th e Gold Stick visited the Squadron in Barrac ks A showjumping competition was due to take place in Kengsington Palace field , but du e to th e hard grou nd it to ok place in the outdoor manege wit h the BBQ held in th e Gym LCpl Radford on "Dettingen" and Tpr Negus on "Krught sbridge' were the big winn ers,

Sport and A dventure Training The Squadron has managed to find time to take part in many spo rting activities and adve nture t raining expeditions .

Riding events have been numerou s and inclu de o utings with th e Sand hurst Drag Hun t, weekend hunter trials and sev­ eral team chase events aro und the co unt ry which have been graced by a LG Squad ro n team.

17

January,and Febru ary foun d several soldiers parti cipating in "Exercise Winter Warrior " which took place this year in France, where bo t h the amo unt of sno w and apres- ski were much appreciated. During July and October CoH PringJe o rganised several pe riod s o f adve ntu re training at Freming­ ton , which again were hugely enjoyed in marvellous weath er con dit io ns.

Trooper Finnigan swings the sabre

Farewells Durin g t he year, we have said farewell t o Lt Col R J Morri­ sey Paine, Maj C H N Graham,Capt EConno lJ y,Lt H R D Fuller­ ton , Lt R B A Madda n, Co H Evans to BAOR or the Gulf, CoH Burns who has moved to the Training Wing, CoH Darley and CoH Layzell.

We welcome Major The Hon M R M Watson, Captain P L Harris, Lt W M Dwerryho use. Lt RW Uloth, CoH Flet cher,CoH Tierney, CoH Alien , CoH Old man and CoH Lanahan.

LicutC/1al1/ Fullerton pulls it off!

In October, the Squadro n team won the inte rsquadron water polo mat ch held a Chelsea Barracks, ably led by LCpl Gardner who is an A rmy p layer The Squadron football team have wo n all their matc hes so far, and hopefully will co ntin ue to do so .

Squadron perso nnel have visit ed a wide variety of places t hroughout th e year including the Channel Islands , Spruce Meadows in Canada, Rotterdam, Paris and New York. Co H Waygood spent several weeks in Oman instructing horse­ manship and Tro o per Pearson is du e to go to Cyp rus on a UN tou r with a Squadron from the Blues and Royals.

The MusicaJRide was a great success t his year, ably led by Capt Harris and Capt McK ie, and administrate d by CoH Dar­ ley Various sho wgrounds th roughout the cou nt ry were visit­ ed, but more grandiose plans to go New York were pos t­ poned unt il 1991. Sadly, Capt McKie reti res as Riding Master sho rtly, and he must be th anked for all the hard work and imagination he has put into producing an excellent and impressive display for th e Musical Ride.

18

TrooperAllurn and Langtry

The Band of The Life Guards The histo ry of The Life Guards began in 1659at the court of the exiled King Charles 11 in Holland. A number of loyal gentlemen led by Lord Gerrard of Brandon formed them­ sel es into the King's Life Guard. This duty has been carried on thro ugh the centuries by the Household Cavalry and is symbo lised today by the Guard Mounting Ceremony at Hor se Guards, Whitehall in London.

The 29th May 1660 will always remain a great day in the annuals of our history for it is recorded that at the public entry of King Charles 11 into London he was escorted by three troops of Life Guards each preceded by its own Kettledrum­ mer and four Trumpeters. This proud occasion began the his­ tory of the Band that you hear today.

The use of kettledrums and trumpets was, at this period, confined to the Army and nobility and, even in the King's troops, The Life Guards alone had the privilege of using kett­ ledrums. The musicians held warrants of appointment from the King and were paid at the rate of five shillings per day.

In the year 1678 they wore uniforms of velvet, silver laced, their instruments having richly embroidered and trimmed banners, the whole cost defrayed by the King.This is the ori­ gin of the present day State Dress worn by the Band and Trumpeters.

The band is always very busy performing at the many State functions and giving concerts throughout the length and breadth of the country The State occasions include play­ ing for the Royal Family during banquets, presentation ce­ remonies, investitures and garden parties at Buckingham Palace or at Windsor Castle The Band has travelled widely and has performed in the Far East, the United States of America and most of Europe with several trips to Berlin to take part in the famous Berlin Military Tattoo, both as a mounted and dismounted band.

The Trumpeters sound fanfares at many important State and civic functions. They play at all the major ceremonies during the year including the State Opening of Parliament, the Garter Service and the like. Over the years they have per­ formed in many countries as far apart as Australia, Iran, Canada, USA, Japan and most countries in Europe and Scan­ dinavia.

It is often forgotten that all members of the Band are also trained medical orderlies and may hold military driving licences. These skills fit them for operational tasks.

The New Year for the Band began as the old one finished, still deployed on Operation Orderly as medical assistants. 1t was a succesful operation with many of the Band receiving letters of personal thanks from members of the public Before the end of the operation four Trumpeters managed to fit in trip to Detroit for the North American Motor Show and the launch of the Austin Martin Virage: unfortunately there were no free samples!

The end of January saw the Regiment move to BAOR and consequently the Band moved to Knightsbridge 1t was the usual organised chaos with lots of waving across the M4 to the Blues and Royals as they moved to Windsor In March we welcomed the Director of Music back to the Band on the completion of his riding course, looking slimmer and very fluent in horse terminology As you see from the pic­ ture of his passingout parade, his horse was carefully chosen for him.

The following month we started the mounted season with Guard Mountings and the Major General's Inspection with the Director of Music leading the Band on horseback for the last time.

In May, the trumpeters were on their travels again, this time to Salt Lake City for the 50th Anniversary of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. They were received with a great deal of enthusiasm and made very welcome; the Trumpet Major and LCpl Carson even managed a round of golf played under scorching sunshine with the snowtopped Rocky Mountains as a backdrop It was back to business on their return with the Beating of the Retreat (aswet as usual),the Trooping, the Gar­ ter Service, the mounted season finishing with the Oueen Mother's 90th Birthday Celebrations on Horse Guards' Parade.

The Band's summer season was quite short this year but we still managed to make our annual pilgrimage to East­ bourne where old friendships were once again renewed.

The year ended with a much shortened trip to visit the Regiment in BAOR,this being due to the Band's commitment to Operation Granby The Band have said fareweJ! to LCoH Cox and LCpl Bailey Congratulations are to be given to the following on their promotions; ABCM Bourne, SOMC Alien, LCoH Alien, LCoH Dutton, LCoH Lazenbury, LCpls Alien, Wilman, Goodchild and Bolstridge. We welcome to the Band, Musns Rowe, Tay­ lor and Rayner

19

The Pay Office Having left the Regiment al go lfing champio n and Service Fund Accoun tant SSgt Iirnrny Lyo ns behind in Windsor on the Arms Plot Move, th e Regimental go lfers th ought th at at last they had a chance to win th e tro phy.lt was not to be. Our new Service Fund Accountant W0 2 Wall is also a golfer and retained the tr ophy The posting of SSgt Lyons was the start o f a series of pos tings that leaves the Div 2,who joined the unit in October 1989, as the lon gest serving member in th e t eam.To Maj Sto­ vell. SSgt jimm y Lyons, Sgt Cameron ,Cpl "Alf" Mullender and their families, we bid farewell. We welcome Capt Sernberg, W0 2 Barry Wall, Sgt Clay,LCpl Askin and Pte Fo x. For the first time in twelve months we are at full stre ngth.Wewelco me the new t eam, as well as th eir families.

On hando ver of Paymasters th e regimental yachting cap was also handed o ver and Capt Sernb erg was soon taking groups up to Kiel for Sail Training Exercises. As he is also t he Regimental Parachuting Officer and a keen jumper himself, so mewhat o f a runner and skier t oo ,life has been hectic even for him.

Between all t he spor t and a very busy milita ry tr aining schedule, the Paymaster and his wife have found time to pro­

duce a healthy boun cing baby boy. The rest o f the team has not lagged behind Both Sgt Clay and LCpl A kin are both expecting new addition s to th eir families and recruiting prospects for the RAPC look good for th e year 201 8!

On the work side of life. the team has had a very busy year; when they were not suppo rting th e Regiment in the field (at Hohne and Soltau as well as exercise Medi cine Man 7) they were doin g their fair share o f rear party duties. Exercise Med icine Man 7 pr oduced a different environment to that normally experienced by a Pay Team. Administering over 1000pay accou nts provided substantial work o n the "public" side, not to mention serving ove r 7000 cans o f beer in the Junior Ranks Club in Camp Crowfoot each evening. Everyon e t ook the opportunity t o see a bit o f Canada (and America!) and thorou ghly enjo yed the exercise as a who le. Sadly someone had to stay behind to "hold the fort". As co mpen­ satio n, W0 2 Grech has been trying on his desert boot s and sun hat: Witho ut a do ubt this has been o ne o f the busiest and most successful years for this team.

The Warrant Officers' & Non Commissioned Officers' Mess We held our farewell dinn er to Windsor on 9 January 1990, att ended by the Co lonel of the Regiment, Major General Lord Michael Fitzalan How ard, The Major General, Comm an­ der 5 AB Bde and thre e for mer Co mmanding Officers, and as many serving Senior Officers as we co uld seat. January 13 saw the final functio n in the Combermere Mess,a farewell cocktail part y for tho se who coul d att end th e Dinner The Mess pro­ perty was th en packed up and mov ed to Sennelager On arrival in Sennelager it was decided that the whol e Mess was in need o f ext ensive redeco ration. On completion in mid-March we were able to start pro viding ent ertainment for all members and their families.

For th e reo pening o f entertainments in th e Mess a fami­ lies lunch was held on the 3rd Sunday in March. This was fol­ low ed by a Cafe Continental evening the following Saturd ay, wit h th e theme being vario us menus from Europe. The RCM went for the Russian Menu; alas th ere was no caviar, but all who attended the night enjo yed the excellent food pro­ duced.

20

Our first o fficial visitor to the Mess was Commander 33 Armo ured Brigade, Brigadier Browne. foll o wed o n 27 March by the Cor ps Com mander, Lt Gen Sir Charles Guthrie, for ­ merly Welsh Guards. During his visit he managed t o speak to all Warrant Officers and present Lon g Service and Good Con­ duct Meda ls to OROMC Smith and SCpl Pickard .

April and May proved to be quiet due to the Regiment being at Soltau and Hohne and Easter Leave. We did how­ ever manage to fit in a C Squadron Dinner, a disco and a Living In Dinner.

June, Jul y and th e begining o f Augu st were fairly hectic with an HO Squadron Dinner, Count ry and West ern Evening, and families lunches which co ntinue to be a great success.

The Warrant Officers held a dinne r, which was closely fol­ lowed by a families' day The Mess erected a tent for this occasion which pro ved t o be a success. Through out the day Mess Memb ers wit h their families and guests enjoye d the whole event. At the end of July we had a farewell visit from The Lieut enant Col onel Comm anding Household Cavalry,

. Colonel A H Parker-Bowles. to whom the Mess presented a farewell present We wish him luck in his new appointment After a hectic first 6 months the Regiment then went on three weeks well earned leave.

During lanuarys farewell in Windsor dinner the RCM pre­ dicted in his speech that somebody would make trouble somewhere in the world because The Life Guards were leav­ ing Windsor and 5 AB Bde, the then centre of Out of Area Operations That somebody was Saddam Hussein. When Iraq .nvaded Kuwait during August it was to have far reaching cor.sequences for all of us over the next few months, and possibly longer Brigadier [enkins, Commander Armoured I(BR) Corps visited the Mess on 5 September followed closely by the Colonel of the Regiment, Major General Lord Michael Fitz­ alan Howard, on Wednesday 12 September During his visit the Colonel was able to talk to many Mess members and then sat down to lunch with 50 of them.

