THE CRA TSMAN - REME Museum€¦ · THE CRA TSMAN. Contents Editor: ... he Army is leaving...

June 2015

Magazine of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

THE CRA TSMAN

ContentsEditor: Allison Woolley+ The Craftsman, Box No 075, Isaac Newton Road, Arborfield, Reading RG2 9NJ(Mil: 94251 2221 or Civ: 0118 9763221 [email protected]

Articles:Please email submissions in Microsoft Word format,together with related photographs to:[email protected]. Digital imagesshould be: in JPEG format; at least 1mb; kept separate(not embedded within the article) and supplied with acaption. Articles should arrive no later than 25th day of themonth which is two months preceding the month ofpublication (eg 25th June for August). Publication ofarticles is subject to space available and the Editorreserves the right to delay/delete articles forpublishing. Permission to reproduce must be obtainedto avoid infringement of copyright where necessary.

Births, Engagements, Marriages and Deaths:These will be inserted free to all past and presentmembers of the Corps.

Contents:The contents of The Craftsman are strictly copyright andall rights are expressly reserved. The views expressedherein do not necessarily reflect the policy and views,official or otherwise, of the Editor, the Corps or theMOD, therefore no responsibility for these will beaccepted. Whilst including an advertisement we are notnecessarily endorsing the product and as a result, thepublisher and its agents do not accept responsibility forany transaction between the reader and the advertiser.Whilst we take all precautions with regard toadvertising, readers are advised to take professionaladvice before entering into any commitments.Letters concerning reproduction, contributions or anyother matter should be addressed to the Editor.

© Published by REME Corps Secretariat.

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© Crown CopyrightAnnual Subscription Rates:UK: £24.00 2nd class post paid.Overseas: £30.00 surface post paid.Airmail rates on applicationCheques should be made payable to REME Corps Account No 2. Credit/debit card payments also now accepted by telephone or email.

General Handling:This publication contains official information andshould be treated with discretion.

FEATURES

Defence Engagement: A Year Advising the UPDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256Combat Service Support Trials & Development Unit (CSS TDU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259Visit of DCLF Maj Gen RRI Munro CBE TD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261Life in 106 Battalion REME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262Profiles: 101 Battalion REME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265Col REME Visits 1 Mercian LAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268The Last Big Bash – REME Museum’s Final Event in Arborfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272REME Association Reunion 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276A Recovery Mechanics Route to Professional Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288Professional Development Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289Visit of MG REME to REME Soldier Wing APC Glasgow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289Silver Competition Bennington Carriage and Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290

REGULARS

Defence Technical Training Change Programme June 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253Corps Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253REME Association: South Australia Branch Attend ANZAC March . . . . . . . . . . . .279REME Benevolent Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289Communication Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292London Gazette; Death Notices; Officers Assignments; Concert . . . . . . . . . . . . .294Notices; Where Are You Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295

SPORT AND ADVENTUROUS TRAINING

Diamond Canyon Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269Mercury Snow Rider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280REME Women’s FC Retain the Edwards Challenge Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281REME Inter Corps Badminton Champions 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282Strong Soldier Championships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283

OPERATIONS AND EXERCISES

Operation Herrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .254Exercise Grouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266

JUNE 2015 Volume 71 No. 6

Front Cover:Diamond

Canyon Trail

Back cover:Defence

Engagement:UPDF

Corps Formation: 1 October 1942

Corps Motto: Arte et Marte

Corps Patron Saint: St Eligius

(Celebrated 1st Sunday in December)

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254 Op Herrick

261 CSS TDU

262 Life in 106 Bn

272 The Last Big Bash

266 Exercise Grouse

276 REME Association Annual Reunion

281 REME Women’s FC

283 Strong Soldier

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Defence TechnicalTraining Change

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COUNTDOWNTO

LYNEHAMMONTHS5

J U N E 2 0 1 5This will be my last article in The Craftsman updating youon the move of the Corps to Lyneham. The timelines forsubmissions to the magazine mean that I would write thearticle for August in June. By the time it was published itwould be overtaken by events with some of you already inLyneham. Rest assured that the passage of information willnot cease, the Corps Communications Manager will ensurethat all relevant information and regular updates are avail-able on social media platforms. The facebook page can befound at www.facebook.com/REMECorps and the twitterhandle is @Official_REME.Looking to the future we, the military, expect to take own-

ership of the Lyneham site towards the end of July, con-struction will not be complete at that time and there will besome negotiation required to agree how the final works willbe completed around us. Simultaneously accommodationstores will be arriving and the ‘state of the art’ wireless net-work known as LEARN will be commissioned.The build-up of troops will commence from early August,

slowly at first with a more rapid influx from Septemberthrough to early November. On 5 October 2015, DSEME willachieve Interim Operating Capability, ie they will be deliv-ering training. As you read this (1 June) that is only around127 days away.Engineers love facts and figures so I will finish off with

some Lyneham trivia. As at 19 March 2015, over 16km ofwater pipes have been laid, 3km of gas pipes, 5km of elec-trical cable and 27km of data cable. 20,000m3 of concretehas been poured; 1.3m bricks and 124,000 blocks have beenlaid. This has been achieved in 93 weeks in a total of980,994 man hours.The move to Lyneham is a huge milestone in the history

of the Corps, of which we are all a part. We will benefit fromimproved technical and domestic infrastructure and mod-ern training techniques. However, there is still much to beachieved and the initial six months will not be withoutproblems. We must all pull together to make Lynehamwork, it will be worth it.Finally, good luck in your new homes and with your

training at Lyneham. Arte et Marte

C o r p s C a l e n d a r2015

June

2 Formal Re-opening of REME Memorial at NMA

4 Royal Hospital Chelsea Founder’s Day

12 Corps Officers’ Mess QMs’ Dinner

14 REME Freedom of Wokingham Parade

24 REME Institution Beating Retreat and Buffet Supper

July

4 REME Association Delegates’ Conference

18 Farewell to West Court ‘WestFest’

19 Corps Regimental Sunday at Royal Hospital Chelsea

23 Retired Officers’ Dinner

September

3 Corps Officers’ Mess Dinner Night – Last function at West Court Officer’s Mess

11 Corps Funds Investment Committee

17 Corps Museum Policy Committee

24 Corps Finance Committee

25 Training at Arborfield stops

27 Farewell and Thanksgiving Service in Arborfield Garrison Church

October

1 Corps Anniversary Commemoration

2 Corps Trustees’ Meeting

2 Corps Council Meeting

13 Corps Conference – Senior Officers, Tidworth

20 Corps Conference – SSgt IC LAD, Warrant Officers and above, Tidworth

November

5 Field of Remembrance, Westminster

8 Remembrance Sunday

December

6 St Eligius Sunday

2016

February

6 Corps Funds Investment Committee (London)

March

10 Colonels’ Commandant Dinner

17 Corps Finance Committee

April

15-18 REME Association Reunion (Coventry)

21 Corps Trustees’ Meeting

21 Corps Council Meeting

21 Corps Spring Guest Night

May

19 REME Association Memorial Day at NMA

June

2 Royal Hospital Chelsea Founder’s Day

22 REME Institution Beating Retreat and Cocktail Party

July

2 REME Association Delegates’ Conference

17 Corps Regimental Sunday at Royal Hospital Chelsea

21 Retired Officers’ Dinner

October

7 Corps Officers’ Mess QMs’ Dinner

November

6 Field of Remembrance, Westminster

9 Remembrance Sunday

December

4 St Eligius Sunday

662 Squadron Close Support Section– The Final Deployment

On 18 June 2014, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, 662 SquadronClose Support Section with elements of 7 Air Assault Battal-ion REME deployed on what would be the last Apachedetachment of Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan.From the outset, members of the Close Support Section

(CSS) were aware that this tour would differ from all others.The main challenge that we would face would be maintainingoperational output whilst simultaneously drawing down intheatre. Spares, expense, POL and ground support equipmentamongst other things would be affected. The detachment hadto be ruthless in identifying any surplus equipment for backloading or disposal. This, ultimately, would make our endgoal much easier.When we took over from 4 Regt AAC, 664 Sqn CSS, their

happiness was evident as they were nearing their departuredate. We would not have the pleasure of looking forward to adeparture date, as ours was only known as ‘the end’ – a datenot yet established. We were content hoping that wewere going to be home by the end of the year, whencombat operations ceased.Another challenge that Op HERRICK 20 would

bring was the closing of Camp Bastion. This chal-lenge would require the AH Sqn to operate fromsplit locations; half staying at Bastion with everdwindling conditions as a forward unit; the othermoving to Kandahar Airfield to assume a depthmaintenance capability, some good REME doctrine.On 18 June, the Downed Aircraft Response Team

(DART) deployed to theatre as the forward party.This insured that all of the team completed the five-day category 2/3 RSOI package that lasts whichincluded Roll Over Drills Egress training (RODET),IED awareness and a battle simulation exercise.Since this was the very last package, the directingstaff re-iterated general mistakes made throughoutprevious Op HERRICKs in each lesson. The main body deployed to theatre and when

everybody was together in RSOI, the realisation ofCamp Bastion’s imminent closure was becoming areality. Even as we slept the RSOI accommodation

Bastion 3 was being demolished around us. With the HO/TO in full swing, 662 Sqn took con-

trol of the Apache Flight Line and work commencedin earnest as per any other Det before. The mainfocus of the Det is the maintenance of the Very HighReadiness (VHR) aircraft, able to deploy very quicklyand protect any troops in need of assistance with acall sign of ‘UGLY.’ With fewer troops on the groundit was expected that VHR shouts would reduce butthis was not to be the case as everyone likes the com-fort of having a fully armed attack helicopter in theoverhead.During this tour the last deployed 450 hour main-

tenance package was carried out. The elite team offour assembled and began their mammoth task. Thework continued with dwindling resources, even theworkbenches and shelving were taken away part-waythrough by the QMs Dept. Although facing rigorousfactors such as the heat, dust and long hours, the air-craft was rebuilt and passed serviceable, fit to flyagain.

AEO: Capt O’Brien Scribes: LCpls Henderson and Fleet

LCpl Henderson & LCpl Fleet

Sgt Samuel and Cpl Hinchcliffe conducting an APU run

Camp Bastion blast wall painting

254 [email protected] See page 291 for article submission instruction

carried out on the cabs. This was to make surethat Bastion was secure right up until every lastBritish troops were brought out safe. The Dwyercrew also enjoyed their first taste of proper foodsince switching to ration packs in Bastion a fewweeks ago. The day came when all troops werebrought out of Bastion. Nearly every serviceableaircraft was up in the air and watching over Bas-tion.

On 27 October, nearly five months after ourarrival, ‘cease operations’ was finally called forOp HERRICK. The Dwyer crew moved back toKAF, which was the first time in over twomonths that we had been a complete detachmentagain. Thus starting the beginning of the end.Packing up the workshop began in earnest; fold-ing and storing away the aircraft and waiting forthe eagerly anticipated flights home began.

This tour has proved to be a challenge, fromsenior management to the technicians workingon the ground. Split location, austerity of work-ing and living conditions, reduced crew numbersand the drawdown were all challenges which wemet head on and dealt with. As the Det headedhome, it was a relief to see the end of operationsin Afghanistan, but also a look forward to step-

ping into the unknown as Army Aviation moved into an unfa-miliar era of Contingency Operations. Some might say that isexactly what we had been doing for the last five months!

662 Sqn CSS REME, the last AH aviation detachment canhold their heads high knowing that they were the last Apachedetachment to see Op HERRICK through to the very end.‘UGLY til the end!’

A celebrity feature of the cam-paign was the painted blast wallson the UK Flight Line, fromwhich Army Apache and LynxSquadrons have operated formany years. Between Dets, thewalls have been decorated by theoccupying REME and AAC per-sonnel; each trying to out-do itsprevious counterpart. Sadlythese walls had to be paintedover, signifying that this reallywas the end of a chapter for theBritish Army.

Two months of normal operat-ing in Bastion had passed and itwas time for the split betweenKandahar and Bastion to begin.With months of logistical plan-ning and preparation of equip-ment completed, the KAF crewfaced the challenge of setting up atemporary working environment in anunfamiliar American Base. The crewin Bastion was to continue its supportto VHR shouts and mission taskings.Ever present in Bastion was the draw-down, getting closer, coming in aroundus. In the latter stages this includedmoving onto rations, the loss of inter-net and consolidation of the accommo-dation. The shops closed and BFBS TVwas turned off.

While the Kandahar crew had manylarge packages of maintenance, thecrew found time to organise inter-Corps football matches and even mul-tiple nationalities. They also took fulladvantage of the ice cream and coffeeshops that KAF offered at the board-walk. Personnel at Bastion found waysof passing the time too; one of whichwas creating a makeshift volleyball netand playing games between the AACand REME in the hangar, obviously theREME crew always came out on top.This was always work-dependent andit was a rare luxury to have a bit of down time.

