this there was a record turnout at the Comrades” Dinner. It is hoped that [this record will be well and truly beaten this year and that more pre—war oflicers will be able to come. There was a good turnout as well the next day at Cavalry Sunday.
this farm accounts now show a serious loss of milk and :trout, thanks to their gluttony) and then carried out live firing and battle runs on Castle Martin Ranges.
On our return to Windsor we found we were almost outnumbered by 160 men of The King’s Troop R.H.A., plus other Visitors from all over the place, who had come for the Windsor Horse Show. The Show was as good as ever in spite of being washed out on the last night. Our band covered themselves in glory which perhaps made up in part
This left the barracks very empty, and as usual this was the time when everyone wanted lots done. In the Recruiting world we visited Middlesex, Dagenham, Liverpool and Guildford, and we lent our vehicles to practically every Cavalry Regiment for their recruiting teams to use. They all came back, plastered with weird slogans, but none the
for missing their trip to EXPO ’67 in Canada, which was cancelled at the last minute. We bade farewell to Lieutenant—Colonel R. M. F. Redgrave, M.C., the Officers giving a ball in the Mess, decorated with figures borrowed from Pinewood Studios, which was a good final fling for him. He handed over officially on 19th May at a Farewell Parade. On 26th May a Welcoming Parade was held for Lieutenant-Colonel M. A. Q. Darley. Other Officer change overs at the same time affected the L.A.D. and the hospital, Captain Dunlop replacing Captain Lucas, as E.M.E., Major Page replacing Major Charter, as R.M.O., and after 30 years” distinguished service Major (Q.M.) Coles, retired and was replaced as T.Q.M.
by Captain (Q.M.) Price. On 5th January the Oflicers’ Club Dinner was held in London, and the same day “A” Squadron Advance Party departed for Cyprus. “C” Squadron set off for Wales later in the month, stopping with the Adjutant at Crickhowell
worse. On 25th June, a day on which the heavens opened, we welcomed a large number of Old Comrades at Windsor. Although the wet weather programme appeared to consist of packing more and more tightly into the bars, we did manage to complete the Church Parade before the downpour, and we hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as their hosts. In July we practiced packing ourselves into our vehicles in preparation for a quick move by air. Now that at last the R.A.F. have enough aircraft to move us all it seems that there is nowhere to go! The other complication, as usual, is the Officers’ Mess Landrover. This is naturally a very high priority vehicle, but we still have not found the correct balance between the payload and the number of Mess waiters, heavily armed, necessary for its protection. They just do not all fit in. A Tactical Cadre Course was held for the Car Commanders. Both sides
Directing Staff and pupils retired exhausted at the end, but convinced they had won. Our Sports Day on the 12th July suffered from a lack of competition with “A” Squadron away and no records fell. The Commanding Officer managed to get a ride to his old haunts in Cyprus in August to visit “A” Squadron, but otherwise it was a very quiet month. “C“ Squadron joined the crowds of soldiers milling about on Salisbury Plain for a short while. They were visited by the G.O.C. 3rd Division Major General Deane Drummond, under whose command we came more firmly than ever at the end of July, as all our links with London District save Barrack Administration have technically been severed. However, we still keep in touch with our old friends at Whitehall from time to time. One never knows, they might have something to contribute to our welfare from time to time, and if we stopped talking to them they might all fall asleep. On the lst September we had an unusual wireless exercise, providing the communications for the “Daily Telegraph” Golden Horse Shoe 50-mi1e ride near Brighton. Some of the riders looked a little sore towards the end, but we did not lose any. The rest of the month was taken up on Salisbury Plain and in East Anglia getting ready for the big Autumn Exercise “Overdale”, which was held in the Eifel Mountains in Germany. It is described in detail elsewhere. The best points of this exercise were the glorious weather and lovely country side, very different from the North German Plain. On our return, we settled down for individual training until Christmas. The Adjutant and Second in Command changed over. Captain Legge Bourke made good his escape from both his Adjutantal and his Editorial
Desks (he is much missed in the latter) being replaced by Captain Parker Bowles, and Major Lane Fox went to Paris as A.M.A. while Major Eyre took his place. The Colonel took the Salute at Remembrance Sunday after reading the lesson for us in Church on 12th November. On the 15th November the officers bade a sad and very grateful farewell to S.Q.M.C. Young, who ran the Officers’ Mess impeccably for so many years. After weeks of rumour, on 23rd November the Colonel came down to announce our amalgamation. After all the threats of resignation and general excitement the event proved far less terrible than anticipated and everyone realised that we were very lucky to have such splendid future comrades as the Royals. Both ourselves and the Household Brigade will be strengthened by this infusion. From what we have seen of the Royals so far they definitely have the same outlook on life. Most of us are also reconciled to a change from armoured cars to tanks for a spell, particularly as we will have Chieftains. While you cannot use them to visit all the places one would wish, at least you travel in comfort with unlimited kit, or so they say! The year wended its way to a happy close (in spite of 190 RE. Tests under Q.M.S.I. Perry) with the return of “A" Squadron, who had done a very good tour in Cyprus, and in spite of the Breathalyser We had a Merry Christmas. Before our blood became too diluted, the local Blood Bank descended on us and took away some twenty gallons, leaving us ashen faced and prostrate. Brigadier the Marquess Douro, now a civilian, visited us, as did Colonel E. J. S. Ward. We are looking forward, in conjunction with our Old Comrades, to making our last year our best one.
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R.Q.M.C. Swann— Blood out of a stone
The Doctor takes the field
“C” Squadron outside “5” Page l3