The Regiment prepared to deploy to Soltau but diverted to Fallingbostel where we handed over our pristine tanks to the SCOTS DG. This was to be our first encounter with Op Granby and one which was to continue to affect us up to the present day, and beyond.

On return to Athlone Barracks at the beginning of October, the new Lieutenant Colonel Commanding House­ hold Cavalry, Colonel J D Smith-Bingharn visited the Mess for the first time on 4 October, where he was able to address the Mess members and wish us luck in the future.

Although most of the Mess members deployed to BATUS from 8 October until 21 November, A Squadron remained behind with an element from HO Squadron, which enabled us to have a dinner Then all ranks combined to hold a Halloween Party for the families, which literally went off with a bang.

On the Regiments return we gave a cocktail party for the BATUS Battlegroup, which proved immensely popular with over 500 people attending at the height of the evening. Also during November we were visited for the second time this year by Major General Cooper Through necessity,the Christmas festivities had to be cur­ tailed slightly, but we did manage to hold a Wives Club Christ­ mas Dinner on Saturday 8 December Initially, we thought that because so many husbands were away preparing vehicles for Op Granby, there would not be enough waiters.

However, the single men rallied round and in the end there must have been two waiters for everyone of the ladies who sat down.

Everyone tried to get back for the Christmas Draw, which again this year was the main function ofthe Mess. ROMC(E) Powell, the Master Chef and all the committee are to be con­ gratulated on making the evening such a great success,even if the weather did try to spoil it for us.

Our thanks go to fifty or so serving and nonserving members who made the effort to come out for Brick Hang­ ing. Although there were some serving members who could not make it due to operational commitments, we all appre­ ciated the effort of those who travelled so far in foul weather to get here.

Recruiting Team

•

The Household Cavalry has had a successful recruiting year in 1990, so successful that our numbers were "capped" (the "in" buzz word) in September and we were restricted to taking only adult recruits with family connections. This should not deter all our Association members from their magnificent efforts on our behalf, as by the time you receive your magazine, we will hopefully be back in full swing looking for adult and junior soldiers and of course musicians; hence 1 am again including our introductory slip which has proved so successful over the past two years.

Personalities who have served in the recruiting team this year are Staff Corporal Clarke BEM,Tpr Leafeand our Mount­ ed Dutyman Tpr Smith from Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment The season started in March at the Blackpool Household Division Dinner and the team finally returned to barracks on 29th September 1990. In between, an extremely successful month was spent in Scotland and Wales with the remainder of the time being spent predominantly in North West and

North East District As usual the season has not been without its "lighter moments," with a controlled explosion on the Budget Hire van at Halifax probably being the highlight Fol­ lowing this we encountered one or two councils who were loth to have Army recruiting teams going into their areas,due to the current situation, but overall the team was very well received throughout the country and certainly made its name. LCpl Kellet (RHG/Dl, who certainly acquired his "Navi­ gator" qualification at the Grand Tour of Lake Windermere, was instrumental with others in detaining some local "Boys" at Folkstone who had attacked the RA recruiting team. Driver Bichard, attached from RCTand Jock as well, actually gave a £ 10 note to a fellow in his home town of Dundee to get some "chips",having thought he had a potential recruit for the RCT. Needless to say, money, chips or potential driver were never seen again.

A very successful week was spent in the Manchester area due to the efforts of Mr J E Simpson of The Life Guards Asso­ ciation who went to a great deal of trouble and put in a lot of

21

effort to advertise The Household Cavalry and also get us into schools and lo cal shows. Co H Lyne was also able to renew his acquaintance with The Househol d Cavalry and find the barber on this o ccasion. Tpr Smit h, o ur Mounted Duty~ man, gained a well earned reputatio n as th e t eam "smo ot hie" th roughout the tour. He will be a great loss to the Hou sehol d Cavalry and we wish him well in his fort hcom ing career as a painte r and decorato r. Ho wever, he sho uld remember th at t he careers offic e warned him t hat th is was how Hit ler started out ..

The culminat io n of the recruit ing season was marked by a grand dinner and disco in the "Oxford Blue" in Windsor, attende d by some 29 membe rs o f th e team, th eir wives and girl friends prior to proceeding on some well earned leave.

I appeal as ever to all reade rs ofthis magazine t o con tin ue in their efforts to recruit for their regim ents and The Hou se­ hold Cavalry in order that we go into 1991 and beyond at full st rengt h. Sho uld yo u wish to co ntact any o f o ur recruiters I have included th eir addresses and t elephon e numb ers as th ey will be delig ht ed to hear fro m you at any ti me. We will be in the foll o wing Districts duri ng 1991 and sho uld you know of a scho ol or cadet unit wou ld like us to visit them , please let me know and I will see what can be arranged. The recru iting t eam will of cou rse be delighted to see any exmembers of th e Regiment.

CoH Cnlister wit h Trooper Smith and Couisiream Co lleague

Trooper Smith in RecruiUJ1g Mode

22

South West Dist rict 29 Mar - 30 Ap r Western Distr ict l May - 15 May Sout h West district 16 May - 31May North East Distr ict I lun - 30 fun Eastern Distri ct l lul - lO lul Royal Tournam ent [0 lul - 31 lul North West District 1Aug - 15 Aug Weste rn Distr ict 16 A ug - 31A ug Easte rn Distri ct I Sep - 30 Sep Household Cavalry Recruiters SCpl Maskell P - 46 A Mard ol- 0743 232678 RHG/D (LSL) Shrewsbury SYI IPP W02 [ones - 13 Castle Street - 072220445/6 LG (LSL) Salisbury SPI ITT WOl Richards - 594 High Ro ad - 08 19021376 LG (LSLl Wembley 081903349 1 Middlesex HA O 2AF SCp] Catlin - TA Centre - 052 43426 7 RHG/ D (LSL) Pheonix Street Lancaste r LAI J DD CoH Mo or e - 36/38 Old Stree t - 078 228 1780 LG (Army) Hanley STI 3AP (St o ke Office) CoH As hby - 244 Ho ldenhurst Road - 020 2 28791 RHG/D (Army) Bournemout h BH8 8AX 020227734 CoH Craiste r - 7 Ridley Place - 09 12328749 (Army) Newcastle upon Tyne 0912322306 CoH Lyne - Barnett House - 061228 3300 LG (Spec) 53 Fountain Street Ma nchest er M2 2AN CoH Baldw in - 27 St John 's Hill - 08 15350343 RHG/D Batt ersea SWll ITT

The Guards Depot The Hou sehold Cavalry Training Squadro n has had ano ­ th er successful and enjoya ble year at th e Guards Depo t. 1990 produced many changes and highlights fo r Staff and recruit s alike. With th e mo ve o f th e Regiment to BAOR we no lon ger have t he base o f sanity to run to when life at Pirbrig ht gets t o o much!

The int ro duction of "Recruit Capping" has brought about a reduction in t he numbers of Life Guard recruits co ming t o t he Depot, and the Common Training Syllabus for Recruits is current ly being revised. We have seen a change of staff and the promo t io n o f th e Training Squadron Leader Ma jor Kno wles, assisted adm irabl y by W02 (SCM) Byrne There have been many visits by Hou sehold Cavalry per­ so nalities, includi ng a very successful 'Feedaway" (House­ hol d Cavalry evening) held on 7 March for staff and recruits.

The guest speaker was Major Lane who bro ught t he Ho use­ hol d Cavalry Info rmatio n t eam and gave an interesti ng and informative presentation on life in t he M ounted Regiment and on Challenger in Germany. The evening pr oved for th e recru its that th ere is more to life than the Drill Square and a chance for the staff to "swing the lamp and pull a sand bag or two ". Brigadier Emson , the Silver Stick, Lt Co l Rogers and the Regimental Ad jutant have inspected various Passing Out parades .

The Inte r-Regimenta l Pace Sticking co mpetition was represented by th e Hou sehold Cavalry teams fro m th e Mounted Regiment, Sennelager and t he Ho usehold Cavalry Training Squadron. CoH Derbyshi re, o n being dismissed, "bent th e knee" so remarkably well that his tr ou sers to o k o n a totally different appearance, as on e leg split from crot ch t o knee. The Fo ot Guards are co nsidering an amendment for next year. The t eam captain had no problem in select ing th e team from th e small num bers o fNCOs qu otin g, "If yo u ow n a pace st ick YOU'RE IN r The major spo rt ing fixt ure o f the summe r was th e int erre­ gimental company athle tics meetin g where the staff and recruits of the Ho usehold Cavalry Training Squadro n teamed

24

up with luni or Parachute Com pany level (in tru e 5 Ai rborne tradition) making a formidable for ce against t he various Foo Guards teams. This co mbin ation of HCav speed and Para staying po wer prove d unstoppable, as the team steamrolled its way to the most reso unding victory seen at Pirbright for many years. It was nice to see The Hous ehold Cavalry Train­ ing Squadron win the team t ro phy for th e first tim e. We are no w lo oki ng forw ard t o the cro ss country,vo lleyba ll and bas­ ket ball co mpe titio ns where o nce again we anticipa te favour­ ab le results.

The Hou sehol d Cavalry are for ever gaining greate r influ­ ence at the Depo t, first ly with t he Cavalry Corner in th e WOs' and NCOs' Mess and after the persistence o f t he parade th ere are now tw o Household Cavalry banners hanging in the chapel.

We have not yet con vinced t he Fo ot Guards that a team equestrian event is requir ed in t he sp orting education.

Ho wever, Derby Day at Epsom saw a good turn o ut o f Hou­ seho ld Cavalry Training Squadro n M ess members and they were able to teach so me o f the o thers a thin g or two . One Foot Guards Mess member, on seeing th e accumu lated win­ nings o f th e Cavalry staff, was heard to mutter, "I reckon t hey kno w so met hing ab out ho rses !".

As usual t here has been a high turn aro und o f Life Guards staff ove r the past year. We have said good bye to Captain Mead who is po sted back to the Regiment as OM (E) and to Lt Farr who has left for civilian life, alt ho ugh so me of us never knew that he was at th e Depot in th e first place Lt Davies has gone to have his brain washed at t he Signals School. and Co H Roberts has ret urned to the Regimen t, being rep laced

by CoH Wise. Co H Mackay has left the Army afte r teaching the likes of LCsoH Colema n, Kitc hing and LCpl Kellet at Hou­ sehold Division Cadre Cour se. In the ir place Lts' Firks and M eynell, LCsoH Warren and Parkinson , LCpJ Beech and Tpr Standlak e have arrived to maintai n the high reputati o n at th e Guards Depot. We wish th e regim ent well for th e next year and the best of luck to Lt Col de Ritter as Commanding Officer.

'SPORTS Boxing Boxing is primarily the art of self defence. Professio nal boxing, not unlike amateur bo xing, is different in many ways, not least of which it is done for payment. "Any fool can fight but few can box ".

In the wo rld of amateur bo xing in the Army the o ld values of fitness,co urage,determi nation, co ntrolled aggression and skill are maintained. It is a highly tec hnical sport.

The finest result which the Regiment produced this year was undoubtedly beat ing 2nd Battalion Scots Guards 6 3 in the finals of the London Dist rict Boxi ng Competit io n.

The intersquadro n competition was held early in June thi s season to allo w plenty of time to prepare for the BAOR Championships.

The Inter Squadron Champions were as follows: Bantam : Trooper THWAITES C Squadron Feather : Trooper CROUCHER A Squadron Light : Trooper WILSON HO Squadron Light Welter : Trooper JUKES B Squadron Welter .

Trooper STEVENS B Squadron Light Middle: Tro o per DAVIES A Squadron Middle .