Finally the day came when the last Apache flew out of Bas-tion. The move to FOB Dwyer commenced with the crew set-ting up a working routine for the last few days spent there.Upon arrival, the Dwyer crew had to immediately set up theworkshop and get to business as Bastion still needed constantApache support for over watch. Minor maintenance was car-ried out to keep them flying and regular flight services were

Th ES Coy kindly assisting with the SVR

The Joint Aviation Group

Cpl ‘Louie’ Munton flexing the guns


In July 2013, 7 Regiment RLC were tasked to provide aShort Term Training Team (STTT) to develop the UgandanPeoples’ Defence Force’s (UPDF) second line logistic capa-bility. This was a formidable challenge and one thatwould require significant understanding of how theUPDF were currently conducting logistics. A suitableteam was selected from the regiment which included asmall REME contingent tasked with providing mainte-nance and equipment advice.My first deployment to Uganda came in November

2013 to Maga Maga garrison. The garrison was home to atransport regiment, a second line EME workshop and theCollege of Logistics and Engineering. This made for anideal environment to fathom all things ES, Ugandan style.The maintenance team consisted of 102 Logistic BrigadeBEME, Maj Paul Liddell, and WO1 (ASM) Euan Campbelland myself from 7 Regiment RLC who would work witha team of three UPDF EME officers. After a somewhat

apprehensive start by both parties and a degree of caginess bythe hosts, discussions began to develop a common understand-ing across a broad range of subjects. Soldier selection, trade train-ing, career progression, Corps structure, operations, equipmentholdings and spares acquisition formed a few of the topic areascovered and our counterparts wary approach began to dissolveas they realised that our intentions were to help rather than toscrutinise.As trust developed, the responses became increasingly more

open and it became apparent that each discussion would gener-ate a great deal of debate within the UPDF team before an answerwould be settled on. The contrasting opinions with the UPDFteam were to some extent due to the different appointments theyheld within their Defence Force. For example, Maj Kanyike’s, OC

Defence Engagement:A year advising the UPDF

Maint OIC: WO1 (ASM) Euan Campbell Scribe: SSgt Chris Adams

7 R e g i m e n t R L C L A D R E M E

SSgt Chris Adams, WO1 Euan Campbell, Maj Paul Liddell andUPDF soldiers at Maga Maga Garrison in November 2013

The obligatory course photo

Maj Kanyike and Capt Kwebiiha listen intently to ASM Camp-bell explain the art of flowcharting!


RLC STTT are providing advice). The UPDF hadbeen repairing their Hilux’s by replacing fuel injec-tors with sets purchased from Toyota at a cost offives times that of the annual salary of a UPDF Pri-vate soldier. A failed injector was brought back tothe UK for testing which confirmed our suspicionsof poor fuel as the reason for failure. The companythat tested the injector advised that while no com-ponents parts were currently available to overhaulthe injector; they were likely to become available inthe future.On my return to Uganda in March 2014, I deliv-

ered the findings from the injector testing alongwith advice to stockpile the unserviceable injectorsready for when the replacement parts becameavailable to overhaul them. I also passed on thecontact details to enable the UPDF to purchase theinjectors directly from the manufacturer at a signif-icantly lower price than what they were being

charged by Toyota. Further discussionswere held reference the issue of poorfuel quality. It was now understood thatfuel purchased from Shell was generallyof a good standard and did not causeproblems to the Hilux fleet. This led tothe decision to relocate all Hilux vehi-cles to garrisons within a reasonableproximity of a Shell garage so that theproblem could be eradicated.Returning to Uganda for a third time

in May 2014, the UPDF team had madesome encouraging progress with theirefforts to document common proce-dures. A symposium had been held inMaga Maga garrison summoning EMEand transport officers to discuss theprinciples of flowcharting and docu-menting their best practices. This devel-opment was delayed slightly due to Jan-uary’s short notice deployment of 5,000troops north of the border into SouthSudan to provide security to counterunrest in the capital Juba. Reassessingwhere to go next, it was decided thatour next visit should include trips to thedivisions to see if the draft documentwas fit for purpose at first line. Further-more, the UPDF also asked if we coulddeliver some training for an MTOcourse.

In July 2014, I returned to Uganda accompanied by a smallteam of soldiers from the LAD to deliver the requested training.The subjects covered included first parades, preventative mainte-nance, engineering hygiene, recovery techniques and vehicle

Workshops, understanding and implementa-tion of the spares acquisition process differedto the understanding of Capt Kwebiiha fromthe Ugandan MOD or Capt Katumba fromHQ Land Forces. The differences of opinionon a range of subjects by our hosts alsostemmed from a lack of uniformity across theUPDF. Uniformity is an attribute that ourcounterparts instantly saw value in andsomething they aspired to. It was suggestedthat a guiding document be produced to doc-ument best practices and common proce-dures. Several methods of producing such adocument were explained, covering bothflow charts and document structure. We alsohelped our Ugandan hosts to document someof their procedures to give the document astart point.Visits to Maga Maga garrison’s first and

second line repair facilities added furtherinsight to the understanding that we haddeveloped from the discussions. Uganda isone of the world’s poorest countries; as suchthe military is significantly restricted in itsresources. The majority of UPDF vehicles aregifted by donor nations but these well-intentioned gestures areunfortunately rarely accompanied with any form of spares orsupport package. Thus keeping the vehicles on the road restssolely in Ugandan hands with no manufacture or other support.An additional challenge is presented by the supportpublications – should a vehicle gifted by the Chinesesuffer mechanical failure, the repair instructions willalso be in Chinese! Although these manuals could betranslated at a cost they would still be of limited use asthe literacy rate within the UPDF is so low. A lack ofuniformity also presents challenges to ES materiel dueto the vast array of equipment types and small fleetsizes that the UPDF operate. Despite the problems theUPDF face, vehicle availability remained high. Thiswas in part down to some admirable improvisationand expedient repair but more a result of having noformal inspection procedure and no overarchinginspection standards. In short, the UPDF inspectionphilosophy – if it goes, it goes!One particular engineering challenge facing the

UPDF EME was fuel injector failure across their Toy-ota Hilux fleet. Poor fuel was suspected as the reasonfor these failures given that fuel quality is an issuethroughout Uganda and in particular within theDefence Force (fuel is another area where the 7 Regt

A UPDF WO1 presents his vehicle for inspection

Cpl Lamyman conducting a vehicle inspection

Sgt Moss making friends


inspections. This training was exceptionally well received andthe audience also included students from neighbouring Tanzaniaand Rwanda. The students eagerly absorbed the informationdelivered across all areas, accompanied by some ferocious notetaking. Upon learning that there was no end of course exam thenote taking did ease somewhat, however their attention, respectand enthusiasm did not. After the course, the students treated theteam to a special hand clap so we must have made an impression!All students were particularly keen to have the PowerPoint pre-sentations from my laptop copied onto their memory sticks.Unfortunately for me, carrying out this request sent my com-puter’s anti-virus into melt down and resulted in the laptoprequiring a factory reset back in the UK. However, I felt a brokenlaptop was a small price to pay for embedding some engineeringfundamentals at officer level across several African DefenceForces.

A 1,400km road trip was required to visit theUPDF divisions in Moroto (on the eastern borderwith Kenya) and Gulu (100km short of SouthSudan). A convoy of five vehicles was required tomove the ES team alongside 7 Regiment’s supplyand fuel teams plus all the respective UPDF coun-terparts. Luckily I managed to claim a seat in aLand Cruiser just in time, avoiding making thejourney over considerable ‘undulating’ terrain in a

minibus! In Moroto and Gulu we observed theUPDF EME team question EME soldiers in thedivisions on whether the processes they had docu-mented in Magamaga worked, are best practiceand if refinement was required. For the most partthe document proved to be fit for purpose withonly minor refinements required here and there.Uganda’s military is relatively new and stems

from a colonial battalion that broke away asUganda gained independence from the UK in 1962.

Operating as the Ugandan Peo-ple’s Defence Force since 1995,despite being in their relativeinfancy the UPDF are at the fore-front of regional security. TheUPDF don’t dither to deploytroops when military interven-tion is required as we had seenwith their deployment in toSouth Sudan. They have alsotaken the lead in the African Mis-sion in Somalia with a 7,000troops committed to a complexand volatile conflict in whichthey face an extremist ideologyand insurgent IED threat similarto Afghanistan, only without thetechnology and equipment west-ern nations are afforded. Tosummarise, the UPDF achieve ahell of a lot with what little theyhave. Hopefully our support hasenabled them to achieve that lit-tle bit more and will help toimprove security in that regionof the world.It almost doesn’t need saying

that my involvement with 7 Reg-iment’s short term training team in Uganda has been a uniqueand once in a life opportunity. The friendliness and hospitalitydisplayed by my hosts on every visit has been without falter, andafter the apprehensive start never once did I feel unwelcome.Sometimes communication was challenging despite Englishbeing their native tongue alongside Swahili. The solution, if I feltthat I wasn’t being understood, was to reconstruct my sentenceswith alternate descriptive words and repeat. Despite saying thesame thing using only slightly different words, this would usu-ally do the trick as some of our English words they simply do notuse. Football made for an excellent ice breaker on many occa-sions. The UK’s Premier League is fiercely followed by manyUgandan’s, who unfortunately all too often are ManchesterUnited fans. Perhaps the biggest personal reward from the wholeexperience was to have made one more Leicester City fan!

Capt Kwebiiha and SSgt Adams discuss process and procedures in Moroto

One more Leicester City fan

Sgt Damien Moss delivering recovery techniques on how to get a vehicle off its side and back on its wheels

Cfn Johnson (IC baggage) and Cfn Morrow (2IC Baggage)


Foxhound (FHD) Single Crew Occupancy(SCO) Trial

CSS TDU Master Driver: WO1 (SSM) Darren Rollo RLCI was asked to work on a collaborative trial with the Infantry TDU.It is a common misconception that CSS TDU only works on CSS Plat-forms – Landrovers and trucks. CSS TDU has a wide remit acrossDefence and into some government departments. We are responsi-ble for conducting trials and experiments on all wheeled platforms(including Protected Mobility) across Defence and for conductingrecovery trials on all tracked platforms.

Under Army 2020, the Infantry was tasked to establish a Lt Mechcapability centred on FHD. The problem for the Infantry is thatArmoured Vehicle Standing Orders state that FHD must be crewedby a minimum of two personnel (Dvr & Comd) at all times. FHDs areused to transport the assaulting troops to a drop off point ready forthe assault and then to collect them after the mission. This reducesthe available numbers of ground Commanders for the assault, as theCommanders were required to remain in the FHDs to commandthem. Hence, I was asked to look at the feasibility of Drivers operat-ing FHDs without Commanders.

The trial took place on Swynerton Training Area, with the assis-tance of 1 R IRISH. To enable the drivers to operate on their own,FHDs were grouped into small Packets and placed under the controlof a Commander (positioned in the lead vehicle). Various scenarioswere conducted by day and night to confirm the suitability of thisconcept. The week culminated with a small exercise, utilising Dis-mounts to prove that the concept worked. We identified areas of concern and implemented various proce-dures to address them. With the assistance of ARMOUR CENTRESchool Instructors, training procedures for FHD were scrutinisedand suitable amendments to the training programme identified.Army HQ will make a decision of whether to imple-ment the new concept in the near future. Recovery Trials by

CSS TDU ASMWO1 Ron Karby REMEI am predominantly employed as one of the four Tri-als Managers. I bring extensive recovery experienceto this role and am ably assisted by Sgt Ryan Douth-waite. We conduct all Recovery Trials on new andmodified equipment across defence. My additionalresponsibility is to be the lead subject matter expert(SME) for the Capability Directorate Combat ServiceSupport (CD CSS), on all things recovery.Director CSS is the sponsor for the procurement ofa new Lightweight (Air Portable) Recovery Capabil-ity (LW(AP)RC), which should enter service fromApril 2016. This vehicle will support the lead ele-ments of both 16 Air Assault and 3 CommandoBrigades, replacing the ageing Bedford Light Recov-ery Vehicle. The next project will be Lightweight Pro-tected Mobility Recovery (LPMR), a vehicle that willsupport Lt Mech and Lt Cav units. Both of these newRecovery capabilities have a single key driving factor; to lose weight– ‘every kg saved is a kg of capability.’I began by conducting experimental trials on novel technologiesthat would reduce the weight of LW(AP)RC and LPMR. The Recov-ery Vehicle Complete Equipment Schedule (CES) was targeted forimprovement, with research required to determine commerciallyavailable, lightweight equipment that could best serve defence. Ini-tial trialling was conducted in April 2015, comparing new technolo-gies against current in-service equipment. This trial has producedvarying results, with some equipment requiring modification and

Combat Service Support

Trials & Development

Unit (CSS TDU)

FOXHOUND Single Crew Occupancy - Comd Leading packet

Danish Army - 15.65Kg and 35g Husky RRV - 23.16Kg



versatile carrying arrangement. In order to meet health andsafety restrictions, a maximum weight of 25kg per person isdesirable.• When working on armoured vehicles, the box must fit in existingstowage solutions. Any box/container will need to be water-proof and robust.• The use of foam inserts and tool rolls within the toolkit, must notinterfere with usability.• A supplementary kit to support in-barracks maintenance andrepair is still required. The roll type chest is ideal.A small number of prototype kits have been constructed using thedata collected. These will utilise an existing STORM™ case, as spec-ifications have not yet been finalised for the future box. The combi-nation of foam inserts and tool rolls provides flexibility, security andaccountability of the tools. Development is under way to produce aroll type cabinet as the future supplementary box, with an upgadeof tools contained therein. Regrettably, the process is agonisinglyslow, taking more than a year to reach this stage. However, threeprototype tool boxes will be trialled in Army units from July 2015. Safety Cases and Modifications

for In-Service Platforms CSS TDU AQMS: WO2 (AQMS) Kev Carter REMEHaving run trials for two years on behalf of Army HQ, covering pro-totype vehicles, Urgent Operational Requirements (UOR) and LoadInterface Schemes (Tie Down Schemes – TDS), I thought andassumed I had covered pretty much everything possible; howwrong I was! CSS TDU was approached by Defence Equipment & Support(DE&S) and Army HQ to run a trial on the BV206 articulated vehicle

platform, towing a 105mm Light Gun. You are prob-ably thinking exactly what I thought; WHY! Well, Iwill explain the reasons. It transpired that whilstreviewing the 105mm Light Gun and BV206 SafetyCases, it did not include the platform as a Gun Tow-ing Vehicle (GTV). Everything from COYOTE, FOX-HOUND, WOLFHOUND and PINZGAUER variants hadbeen endorsed, but not the BV206, even though ithas dragged the Light Gun since the 1980s. So theconsequences of not including the BV206 as a tow-ing vehicle means that any risks involved have notbeen mitigated, and control measures put in place, tomake the risks As Low As Reasonably Possible(ALARP). This then allows the MOD to own the risk,covered by their ‘insurance policy.’ I planned and executed a scaled down trial to cap-ture all of the safety concerns and technical datameasurements. To make the trial more challenging,it was conducted in a harsh environment, Norway inthe winter, to capture and include the BV206s’designed theatre of operations. Despite the unpre-dictable weather, the trial was straight forward and

some, a complete redesign. In conjunction with the various engi-neering companies, this trial will continue to develop equipmentthat will greatly enhance future recovery capability.Vehicle Mechanic Tool Box