Lance Corp or al PATTERNOTTE B Squadro n Light Heavy : Trooper BUCKLEY C Squadro n Heavy .

Farrier SMITH HO Squadron

Tpr Buckley and L/Cpl Daynes Looking Menacing The winners of the Inter Squadron Trophy 1990 were HO Squad ron, all bo xers displayed a great deal of cour age and dete rminatio n during the competitio n which was held in the Riding Scho ol as the Gymnasium was co nsidered too small The regimental coaches were SCp[ Ormist o n and CoH Godson assisted by LCoH Grantham and LCpl Daynes who are now upgraded to Grade 2. They started to mould the Regimental Team in preparation for the BAOR Champion ­ ships.

The area which needed improving was, without doubt. skills. As every good coach knows footwork is the basis of a good bo xer's tech nique Boxers were also taught blocking,

parrying and counter punching, other cries of bobbing, weav­ ing, snapp ing, swaying, stepping in and stepp ing out, fading leading hand, uppercuts,hooks, crosses, jabs were also prac­ tised. Once our oppon ents heard of all this they pulled out of the competit io n and gave us a bye to the Divisional Finals.

However, Op Granby was announced and many more t eams did the same I At the time of writing we are in th e Semi-Finals BAOR to be boxed by 25 January and it is unfortu nate that the best regimental team The Life Guards has ever as­ sembled has been unable to gain t he match practice needed to achieve the aim of becoming BAOR Champions. Hope­ fully,the boxers will still be available to enter forthe Individual Champio nships in March.

Cricket The wors t thing about writing a summary on the cricket played by the Regiment is that, yet again, due to a dead.! ' combinatio n of training commitments, bad weather and conflicting dat es, we have played pitifully few games against o the r regiments. This must be redressed next year - which I leave to my successor - if Regimenta l cricket is to flou rish.

Now I've got that off my chest, the 1990seaso n was not enti­ rely barren.

Our first opponents in early May were the 17/21 Lancers, very ably led by their Regimental Sergeant Major. He was very sho rt for his weight, a Yorkshireman, and liked to negotiate like Arthur Scargill. What is more he did not entirely trust the Life Guards capta in, Lt Meynell, even without the pr io r know­ ledge that the latter was in B Squadron. Agree ing with him how to play the match in the prevailing weather co nditio ns ­ which were foul - was protracted and frustrating.

Regimental firing at Hoh ne and various site guards were to pass before we once mo re reassembled at the 17/ 21 Lancers barracks in MOnster. The RSM had th e Test and County Cricket Board plus vario us solicit ors in attendance.

This time as he agreed the basis of play with Lt MeynelL But, almos t imm ediately. things again went wrong for The Life Guards. Capt Robertson (Sa ndhurst Captain XI. playing member MCC, top batsman fo r The Life Guards Cricket Club, many cricket jumpers) was almost immediately out, closely followed by 2 Lt Rees-Davies, newly arrived batting pheno­ meno n and well known "sciver' (ex Sandhurst XI. cou nty player and at least t hree jumpe rs). Even the slugging ability of 2 Lt Wheeler & Lt Hanson . bo th capable of putting o n a quick 50 (especially when tea was in the offing) were a disappoin­ tment. With the Life Guards sco re no more than abou t 120 runs, we were hard pressed to co ntain their batsmen .

Despite th e viciously fast LCpl Addis. and the effective LCoH Wells as strike bowlers. the runs came easily for them. Slow ly but surely they reached and overtook o ur to tal.All congratu­ lations must be given for their gutsy performa nce.

25

The Regiment retri eved so me of its prid e when we played 33 Armoured Field Ambulance at hom e. This time o ur bats­ men, especially Major Hewitt, go t well into th eir str ide and blasted their bo wlers all ov er the barracks. We won com for­ tably against a capable side, and restored some much needed co nfidence The inter squadron competition went very well despit e intermittent filthy weather and a plague o f mol es all over th e pit ch. B Squadro n, last years' winners, crashed in th e first game against HQ, victi m to their own shor tfalls in the battin g depart ment HQ went o n to meet A Squadro n in the final which A Squadro n wo n very co nvincingly. C and B Squad­ ron s had a playo ff for third place, but, due to much squabb l­ ing bet ween both Squad ron Leaders, th e Adjuta nt and bo th SCM's the po ints were halved for third place!

Lastly, the annual clash bet ween The WOs' &NCOs' Mess vs The Officers' Mess went off splendi dly, if not entirely to' plan, at least for the Officers. As op po sed to last year, the Officers had a full, compet ent team and demon strat ed so by crashing up a score aro und the 150's In reply th e WOs' & NCOs' played their jo ker and put SCM Clarke on to bowl. who, though not exactly Dennis Lillee, helped skittle the lar­ gely ov erco nfident Officers. It was slightly embarrassing to be so tr eated but the resulting loss to th e Officers' Hou se meant a gain to the Kinde rgarte n to th e tune of some DM 250 Thanks go to all who participated throughout the seaso n in th e Regimental side and especially LCsoH GoJJings and Lanahan and 2 Lt Rees-Davies for their efforts o n behalf o f th e team.

Cross Country By th e time th e Regiment arrived in Germany the BAO R Cross Country League was near complet ion. Neverth eless te ams were enter ed fo r th e remaining meetings, if fo r no ot her reason than to gauge the standard of competitio n from which we could effect ively train for the follo wing season.

The highlight o f 1990 was th erefor e the int ersquadr on co mpetitio n in May. The enclos ed natur e o f the surro unding German cou ntrysi de lent itself to an int eresting and winding cou rse. To avo id any co nfusion over route markings the co mpetito rs were led aro und the course by Captain T E Thorn eycroft o n hor seback. The individual winner was CoH Roberts, A Squadron with B Squadron o verall winners With further training th rough the winter months we sho uld produce a high calibre team for the next BAOR Com­ petitio n.

Fencing The Life Guard's fencing team, Arm y Three Man Team champio ns in 1987 and winners o f a number o f Arm y and Inter Services indi vidual titl es to its credit, had quit e a record to live up to o n it s return to BAOR.

26

Gladly, much interest was sho wn in weekly training eve­ nings organised by CoH Margan and it becam e appa rent that, whilst larger o rganisatio ns than our own might domin­ at e in numbers , we coul d hold our own in quality The BAOR Champi o nships at th e end o f March subse­ quent ly saw a Regimental entry o f 14 indi viduals and twc teams .

Our first event was the individual foil competitio n, th modern elect ric equ ivalent of the French cou rt swo rd Despite some con fusio n ove r the co mplicated equipment. we fielded an entry o f five includin g LCpl Butler and Tpr Gladstone to co mpliment th e more experienced Capt Mahon y, Lt Hanson and W02 (QMS!) Corfield, APTC. Not surprisingly,it was th e latt er thr ee who made the final po ol of twelve with Lt Hanson llth. QMSl Cor field 10th and Capt Mahony the tri umphant winner.

The prospe cts o f "swo rds at dawn" perhap s made Epee, the duelling swo rd, our best repre sented and stron gest wea­ po n. The inclusio n o f Major Hewitt amo ngst our entry o f Mahon y, Hanson , Cor field , CoH Margan and LCpls Beech, Bebbi ngton and Butler added so me "dash" if not too much "flash" to the pro ceedings. Sadly, he was eliminated early. leaving Maho ny. Hanson and Margan to co ntest the final. As with all events. 25 Engineer Regiment dominated in numbers, but th e Life Guards pro ved masters in standard with Lt Han­ son 5th,CoH Margan 4th and Capt Mahony taking his seco nd titl e t o com plet e a satsifying two days in which he had not lost a fight Sabre, the swashbuckling 'Err ol Flynn" of weapo ns, was enthu siastically suppo rt ed at club evenings.Despite entry o f W02 Co rfield, LCpls Beech, Bebb ington and Tpr Gladsto ne, our relative lack of experi ence pro ved decisive. Alon gside som e very good sabreurs from 25 Engineer Regiment. 16/ 5 Lancers and 5 Regim ent RA in parti cular, our boys did well to survive the early round s. There were no fencers in the final in thi s weapo n. unfo rtu nately.

Having ente red so many indi vidual event s we were ob­ liged by the rules to enter bo th the six and thre e man team events.Undou btedly a t eam of Mahony,Hanson and Margan would have carried o ff the thr ee man team titl e but with our for ces divided, th e Regiment did well enou gh t o finish 3rd in th e three man team and 3rd in the six man team events, quali­ fying us for th e Army champ io nships later in the year. Hope­ fully, a good basis has been laid do wn for next year.

In Ap ril, CoH Margan and LCpl Bebbingt on were selected to represent BAOR in an Internation al Services Competitio n "the koos " in Holland . Tragically, this event was abandoned when an RAF Co rporal was killed by a brok en blade piercing his heart This was a sobe ring reminder to all. o f the inher ent dangers o f combat spo rts.

The Arm y Championships in May unfortunately clashed with Regimental commitments and only Capt Mahon y ma­ naged to get back t o Aldershot to co ntest the Arm y Epee titl e which he won fo r the fourth time.In Jul y he went on to win the Services Epee tit le fo r the third time.July saw CoH Margan in action as the England team manager at th e Commo n­ wealth Federation Fencing Champion ships at Branhall in Cheshire. Co H Margan went o n to win a team bronze medal with the Epee team.

The pos ting of so me key Regimental fencers will mean that next year will depend , much upon the enthusiasm o f this years newcom ers - fence o n !

Golf The facilities for golf in Sennelager are wit ho ut do ubt supe rb. We are most fortunate in being situated almos t on top o f t he British A rmy Golf Club , which on ly in Septe mber was extended to a 27 hole cour se. The new [8 hol e co urse winds its way ent irely th ro ugh t rees and is an ext reme test of accuracy.The picturesque 10th , a par 3,is a 120yd carry over a lake where th ere is no roo m fo r erro r at all.

The oppo rtunities for compe t it io n, both team and indivi­ dual, are almost endless, ranging fro m Garriso n Leagues/ Knockouts, meeti ngs at Divisiona l, Corps and BAOR level in addi tion to weekly competi tions within th e Sennelager Club itself.

The Regiment has only fielded a t eam o n two oc casio ns and were beate n in both. At an indivi dual level, go lfers have p layed in Club competitions at weekends and midweek when ti me allo wed.

Co H Ierarn was awarded a prize at the RAC meeting for getting "value for money" in one o f his rounds and achieving a gross sco re of 137.

O n 8 June t he Regimental Go lf Day took place on one of the few days during the summer when it rained. There were two rounds; a medal and a form o f rnatchplay W02 Wall wo n the med al round wit h Lt Hennessy-Walsh and Capt Astor 2nd and 3rd. In t he afternoon Lt Hennesy-Walsh wo n, wit h W02 Wall 2nd and Capt Ast or 3rd.

In August Lt Hennessy-Walsh won th e Volvo Military Tour wit h an out rageous 65 (8 under par) and was just ly handi­ capped as a result This qualified him for entr y int o th e knock­ o ut for th e Volvo Masters Proam at Valderma. He failed to qualify !

Ho pefully 1991 will see more peopl e playing go lf in the Regiment and indivi duals enteri ng competitions . Who know, sand iron s may be t he only clubs th ey will need ...

Hockey Following an encouraging year in Windsor the hockey team has go ne from strength to str engt h in 1990. The stan­ dard of play throughout the Regiment has improved consi­ derab ly which was reflected in th e popularity and level of the Inter Squad ro n Hockey Competit ion. C Squadr on were the worthy winne rs but games t hroughout were heavily con­ teste d and, wit hout exception , close.

2 Lt Rees-Davies was th e top score r (9 goa ls) and Tpr Usher (HQ Squadro n) was voted most p ro mising player.

At regirnentall evel, du e to pressures caused in th e Middle East, fixtur es have been frustr ated but we have still managed to play some matc hes in t he 3 Armd Div League as well as a few friendlies .There were good victo ries over 3 LI and 56 Bty RA with ou r o nly defeat being against a stro ng 5 Inniskillen Drago on Guards side.

A number of players have perfo rm ed well including the A djut ant , but particular thanks must go to LCpl Wright ACC who has been invaluable at th e back bo t h fo r the Regiment and his Corps side. The season is far fro m ove r and we are aiming for promo t io n to Divisio n 1 in 1991.

Offshore Sailing

The Paljmaster with his Crew at Kiel The Regiment has made a successful start to O ffsho re Sailing in BAOR . Since o ur arrival, although som ewhat limit­ ed by th e lack of qualifie d crew particularly at skipp er level, no vice crews o f five keen sailo rs t o o k part in t wo Regattas durin g th e seaso n. In luly, th e Paymaster led the Life Guards entry in th e RAC Regatta to a gallant eight h (assisted by th e qualified Skipper o n loan from th e training cent re). In Sep­ t emb er, Lieut enant Rupert Uloth achieved greater success in the 3rd Armoured Division Regatta . Both events were o rigi­ nat ed by Kiel Training Centre using their fine new fleet of 29' Halberg Rassy sloo ps The oppo rtu nity t o take soldiers from a barracks environ­ ment and part icipate in stimulating adv entur e tr aining pur­ suit s is o ften missed through pressure of commitments. The ease of admi nist rat io n and scope of activity p rov ided by the sailing fleet at Kiel is ext remely valuabl e and we were lucky to be able to ta ke advantage o f this so soon. The co ming sea­ so n promises to be equally successful. Not only will we enter th e same two Regattas, but two furth er weeks o f adventure sail training will be o rganised in the Balti c, and perhaps even furth er no rt h t owards Sweden. Soldiers will be encouraged to gain t he neccesary qualificatio ns, ensuring that a strong cadre of experience is built up wit hin th e Regiment well int o th e [990's.

Free Fall Parachuting "Cut ! Climb Out ! Go ....... !" Familiar wo rds to th e handful o f so ldiers who have vo lunteered for a parachut e co urse at the Joint Services Parachute Cent re at Bad Lippspringe.

The Regiment is very fortunate to have th e parachut e cent re on its do or step The facilities for learning to parachute (not in the milita ry way!) are second to no ne. The weat her is th e only variable factor. Sadly, during 1990, milita ry and exer­ cise commit ments have not allowed many people to start parachuti ng It is mandatory for anyone who wishes to para­ chute t o undergo an intensive peri o d o f gro und training,

27

befo re prog ressing to th e first static line "descent". For th ose who aspire to greater heights, it takes at least six static line jumps to achieve a reco mmendatio n for free-fall. But the exhilaration is most definitely worth it. Costs are minimal as all the equipment is pro vided . The first eight candidates this year even had th eir cou rse fees subsidised I Next year prom ises to be just as busy a year With eve nts which are unfol ding at tim e of writing in the Middle East,plan­ ning parachut e co urses for soldiers is not easy. Neverth eless, if th ere is a gap, peo ple will be parachuting into it. Fingers crossed for clear blue skies I

At hom e we had the intersquadro n wate r polo and swirr " ming co mpet it io ns. These too k place in A ugust with tr.: Water Po lo being played at th e Bundeswehr Camp " Augustd o rf. Makeshift goa ls were co nst ructed by LS!;: Anderso n who also p layed for the victo rs o f th e compe titi - HO Squadron.

The swimming competitio n was also dominated by H Squad ron with 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions goingto B,C and ­ Squadro ns respectively Individual events were won by Ca ~ Mahon y (Individual Medley), 2 Lt German (50 m Breastroke Co H Margan (lOO m Backstroke), LSgt Humphries (50 rr freestyle & Butt erfly), LCoH Baugh (lOO m Freestyle), LSc:c: Scott (lOO m Backstro ke),LCoH Richards (100 m Breastro ke In general. our competitive swimming results in B AO ~ have highlighted the need for more serious trainin g in ord to achieve higher positions However, as is often th e case during busy periods, such as the handover of vehicles t o the Scots Dragoon Guards, time for training is a precio us co m­ modity of which major spo rts take the lio n's share.

Polo

LCp/ Mc MU/an Preparing to jump again 1II1

Swimming and Water Polo The Regiment's exercise programm es and other commit­ ments have left little oppo rtunity fo r regular swimming acti­ vities since our arrival in Germany Notwithstanding this, Lt Gaselee managed to field a regimental team for the 3 Ar md Div Swimming Champio nships at Warendor f which were held o n th e 25t h and 26th May 1990. The team achieved 8t h place o ut o f th e 11 major units competing.

In June, th e REME held its BAOR Swimming Champi on­ ships at Rheindahlen for which The Life Guards again entered a team consisting for the most part of our REME personn el.

The event was not witho ut success. LSgt Humphries co llect­ ed two medals and Lts Hanson, 2 Lt German and Tpr Chubb also won medals. Our performances in the relays were rewarded and at the end of two days The Life Guards team had achieved fourth place ove rall.

28

Disappointingly litt le polo was played in th e Regiment in BAOR this year This was due to a shortage o f poi nts (RAPA was unfo rtunately unable to assist) and the increasing diffi­ culty of those office rs who did play in loo king after their own ponies because o f th e absence of gro om s.

Several pract ice chukkas were held at Bad Lippspringe du ring which th e 15th/19th Hussars, especially Majo r Prest­ wick, very kindly offered a few tips to the tw o green Life Guard Officers Lt Dwerryhouse played successfully back at Guards during summer leave in the Major General's Cup whilst Capt O'Kane played with Taylors Port in th e Hohn e Po lo Tournament, getting into the finals. The Bad Lippspringe Lo w Goal Tournament 20- 22 July was a very enjoyab le week­ end with Capt O'Kane playing with the 15th/ 19th Hussars.

All eyes are now turne d to next year which, with more po nies, mor e players and the prospect of an "organised " yard, look s mor e pro mising.

Capt Cox, Maj Anderson, Us Hanson & Wheeler

Rugby This year, the rugby season has been ove rshadowed by other commitmen ts such as BATUS and OP GRANBY. We caught the end of the BAOR 89/ 90 season when the Regi­ ment moved to Sennelager in February As expected our team was no match for the well esta blished and experienced teams of BAOR. Ho wever, som e excellent talent was dis­ played which shows pro mise for th e 90/91 seaso n.

The 90/91season started o ff on a very encouraging foo t­ ing with several good wins for the regimental team. This new foun d burst o f promise slowed do wn in Octo ber due to B and C Squadrons departing for Canada on exercise Medicine Man 7 and eventually sto pped totally, due to the regimental commitments to OP GRANBY. The Inter Squadro n Rugby Competitio n also went the way of OP GRANBY. However, out of the two games played, A Squadro n emerged the victors . Both 2Lt Graves and W0 2 Evans look forwa rd to an unint errupted season next year

Windsurfing Insufficient time has been spent enjoying th e pleasures of windsu rfing since our arrival in Sennelager. Our time has been spent doing other things, the majori ty of which have been of a military nature rather than leisure pursuits.

Living near t o Paderborn , where the waters from the Egge Hills form subterranean streams which are fo rced up into mor e t han 200 springs around Paderb o rn. it is not surpr ising that we are able to find adequate facilities for windsurfing.

One such locatio n is t he Lippesee, situated a few kilo­ metres beyond the main NAAFI shop in Sennelager Here the river Lippe flows th rough a large gravel works and provides a suitable stret ch of water.

Several weekends were spent bo ardsailing and credit must go to the two Tro op Leaders from C Squadro n who encouraged th eir soldie rs to come alo ng and have a laugh I Food was pro vided by the Master Cook and prepared ov er the Bar-BsOu e by Lt Uloth who produced mouthwater­ ing results,even if th e odd bratwurst was sprink led with sand.

To finish off the meal th ere was nothing bett er than a couple of beers co nsumed at t he nearby snack bar whilst soakingup the sun and watching the experts sail up and do wn.

Jwo uld like to t hink that club membership will improve in 1991 ; but with th e prospect of serving in the Gulf.that remains to be seen!

Sanderso n caught the highest number o f tr out this season, Capt KeLly caught the biggest tro ut from the lake and Lt Earl caught th e largest trout in the whol e of the area during th is fishing season.

The BAOR Coarse Fishing Competition took place in Hol­ land. LCoH O'Conn or and LSgt Chigney took part. LSgt Chig­ ney won more than one trophy. The team finals were held in Denmark. LCoH O'Co nno r's team came 10th o ut o f 100 teams and thu s walked away with the first cup o f t he season.

Lo cally LCoH O'Co nnor holds the Bream record of 360 kgs and has won 3 events outright.

Squash Since arriving in Germany squash has beco me po p ular within the Regiment Despit e having o nly on e court in Athlone Barracks the availability of equipment within the Squadrons and Regimental squash ladder has led t o an ever­ increasing number o f players.

The majo rity of our best players are however Senior NCO's and we are endeavo uring to fo rm a nucleus of youn g talent to replace the "Old Sweats". This appea rs to be not only th e case within the Regiment but wit hin the Royal Armoured Corp s.

It has been a good year for the team. They reached the semifinals of the RAC Inter Regimental Championships los­ ing o nly to the I 5/ 19th Hussars in a needle tight match. They eventually won t he competitio n. We also had a goo d win in the Pader bo rn Garrison Sports Day Knoc kout.

The Jnter Squadro n Squash sho uld pro ve very compe­ titive.

2 Lt Wheeler had a good year, representin g the Arm y under 25's and the Royal Arm oured Corps having won th e 3 Div Squash Champio nships.

2LT Wheeler

Fishing Sennelager and the surro unding lakes offer fly and coarse fishermen excellent facilities to enjoy what th ey love doi ng most ....

We have had competitive success from th e Officers' Hou se. The follo wing have performed particularly well : Capt

The Germans, despite having only discovered squash 5 years ago , have worked hard on development of the game and we are spo ilt with many local clubs.

It is our intentio n to join the Paderborn Squash League next seaso n as well as entering th e 3 Armd Div Squash Lea­ gue, sending individuals t o play in the multit ude of BAO R Tourn aments and th e Cum berland Cup League.

37

Skiing Whilst the Regiment was invo lved in moving to Germany we were lucky enou gh to have had a foot o n the ground with regard to skiing. With kind help of the 15 th/1 9th Hussars we managed to send some 40 so ldiers dow n to Bavaria for Exer­ cise Sno w Oueen.A ll co ncerned had a tremendous time and certainly go t amazing value for mone y Major Clarks chalet in Zerrnatt was utilised to the full o n many ski tri ps and an even lo nger perio d ove r the Easter Leave period. The route down to Zermatt became much publicised as the Audi Ouattro test route since both Major Clark and Captain Smythe -Osbourne owned one . Unfortu­ nately the latter's, blew up o n the way, causing much amuse­ ment to everyo ne but the ow ner!

This article is slightly unfortunate in that it co mes befo re the 1990/ 91 A rmy Seaso n in Verbier. Ho wever Lt Wheeler has put a lot of hard work into organisin g bo th a team and finals fo r the co ming seaso n. Repor ts o n the sno w this year are far better than were experienced last year, so the training and skiing in general sho uld be t remend ou s.

The most "unusual" skiing was undertaken by ten o fficers on R& R after Med icine Man 7. Having tried a typicall y Cana­ dian "Road Cruise" we steamed up to Banff, booked in to the Banff Spr ings Hotel and too k in a few coc ktails before ven­ turi ng o n to the slop es the next mo rning.