Update by CSS TDU ASM (VEH)WO1 Roger Baker REME The current Vehicle Mechanic (VM) basic box wasintroduced into Service in 2002, with a plannedreview in 2008. As the equipment it was designed tosupport has been replaced with more complex plat-forms, the toolkit has failed to follow suit, resultingin VMs struggling to carry out repairs. Consequently,many VMs are purchasing their own tools and equip-ment to carry out their role. Five kits were preparedand trialled in eight units across several formations,utilising an existing toolkit that had previously beensupplied for use in operational theatres. Due to theirsuccess in Afghanistan and the large array of toolingcontained within them, these kits formed an idealsource from which to select the future VM toolkitcontents. Each unit chosen for the trial supported avaried array of equipment, giving a broad base fromwhich to assess the suitability of the tools required. Using the information gathered from the trial, thefollowing can be surmised:• A single kit is required to combine the most usedtools from the current basic and supplementarykits, with some additions.• The future toolkit should be man portable, with a

Development is under way to produce a roll type cabinet

BV 206 towing light gun in Norway

Light gun


was a complete success. The BV206 can safely towthe Light Gun – and that’s official!Negotiating Low and

Medium Mobility Terrain by CSS TDU AQMS

WO2 (AQMS) Kev Carter REMEStaying on the theme of the 105mm Light Gun, ArmyHQ and DE&S are continually upgrading or modify-ing current In-Service vehicles. Post Design Studies(PDS), as they are called in DE&S, or just plain oldmodifications to rest of us, are trialled to ensure theywork. Generally speaking, a modification shouldnever lower a vehicles’ Mobility Rating. The Light Gun has suffered from poor braking effi-ciency for years. This is due to Nitrogen leaking fromthe Accumulator, into the hydraulic braking system.Completely removing the Accumulator, installing aPressure Relief Valve (PRV) block (similar to thePENMAN trailer brake components) and adding afew steel braided brake lines, increased the brakingefficiency and prevented the Light Gun pushing theGun Towing Vehicle (GTV) forward under heavybraking. The modification is very simple, yet effectively increasessafety at a relatively small cost, giving great Value for Defence (VfD).So, if you have an idea and it improves safety, get a GEMS submitted. More often than not, the simplest ideas are the best and comefrom a variety of ranks. If it gives VfD, it might just get a trial at CSSTDU and be brought into-Service.This final photo shows a recent trial carried out at CSS TDU identifying possible

capability improvements to the Yamaha Quad.

On Saturday 21 March 2015, 54 members of 103 BattalionREME joined 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion REME inTidworth for their quarterly partnering weekend, ExerciseMaple Reserve, a series of company led production exerciseswith our regular paired battalion. This enables us to work oncore equipment, increasing our technical competencies. With this exposure to a wide and varied range of platforms

we do not ordinarily work on. This enhances our ES capabil-ities for future support to them and others. Not to mentionof course the real man hours in terms of production with asignificant impact for 4 Armoured Close Support BattalionREME; partnering is rightly beneficial for both battalions.In the midst of this, the Deputy Commander Land Forces

(DCLF) Major General RTI Munro, CBE, TD visited the pairedbattalions at work. His first exposure was to the Op FORTIFY stand we had set

up to demonstrate how we are supporting each other and

tackling this ongoing main effort. We have worked closelywith 4 Armd CS Bn for ten years now, successfully supportingus at major events such as the recent Carfest. This month wecelebrated success at 128 Fd Coy in Portsmouth, surpassingour Op FORTIFY targets and manning to 108% recruited withmore in the pipeline.DCLF then went on to visit our tradesmen working on Pro-

tected Mobility Fleet across varied PM platforms such asHusky, Ridgeback and Panther; our tradesmen were hittingthe plethora of modifications required on all their fleet.DCLF concluded by visiting the VANGUARD hanger currentlygoing through overhaul before being issued out to units orgoing back to Ashchurch in Gloucestershire for long termstorage. This was a successful visit showing that the pairing ofBattalions, demonstrated to the DCLF is working and contin-ues to develop as we learn what we both can offer each otherin this contemporary Army.

Maj Gen RTI Munro CBE TD (DCLF)Visit Exercise Maple Reserve

Scribe: Capt JP Fox 2IC, 128 Fd Coy

Scribe: SSgt TudorExercise Tartan Saltire was 106 Bn REME’s inaugural Scottish Specialto Arms training weekend held over the period 21–23 November2014 at the newly formed 152 Field Company located in Redford Bar-racks, Edinburgh. The weekend began on Friday evening with membersof the battalion arriving from all over Scotland with the addition of asizeable contingent from Northern Ireland. Having ensured thateveryone was accommodated, a short welcome brief from WO1(ASM) Shakir paved the way for those lucky enough to have arrivedearly enough to retire to the bar.There was an early start on Saturday with the formation of twoForward Repair Teams (FRT) from those tradesmen with the prereq-uisite experience to deploy to 3 RIFLES and 2 SCOTS in Dreghornand Glencorse Barracksrespectively. This FRTapproach enabled thedelivery of real time ES,the highlight of whichwas an engine changeon a TUM for which abig thank you goes outto both LADs whoseassistance made this allpossible. The remainingVMs were divided intotheir respective tradeand class groups tocommence continuationtraining, consisting ofjunior tradesmen under-going Trade ProficiencyDevelopment Booklet(TPDB) focussed tradetraining at Redford Bar-racks, under the watch-ful eye of SSgt Hender-son. A variety of trainingaids and platforms from153 Field Company were well utilized to bring the Class 3 trainees upto speed and get those all-important TPDBs signed as they strived togain the coveted Class 2 status.The Recovery Mechanics were also employed on real time work,

pre-empting the exercise and dragging equip-ment from locations as far afield as Dundeedown to Edinburgh purposely to facilitate thisexercise. Throughout the exercise they under-went instruction on the S(R) crane and liftingtackle procedures from WO2 Alex Holmes ourresident WORM and SPSI of 155 RecoveryCompany.With a turnout of seven, the Armourers werewell represented and although there were nocellars for them to lurk in on this occasion theyprovided assistance to 105 Regiment RA, deliv-ering inspections and maintenance on a varietyof weapon systems. As with the junior VMs, ourjunior Armourers took advantage of this excel-lent opportunity to add to their experience on

route to Class 2. Similarly, the three Metalsmiths who arrived in Red-ford Barracks were kept suitably busy providing support to the FRTsas well as undertaking the usual requests for custom fabricated itemsall in their stride.With day one complete, everyone recovered to Redford Barracksfor the mandatory evening social bonding, which was graciously

‘Life in 106 Battalion’Exercise Tartan Saltire

Cpl Mcinnes works on a chassis component

SSgt Henderson instructs Cfn Paterson and Stewart

Dreghorn FRT engine change prep supervised by Sgt WilsonRecovery Mechanic crane hypnosis procedure


Scribe: Cfn McpheeOne fine morning in October it was decreed by theTraining Major that 106 Battalion REME would sendforth a small team to participate in the annual REMESki Camp held in Stubai, Austria in the first week ofDecember. Due to the proximity of the event therewas only one of the regular permanent staff deemedcapable of pulling off such a Herculean task with anychance of success, so without delay SSgt Tudor setabout making the necessary arrangements.Fast forward five weeks and on a cold grey Scottish

Saturday morning the team of five assembled at 153Field Company in Grangemouth to depart for the Aus-trian Alps for a week’s alpine skiing. The journey, ofapproximately 900 miles, turned out to be fairly com-fortable due to SSgt Tudor managing to procure abrand new VW transporter for the trip and bookingluxury cabins on the Rotterdam to Hull ferry (whoeverheard of cutbacks) and we arrived in Neustift on Sun-

British Legion andREME AssociationScotland and cadets,we were led by a bandof pipes and drums.The first stage of theroute took us throughthe town to thechurch for a memorialservice before pro-ceeding to the ceno-taph where a sizeablegathering of locals hadcome to pay theirrespects on this proudand solemn occasion. At the War Memo-

rial I had the honourof laying a wreathalongside Capt Jeff Bai-ley, 2IC 153 FieldCompany before theparade marched offand returned to the Royal British Legion. There we had the opportu-nity to chat with veterans over a drink and sandwich before returningto our reserve centre for a curry lunch and a few social drinks.The day proved to be a great success and an opportunity for pres-

ent and future members of the battalion to meet and greet, althoughto be fair, as a REME family in Scotland and Northern Ireland, we havealways been a close knit bunch. I am grateful and feel honoured tohave been able to lay the wreath on behalf of the Corps in Scotlandand I would recommend anyone contemplating joining the new battal-ion to do so. So far things are shaping up well for the future.

hosted at 105 Regt RA. PT commenced at a suitably early hour onSunday morning and ensured everyone was awake and refreshed forthe days training ahead – there are no fuzzy heads on the ASM’swatch. Training then commenced with plenty more spannering to bedone, albeit with the numbers slightly reduced as we bid farewell to157 Field Company who made their way back to the Emerald Isle. Forthe remainder, training was wrapped up in the afternoon and every-one returned to their respective ARCs after what proved to be ahighly enjoyable and beneficial weekend. Roll on 2015 - more of thesame please.

Exercise Proud Saltire

Exercise Supreme Glacier

WO2 Holmes instructing Cpls Lalley and Butters

Scribe: Cfn SutherlandExercise Proud Saltire is the name given to Grangemouthbased 153 Field Company’s annual Remembrance Daytraining weekend and 2014 would be the first year that106 Battalion REME was on parade, following its formationthe previous August.Attendance was impressive with a number of reservist

soldiers coming from across Scotland including those fromother units who would transfer to the battalion in thecoming months. The assorted headdress and tartans beingsported by the troops in attendance would soon bereplaced by the ubiquitous blue beret, leaving a less eye-catching affair for next year’s parade. Taking our placeamongst the large number of veterans from the Royal

Members of 106 Bn trailing the veterans

Cfn Sutherland strikes a pose with family

En-route to the Cenotaph



day evening relatively relaxed and ready forwhatever the week had in store for us.

On Monday morning we assembled at 0900hrs in the Gamsgarden Cafe ready to bedivided into our respective ability groups. SgtSimpson the group’s ‘Star Skier’ was soon ele-vated to one of the advanced groups, whileWO1 (RSM) Milne, SSgt Tudor and Cfn Millarended up in various intermediate groups withmyself being placed in a beginner group tolearn the art of skiing ‘REME style.’ Mondayturned out to be an excellent day for skiing –overcast in the early morning with the sunbreaking through at lunchtime bringing perfectskiing weather. For the remainder of the weekthis would be the general pattern of the ele-ments for our exercise. Come Tuesday morn-ing, some of the enthusiasm had waned aseveryone remembered just how taxing on thelegs skiing can be, but by the afternoon, every-one remembered how to ski and getting upand down the slopes became easier. Everyonesoon had a smile back on their faces. This glee

continued into Wednesday when in the eveningwe paid the obligatory visit to the famous Dorfpub to sink a few cold ones.

Skiing continued into Thursday and by noweveryone was immersed with each group (includ-ing myself in the beginner group) tackling the redslopes. We had all progressed well during theweek. Following the initial five days of ski trainingall groups were now in a position to attempt arace courses for the first time; either the polesor brushes. Not surprisingly there were some‘you’ve been framed moments’ but everyonemanaged to negotiate their chosen course suc-cessfully without injury. Once group skiing hadfinished Sgt Simpson and Cfn Millar went awayfor more individual training, whilst the moremature members of the group and I retired tothe umbrella bar at the bottom of the Glacier fora warming mug of Gluhwein. Friday evening cameall too quickly and after packing up it was timeto go to the local steakhouse to dispose of ourremaining CILOR, after which we revisited theDorf to reflect on a thoroughly enjoyable week.