The first resort we went to was Sunshine Valley, a small resort about 20 minutes from Banff. The weather was not good, but it was an ideal day to limber up, and much fun was had by all. The next thr ee days were spent at Lake Louise - a bigger reso rt with good easy runs.The co nditio ns here were perfect. fabulous snow and the weathe r to go with it. It really was a fantastic way to recove r from an arduous exercise and certainly an experience that all conc erned wo uld recom­ mend to anyone else.

TUG OF WAR Sadly unlike previo us years it has not been a very eventfu l year due to commitments such as BATUS and Ope ration Granby.

Ho wever, after some training we were ready for the Garri­ son competition held at the Rhine Arm y Summer Sho w. We came four th in what was a very to ugh com petition.

This helped to pro duce an excellent int ersquadron tu g o f war, with B Squadron winning and HO Squadro n seco nd.

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The ShOOtiI1!j Team

38

Colditz Revisited Lieutenant Uloth and Surgeon Major O'Kane

"I'm sure tflere's Cl road wheel in my webbing somewhere" CoH Camp on maintenance

Bachelors at Fmilies Da y

This one's a waste of rations.

W02 Evans administering First Aid

30

Wnere's the AdjutClnt?

The

Year .

In

Pictures

LClnding a Big-Un! Tne TO and LCpl Daljnes

BOOI

29

TrooperTurner-The Real Thin g

The Mounted Souadron pulling its weight

The LAD Lads

31

Fl ying High Captain Ma d?enzie-Hill and a PathfinderOVl'r California

A Grandstand View WOl (RCM) Bel za

and the Souadron Coporai Ma jors

Captain Thorneycroft

32

LCpl Wood in the Bi g Country

W02 (SCM) Step{1enson

Bea ting Retreat in the Baltic

W02 (SCMI Holbrook recei ving orders fro m l1is Sauadron Leader

Crossing tl1e Stream

33

The Household Cavalry Musical Ride 1990

Captain Slater 011 HUI1 Li I1!Jdol1

El1d of the Day

34

Ranp has it privileges,

LCoH Poynter and SCpl lngram

.-\dopr iIl9 tfle Position

The Titans Meei

Soldiers at Sea on boa rd HM S Intrepid in Amsterdam

36

'Equitation The Regiment to ok over t he Rhine A rmy Sennelager Equestrian Centre (RA(S)EC) from the Blues and Ro yals in February 1990. The Blues and Royals had overseen the build­ ing and subsequent ope ning of t he centre in July 1989, wit h the assistance o f The Life Guards in th e fo rm o f the Riding Master, Stable Manager and Riding Instruct o r. They did a won derful jo b o f supp orting the Cent re right up to th e time they handed over.

From the start, The Life Guards have co ntinued stro ng support for the Cent re unde r the Riding Master,Capt Sander­ son . With th e magnificent facilities that th e Centre pro vides, the Regiment has been able to have co nside rable competi­ tio n success; there has also been keen sup po rt for the Weser Vale Hunt and a pleth o ra o f ridin g co urses fo r BFGpersonnel and dependents On the co mpe titio n front members o f the Regiment have done well with numero us prizes and creditab le rides. All the hunt er trials and show jumping competitions on the calendar were entered, with highlights being th e Verden Garriso n Hor se Show o n 19/ 20 May and th e Rhine A rmy Summer Show 15/16 / 17 June The o utstanding comp etito rs of the sea­ son were CoH MaxwelL who won the best Military Rider at the Rhine Ar my Summe r Show, Cpl Peers, W0 2 Whatley, Captains Ma hony, Kelly, Slater and Lt Uloth. Captain Slate r won th e best Officer rider, and Major And erson and Captain Slater wo n t he BAOR Hu nter Trial Pairs Com petition for the 1990 season.

Thirteen co urses have been laid out t his year for beginn­ ers th rou gh to co mpetition standard . These have been att ended by 78 military riders, 39 depen dents and 10 staff.

For anyone who might have do ubt ed it, this ho pefully shows that RA(SJEC has been a resou nding success in its first full year o f opera tio n.

Major CSK Anderson and Captain CR Slater with Kittiwake and Huntin gdon BOAR Pairs Cha mpions 1990, All in all, equitatio n wit hin the regiment has don e well, despit e the exigencies o f Op Granby It has been particu larly gratifying to see t he num ber o f soldi ers who have regularly supported t he indoor showjumpi ng circuit

Adventurous Training Our pro ximity to Bavaria op ens all sorts o f adv enturous training doo rs and in July 30 office rs, NCOs and troopers emba rked on a 12 day exercise near Obersdo rf o n the Ger­ man - Aust rian bord er.

The length o f the tr ip down depended o n wheth er you were lucky eno ugh to pile into a private vehicle o r travel by Land Rover or 4 Tonner. We all assemb led on t he evening o f Sunday 15th July in th e Royal Artill ery's mountain hut The accommoda tion was excellent, the hut having a per­ manent sta ff o f two who were highly qualified adventure training instruct ors, running such all exercises all year round.

We decid ed to split the team into five groups of six,o ne of which was to rock climb all week und er the expert tuition o f Bom bardi er Grapple,

The ot her gro ups rotated daily aro und hill walking, taken

by W02 Evans. CoH St eel, Lt Wheeler and LCoH Wells, cycl­ ing taken by Lt Earl and swimming by 2 Lt Rees-Davies.

The cable cars to ok some of the drudgery out of the hill walking which was or ganised prim arily by "Beastmaste r Wells who had recced a numbe r of routes including a two day ro ute with an ove rnight sto p in a mountain hut The only com municatio n was by foot, and if it hadn't been fo r the two gor geo us Au strian downhill skier chalet girls we would have had a pretty bo ring evening.

The cycling was very popular with ro utes o f up to 30 km daily. Its success depended very much on th e weat her which was very hot But just as the sun tans were developing and the sun wo rshipper, Lt Master to n, had used up his Fourth

39

The Comma nding Officer Visits an Adventurous Trai ning Exercise in Ba varia

Factor 0 Hawian Tropical Sun Oil bo ttle , the weathc and it became bitt erly co ld and wet The swimming revolved aro und a mountain lak. was refreshingly co ld to swim in, but the main attract the hiring of rowing bo ats in ord er to padd le aroun d t . ing the hor des o f sunbat hers in vario us states of ur: In the evening, th e tranquillity o f the sleepy out o f ~ . town of Obersdorf was shatt ered by us lettin g off st ~ various ways, especially at the Wine House where the welcomed o ur lesson s in how to dance. Tpr lames pert the headspin and backflip much to the delight o f the adr yo ung ladies.

We ended t he week with a day ou t in th e nearby l e Kempton, befor e travelling back to A thlo ne Barracks exercise was extremely successful, develo ping the sol adventure tr aining skills as well as being a welco me l: fro m Regimental Duty.

Weloo k for ward to 1991 with Exercise Snow Queen 5 duled to run fro m January to Ma rch.

The Weser Vale Hunt Master and Huntsman - Capt T E Thorneycroft It Masters - Maj C S K Anderson, Maj ) L Hewitt Whippers In - M rs lane Sande rson, Lt J D A Gaselee Capt N D Garrett Hon Secretary - Herr Horst Moog Kennel Huntsman - Tpr Gladston e It became quit e clear from the mo ment we arrived in Ger­ many that the Weser Vale Hound s co uld not operate any lon­ ger o n the syste m that has becom e well kno wn ove r the last 21years. Military co mmitments were threat ening to ruin the seaso n, financially the hunt was insolven t and we had lo st the co nfidence of many o f our valuable friends, bo t h English and German. It was ext remely sad to have to say goodbye t o Brian Watts, th e Hunt Secretary for th e last 20 years who has retired to live in Spain In his place we welcomed Herr Ho rst Moog, a lo yal and extremely resourceful friend who has added so me vital adm inistrative talent to the Hunt We targett ed the finance and houn d management as areas that needed attention. The variable cost o f keeping o ne hound was not dissimilar to that o f a pet dog: So we were intent o n decreasing costs whilst making ourselves an attractive pr op osition to people (both English and German) who wanted to hunt Work was start ed to find a bett er and cheaper feed, a grant to improve the kennels, bette r buil­ dings and mo re so lid lines, impr o ve th e discipline thr ou gh­ o ut the pack and indi vidual care o f the hounds.

With these clear aims in mind, we set to wo rk. Capt T E Tho rneycro ft as Master and Hunt sman, Capt N D Garrett,

40

The Meet at Heimatdorf, TrooperGladstone, Kennel Huntsman with the hounds

M rs lane Sanderson and Lt Gaselee as Whippers in and Tpr Gladstone as th e Kennel Huntsman We put two bitches into pup One t o a hou nd belonging to our friend Majoie in Holland and t he other to a smaller hou nd with the inte ntion o f breaking into the pet market The respon se was alarming, with all puppies so ld within two days o f adve rtising and a waiting list o f l 5 for the next litter.Puppies intended for the pack are all ou t at walk and without excep­ tion being very professiona lly cared for. We are very excited abo ut hunting them next season

· Our bill to th e Rhine A rmy Summer show was dou bled, not surprisingly as the Hounds took to the occasio n beauti­ fully and didn't put a "pad" wro ng! (I wish [ could say the same for th e Master and one o f the Whips I!).

Houn ds were also show n at Pony Club camps and th e Families' Day, recruitin g valuable friend s o n each occasion.

The Second in Command, retiringJoint Master, at the Boxing Dald Meet

We st ill need a system of fund raising that provides a year long income without being a oneo ff event (the uncertaint y o f know ing where th e Regiment was going to be 12 months hence prevente d us relying on specific occasions for in­ co me). We came up with the idea o f Hound adoptio n, which means that individuals are respo nsible for th e up keep charges o f a particular hou nd. The syst em is working espe­ cially well, entirely cove ring variable costs for an indefinit e perio d. We were winding our selves up to have an excellent system with guarantee d hunting thro ughout th e season, special co ncessions from the Sennelager Range autho rities to be able t o hunt at will over the Senne and so lid suppo rt fro m the Regiment. And t hen suddenly, as if by fate,that man Hussein decided to invade Kuwait. It is immaterial that he has drastically affected Western eco no my, but to ruin o ur Hunt­ ing was inexcusable ' The Ranges are out of bo unds (as t hey are being used 7 days a week to tr ain Granby troo ps) which means we are totally in the hands of farmers in th e Vale We cannot now plan a meet card But we were no t to be beaten. Ho unds are hunting twi ce a week and will remain so thr oughout th e sea­ so n. This act o f Hunt sabateurism had to be bro ught to task.

Majo r 1L Hewitt (Jt Field Master) decided to send his Squad­ ron to bring Hussein t o task and Captain T E Thorneycroft was sent to 4 Brigade. I doubt Hussein will tr y to invade any­ where again witho ut th inking carefully o f the repercussio ns resulting fro m upsetti ng th e WVH! We will be leaving th e Hound s in very capab le hands - Tpr Gladstone will carry the horn , Capt ND Garrett will cont inue to stand in as Master and Mrs lane Sanderso n is providing her invaluable help and advice. A t th e time o f writing this report , houn ds are in Eastern Germany for a weeks hunting ­ t his must be a first. We are hunti ng 6 '/2 couple.

Thus J am pleased to report that the Hunt co ntinues unaf­ fect ed and is o n th e crest o f a wave.

Pathfinder Platoon Having squeezed in 2 months skiing ov er Christmas I rejoin ed th e Pathfinders Platoon as it embarke d upon another frantic and eruoyable year The annual selection co urse ran smoothly through January and February with 6 new members joinin g the platoon (including LCoH Heath).

Shor tly afterwards, the platoon moved com plete to Belize for the annual jungle train ing package This includ ed live firing and many o ther aspects of advanced jungle warfare.The final exercises were both dema nding and rewarding. R&R saw peo ple o ff to N icaragua as well as the USA In June, 12 men flew to No rth Caro lina, USA, to part icipat e in an int ernation al "pat hfinding" com petition. Meanwhile, 4 o f

us began a 2 month att achment to 22 SAS. A fter extensive t raining at Hereford we flew to Malaysia to begin 6 more weeks o f jungle training. This package includ ed a 2 week trainin g pha se run by the New Zealand SAS. The final exer­ cise began imaginatively with Boat, Mo bility and Mounta in troops parachuting into the sea at night whilst Air Troo ps ut i­ lised their HAHO ability (High Altitude High O pening). All of the four targets were "taken out" slickly, c1inicaJ ly and most imp ressively!

R& R saw peopl e disappearing o ff all o ver Malaysia and Thailand (with a visit to an unkno wn litt le to wn called Bangko k).

41

· In Ju ne, o ur 12 man patro l return ed from Ireland having been att ached to 2 PARA's COP platoon for 6 months. They had many an int eresting sto ry to tell In Jul y we sent off a 12 man training t eam to Hong Ko ng t o instruct in all aspects of jungle warfare and urban warfare.

Meanwhil e o ne patrol began an instru ctor s course in Brunei with ano the r beginning an attac hment to a unit in Kenya.

The latter part o f th e year includ ed a numb er o f testing 5 Air bo rne Brigade exercises. Six sold iers also began their attachm ent to 59 Comm ando RE, due to deploy to Nor way in the New Year. Seven o thers are presently enjoyin g th eir HAHO parachuti ng course in California.

I believe that service with the Pathfinder Plato on is o ne of th e mos t fascinating, varied and rewarding military jobs on o ffer tod ay. As an example of variet y, on my most recent return to th e regiment I shall have served in 11 countries this year. In te rms of professio nal achievements, in the 5 years that the platoon has been estab lished, just o ne person has failed SAS selectio n. 22 SAS presentl y have 16 expathfinders. so service with the plat oo n can be consi dered an excellent st epping stone for those wishing to go that way.

The entra nce system fo r volunteers from t he Hou sehol d Division has excit ingly changed this year.The platoon is now able to accept totally unpara train ed so ldiers. (The old syste m meant th at it wo uld take anythin g up to 8 mo nth s befo re a Guardsman coul d attend the selectio n cadre.)This is a tremendou s step forw ard and it is hop ed that it will mean an increase in Househ ol d Division volu nteers - volu nt eers wishing to do o ne of the most exciting jo bs in today's Army.

REM.H.

Captain MacK enzie-Hill

Oxford University Officer ltaining Corps RAC ltoop This past year has been fruitful for th e troo p The trainin g has been of a high standard and eno rmously varied. Week­ end exercises with the Ferrets have taken place all o ver Salis­ bury Plain and Thetfo rd. embracing all aspects o f Armoured Reconnaissance.

In Mar ch, there was a live firing camp at Warcop in Cum­ bria, duri ng which an impr essive numb er o f targets were hit and an impressive amo unt o f vo lleyball played. The tro o p has also taken part in dismounted infantr y exercises, which was a shock to the system of those more used to the relative co mfo rt of a Ferret. The culminatio n of th e year's traini ng was, of cou rse, the inter Officer 'Training Corps co mp etitio n, Ex UTOPIAN VAGABOND , in which the Oxford R.A.C. 'Tro op came 3rd o ut o f 5 teams. The first 3 places spanned 5 points out o f a total o f 700, so it was a close run thing. Throughout th is peri od, t he Ferrets have been kept in supe rb condition

by Corporal Major McBrid e with the willing (and not so wil­ ling) help of vario us troo p members. This has ensured that a weekend exercise is not cut short and th e value o f th e train­ ing lost because o f cars that eternally break do wn.

42

A part fro m routine training, th ere have been nurnero r ext ra-curr icular activities. Members of the tr oop have visite Com bermere Barracks as guests of The Blues and Ro yals learning to drive Spartans and t o muck o ut stables. There was a visit in the summ er t o The Hou sehold Cavalry Mountec Regiment and, judging by the troop's Mess bill at th e end c . the afternoon, everyo ne had a terrific time. There have also been visits to RNAS Yeovilto n to pract ice escaping from upsidedo wn subme rged helicopters and six people attend ­ ed an 0 .1.C.Troop Leaders co urse at Bovin gton to learn the rope s. Many members o f the troop have also been to Sand­ hurst and successfully gained Territo rial Army Co mmissions.

Several former tr oop memb ers have even filtered through to the Househol d Cavalry and Ro yal A rmo ured Corps as Regu­ lar Officers.

On t he adventure t raining side, there have been several army sailing trips to th e Caribbean, expedition s to Kenya and a 230 mile trek in Canada earlier this summe r.

The troop parties have certainly not dimini shed in sta­ tur e,with everybody making the mo st of the hedonis tic stud­

ent life. Our annual dinner was an eno rmo us success and we were pleased to have Major General Barro n, Directo r o f the Ro yal Arm oure d Co rps, as the guest o f hon our The Troop also organised the o.rc Christmas Ball, when four hundred people att ended from the Co rps, University, Pol ytechnic and London University to celebrate the end of term.

The R.A C Troop co ntinues to thri ve with ov er sixty keen memb ers und er the guidance o f our Permanent Staff Ins­ truct o r, Cor por al Major McBride. The training is varied and interesting yet the tro o p still manages to enjoy itself socially.

In Oxford it is hard not to .

The Wives' Club The Regiment 's mo ve to Germany led, of necessity, to much increased activity in the Wives' Club in 1990. Witho ut family and civilian friends immediately to hand and finding themselves in strange surro undings. wives generally loo k to th e Regiment for suppo rt and co mpanions hip . In th e case of Sennelager, the Garriso n quartering arrangements scatte red us o ver a wide area, increasing the sense o f isolation for some.

Mr s Belza, with th e efficiency and dedication she dis­ played in Windsor, rose to meet this challenge by int ro ducing biweekly coffee mo rnings in addition to the tr aditi onal monthl y supper evenings. Transport cos ts placed an unpre­ cedented strain on the budget but Mrs Robertson 's valiant effo rts as Treasurer have kept the club solvent.

Mrs Belza and Mrs Anderson in the Christmas Spirit The formation of a ten strong committee proved invalu­ able as its members took on such tasks as manning the Garri­ son Thrift Shop , working wit h Homestart, a suppor t gro up for families in dist ress, and fostering - all duties required of us by the Garrison Headquart ers as o ne o f the major unit s here.

The efforts o f the committee also ensured that our door to door newsletter de livery service functioned efficiently It cer­ tainly proved its wo rth when the Adjutant was required to circulate the first Op Granby details t o th e families at a mom ent's noti ce with t he majori ty o f the Regiment already at BATUS. Mrs Slate r and M rs Lod ge rep resented th e Regiment's wives at the Federation o f A rmy Wives Conference in Biele-

Lieutenant Earl captivates the Wives

feld and M rs Anderso n's participation in the SAAFA Volun­ tary Committee and, toget her with the Familie s Officer, Capt Lawrence, in the NAA FI Customer Relations Comm ittee, has given us some input in th e running of t hose or ganisations.

But o ur year hasn't been entirely devoted to duty : there has been a lot of fun. The families pic nic and barbecue in th e kinde rgarden in July was enjoyed by all - and proved that prior trainin g is definitely required fo r success in the three­ legged race. The picnic pr o vided light relief while t he men were o n exercise at Soltau ,as did the coach trip t o Potts Park amusement park near Minden.

The Summer Dinner in A ugust, an innovation o f M rs Bel­ za's. drew a large crowd in the WOs' & NCOs' Mess and was much enjoyed, part icularly the slightly risque cabaret act. A move to have them repeat the show next door at t he Offi­ cers' Hou se for the benefit of th e Silver Stick, who was dining there, was vetoed by the WOs. A major highlight o f th e year was th e very successful Autumn Fashion Show in the revamped Junior Ranks Club, run in conjunctio n with th e 3 Ar mo ured Field Ambulance Wives' Club. More th an 200 wives from all units in the Garri­ so n were trea ted to a very pr ofessio nal sho w and Mrs Cross, Mrs Taylor and Mrs Gandar prov ed th ey co uld teach the cou­ ture houses a t hing o r tw o about modelli ng, as could th e th ree subalterns who bravely agreed t o add a tou ch o f machismo to the pro ceedings (Messrs Mastert on, Earl and Rees-Davies have insisted that th ey remain nameless in o rder to pro t ect th eir reputations ll.

As t he year winds to a close we have just enjoye d a spec­ tacular Christmas Dinner, comple t e wit h a visit from Father Christm as (could that have been the Pay Office's "0 " Grech behind the beard'r) The evening was a much needed fillip in the face of the Regiment's comm itments in the Gulf We move int o th e New Year with many changes ahead.

The January Wives' Club evening will be Mrs Belza's last in the chair. Hers will be a hard act to foll o w but Mrs Lodge is more than equal to th at task.We lo ok fo rward to welcoming Mrs de Ritter and the many other wives who will be joining us in Sennelager in 1991

43

'Former Service in the Middle East From ti me immemo rial t he Middle East has been a hotbed o f unrest, and dur ing the 11th and 13th centu ries cru­ sade rs were sent to the Ho ly Land.

Since the fo rmati on o f th e Stand ing A rmy after the Resto­ ration of King Charles 11, the Brit ish Army has had presence in the Midd le East in t imes of tro uble. But t he Life Guards, alt ho ugh th ey to ok part in all majo r campaigns in Europe, did no t participat e in t he Middle East until just over 100 years ago.

In 1882 th e Egypti an War was fou ght for th e co nt ro l o f th e Suez Canal and afte r the rio ts led by Arabi Pasha in Ju ne, whe n o ver one hund red Europeans were slaughtered, the Ro yal Navy bo mba rded Al exandria and a British For ce was assem bled to prote ct key points . A composit e Regiment of Household Cavalry with their horses (consisting of 1LG, 2LG and RHG) und er com mand o f Colo nel Ewart , 2 LG, was despatched t o Egypt and land ed in August 1882. A fter minor skirmis hes they t o ok part in the famous moonlight charge at Kassassin w hich com pletely shattered the enemy's infantry and a battery o f guns The assault o n the mai n enemy posi­ tion of Tel el Kebir followed by the dash of 39 miles to Cairo result ed in resto ring t he Khed ive back on his thro ne The co mposite regiment returned to England in October 1882.

In 1884 General Go rdon, the British Commander in Khar­ toum, was iso lat ed by the forces of t he Mah di, and a Heavy Camel Regim ent was formed, co nsist ing of detachments of 40 men fro m each of th e Cavalry Regiments stat io ned in England , under command of Colonel Hon RTalbot , I LG This regim ent sailed from England in Septe m ber 1884. On arrival in Egypt t hey were mounted on came ls and in Decemb er 1884 set o ut over the desert for Khartoum in the Souda n Al l went well until th ey reached th e wells at Abu Klea where they were atta cked at o dds of eight to o ne by a horde of dervishes who suffered very heavy casualties. The news was t hen

44

received o f the deat h o f Go rdon in Khart o um and the British Fo rce retr aced thei r steps and th e Heavy Camel Regiment returned to Englan in lune 1885.