Sgt Simpson on the slopes Gamsgarten

Cfn Mcphee learning the ropes

This year’s reunion will take place over the weekend 10/11 July 15 For further details please contact Joe Jordan or Kev Carter: : [email protected] Mrs Christine Drake, 29 Cdo REME Wksp Clerk on (: mil: 93784 6013 or civ: 01752 236013

COMMANDO REUNION


PROFILES

Cfn Mel Stevenson: Aged 30, joined 101Bn REME last year after a career in theRegular Army. During her day job sheworks on an offshore drillinginstallation in the North Sea. She liveswith her partner and two dogs andsaid, ‘The Army Reserve has providedme with mechanical engineeringtraining which sets me apart from theother people I work with in my dayjob. It’s also a way of keeping fit andactive on my time off. Being aReservist is something to be proud ofand you gain life skills andexperience.’Cfn Whittaker: Aged 24, fromWrexham, joined the Army Reserveunder the pilot Access toEngineering (A2E) scheme in March2014, having finished university,where he studied computerscience and sport. He grasped theArmy Reserve opportunity in orderto gain his driving licenses and seewhat Army life is like, beforejoining the Regulars. Since joining101 Bn REME, Cfn Whittaker haspassed his phase one soldiertraining, REME Vehicle Mechanictrade training and attained his driving license. In additionto this, he has trained as a mountain biking instructor andis now Captain of the Battalion football team. Over thenext few months, Cfn Whittaker is looking forward todeploying overseas and working full-time within the battalion A2Etraining team, mentoring thebattalion’s new recruits.Cfn Owen: Aged 18, fromShrewsbury, joined the ArmyReserve for a fresh start and tomake the most of the opportunitiesavailable to him through Access toEngineering. Coming from a verysupportive military family, Cfn Owenwas encouraged to try the ArmyReserve following his completion ofLevel 3 Engineering at college and theREME Access to Engineering offerfitted him really well. Over the nextfew months, James will be earning a‘golden hello’ bonus of £300 forattesting and £2000 for completing hisphase one and two training. Once hehas passed his driving license (freeduring A2E) he intends to use thismoney to buy himself a car andinsurance. He said, ‘I joined the Reservefor the sports and new experiences, I’vebeen amazed by the opportunities and I’m

really looking forwardcompleting my VehicleMechanics course by thesummer, then I can traveloverseas.’ Last month, CfnOwen traveled with thebattalion football team toBelfast, where he competedin the semi-finals of theChallenge Cup.Cfn James Patterson: Aged25, joined the Army Reservejust before Christmas and hasa full time career in the DIYretail industry. He has fulfilleda lifelong ambition in joiningand is currently half waythrough his training. He said,‘Joining Access to Engineeringhas given me the incentive toimprove my fitness and thetraining has helped bring a newstructure to my life. I can’t waitto take part in the overseasexercise opportunities that beinga Reserve soldier offers.’Cfn Carl Jepson: Aged 44, joinedthe Army Reserve in 2012. He hada full time career in the roadhaulage industry prior to his time

with 127 Field Company. He now works within therecruiting cell using his experience of both the military

and civilian job markets. He said,‘Having driven most things civvystreet has to offer, it was anamazing experience to get outthere and participate in crosscountry driving in military trucks.’

Cfn Tony Davies-Musker: Aged26, joined the Army Reserve in2008. He works full time at AltcarTraining Camp on Merseyside andlives in Litherland with his wifeand children. He said, ‘I joinedthe Army Reserve because Iwanted to do something a littlebit different and challenging.Since joining, I have been onvarious courses qualifying me asa Class 2 Vehicle Mechanic anda Physical Training Instructor. Ihave also achieved my HGVdriver’s license. Being aReservist you get theopportunity to gain valuablequalifications and to travel.You meet a diverse group ofpeople who become friendsfor life.’

Cfn Mel Stevenson

1 0 1 B a t t a l i o n R E M E

Cfn Tony Davies-Musker

REME Telemark’s strategy aims to provide the opportunity for10% of the Corps to try a taster or formal course during Exer-cise SUPREME GLACIER or take part in a mountainousback/cross-country Telemark skiing expedition – Yes phys-hunters, work harder on the skins uphill to seek out and savourthe wilderness powder accessible to the few!Whether accomplished downhill skiers, proficient snow-

boarders, Nordic gladiators or novice sliders, we aim to createthe opportunity for REME soldiers to try, learn and develop aphysically challenging and exciting skil l in a controlledsporting/expeditionary environment. Exercise GROUSE therefore was a cross and back country

Telemark Ski Expedition to generate and practice key wintermountain skills for JNCO’s selected for appointments on futureexercises and expeditions.Expedition Member: WO2 (AQMS) Jackson 29 Cdo Wksp REMEHaving just watched Scotland lose to Italy in the 6 Nations,

handing them the game in the dying seconds, myself and a ratherunhappy Maj Jamie McMeechan made our way to the port of Dover to

meet up with another two ofour team, Cpls Mitch Swiggsand Keith Bryson from 24Cdo Wksp REME to hitch aride with the Navy to Bavaria.Fortunately, the Navy weremore than happy to accom-modate us and we were soonunderway on what can onlybe described as one of themost epic journeys I’ve beenon for some time, 13 hours ina stress position, treat!Once we’d finally arrived

we met up with the remainingtwo in our team, WO1 (ASM)Tony Neave and Cpl DannyGoldsmith-Ryan from MAB2;

after a few formalities, kit issue etc we were ready for business. Thenext day we met our instructor for the week, ex Royal Marine Ross

Kane and descended onto the slopes forsome basic ‘Telemark skills’ – which is basi-cally code for ‘making sure we can looselymove around without hitting everything/everyone in sight.’ Luckily this was the caseand it was evident early on that Mitch hadmastered the emergency face stop. We’lluse the excuse that it was Baltic, the rainwas coming in horizontal and you couldn’tsee a thing. Almost sounds believable, justas believable as Tony thinking the face stopwas a disease and he’d somehow caught it.Skills roughly mastered, Ross decided it wastime for some off piste action so we hitsome fresh powder hand railing the T-bar,needless to say the pressure was on witheveryone watching. We didn’t disappoint, itwas absolute carnage, blokes we’re goingeverywhere and resorted to leopard crawl-ing back to the piste to avoid furtherembarrassment, where Maj Jamie brokeout the morale cookies and we pursued amore secluded off piste area to practice.

WO1 (ASM) Tony Neave with a spectacular backdrop

Exercise GrouseREME Telemark’s Preparatory Expedition in Allgau Germany

REME Telemark Chairman: Col Alistair Bryant, DA AlgeriaTraining Officer’s Scene Setter:

Maj Jamie McMeechan BEME 3 Cdo Bde HQ

WO2 (AQMS) Si Jackson not looking impressed with the howling weather

The Team!


Cpl Mitch Swiggs doing well to stay uprightafter clipping a buried rockCpl Keith Bryson feeling the burn

Cpl Danny Goldsmith-Ryan showing theprogress that can be made when you

go on every Telemark trip going

It’s that kind of situation that makes it interesting, notknowing what’s coming next and having to constantlyadapt the plan due to weather conditions, route selec-tion and other unforeseen circumstances. It tests yourphysical ability, your leadership in having to make the dif-ficult decisions on whether to turn back or not for thesafety of the group and you genuinely feel the more chal-lenging it is, the better. As it turns out, we found somebrilliant runs out in the wilderness, down gullies andthrough the trees, every cloud. It was short lived for me;I thought I’d give Tony’s shiny new skis ago. What a mis-take that was, it was like having those stupid things Eddiethe Eagle used to cut around on, you could literally pistethe mountain with those badgers and when I pointedthem down hill, I was off and it was only ending one way.After nearly pulling my leg out of its socket and blokeshad finished laughing their heads off, I thought I’d dis-creetly change back to my old faithful’s.The exercise culminated by consolidating what Ross

had taught us throughout the week at one of the mostpopular resorts in the area, long story short, the weatherwas awesome, conditions were perfect and the potentialMrs Jacksons were numerous. Anyway, we hit the offpiste hard and was pushing it too the limit, the progresseveryone made throughout the week, especially from

Mitch and Keith was outstanding and we couldn’t have asked for a bet-ter instructor, his enthusiastic nature inspired us to give everything wehad. All the crashes, the laughter and the unrelenting persistence from

The following day was targetedmore towards off piste, which is themain application of Telemark skiingand clearly Ross felt we needed somemore practice. So, with a few top tipsand a camcorder to hand, Ross set usoff down an open field one by oneand with the aid of some death cook-ies hidden in the snow a few of us feltthe need to demonstrate the ‘takecover manoeuvre’ in case of anenemy sighting or a dive forwardrole, can’t think of a suitable excusefor that really but as they say, if you’renot falling over, you’re not trying hardenough. Hours of amusement later,things were starting to click into placeand everyone was looking the part,not to mention everyone’s thighswere in the locker from two days’worth of lunging, so Ross took theopportunity to deliver an avalanchetransceiver lesson. Now I won’t gointo the in’s and out’s of the lessonbut what I will mention is, if you getcaught in an avalanche you’ll be in a world of hurt and the classic back-stroke advice isn’t going to help much, so well worth practicing. Oncewe returned to the lodge we watched the video footage from earlier, itwas hilarious. I can’t speak for anyone else but I looked awesome.The next few days focused on ski touring, also known as backcountry

skiing, essentially it’s a military insertion skill where you randomly ski upthe hills aided by skins and some good old fashioned phys, as well asdown them. It’s not as bad as you might think, pretty cool in fact, youneed to be in good shape skiing up through wood blocks with a pack onyour back for four or five hours to the summit of a mountain. Thereward is spectacular views whilst having a slight element of smugnessknowing you get to ski down through the untouched powder, a feat fewhave experienced. However, route selection is critical, it’s a harsh les-son to learn if you end up tabbing back uphill. Of course it’s not alwayssunshine and rainbows, on the second tour I’m pretty sure the snowwas bouncing back off the ground and hitting me in the face, the skintrack was just crumbling away so it was like doing knees to chest on acrash mat and at any moment a pack of wolves would be licking roundour ankles thinking they’ve stumbled upon a meal deal. In true com-mando style we pressed on regardless, taking it in turns leading asbreaking in a fresh trail is a lick out at the best of times. Once we’dreached the ridgeline the weather was deteriorating rapidly, it was acomplete whiteout and the wind was smashing against us. After a fewminutes of deliberation and some creative navigation we’d found amore forgiving route, stopping just short of the summit, obviously seiz-ing the opportunity for some good photos before making our descent.

The BEME briefing the best way to out run a wolf… ‘Don't be the slowest’

Maj Jamie McMeechan cutting a newline through the fresh powder



everyone made it an absolutely brilliant week and all of us are withoutdoubt converts to Telemark. The applications are the same as alpine ski-ing and more, only you get to crack some good phys and look a damnsight cooler doing it. Clearly these things don’t just happen, they take alot of hard work and planning so a big thank you goes to WO1 (ASM)Neave MAB2 for organising a fantastic expedition. Bottom line, there’s only three things you need to know about Tele-

mark;1: It looks cool – put this address in your browser and see for yourself:

https://youtu.be/iUTgN3pRV542: Chicks dig it (I would show you an example, an awesome example.

Unfortunately I doubt it would make it be approved by the Editor)(‘Absolutely correct!’ – Ed)

3: We can do itTraining Officer’s Look Forward: If you think you’re a mountain

goat not a sheep and like to set your own challenging track, register a

team for the Telemark element of Exercise SUPREME GLACIER (27November – 12 December 2015) or join us on our next planned expe-dition Exercise Freshman-Gunnerside (26 February – 6 March 2016)where (sponsorship permitting) we aim to:‘Parachute insert into Norway and retrace the 1943 route of Joachim

Ronneberg’s team over the Hardangervidda, climb the ‘nails’ ice wallbefore reaching the Heavy Water Plant at Rukken they sabotaged,which prevented the Nazis from developing the Atomic bomb!’We will also take part in some cultural visits and pay our respects to

the FRESHMAN Glider crash sites of our fallen brother engineers.If you would like to register an interest in any of the above, please :

[email protected] or [email protected]: If you are a company or organisation and share our

likeminded physically demanding, whilst effortlessly stylish ethos andwould like to be associated with REME TELEMARK, please contact ourChairman Colonel Alistair Bryant: : [email protected]

On Thursday 16 April 2015, the 1 MERCIAN LADreceived a visit from Col REME and WO1 (Corps ASM)Condron. This was the first visit to the LAD since it wasformed in September 2014 and the visitors werewelcomed to with a meet and greet from all LADSNCO’s. Next was a presentation by the EME, ASM andSSgt Waters detailing what has been accomplished andwhat lies ahead for the LAD and battalion.Col REME was given a tour of the LAD facilities of both

Picton and Ward Barracks and he took the opportunityto speak to some of the tradesman. In particular he wasimpressed with the substantial work completed on theLAD ET / ST&E by the G1098 and he witnessed a WarriorCV8 pack-lift by fitters from Support Company using theWarrior (513) Recovery Platform.Having seen the limited technical infrastructure and

spoken to a number of individuals, Col REME thenintroduced himself to the rest of the LAD personnel. Hediscussed a broad range of topics but particularlyfocussed on how the Corps will look in the future. Hisfinal words were to commend us all for our hard-workand urged us to keep working hard but to enjoy BATUSand another busy year coming up. The visit was a successful day for the LAD and its

soldiers. It proved that all their hard work has not goneunnoticed; that the higher echelons of the Army areaware of the technical limitations and that there is agenuine interest in the LAD and the battalion from aCorps perspective.We look forward to further visits as our reputation

and establishment grows.Arte Et Marte

Col REME Visits1 MERCIAN LADBy LCpl Jackson

On 12 September 2014,fourteen members of 3 RHA(six of whom were LADmembers) departed for theairport to begin ExerciseDiamond Canyon Trail, aseventeen day mountain bikingexpedition to the ColoradoPlateau in south west America. The expedition had been

eight months in the makingand organising an expeditionof this scale is not for the fainthearted, being the first one ofits kind to this area, but whenthe day arrived, there werefourteen happy faces Vegasbound.Our start point was Moah,

Utah and we had an epic trip toreach there. Having flown toLas Vegas, we had a 465 miledrive to Moab, which tooklonger than expected - a lot longer! Half of the Interstate hadbeen washed away by recent flash flooding, so we called it anight at 0030 hrs and got our heads down in a truck stop.On the third day after finally arriving at Pack Creek