The explo its of the Regim ent in the M iddle East during the Seco nd w orl d \ ar are fully do cumented in "The History o f the First Ho seho ld Cavalry Regiment" by Colone l Ho n E. H. wyndharn. b t briefly the vents are as follo ws : A composi e regim ent of Ho useho ld Cavalry, under com ­ mand o f Lt Co l E. 1. L 5 eel LG, was dispatched to Palestine \ ith their o rses in earl .' 1940. At the beginning of 19.41 they ga e up th eir horses and became a Motorised Cavalry Regi­ r ent and again in early 1942 rh y reo rganised t o form an A rmo ured Car Regimen t In the ir varie d ro les they served wi distinction in ' he , liddle East unt il they em barked at the beginn g o 19J..! 'o r parti cipat io n in the Italia n campa ign. By their adaptabilin in successfully changing roles, the mem b­ e s o, the Regimen o nce again d isplayed th e same versatility a eir fa ebear in the First World War in France and Fland ­ ers. For ~ h eiJ service in the Middle East t hey were awarded the Ba. " Ho no urs of Iraq 1941, Palrnyra, Syria 1941, El lamein o rth frica l 942/4 3, and the Honorary Distinction o -Ba ." -d In I - 6, The Ufe Guards moved from Germany to Egypt an . a. er se ce in Ale xand ria, Cairo and th e Canal Zone, the. m \"E'd' to Palestine until 1948 when they retu rned t o England Fro m I - - ' 0 19 56 the Regiment was stat ion ed in the Canal Zo ne 0' Eg. p: ith de aehments being sent to Aden and Cyprus In 19- a the Oma . ::: t he United , " r Force. Since then sq uadro ns of the Regi­ ment have be . etac eel on everal o ccasio ns for service with the U ned - "~" f a ce in Cyp rus

OBITUARIES

Colonel E JSWard LVO, MC Died 13 November 1990, aged 81 years Served January 1950 to March 1956

294627 Tpr F C Evans Died 6 Septemner 1990, aged 80 years Served I September 1939 to 4 January 1946

Surg Lt Col R J 0 Smith Died October 1990, aged 55 years Served 15 January 1980 to 15 August 1983

295lIJ Tpr G E Gasson Died 18 January 1990, aged 71 years Served ]9 September 1946 to 16 April 1952

294756 Tpr H T Alien Died 27 October 1990, aged 80 years served 23 April 1929 to 21 March 1937 and I September 1939 to 12 October ]945

22205629 Cpl R W T Hoggson Died 6 November 1990, aged 62 years served 7 December 1950 to 14 September J964

4200 T Batley Died 1990 age unknown served 26 November 1915 to 1 March 1919 294242 Trp P BirtwistJe Died 24 February 1990, age 96 years Served 23 October 1914 to II October 1922 299547 Tptr G E Boormann Died 10 May 1990, aged 80 years Served 28 January 1925 to 28 July 1931

22556584 Musn 0 N Johnson Died 27 May 1990, aged 54 years Served 5 January 1954 to 20 December 1956 329428 Tpr W J Lindsay Died 27 May J990, aged 76 years Served 22 April 1940 to 27 September 1945 294789 CoH G E Melior Died 17 February 1990, aged 79 years Served 8 October 1929 to 7 October 1971

296554 W02 W E Bammer Died 16 August 1990, aged 72 years Served I Dezember 1944 to 30 November 1966

299498 Coh W JPatience Die 15 October 1989, aged 86 years Served 11 October 1921 to 10 October 1929 and 10 October 1933 to 1 August 1945

299542 Tpr W H Branch Dies 12 September 1990, aged 84 years Served 14 July 1924 to 1 May 1928

329727 Tpr H Turvey Died Sptember 1989, aged 89 years Served 15 August 1940 to 15 l\pril 1944

5958837 J Booth Died 12 May 1989, aged 68 years Served 31 lanuary 1942 to 29 July 1946

21000149 CoH R G L Wright Died 19 January 1990, aged 60 years Served 21 January 1948 to 24 September 1956

4010 S E Butler Died J2 July 1990, aged 93 years Served 10 December 1915 to 3J March 1920

47

Obituary Trooper N J Baker, late The Life Guards Neil Baker was born in 1968 and joined the Army in the sum­ mer of 1985. After spending time at the Guards Depot as a Junior Recruit, he was posted to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment where he completed the riding course and passed out as a Mounted Dutyman. He spent two years at Knights­ bridge, where he was a most popular member of the Regi­ ment He was always well turned out and loved the horses and his days as a Mounted Dutyman He was posted to Windsor and became a CVR(T) driver. He con­ tinued his skills as a driver when the Regiment moved to Cer­

299518 SOMe R SARGEANT

Recently a former member of the 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment visited the War Cemetery at Nijmegen and took this photograph of the grave of SOMC Sargeant who was kil­ led at Nijmegen on 26th September 1944. "Sandy" was born in 1902 and joined The Life Guards in Ianuary ]923 and at the time of his death was SOMC of ''0'' Squadron, 2 HCR.

48

many and looked after his tank with the same discipline and professionalism as he did his horse. During his time in Ath­ lone Barracks he also looked after the Squadron Leader and was an excellent and loyal orderly Sadly, in August 1990 when he returned to England for some summer leave, he was involved in a tragic driving acci­ dent and was killed instantly His death came as a dreadful shock to the Regiment and he leaves behind him many friends who remember him as a loyal Life Guard. Our deepest sympathy goes to his mother and family

NOMINAL ROLLS HEADQUARTERS SQUADRON RHQ Lt Col JWM Ellery Maj CSK Anderson Capt HM Robertson Ca pt NO Garrett Capt JDR Cox Capt R Hennesy-Walsh Capt TE Thorneycroft W01 (RCM) AJ Belza SCpl Jenkins SCpl Valentine CoH Hearn CoH Margan CoH Yarrow LCoH Poynter LCoH Stewart LCoH Tovell LCpl Benge LCpl Binks LCpl Davidson LCpl Stewart Tpr Clarvell Tpr Cole Tpr Jones

Orderly Room W02 (OROMC) Smith CoH Prrce LCoH Coker LCoH Lugg LCoH Gollings LCoH West LCpl Horne LCpl Molyueux Ipr Lavers Tpr Maher

Pay Office Capt JRJ Sernberg W02 (SnMS) Grech W02 (SOMS) Wall Sgt Clay Cpl Watson LCpl Askin Pte Fox

LCoH Dunn LCoH Risbridger LCplDevlin LCpl Hodder LCpl McCullough LCpl Taylor LCpl Wood Tpr Bennett Tpr Ellison Tpr Holloway Tpr Holmes Tpr Martin Tpr O'Hare Tpr Prest Tpr Robertson Tpr Royston Tpr Streeter Tpr Vost Tpr Wilson

Quartermasters Dept Capt (OM) CR Slater W02 (R0MC) Lodge W02 Whatley LCoH Hardacre LCoH O'Hare LCoH Sharples LCoH Taft LCpl Thompson Tpr Clarke Tpr .Jousifte Tpr Usher

Quartermasters Equipment Dept Capt (0M) IW Kelly W02 (ROMC) Powell SCpl Steele CoH Cross LCoH Ford LCoH Hadden LCoH Smith Tpr Chubb Tpr Colbert Tpr Collier Tpr Oxtoby

MTTroop

SCpl Evans LCoH McAlpine

W02 Collins CoH Rigby LCoH Cumming Tpr Howard

Squadron HQ

Families Office

Maj RRD Griffin W02 (SCM) RJH Stephenson LCoH Barugh LCoH Patterson LCoH Squires Tpr Hoare Tpr Moore

Capt R Lawrence CoH Melior RHG/D

Training Wing

Echelon Troop SCpl (SOMC) Jordan LCpl Toft Tpr Few Tpr Alien

Dog Handlers CoH Parsley Tpr Bromlield Tpr Greenhough Tpr Haynes Tpr Lace

Gymnasium W02 (0MSI) Corfield

Officers' Mess W02 Fry LCoH O'Connor Tpr Davies

WOs' & NCOs' Mess CoH Robertson LCoH Rosbourgh

Medical Centre Surg Maj CAJ O'Kane LCoH Thawley

Hounds Tpr Gladstone

Recce Troop Lt Hanson CoH Coles LCoH Coleman

56

Stables Capt I Sanderson Sgt Bell (RAVC)

LCoH Wellor LCpl Gynane LCpl Thompson FTpr Newman Tpr Cock Tpr Jenkin Tpr McMinn

Catering Staff W02 (S0MS) Brown Sgt Jarman SgtNutt LSgt Addison LSgt Armstrong LSgt Ashton LSgt Ball LCpl Brooks LCpl Creswell LCplDawes LCpl How LCpl Wright Pte Brydson

LAD Staff Ca pt DNJ Ansell W01 (ASM) A R vvmspeare W02 (AOMS) Swirles W02 (A0MS) Deely SSgtLutton SSgt Wlnnard Sgt Birrell Sgt Bradbury Sgt Humphrres SgtScott Sgt Turner LSgt Anderson LSgtBeany LSgtBrrggs LSgt Chapman LSgt Coleman LSgt Francis LSgt Gomm LSgt McCartney LSgt Rogers LCpl Burdett LCpl Fell LCpl Grinnell LCpl Measor LCpl Moore LCpl Palfrey LCpl Tervet RCT LCpl Turnbull LCpl Richards LCpl Webber Cln Burns Cln Browning Cln Davies Cln Davis Cln Duncan Cln Flower Cln Goble Cln Kilminster Cln Lynch Cln Richardson Cln Roper Cln Whitmell A SQUADRON Squadron HQ Maj JL Hewrtt Capt RAE Tarling Lt RE MacKenzie-Hili Lt TJFC Masterton W02 (SCM) Evans SCpl Gratton CoH Barry CoH Roberts LCpl Auld LCpl Bebblngton

LCpl Clubley LCpl Hepple LCpl Vaughan Tpr Barratt Tpr Carney Tpr Doyle Tpr Garrad Tpr Hammond Tpr Mather Tpr Murgatroyd Tpr Ravenscroft Tpr Rees Tpr Stafford Tpr Wailer

One Troop 2Lt JDA Gaselee CoH Jeram LCoH Carter LCoH O'Connor Tpr Brown 144 Tpr Cornock Tpr Exley Tpr Fletcher Tpr Henderson Tpr Horrocks Tpr Horvath Tpr Smith 862

Two Troop 2Lt RPG German CoH Nicholson LCoH Douglas LCpl Griffin LCpl Larmouth LCpl Pellett Tpr Abraham Tpr Beaumont Tpr Bickerdike Tpr Couling Tpr Croucher Tpr Fitzgerald

Tpr Green Tpr Herrero-Driver Tpr Hodge Tpr Hopkins Tpr Mahony Tpr Marsh Tpr Mullins Tpr Pietruszko Tpr 0uartley Tpr S~uire Tpr Stokoe Tpr Taylor Tpr Tomlin

LAD Section SSgtHeywood Sgt Greaves Sgt Needham LSgt Chapman LSgt Chidgey LSgt Morrey LSgt Segar LCpl Browne LCpl Curry LCpl Martin LCpl Morris 203 LCpl Morris 51'" Cln Bamlord Cln Brentley Cln Carr Cln Chamberlain Cln Evans Cln Farrand Cln Mackie Cln McKeown Cln Smith

B SQUADRON SQuadron HQ

2Lt J Wheeler CoH Camp LCoH Wells LCpl Brrght l.Cpllrwin LCpl Roberts Tpr Bowden Tpr Davls Tpr Plant Tpr Simpson Tpr Willlams Tpr Wilson

Maj GGE Stibbe Capt JAW Astor Capt DJG Mahony W02 (SCM) Holbrook CoH Bradley CoH Kelland LCoH Postance LCpl Addis LCpl Butler LCpl Nunn LCpl Wibberley Tpr Bell Tpr Fitzmaurice Tpr Goddard Tpr Nixon Tpr McCartney Tpr Watkins