Campground and putting up the tents, we headed to PoisonSpider Bikes. Equipped with our excellent rental bikes andsome good local knowledge, we set off to ride round Bar-MLoop, our introductory ride and the first of three rides in theMoab area. The next two days provided us with one of the best views of

the whole trip, looking over Klondike Bluffs on the northernend of Arches National Park and the hardest ride of the trip,around the legendary Slickrock Trail. SSgt Col Munsonsuffered the first wipe-out of the trip when he achieved a

spectacular (and inadvertent) half back flip, causing a Dutchguy on the trail to exclaim, ‘I think your friend might be deadback there!’The next day, moaning and groaning could be heard above

the sound of the alarms at 0600 hrs, but once we got toCanyonlands National Park it soon stopped. Our adminsupport driver, SSgt Jim McFall made his fear of heightsabundantly clear as we shuttled the vehicles down HorsethiefPass to the end of the trail, but we made it back to the startpoint safely. With Jim in his big F150 pickup, we set off on athree day ride round the 100 mile White Rim Trail. There wasnothing overly technical on this leg, but the White Rim Trailhas some gruelling climbs and no shade from the desert sun, areal physical challenge! Canyonlands offers some spectacular

scenery; 1000ft cliffs, massiverock towers and a natural rockarch spanning a 500ft deepcanyon, not to mention themagnificent Colorado andGreen rivers.Nine days in to the trip,

departing Moab early, wedrove to Panguitch for a muchneeded rest day on the way tothe Grand Canyon. Some ofthe group walked around thetown, taking in the old WildWest cowboy theme. Otherstook the opportunity to visitthe surreal landscape that isBryce Canyon Amphitheatre, amassive natural bowl filled withsandstone spires, toweringhundreds of feet.The Grand Canyon. We were

all feeling refreshed after therest day and the excellent BBQthe night before, done in

3 r d R e g i m e n t R o y a l H o r s e A r t i l l e r y

Exercise

The evolution of man on Musselman Arch, Canyonlands National Park

The view overlooking Canyonlands National Park and the White Rim Trail


Cfn Ed Mace shows them how it’s done on Murphy Hogback Hill

Stunning views of Thors Hammer in Bryce Canyon National Park

Monument Valley Navajo Nation Tribal Park

proper American style withhuge steaks and ribs.Although it is possible to ridethe Rainbow Rim Trail in oneday, we split it in half, settingup a base camp at LocustPoint and completed this intwo days. For any crosscountry riders, this is prettymuch the ultimate, a fastflowing and undulating trailthrough the Kaibab NationalForest. The trail breaks out ofthe tree line onto the veryedge of the Grand Canyon’snorth rim at many points,providing breathtaking viewsover the canyon. This trail is definitely not

one for total newbies. Thealtitude of 2500m took its tollon the mood of Cfn‘Sparklebee’ Sparks and CplJames Addy, even Sgt IainCampbell had a bit of adummy out the pram, teddy

in the corner moment. Cfn EdMace seemed to tire of lifeitself and fell off the edge ofthe canyon, luckily landingupside down in a bushhanging over the edge of thecanyon! Back at base camp,alive and only mildly bruised,we settled down for dinneron the edge of the GrandCanyon and watched theamazing sunset the locationoffers.The morning saw our two

days at the Grand Canyondraw to a close, so afterbreakfast we mounted up foranother long drive toWahweap Marina RV Park onthe shore of Lake Powell. Onarrival, the group headed intoPage, the local town, to stockup on supplies and have awell earned Texas style BBQdinner (again).Day 13 was organised as a

cultural visit to the nearbyAntelope Canyon in theNavajo Nation Tribal Park. Notall of the group wereparticularly interested in theprospect, thinking it was‘another bloody rock in a rockfilled desert made almostentirely of rock!’ Opinionschanged the instant wedescended the metal stairsinto this amazing slot canyon.A 5-10m wide, 40-60m deepslit in the desert sandstone; ithas been carved out entirelyby water, resulting inbeautiful shapes and colours.This being our final day ofactivities before returning toMoab to return the bikes thendrive back to Las Vegas, thegroup naturally made best


use of the BBQ pit at the campsite and enjoyed the sunsetover Lake Powell with another steak and a beer.The following day we drove back to Moab which enabled us

to take in one last sight on our 1100 mile loop; MonumentValley has been the setting of many western films and is thesacred heartland of the NavajoNation. This made for a greatplace to have a pit stop on thelong drive from Page to Moab.Back in Moab it was admintime with all the camping gearto clean and pack ready for thedrive to Las Vegas and a fondfarewell to our trusty rentalbikes and the fantastic team atPoison Spider Bikes.The riding was all over; it was

time to head back to Las Vegas,drop off the trailer at U-Haul,return our camping gear toWestern Wanderers and dropthe hire vehicles at the airport.With this all done we checkedinto our hotel in DowntownLas Vegas and got into our gladrags for some well earned R+RVegas style prior to our returnto Hohne!With 250 miles of riding,

9000ft maximum altitude, 40+degree heat, 1000ft cliffs, onebroken wheel, four snappedchains, a broken freewheel huband sand everywhere; this wasa trip of extremes but it thrilledat every moment. Starting at

Moab, the birthplace of mountain biking, we saw six NationalParks, rode in some of the most beautiful scenery on earthand on some of the most unique trails going. As was said atLas Vegas airport, ‘Well, AT just doesn’t get any better thanthat, a true trip of a lifetime!’

Inside Antelope Canyon

REME enjoying the view on the Grand Canyon North Rim


The first REME Museum opened in 1958 and comprised fourrooms in Moat House, Arborfield. It moved to its currentlocation in 1985 and since then has continued to develop toreflect the heritage of the Corps. However, at some time, allgood things must come to an end and on 25 April 2015, theMuseum held its final event in Arborfield – The Last BigBash. It was always the intention of Maj (Retd) RickHenderson, Museum Director to mark this end of an era byhaving a final event befitting the occasion; an occasion that,not only thanked the local community for their support overthe years, but also recognised the Museum’s well earnedhigh reputation and so the Last Big Bash was created. Ourreader will know that the sign of a good leader can be seenin the ‘art of delegation’, and it was the Museum’s AssistantCurator, Juliet Turk, ably assisted by the Education Officer,Olive Parr, who Rick entrusted with the preparation,planning, coordination, organising and arranging; they donegood because over 2,100 visitors had a tremendous and funtime, some seeing the REME Museum for the first and sadly,last time in Arborfield. Juliet persuaded many groups to takepart and the back-field was full of stalls and activities.Refreshments were provided by the Museum’s caterer,‘Sarnie,’ the WI and there was a Hog Roast – delicious. Therewere historical vehicles (and a ManSV provided by SSgt‘Dusty’ Miller and Sgt Gaz Kelly from Bordon), the localBritish Legion branch was there with ‘their bikers’ and theArborfield Branch of the REME Association had a ‘Books,Balls and Bottles’ (Tombola) stall. The Corps Recruiters hada stall and for a small donation visitors could have anengraved ‘dog-tag’; and there’s no truth in the rumour thatwhen those who received a tag become of age, they’realready signed-up. Soldiers for 11 Trg Bn REME ran theAssault Course, the Minefield and Potted Sports, and thechildren loved it. The Military Wives Choir sang beautifullyand the REME shop did a roaring trade. Those stalls wouldnot have had the accommodation storesif it were not for the Arborfield

Supply Manager, Al Webster, and in 1977, a fellowapprentice with Rick, and the tents would not have beenerected, if it were not for SSgt Andy McKenzie and thesoldiers from 11 Trg Bn REME; tent erection is not an officersport and the scribe writes from experience! To all thosewho helped make this ‘Last Big Bash’ the success and fun itwas, ‘A huge thank you!’To put the importance of this final event into some sort ofperspective, the Museum Director, gave up the gamebetween his beloved Southampton andSpurs and his Business Manager, aMighty Potter, missed Stoke City vSunderland; the Last Big Bashwas that important!

REME Museum’s Final Event in ArborfieldBy Lt Col (Retd) John Edwards OBE, Museum Business Manager

Assistant Curator,

Juliet Turk and Curat

or,

Jennifer Allison, tell

the

world that that the

REME Museum is clo

sed

and see you in Lyneh

am

Autumn 2016

Following the Museum Director’sspeech of thanks, hepresents AssistantCurator, Juliet Turk,with some flowers for‘doing a reallyoutstanding job’

Brain Baxter, theMuseum’s TechnicalArchivist, is given thehonour, as the longestcurrent serving member of staff, oflowering the flag


11 Trg Bn REMEsoldiers take potenialrecruits on the AssaultCourse and through theMinefield(Photographs courtesyof Mr Ted BurnhamLBIPP, LRPS)

The Face Painting stall, run by Curator,Jennifer Allison, and herAssistant, Juliet Turk,was very popular


Visitors to the Museum get up close tothe exhibits. The littlevisitor taking aninterest in the FACEexhibit fails to noticethe ‘Please do nottouch’ sign

Historicvehicles

Beat theGoalie


The Arborfield Military Wives’ Choirattracted anappreciative audience(Photograph courtesy ofMr Ted Burnham LBIPP,LRPS)

A futureBritishLegionbiker

Stocks – A 11 Trg BnREME soldier‘takes one forthe team’

REME Association Arborfield Branch’s‘Books, Balls andBottles’ and (Tombola) stall

What’s theWI good at? Correct– making cakes!(Photographscourtesy of Mr TedBurnham LBIPP,LRPS)

The MuseumDirector, Maj (Retd)Rick Henderson, isinterviewed for thethird time in as manymonths; this time itwas ‘The Wokingham

News.’



I was sent to Coventry again. For the third time, theAnnual Reunion of the REME Association was held at theRoyal Court Hotel over the weekend 17-19 April. Thechallenge is to get to the Royal Court Hotel without goinground the ring road too many times!

The booking-in process was once again in the safe handsof Shirley and Tracy of Isle of Wight Tours who organisethe weekend on behalf of the Association. Also on handwere the RHQ REME Association team; Richard Barber,Hayley Bodman and Laura Storey with Paul Binns of theBlackpool Branch and Trevor Burns of the ArborfieldBranch and ready to sell raffle tickets were members of theCoventry Branch led by Geoff Wells.

Also in evidence during the weekend were three InPensioners from the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Fred

Abraham, Brian Trask and DougPaterson resplendent in the famousred coats(well some of the time).

The REME Shop was set up andmanned by Kate Robertson and JenAllinson. This year the shop was in amore prominent place and provedvery popular. Kate has told me thatsales were up on last year and saleshave risen consistently over the lastfew years, proving that it plays animportant role in the success of theweekend.

As usual things went smoothly andguests started to arrive ready for theweekend’s activities. After the carverydinner, the evening’s entertainmentwas provided by Colin Smith.

The next day, (Saturday) a coachtrip was arranged to RAF Cosford,near Wolverhampton, the home ofRAF training (will it be moving toLyneham?) and others did their own

thing. I went to Leamington Spa and it was well worth it.The weather was good and the flowers in Jephson Gardenswere a picture.

Capt Marcus Mason, OC 30 Sig Regt LAD, stationed inNuneaton, managed to find the time and resources to bringalong a Recovery Vehicle (SVR) manned by members of the

Reunion 2015

The ‘old and bold’ with the SVR from 30 Sig Regt LAD

The MG inspecting the Standard Bearers

John Worrall, writes:

Chelsea In-Pensioners Brian Trask, Fred Abraham and Doug Paterson


his wife Maxine were all seated with membersspread throughout the room. This wasintroduced last year and provides a betteropportunity to meet members and others guests. After dinner, Brig Williams made a speech,

giving an update on Corps matters and thenhanded over to the Master General who made thefollowing presentations:Winners of the Vincent Metcalfe Trophy the

Bournemouth Branch, which was accepted byBranch President, Lloyd Le Tiec with DavidFerns, Branch Chairman in attendance. Master General’s Commendations: Des

Lillycrap, of the Swansea Branch and BarryWoodward of the Doncaster Branch. Commendations for Bob Griffiths and John

Porch of the Arborfield Branch neither were ableto be present, were accepted by BranchPresident, Lt Col John Edwards OBE andChairman, Myles Taylor. (The Commendationswere presented at the Arborfield Branch meetingon 20 April by the CO of 11 Trg Bn REME, Lt ColClaire Phillips).Commendation for Dave Nichol of the Teesside

Branch (unable to be present) was accepted by Alan Baker.Bouquets were presented to Shirley and Tracey of Isle of

Wight Tours and Mrs Lillycrap and Mrs Woodward. The first tickets for the raffle were drawn by Mrs Maxine

Williams after which the entertainment for the eveningwas provided by theREMEContemporaryBand. I hear youask, ‘What is theREMEContemporaryBand?’ To explain:The Corps does nothave a marchingband. There arenow three bandswithin the Armywho playcontemporarymusic aimed at theyounger members ofthe Army. Members

LAD. This was positioned in the car park to enable some ofthe ‘old boys’ to look at the modern equivalent of the oldScammell. During the afternoon, more guests started to arrive ready

for the Beating Retreat, Reception and Gala Dinner. BeatingRetreat began at 1745 hrs andwas performed by a combinedmarching band from theQueen’s Division and theRoyal Signals. The salute wastaken by the Master GeneralREME, Lt Gen AndrewFiggures CB CBE. TheAssociation StandardsBearers were also on parade,having been rehearsed underthe guidance of the CorpsASM, WO1 Liam Condron.Glynn Winterbottom, theNational Standard Bearer wastaking the lead for the firsttime having taken over fromKen Willmott of theArborfield Branch. Kenhad been doing the jobfor seven years andlooked on with a tear inhis eye.The Gala Dinner was

held in the BritanniaSuite and the roomlooked resplendent withthe Corps coloursprominent. As there wasno ‘top table’ the mainguests, the MasterGeneral; Colonel REME;Col Dan Scott ADC andhis wife Lara; theChairman of theExecutive Committee ofthe Association;Brigadier Nigel WilliamsMBE accompanied by

Marching off

A combined maching band from the Queen’s Division and the Royal Signals

Mrs Joanna and Col (Retd) George Illingworth, Roger Jagger and Padre Stephen Thatcher

of the bands are servingmembers of the Army fromthe Corps of Musicians(CAMUS). The REME Bandrecently formed will be ableto play military music to anew and exciting audiencebut also retain connectionsto its proud heritage that hasgone before it. The band willbe 15 strong but able toproduce smaller bands orform up with other bands forlarge scale events.On Sunday, during the

Church service conductedfor the eighth year by theCorps Chaplain, PadreStephen Thatcher it wastime to remember fallencomrades. During hisspeech, the previous

evening, the Master General informed usthat Padre Stephen would be staying in thepost for the foreseeable future, which isgood news for the Corps. His addresscentred on the work of Lord Shaftsburyand his campaigning for children of thepoor and his work for social improvement.Reminding the congregation that they allhad a role in shaping and influencing thelives of the young. A great influence inLord Shaftsbury’s life was his WelshNanny and he reminded us that even ourPatron Saint, Saint Eligius had a mentor.After the service many guests left for

home, but those who stayed on had theopportunity to go out and about again. Wewent on a coach trip into Coventry Citycentre and managed to take in the new andold cathedral. It is strange to think that Ihad just been born and was in a nursinghome 15 miles away when the cathedral

was being bombed in November 1940. Coventry is a cityI am familiar with, as it was there I played football forCoventry School Boys in 1954/55, although my home isRugby I went to the only school in the town that playedfootball. It was there that I joined the Army in 1959 andin 1961, I asked Sheila to marry me in a café in the towncentre. We never did find the café though. The entertainment in the evening after dinner was

provided by Mark Hammond, he gauged his audience toa T and had us all singing the songs of the 50s and 60sand for the dancers in the audience, they had a chanceto show off their skills. In particular Vic Langabeer andChristine, Peter Barlow and Sylvia and Ken Willmott’sdaughter and granddaughters, Ginette, Kerry andTammy really put on a show as they do every year. Havethey cast Strictly Come Dancing yet?Well, another reunion was over and everyone made

their way home on Monday, looking forward to nextyear when the Reunion will take place over theweekend 15-18 April, again in the Royal Court Hotel.

Members of the Ashford Branch

The old and new Coventry Cathedral

Lloyd Le Tiec, with David Ferns of the Bournemouth Branchreceiving the Vincent Metcalfe Trophy


The South Australia Branch attended the ANZAC March in Adelaide on 25 April, markingthe 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli. This year all former British service per-sonnel were in one group, with the Royal Navy at the head followed by the Arctic Convoysand Royal Marines. The Army fell in the centre of the group followed by the RAF. The Armywas placed into one group with all associations marching as one. In consequence all of theBranch Standards were arrayed across the front of the group led by the Australian andBritish Flags.The REME Association was well represented and we had the largest of all the associationson parade. In fact we supplied the Standard Bearer for the Guards Association as they onlyhad three members in attendance.

Our President, Bill Atkins, was determinedthat this year he would march with us,although recovering from a recent illness,march he did! In fact he was featured onnational TV together with Mr Jim Skippermarching along King William Street. The WRNS joined us for lunch and have

now been invited to join with us on a moreregular basis as their numbers are so low. MrsMargaret Dolphin, a former WRNS, is a mem-ber of the branch, her son having been aMajor in the Corps. The New Branch Banner was also dis-

played for the first time and was attached tothe side of the Truck that carried those whowere unable to march.

South Australia BranchAttend ANZAC March

By Alan Weeks, Chairman

Please do not insert photos into the word document or email, they must be separate attachments [email protected] 279

On 1 March at 0200 hrs, SSgt Greenwood and Ideparted Royal School of Signals LAD at BlandfordGarrison for two weeks of snowboarding in the RoyalSignals Inter Unit Corps competition in Rauris, Aus-tria. Our team consisted of four Royal Signals person-nel, two REME and one Royal Engineer.The two weeks were divided; week one was intensive

training with the Dutch Olympic boarders, Ripstar,week two was the competition which included slopeslalom, Boarder cross and slope style. On the first day, all boarders were put into three

groups; novice, intermediate and advanced. Having alittle snowboarding experience behind him, SSgtGreenwood was placed in the intermediate group,whereas I was straight on the baby slope with thenovices.The training was intense for us novices, as most of

us had no experience whatsoever, but after seeing thelocal children board past us at mach speed is all themotivation we needed to work hard and get off thebaby slope and up the mountain. By day three mygroup were at the top of the mountain in a blizzarddoing drift turns all the way down.At the end of the training phase there was a fancy dress

party as a thank you to all the Ripstar instructors. The nextday we had a free day off in order to polish off our skills onthe mountain before the start of the competition, howevermost of us chose to nurse our bruises and achy muscles byvisiting the local Sauna and swimming pool. Week two started with the Slalom seeding followed by the

slalom knockout. SSgt Greenwood took the opportunity toshow off his skills and came out with a good time, which sethim around the middle of the intermediates. Unfortunately, Islid over the line on my backside having bailed after the last

flag. The next event was the slope style which was for theintermediates and advanced riders only. The course consistedof rails, boxes and multiple five foot kickers. The contestantswere graded on the tricks and styles achieved as they workedtheir way down the course. Although apprehensive, (slopestyle incurs the most serious injuries) SSgt Greenwoodcruised down the course with a clean first run throwing in areverse 180 for good measure.The final event was the boarder cross. The border cross

consists of four riders fighting their way down the narrowcourse at the same time. The course consisted of aseries of twists, turns and multiple rollers and kickers.The novice races became one to see who could getback up the fastest after a fall, as it was highly competi-tive with all four riders constantly taking each other outin a bid to get in front. I came third in my race as Iwas taken out near the end and overtaken, and unfor-tunately only the first two boarders go through to thenext round. SSgt Greenwood shot down the course,holding second place and sticking to the heels of thepace leader which was the R SIGNALS number fourseed, unfortunately a corner came too sharply and heploughed through the course safety net and out intothe thick deep snow. SSgt Greenwood came 32nd outof 75 competitors, which was respectable for his firstcompetition considering he has only been riding forsix months. The last night was the presentations, thena few beers down town to celebrate the fact that wewere all returning in one piece.After two weeks of bruises, windburn and whiplash,

we came out of this exercise as accomplished ridersand some with no previous experience were now con-fidently popping 180’s down the mountain. That said,we both hope to return next year to further improveour skills.

By LCpl Moore



REME Women’s FC – Winners of the Edwards Challenge Cup(for a consecutive second year)

LCpl Yvette Kemp holds the Edwards ChallengeCup with REME FC sponsor Lt Col (Retd) David

Gagen (Everton fan), MD Engage Technical Solu-tions, with his Financial Manager, Natalie Wood(Liverpool fan); Monday mornings must be inter-

esting after the local derby!

Sgt Heski Johnson sprints off to claim the accolades from her fel-low players after scoring a brilliant last minute winner. She lastplayed competitive football on 9 May 2013 on this very pitch

when, unfortunately, she damaged her ankle playing against theAGC in the End of Season Tournament Final; welcome back Heski!Cfn Chelsey Sneado, arms raised, celebrates on the touch-line andwould have normally played in defence but was required to do

Army rugby (egg chasing) training that morning in preparation forthe match the following day against the RAF; after this game,

Chelsey was awarded her Army Cap – well done! Captain, LCpl Yvette Kemp lifts the cup!

By Lt Col (Retd) John Edwards OBEOn a wet Wednesday morning at the Aldershot Military Stadium, REME Women’s FCretained the Edwards Challenge Cup by beating the RA 2 -1. As our reader will know,Football is a funny old game and this match was no exception because REME scoredin the first minute with an own-goal, the Gunners equalised in the 87th minute andthen in the last minute, LSgt Heski Johnson lobbed the keeper to secure the win andthe cup. Col REME, Col Dan Scott ADC and Chairman of REME Football, Col Max JoyOBE were pitch-side to witness the team’s delight and see LCpl Yvette Kemp collectthe trophy from an equally delighted Lt Col (Retd) John Edwards OBE. Guest of Hon-our, Maj Gen Tim Radford DSO OBE, COS UKLF, awarded LCpl Kemp with ‘Player ofthe Match.’

REME Women’s FC Retain the Edwards Challenge Cup

The Inter Corps Badminton Championships 2015 were held 11-13February, at the Army Badminton Centre of Excellence, (ATR)Grantham, Lincolnshire. As the current Inter Corps champions, REMEwere keen to build on last years success and the pressure was on tomake it two in a row. Our first team boasted four Army players, (CaptLiam Wilson, WO1 (RSM) J Daley, Cpl Col Campbell and Cfn TomMachon), one new and as yet untried player (Cfn Johnny Hickman)and three Corps badminton veterans, (Capt Stu Bass, WO1 (RSM)Lloyd Morgan and Maj Bob Todd). The Corps team were (on paper)very strong and quietly confident of making the final stages of thecompetition.On day 1, REME played the RA 1 and AGC 1; comfortable wins for

the Corps, with only three games dropped over the two matches.Day two proved much more challenging. First up, R Signals 1 with ateam made of Army players, headed up by the Combined Servicemen’s number one, a well drilled team that knew how to get a result.REME were put under pressure straight away narrowly losing theopening two games. Things didn’t get much better with REME onlywinning three of the next seven games, which was a disappointingresult. We were down but not out; the top two in each pool wentthrough to the semi finals so there was still a lot to play for. Next upwere AGC 2, this proved to be a much easier game and a goodconfidence builder, REME not dropping a game and 9-0 winners.Victory against AGC 2 meant that REME 1 finished second in pool 1and went into the semi-final against RLC 1 (pool 2 winners). Due totime constraints this had to be played the same day, it was now timeto re-group and get the tactics right for the next match. REME 2although putting on a good show, did not go through to the semis;all players getting some valuable experience playing at Corps level.Semi Final - REME 1 v RLC 1: A big semi final loomed large, RLCwere the 2013 champions andlast year’s runners up, thepressure was definitely on andas expected, it was a very tightmatch – all three RLC pairs werestrong and experienced in highpressure situations. It was tit-for-tat all the way with the REMENo1 pair of Capt Liam Wilsonand Cpl Col Campbell, sealingthe win by taking all three oftheir games in a 6-3 triumph. RSigs 1 beat RE 1 in the secondsemi-final, so it was REME 1 v RSigs 1 in the Inter Corps final.Final – REME 1 v R Sigs 1: Themain event. Tension was highand the match was madetougher by the fact that REMEhad already lost to the R Sigs 1in a pool match earlier in thecompetition. This howeverseemed to provide all themotivation the team neededwith REME No 2 Pair of WO1(RSM) J Daley and Cpl ColCampbell starting the final witha top draw performance taking

the much fancied R Sigs No 1 pair in straight games. It was first bloodto REME who were now even more determined to finish the job.Shortly after, it was 1-1 with the REME No 3 pair of Maj Bob Todd andWO1 (RSM) Lloyd Morgan fighting valiantly but falling just short ofbeating the R Sigs No 2 pairing. However, it was the REME No 1pairing of Capt Liam Wilson and Cpl Col Campbell who showed theway by taking all three of their games. The Royal Signals’ spirit wasnow well and truly broken and with the REME Badminton Secretary,Capt Stu Bass giving inspirational instructions from the sidelines,REME 1 cruised to victory winning two of the last three games. Theend result was a win, REME 6 – R Signals 3.REME retaining the Inter Corps title, the first time we had donethis in 20 years!Big thanks go to all REME players who played brilliantly all week -

REME Squad: Maj Chris Ayres, Maj Bob Todd, Capt Liam Wilson, CaptStu Bass (Corps Secretary) WO1 (RSM) Lloyd Morgan, WO1 (RSM) JDaley, Sgt D Thakuri, Cpl Col Campbell, Cfn G Gurung, JohnnyHickman and Tom Machon. Thanks must also go to their respectiveCommanding Officers for releasing them to play. Due to performances throughout the week, Capt Wilson, WO2 Jim

Daley, Cpl Campbell and Cfn Machon were selected to represent theArmy at the Combined and Inter Service Championships in March2015. In addition Cfn Machon will represent the Army on finals day atthe All England Badminton Championships, forming part of thepresentations team. The Corps is always looking for new players of all standards, if you

play badminton and want to try out for the Corps team or attend oneof the Corps events, please get in touch with the Secretary REMEBadminton; WO1 (RSM) Morgan, DII - DCTT-LCDP-ROWCROFT-Assetsor WO1 (RSM) J Daley, DII - 4REME-BHQ-RSM

REME Inter CorpsBadminton Champions 2015

By WO1 (RSM) J Daley

Back: L/R: Maj Bob Todd, WO1(RSM) J Daley, Capt Stu Bass, Capt Liam Wilson, WO1 (RSM) Lloyd Morgan Front: L/R: Cpl Col Campbell (Corps Captain), Cfn Tom Machon, Cfn Johnny Hickman


SSgt Adam Austin - 200kg Deadlift

WO1 Matt France - 90kg Log Lift

LCpl Emma Barson - 150kg Super Yoke WO2 Si Cooper - 6T Truck Pull

The sport of Strongman requires physical and mental strengthfrom its competitors and as soldiers have both, it is well suitedto the military. Forces Strongman, open to both male and femalecompetitors, has been running for a few years with a highpercentage of REME participants. A growing sport, the novicebar is set low enough for those with just a little weight trainingexperience to compete at events throughout the year. The latestcompetition was a REME Championships, hosted by 8 Fd Coy(PARA) in Colchester. The format and the challenges that lay ahead of the

competitors mirrors the World’s Strongest Man competition. There were six events throughout the day, which were: Log

Press for reps, Super Yoke for time and distance, max weightDeadlift, 6T Man SV pull, Keg carry and Atlas Stones for reps.The competitors were divided into the following categories:Female, Novice, Inters and Open.The highlights were: LCpl Emma Barson with 14 Deadlifts

with 110kg; Cpl Steve Woods with a blistering 14s, 20m SuperYoke run weighing 230kg; first-timer LCpl Josh Brown withseven reps of the 75kg Log; WO1 Matt France achieving sixreps with a 110kg Atlas Stone andWO2 Simon Cooper achieving fivereps on the 110kg Log. The REME Champions of each

category were: Female – LCpl EmmaBarson; Novice – Cpl Steve Woods;Inter – WO1 Matt France and Open –WO2 Simon Cooper.With the impending move to

Lyneham ever closer, in 2016 it willbecome home for both Forces andREME Strong Soldier. Wednesdaysports will feature training sessionsand competitions. In the meantime,the next competition is in July and tojoin the regular heavy lifters, wewould like to see new faces so thefirst-timer category weights willreflect this.