Four Troop

One Troop

2Lt DCG London CoH Godson LCoH Lowe LCoH Smith Tpr Camngton Tpr Cochrane Tpr Docherty Tpr Gallagher Tpr Huxley Tpr James Tpr Parr Tpr Penn

2Lt TEG Kenyon CoH Bellringer LCoH Brown LCoH Wills LCpl Farrimond LCpl Paternotte LCpl Stephens Tpr Clough Tpr Hadley Tpr Rogers Tpr Rookyard Tpr Shipp Tpr Wilkinson Tpr Zollino

Three Troop

Echelon Troop SCpl (S0MC) Orrruston CoH Steed LCoH Srnithers LCpl Gandar LCpl Redhead Tpr Bridges Tpr Clancy

Two Troop SCpl Lindsay CoH Dangerfield LCoH Reade LCpl Brooke LCpl Holden

L:Cpl McGregor Tpr Bowen Tpr Forsdick Tpr Gregson Tpr Grimshaw Tpr Latham Tpr Pickard Three Troop 2Lt MRE Graves CoH Newton LCoH Byrne LCoH Grantham LCpl Gray LCpl Hayes Tpr Close Tpr Cordwell Tpr Hanson Tpr Jukes Tpr Marsh Tpr Marsh Tpr McBeth Tpr Osborne Four Troop 2Lt SJ Rhodes-Stampa LCoH Hunter LCoh Flynn LCoH Stillwell LCpl Brown LCpl Hammond Tpr Bishop Tpr Cannell Tpr Canning Tpr Edisbury Tpr Scott Tpr Sherman Tpr Smith 269 Tpr Sr uires Echelon Troop SCpl (SOMC) Windebank LCoH Ablott LCpl Stevens Tpr Burns Tpr Calvert Tpr Cox Tpr Hearn Tpr Rudge Tpr Turnbull LAD Section SSgt Hopkins LSgt Phillips LSgt Vincent LCpl Pate Cln Butler C SQUADRON Squadron HQ Maj WSG Doughty Ca pt JDR Cox Capt EA Smyth-Osbourne 2Lt The Hon RC Assheton W02 (SCM) Carter CoH Wragg LCoH Barratt LCoH Deans LCpl Conway LCpl Daynes LCpl Fisher LCpl Hitchcock Lcpl Humpage LCpl Mansbridge LCpl McMillan Tpr French Tpr Ward One Troop SCpllngram CoH Kidd LCoH Dixon LCpl Chapman

Tpr Archdale Tpr Banks Tpr Camp Tpr Chubb Tpr Greenhough Tpr Mattison Tpr Smith 981 Tpr Townsend Tpr Wilson Tpr Winter Two Troop 2Lt PGR Earl CoH Hickman LCoH Goodwin LCoH Richards LCpl Curson LCpl McLiesh LCpl Vernon LCpl Whiteside Tpr Buscombe Tpr Galvin Tpr Morgan Tpr Shaw Tpr Tyler Tpr Wood Three Troop 2Lt RA Bramford CoH Norcombe LCoH Knowles LCoH Stevenson LCpl Crawley LCpl George Tpr Bishop Tpr Cullen Tpr Dawson Tpr Fry Tpr Hamilton Tpr Lavallin Tpr Reld Tpr Smith 681 Tpr Thwaites Four Troop 2Lt M Rees-Davies CoH Kitching LCoH O'Sullivan LCpl Dean LCpl Matthews LCpl Wallis Tpr Brown 4 "l2 Tpr Denker Tpr Derbyshire Tpr Ellis Tpr Hitchings Tpr Hood Tpr Lambert Tpr McKinnon Tpr Meek Tpr Taylor Echelon Troop SCpl (SiJMC) Lewis LCoH Frampton RHG/D LCpl Swinburne Tpr Buckley Tpr Churms Tpr Ford Tpr North Tpr Thomas

HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY MOUNTED REGIMENT RHQ W02 (OWlMC) Carrington LCoH Hale LCpl Clarke Quatertmasters Dept W02 (RiJMC) GIlbert CoH Goodchild CoH Tinkler LCoH Hatcher LCoH Everett LCpl Beel Tpr Nelson Tpr Bacon Officers' Mess CoH Meredith Tpr Alien

SSgt Paul Sgt Kingdom SgtScott LSgt Haile LSgt Malloch LSgt Reynard LCpl Clelland LCpl Taylor Cln Bramwell Cln Forster

Tpr Rutter Tpr Smith 77" Tpr Still Tpr Stone Tpr Suss-Franksen Tpr Wyard

THE LIFE GUARDS MOUNTED SQUADRON

Lt AC Ogden CoH Alien CoH Darley CoH Pringle LCoH Hughes LCoH Irving LCoH Walker LCpl Barlett LCpl Gilbert LCpl Hughes LCpl Llewelyn LCpl Long LCpl MacDonald LCpl Slingsby Tpr Dunn Tpr Edwards 265 Tpr Finnigan Tpr Hunt Tpr Kennedy Tpr Leggett Tpr Martin Tpr Mortlock Tpr Moxom Tpr Negus Tpr Nilsen Tpr Obeney Tpr Oliver Tpr Parkes Tpr Royston Tpr Shearman Tpr Tennant Tpr Wade Tpr Walker 6~1 Tpr Wilkinson Tpr Williams Tpr Wright

Squadron HQ Maj The Hon MRM Watson Capt PL Harris W02 (SCM) Ritchie SCpl (SOMC) McDermott LCpl Sims Tpr Edwards Tpr Ingham Tpr Plimmer Tpr Reece One Troop

Squadron HQ

Lt HRD Fullerton CoH Fletcher CoH Worrall LCoH Bridges LCoH Carey LCoH Core LCoH Peers LCpl Gardner LCpl Maxwell LCpl Sanderson Tpr Creed Tpr Daniels Tpr Grosvener Tpr Hulse Tpr Le Gallais Tpr MacKenzie Tpr MacLeod Tpr McDougal1 Tpr Mount Tpr Newell Tpr Nuttall Tpr Parkinson Tpr Payne Tpr Pearson Tpr Rogers Tpr Roy Tpr Smith 882 Tpr Stafford Tpr Tay/or Tpr Walker 638 Tpr Weston Tpr Wyborn

LCpl Yeomans

Two Troop

Riding Staff

Lt RBA Maddan CoH Oldman CoH Tierney LCoH Hubble LCoH Knowles LCpl Bonner LCpl Brown LCpl Hatcher LCpl Heaton Tpr Allum Tpr Amos Tpr Bainbridge Tpr Brown Tpr Chambers Tpr Clare Tpr Doga Tpr Fenwick Tpr Goater Tpr Goodman Tpr Hammond TprJacobs Tpr Lindsay Tpr McClelland Tpr McDowel1 Tpr McTigue Tpr Moore Tpr Rimmington

WOs' & NCOs' Mess LCpl Bandy MT Troop CoH Davies LCpl Pitt LCpl Smith Tpr Fowler Tpr Boardman Tailors Shop LCoH Evans LCoH Button LCpl Watson Saddlers Shop SCpl Castlelow CoH Mills Tpr Pope Forge FLCoH Jenkins FLCoH Wright FLCpl Thomas Farr Adcock Farr Bartlett Farr Bundy Farr Newman Farr Smith Farr Hiley

Ca pt B J McKie CoH Mills CoH Waygood LCoH Avison Training Wing CoH Burns LCoH Bell Medical Centre LCoH Tanner Tpr Steele Archives

LAD Section

Tpr Preston Tpr Hunt Tpr McLelland Tpr Riddhough Tpr Tiffoney Tpr Lewis Tor Leaver

CoH Kallaste LCoH Orchard Riders Wing LCoH Cripps Tpr Doncaster Tpr Eggington Tpr Hillier Tpr Lawson Tpr Pettipher Tpr McCauley

Three Troop

HCMR Held Strength Lt Col CS Harcourt-Smith Ca pt BJ McKie BAND Capt Cel Reeves W02 (BCM) Morris W02 (ABCM) Bourne SCpl (SOMC) Alien SCpl Hopkins CoH (TM) Graves CoH Poland CoH Woodhouse CoH Young LCoH Bole LCoH Dutton LCoH Gook LCoH Lazenbury LCoH Pankhurst LCoH White LCpl Alien LCpl Bolstridge LCpl Carson LCpl Goodchild LCpl Morrish LCpl Pearson LCpl Wilman Tptr Corney Musn Field Musn Hudson Musn Maher Musn Rayner Musn Rowe Musn Semkin Musn Shirley Musn Slott Musn Taylor Musn Walsh Musn Wheeler

57

PERSONNEL AT

RACCEN

HQ HCav

HQ NEDIST

HQ NDIST

ERE POSTS

Lt JC Cruddace

Maj PRL Hunter Tpr Hurst

CoH Craister

CoH Moore

2RTR

ATDU

CoH Tate

5 AB Bde

LCoH Howie

CoH O'Niell

5 Cadet Trg Team

Capt CN Mitford-Slade LCoH Heath

ACDS SCpl Tornkins

RAC Trg Regt CoH Maksymiw

Army Dog Unit ((NI)RAVC)

SC Camberly

LCoH Kingston

Lt Col AP De Ritter

Officers Senior to the Regimental List Maj Gen SC Cooper Brig ABSH Gooch Brig JB Emson CBE Col TJ Earl Guards Depot Maj JD Knowles Capt AJ Mead Lt GC Davies Lt HD Fircks W02 Bryne CoH Derbyshire CoH Mackay CoH O'Flaherty CoH Wise LCoH Harlow LCoH Jackson LCoH Jacobi LCoH Parkinson LCoH Shipton LCoH Warren LCpl Beech LCpl Hoon Tpr Stand lake Household Cavalry & RAC MRO SCpl Beck

RAC Gunnery School

CoH Stanworth

LCoH Davidson

Oxford University OTC 2Lt GW Howson W02 McBnde

Batt Lesotho

Staff College

RMCS Shrivenham

HQAFSOUTH

Capt HD Dyson

W01 McKenzie

Lt Col PSWF Falkner

HQ LONDIST

AODO W01 Radford

QOMY Ma] J R Bayley

RADRE Chertsey LCoH Knight

AAC Centre Capt ,IDA Dagliesh

JLR Bovington

W02 Flory RAVC Trg Centre W02 Jones W02 Burns CoH Hayes RHKR(V) Hong Kong W01 CP Bunyan 664 Sqn AAC CoH Wilde RWxY W01 Lowry

Lt Col LA Lumb Ma) The Hon NJ Adderley Ma) CN Graham Capt EDJ Goodchild Capt Cl Ley DLOY Mal IS Forbes-Cockell 1 Gp RAF Maj DC Waterhouse

RV

Berlin HQ

W02 Jones CoH O'Daly CoH Renshaw CoH Shone Tpr Jacobs

Mal J Leighton DisAE Maj HSJ Scott

Recruiting Team SCpl Clarke BEM

RMAS

RAC Sigs School CoH Whittaker

Capt MC Van Der Lande SCpl Gaunt

Princes Marina College CoH Blowey

RAC Sales Team CoH Maunder

oc" ~NIMJ\{ p.

;:,~

HOME OF

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SUPER MOLIMIX THE U.K. LEADER IN MANUFACTURING HIGH ROUGHAGE HORSE FEEDS

WISH TO EXPAND IN EUROPE AND ARE LOOKING FOR MAIN DISTRIBUTORS IF IT DOESN'T SAY YOLlNGS ON THE BAG IT IS NOT SUPER MOll CHOP OR SUPERMOLlMIX YOUNGS ANIMAL FEEDS, BRACKEN BARN, SOMERFORD CONGLETON, GHESHIRE CW 12 HBR

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58

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