Strong Soldier ChampionshipsChairman: WO1 Andy Porter Scribe: LCpl Dot Cotton

For further details contact SSgt Wall: (: 94660 5466 or : [email protected]

Cpl Steve Woods - Novice Champion with SSgt Dan Wall



OrienteeringChampionships

The REME Orienteering Championships will take placeon 11 June 2015 at Everleigh, which is north of Tidworth.The Corps is the current U25 Inter-Corps champion and itis sensible to encourage young talent to retain this titleand develop individuals to be able to represent the Corpsat the senior level.

All units are requested to add this date to the diary andnote that you don’t have to wear ‘geeky clothing’ or besome kind of fell runner to participate; you can competebut it is a recommended that you attend a basics courseor at least are familiarised with orienteering map coloursand symbols before attending and that orienteeringsupports MATT 5.

For further details contact Maj Tony Grainger,14 Regt RA Wksp, Larkhill on: (: 94322-5603or : [email protected]

For more information please visit www.remegolf.co.ukor contact WO1 (ASM) Chris Flynn on: (: [email protected]

or : Mil 94251 2414

REME Golf AssociationCalling all aspiring REMEgolfers for the 2015 season

This is a great opportunity for new and old members to get

their clubs out and participate in some semi competitive /

friendly golf at heavily subsidised rates; no matter what

your handicap is. Please make yourself known and support

the following events:

FOE 2015

Spring Meet Wed 6 May Henley

Corps Champs Wed 17 June Sonning

Captain’s Tour 22 – 27 June France

Summer Meet Wed 22 July Basingstoke

Autumn Meet Thu 3 September Wrag Barn

Brass Balls & AGM Wed 14 October Tidworth

ExerciseTRANSGLOBE 15/16

Exercise TRANSGLOBE 15/16 is a majorTri-Service Adventurous Sail Training Exercisetaking place from July 2015 to August 2016.The REMESC have been allocated Leg 6 from

Hobart, Australia to Wellington, New Zealand overthe period 3 January to 23 January 2016.The exercise is open to all serving Regular andReserve personnel. A mix of qualified and novice

sailors are required for each leg. Anyone wishing to register an interest in taking

part in the exercise should contact:Maj SM O’Connor REME, SO2 ES AM, HQ FTC

;: [email protected]: Mil: 94344 5247

For further information, please contact the Offshore Secretary:

: [email protected]

Seahorse Rover - REME Sailing Club

Round Britain Cruise 2015The REME Sailing Club will be sailing a yachtaround the UK during the summer. The voyagewill be divided into 10 legs of one week. Allmembers of REME are eligible to charter the

yacht for a leg, including Reservists and formerserving members of the Corps. The legs are:

Dates From To Distance29 Jun - 5 Jul Portsmouth Plymouth 1306 Jul - 12 Jul Plymouth Milford Haven 18013 Jul - 19 Jul Milford Haven Whitehaven 21020 Jul - 26 Jul Whitehaven Largs 11027 Jul - 2 Aug Largs Oban 14010 Aug- 16 Aug Oban Inverness 11017 Aug - 23 Aug Inverness Eyemouth 18524 Aug - 30 Aug Eyemouth Grimsby 22031 Aug - 6 Sep Grimsby Ipswich 1607 Sep - 13 Sep Ipswich Portsmouth 180

REME TennisChampionships

All abilities are welcome and there is plenty of opportunity to play a lot of tennis.

The REME Tennis Championships 2015will take place 18-20 June 2015 at Arborfield Garrison, Berkshire

For further information, or to enter, contact:Capt Russ Lewis ( 94251 2357

[email protected] Andy Bickerton ( 94342 2833 [email protected]

REME Corps and Garrison Church of St Eligius

RSCM Music Sundayon 14 June 2015 at 10.30 am

Come and join us to celebrate the last MusicSunday of the Royal School of Church Music at

St Eligius Church as a military church!The music in the Ecumenical Service includes:

Sacred songs by Arborfield Military Wives ChoirVocal solo and trio

Worship songs by the Church ChoirOrgan voluntaries

Rousing congregational hymns! The collection will be shared with the RSCM,

a charity supporting music in worship.Coffee, tea and cake after the Service!

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PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)recognises that the Armed Forces train theirpersonnel to achieve high standards at all times.

Professional registrationProfessional registration is highly valued by employers. Itprovides formal recognition of your military skills and experienceand shows perspective employers that you have demonstratedcontinual professional competence throughout your career.

The IET is licenced by the Engineering Council to award:

Chartered Engineer (CEng)Incorporated Engineer (IEng)Engineering Technician (EngTech)ICT Technician (ICTTech)

Special Registration Agreements (SRAs)SRAs benchmark certain career pathways* against therequirements for registration. This means that individualsmeeting the eligibility criteria for one of these routes may apply via a streamlined application process and will not berequired to provide detailed competence evidence.

To find out more, including technician and serviceleaver discounts, visit: www.theiet.org/armed-forcesor email: [email protected]

The Institution of Engineering and Technology is registered as a Charity in England & Wales (no 211014) and Scotland(no SC038698),Michael Faraday House, Six Hills Way, Stevenage, SG1 2AY, United Kingdom.

*Visit www.theiet.org/armed-forces to see if you meet the SRA criteria.

13:57 Page 1


JOIN UP FORRECOGNITIONSUPPORTADVICE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION PROCESS

BE RECOGNISEDBE REWARDED

07590 735 [email protected]/ARMEDFORCES

SOME ENGINEERS GET NOTICED MORE THAN OTHERS.

Improving the world through engineering

I am a recovery mechanic currently serving as an equipmentsupport staff assistant at Headquarters Collective TrainingGroup in Warminster and working out of trade in a post moreusually associated with a REME Artificer. The role effectivelyworks as a BArt providing technical advice and support to col-lective training establishments. The requirement to ‘profession-alise’ the individual in such a position of responsibility hasnever been as important.A recovery mechanic’s route to gaining formal qualificationson completion of trade training courses at DSEME Bordon hasalways been challenging. Historically the only recognisableaward previously achieved was the City and Guilds part 1 and 2in light & heavy vehicle recovery; unfortunately this qualifica-tion gains very little formal acknowledgment within the civilianrecovery industry. The lack of qualifications was addressed in2012 with the introduction of the EAL Level 3 NVQ ExtendedDiploma in Engineering Technical Support which is now offeredto all recovery mechanics including SNCOs. Initially there wassome reluctance within the trade to embrace this, howevermany have now recognised the incentives and credibility thenew award provides and are working towards furthering theirown qualifications and those of their soldiers.I completed the NVQ in 2013 and began to assess what morecould be achieved with this qualification whilst realising theimportance of recognisable transferable qualifications. Workingin conjunction with CD CSS Maj Will Naylor REME, SO2 PersonalDevelopment identified a potential route into registration withthe Engineering Council. Maj Naylor put me in touch with JimFuller from the Society of Operations Engineers (SOE) who wasextremely helpful and keen to see our trade achieve an appro-

priate level of professional registration to match our responsi-bilities within the Corps. I sent my certificates to Jim who ini-tially assessed my qualifications and agreed that I should applyto the engineering council for Engineering Technician (EngTech) status via SOE. As a first step I elected to become a mem-ber of SOE’s road transport professional sector (IRTE), whichwas the obvious choice due to the close working relationshipwith REME. My formal application was processed and I wasassessed on the December 2014 board and officially awardedEng Tech status.This crucial step for the recovery mechanic trade will hope-fully enable employers to recognise how much responsibilitysits within our trade and whether working as an individual or aspart of the team, you are actually also working as a profession-ally qualified engineer. The next steps will be to identify courseswhich will allow progression and the opportunity to developprofessionally, eventually working towards and achieving Incor-porated Engineer (IEng) status.Becoming a member of a professional institution and a regis-trant with the Engineering Council is an essential step in anyREME soldiers’ career, particularly when we transition our skillsto civilian life. The Regimental Colonel is encouraging all oursoldiers to become members of professional institutions inorder that we can align ourselves with our civilian counterpartsand demonstrate credibility to future prospective employers. Itis essential that all trades seize every opportunity available andstrive to gain recognition and not undersell ourselves. If you areinterested and would like a recovery mechanics view please donot hesitate to contact me:: CTG-HQ-ES-SA or Maj Naylor :Army CapCSS-ES-Stds-PD-SO2.

A Recovery Mechanics Route to Professional RegistrationWO1 (ASM) Chris Worrall EngTech MSOE MIRTE MCMI


Babcock International Regional Manager Lee Pearson receiving hiscertificate from Mark Organ, IET’s Head of Membership.

New Agreements Signed to SupportREME Professional Development

REME has held a special registration agreement with theIET since 2009. This agreement was recently amendedand a signing ceremony of the reviewed document washeld in April at West Court Officers’ Mess, Arborfield.IET Chief Executive Nigel Fine and Colonel Dan ScottADC, Colonel REME, signed on behalf of the two organ-isations.The registration agreement is a tool that enables the

IET to recruit members and professional registrants fromREME whilst enabling REME soldiers and officers to applyusing a more streamlined process. This agreement wasamended to enable improved inclusivity, ensuring thatmembership is applicable to more ranks and roles inREME. The new agreement is less focused on rank and relies

more on REME to select those who they believe meetthe underpinning knowledge and understanding and com-petences for the various registration levels, regardless oftheir rank or trade. The agreement is also a commitment between REME

and the IET to continue to work closely together pro-moting the benefits of IET membership and professionalregistration. This also closely aligned with the joint professional engi-neering institution defence strategy of which the IET is a signatory.

Babcock’s professionalism acknowledgedBabcock International is contracted by the British Army to deliverthe apprentice training requirements for REME and the technicaltrades of the Army Air Corps (AAC). There are currently circa 1,300personnel joining these apprentice schemes annually. In discussions with Babcock International’s Regional Manager Lee

Pearson, it was agreed that all REME apprentices would become IETmembers and furthermore that it would be funded by Babcock.Because of this agreement, the signing ceremony also included thepresentation of Babcock’s apprenticeship EngTech approval certifi-cate, which was accepted on behalf of the company by Lee.Naomi Taylor, IET MOD Development Manager says, ‘Resigning

the REME registration agreement reaffirms both the IET’s and REME’scommitment to working together to achieve professionalism within theCorps, and will no doubt lead to further membership and professionalregistrants joining the IET through the REME route. The agreement withBabcock International and REME enhances the commitment to provid-ing their personnel with the best start in their career, from their appren-ticeship and onwards’ she continues, ‘Babcock International delivershigh quality training and by providing the REME apprentices with mem-bership of a professional body shows them just how important member-ship of an institution and professional registration are to their careers.’

Professional Development UpdatesBy Maj WM Naylor SO2 Coherence CD CSS

Colonel Dan Scott ADC and IET Chief Executive Nigel Fine sign REME SRA agreementoverlooked by L-R: Major Will Naylor, IET’s Mark Organ, Lee Pearson and Naomi Taylor

MG REME and REME Soldier Wing staff – WO1 (ASM) Steve Connor holding the MG Commendation

The Master General Lt Gen A C Figgures CB CBEvisited REME Soldier Wing at the Army PersonnelCentre in Glasgow on 1 April 2015 to award hisCommendation to all those who have served or areserving in REME Soldier Wing. Lt Col Pete McMil-lan nominated the Wing for this deserved awardand the Master General wanted to personally pres-ent it, but his busy diary prevented him fromdoing so before Pete left. I therefore graciouslyaccepted the award on his behalf.During his visit, the Master General was keen tochat with all of the staff and he enjoyed the can-dour of their conversations regarding the chal-lenges of the job within the current manning cli-mate; I’m sure it reminded him of similar chal-lenges he faced when he was responsible for man-aging the careers of REME Captains and subal-terns as a young Major. He also had office callswith the Military Secretary and Col CM CSS.

Visit of MG REME to REME Soldier Wing, APC GlasgowBy Lt Col Brian Burke - SO1 REME Soldiers


VACANCYCentral Charitable Trust(CCT) Secretary

Responsibilities of the post include:

• To be the Corps HQ Officers’ Mess Secretary. • On behalf of the Corps Secretary and Colonel REME effectively

manage all Property currently held by the Corps, includingproperty on loan and in storage.

• On behalf of the Corps Sports Chairman manage all aspects ofREME Corps Sports, including, Corps Sports Awards, CorpsSports Dinner Night, Budgets and Charters and Corps SportsChampionship.

• Coordinate all REME Adventurous Training facilities, manage allbookings and contracted workers.

• Manage all Institution Events.

The applicant must have experience working as an SO2 within theArmed Forces (preferably the REME). Salary details and a full jobspecification are available on request.

Anticipated start date: 3 Aug 2015.

For more information please contact, Rachael Murphy, RHQBusiness Support Manager: [email protected]

the horses and figures.The model was delivered in early March 2015 and publiclyunveiled at the REME Young Officers’ Club dinner on 26 March2015 in the presence of the Colonel in Chief. The model, madeof sterling silver, sits on a black wooden plinth and in total is600 mm long by 240 mm wide, 280 mm high and weighs 8.5Kgs.This particular piece has been commissioned from REMECentral Charitable Trust (CCT) funds on behalf of the Corps. Assuch it is available for short term loan to REME units for suit-able occasions. Applications for the loan of this item must besubmitted in writing directly to Colonel REME stating; the loca-tion and nature of the event at which it is to be on display; theprecautions to be taken for its safekeeping AND the date ofloan. Units must also understand that, due to the value of theitem, it will only be issued to a specified individual as agreedbetween Colonel REME and the unit senior REME officer ornon-commissioned officer.

Silver Competition Bennington Carriage and Horses

To mark His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edin-burgh’s long standing appointment as Colonel in Chief of theRoyal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, a decision was madeto commission a silver model of his Competition BenningtonCarriage being drawn by four horses. Mr Mark Munson, the Corps Silversmith, was engaged in late2013 to produce the model. In early 2014 arrangements weremade to view and photograph the carriage and horses in fullharness in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Despite several hours of painstaking photography and takingmeasurements, the Silversmith visited Buckingham Palace ontwo further occasions to refine the details before design andmodelling began. The piece involved two experts: Mr MarkMunson designing and modelling all parts of the carriage andMr Jim Fryer-Kelsey, a specialist in portrait sculpture, modellingThe finished model

Photographed in Windsor Castle grounds

To Mark His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh’sLong Standing Appointment as Colonel in Chief

REME BENEVOLENT FUNDThe Trustees of the REME Benevolent Fund acknowledge with sin-cere thanks the donations received during the month of April 2014.They also wish to acknowledge the regular subscriptions receivedfrom the Officers and Soldiers in the Corps and retired members ofthe REME Institution:Donations7 Regiment RLC LAD, charity race night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80.00Christopher Gouldsmith (Run Goldie Run) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75.00Family and friends of the late Douglas Robert Charles White 142.11Family and friends in memory of Mr James Lanyon . . . . . . . .62.10J Hukins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30.00St Eligius Church concert, February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200.00St Eligius Church concert, March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300.00The Aborfield Golf Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .500.00The estate of John Benjamin Palmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10,000.00Grants MadeSince 1 January 2015, 142 applications for financial assistance havebeen received, which included nine received in 2014. The ExecutiveCommittee has authorised grants totalling £64,589.00 which is anaverage grant of £454.86.

If you would like to see how your money is spent we welcomeone or two observers at the Benevolent Fund meetings. Themeetings are held midweek, approximately every three weeks, ifyou would like to observe a meeting please contact the Ben FundSecretary ( Mil: 94251 2219 Civ: 0118 9763219 in the firstinstance.

Anyone wishing to leave a legacy to the REME Benevolent Fund, which is exempt from inheritance tax, can add a codicil

to their will. Our registered charity number is 246967


Top Post April 2015

COMMUNICATIONS CORNER…

Field Marshal Richard Michael Power Carver,Baron Carver GCB, CBE, DSO n, MCI hope that it has not gone unnoticed that the centenary of FieldMarshal, the Lord Carver’s birth fell on 24 April 2015. He was ourHonorary Colonel Commandant from 1976 to 1986 and was notonly a great supporter of the Corps in general, but of the REMEYacht Club in particular.In my capacity as Sailing Secretary in the late 70’s, I invited himto join us at Seaview on the Isle of Wight for the Keelboat Regattaand our Commodore Brigadier Derrick Ballard ‘invited’ me tocrew for Lord Carver and General Girling, the DEME of the day.To say that that was a bit over-facing for a young half Colonel wasthe understatement of the year! After the first round we were notwell placed - we were in last place! It was clear to me that while theField Marshal was a very good helmsman, he really did not under-stand the tricky tides off Seaview. After taking a deep breath, I sug-gested that I should offer some tactical advice concerning the tidalsteams. I received a grudging nod of approval, we proceeded towork our way up the fleet and eventually we got into a ‘Lee Bow’situation with another boat on Starboard tack. Yachties will knowthat if you time the Lee Bow manoeuvre to the millisecond thereis an opportunity to pick up a place, but it needs to be carried outperfectly. To my relief, the Field Marshal obeyed my instructions,steered the Mermaid perfectly and we duly picked up anotherplace. I looked astern just in time to see his granite face crack intoa half smile. We finished the race 4th out of 10 starters.On reflection, I have some sympathy for the Germans who facedMichael Carver in the Western Desert. The last time I met theField Marshal was at the launch of Seahorse III in the late 80’s, bywhich time I was Commodore and my late wife, Eileen, did thehonours. Afterwards at the reception he recalled that famous fivesecond incident and went out of his way to say how much he hadenjoyed those brief moments at Seaview.My view remains to this day that he was one of the greatestColonel Commandants that REME ever appointed.Kind regards to all the members of the REME Yacht ClubCol (Retd) Geoffrey Simpson

Corps BandWhen it was announced that we were losing our matching bandthat had served the Corps for many years all over the world, to bereplaced by a contemporary group, many of our colleagues hadsevere doubts about the situation and that our Corps would beworse off in the long run. Having now experienced their perform-ance at the annual reunion I must say that they played extremelywell with the professional expertise that is expected of army musi-cians, albeit in a manner of a ‘pop’ group. However my only complaint is that they should play to anacoustic level designed for the audience. Those of advanced yearshave still got good hearing despite having served with tank regi-ments and the Royal Artillery. As an ex Artificer Electronics may Ipoint out that use should be made of the gain or volume control,down to a level acceptable for the audience. Failing to do so onlypersuades people to exit the room, which was evident at the func-tion I mention, thus denying people the pleasure of listening tosome excellent playing and singing by our musicians.

Cyril Luger. Arborfield Branch

And in response:Dear Mr LugerThe REME Band would like to thank you for your feedback aboutthe REME Association weekend we performed at in April. As mil-itary musicians from a marching and ceremonial background, weunderstand the reservations about the change in capability of theREME Band, so it is wonderful for us to have your support. Thankyou for your kind words about our professional musicianship, wespend a lot of time rehearsing and training not only instrumentally,

but administratively and technically, which brings me on to yourcomplaint. We were requested to play dinner music and a moreentertaining set after dinner for 200+ people. We set up accord-ingly for the size of the room, which has a capacity for 600 people.The band received mixed feedback, as you say, some left after din-ner and some stayed and enjoyed the entertainment we provided.That said, it is certainly not our intention or aim to exclude any-one. We hope, therefore, that in future we can work together again,and with this experience produce a performance all can enjoy.

Cpl Caroline Griffiths REME Band

LETTERS to the Editor

SUBMITTING ARTICLESBy Allison Woolley, Editor

TEXT: Text should be submitted in MS Word and named as per thearticle within. Do not use any formatting such as columns orMS power point lettering. Unit articles must be cleared by COor nominated substitute and should be submitted as soon aspossible after the event. The rank, name, initials and anydecorations of people mentioned in an article should bedouble checked prior to submission.PHOTOGRAPH: Photographs must be submitted separately, (ie notembedded within the MS word document). They must also bein jpeg format and be at least 500kb preferably, 1mb or more.Only photos over 3mb minimum will be considered for thefront and back covers. Please also use correct captions notjust 1, 2, 3 etc. EMAIL: The only email address which should be used [email protected]. Please use the articletitle not ‘Craftsman Article’ as the email title.TIMINGS: The latest submission date is 25th of the month which is twomonths prior to publication (eg 25th September forNovember edition, which is despatched at the end ofOctober). However, this does not guarantee the article will bepublished in that specific edition. It is the earliest date bywhich it will be considered.


Obituaries

MR DAVID MUIR GREENFrom the contributions of various friends

David Green died on Monday 9 March 2015, four days before his83rd birthday, in Wokingham Community Hospital following a shortbut sadly terminal illness.David had been the Mess Steward of the REME Headquarters Offi-

cers’ Mess for almost 35 years, until only a matter of a few monthsbefore his death. It would be no exaggeration to say that he lived forhis role as Mess Steward and relished the nickname of ‘The Laird ofWest Court.’ It is doubtful that any other person, living or dead, canclaim to have served the Corps uninterrupted for longer than the 57years that David did.It is unusual for a headquarters mess to be regarded as home in the

way that West Court has been. David Green was at the heart of thisvery genuine fondness. He made a truly remarkable contribution tothe prestige and character of the place. PMCs came and went butDavid was always there, caring for everything and everyone in a rolethat was without equal anywhere else in the Army. His knowledge and passion of the heritage of the Corps was

renowned, to the extent that it will have been rare for a senior visitorfrom an overseas sister Corps to enter the mess without a gift from anearlier visit being on prominent display. David was also uncompromis-ing in keeping up the highest standards in the mess, not least in ensur-ing that successive mess contractors understood what was expected.They quickly rose to the challenge.Until his health began to significantly decline in 2010, David always

took particular care in the planning and preparation of Corps DinnerNights, when his touch both in front of house and behind the scenesensured a succession of distinctive and highly memorable events overthe years. A dinner night at West Court has never again been quite thesame. His stewardship during the course of functions at Windsor Cas-tle, when the Corps supplied the staff and requisite drinks and canapésfor the Duke of Edinburgh’s Annual Lectures in St George’s Chapel,was second to none, dressed as he always insisted in white collarevening dress.David was a larger than life character who did not suffer fools gladly.

In his prime many will have suffered his wrath when deserved, but hewas also the most helpful of allies and a furiously loyal supporter of theREME Headquarters Officers’ Mess. He assisted a string of PMCsand Mess Secretaries in keeping the wheels of the Corps Mess andmanagement of mess property running smoothly. He could be verystern when the circumstances demanded, but was also often jovial andmischievous. Many officers will remember his introductory tours ofWest Court, given for the benefit of new recruits to the REME officerfraternity, events that have been impossible to emulate since he

became unable to deliver over recent years. So convincing could he bethat many are now firm believers in the Ghost of West Court, but itwould be wonderful to believe that his ghost now occupies the oldbuilding and continues to monitor conduct and delivery at DinnerNights.David Muir Green initially joined the Army and served in the RASC

on National Service from 1952 to 1954. He joined REME on 8 Sep-tember 1958 and during his service he qualified as a PT Instructor anda Football Association Coach. After a long and successful career whichculminated in him being the RQMS at Princess Marina College, heretired from Army service on 7 September 1980. Within a matter ofdays after retiring, he was recruited as the Mess Manager/Steward atthe REME Headquarters Officers’ Mess, West Court and it is in thiscapacity that he will be most fondly remembered. He leaves his wife Jose, son Paul, daughter in law Caroline and

granddaughters Heather, Gemma and Becky as well as great grand-children, Mason and Toby.

MAJ (RETD) A I CLOUTER (ALAN)Major Alan Clouter, who has died aged 73, was awarded the GeorgeMedal in 1972 for disarming explosive devices during the terroristcampaign in Northern Ireland. In autumn 1971 Clouter, then a captain, was based at Lisburn and

was serving with 321 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Squadron.On October 20, he was part of a three-man bomb disposal team underthe command of Major (later Lt Col) George Styles. They were calledto deal with a device that had been placed in a public telephone boothin the bar of the Europa Hotel, in the centre of Belfast. After the area had been cordoned off and evacuated, the team set

about disarming and removing the bomb. The radiograph showed thatit contained between 10 and 15lbs of explosive. “Inside that telephone booth was enough energy to blow your head

from your shoulders, your arms and legs from your trunk, and yourtrunk straight through the plate glass windows,” Clouter recalled.Until the electrical circuit had been dealt with, a false move, howeverslight, might be enough to detonate it. It was decided, therefore, to dis-arm the bomb in stages, each of which required the most careful plan-ning and execution before proceeding to the next. At last, it was possible to fix a line around the device and pull it a

distance of some 18 feet before drawing it a further 30 feet out of thehotel and on to the pavement. The whole operation took six hours andwas completed successfully. Two days later, three masked men held the staff of the Europa at

gunpoint while a fourth carried a heavy box which he left close to thereception desk. It contained a charge of almost 40lbs of explosive, andcomplex wiring and micro-switches had been added to try to confusethe EOD team. Inscribed in small letters on the device were the words,“Tee-Hee, Hee-Hee, Ho-Ho, Ha-Ha.” After nine hours of hazardous work, the team disarmed, removed

and dismantled the bomb. Clouter and Captain Roger Mendham wereawarded the George Medal. Styles received the George Cross.

Alan Clouter in 1971 Alan Ian Clouter was born at Woolwich on September 18 1941 andeducated at the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School and Welbeck Col-lege. He went to Sandhurst in 1961 and was commissioned into theREME. After serving with the Light Aid Detachment of 7 Para RHA, he

went up to Clare College, Cambridge, to read Engineering. He movedto the REME depot for a year and then transferred to the Royal ArmyOrdnance Corps. In 1970, he returned to England after a spell in Singapore and

trained as an Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO) at ShrivenhamCollege and the Ammunition School at Bramley. In March 1971, hewas posted to HQ Northern Ireland. In September, he was called to alocal police station at night following a shooting incident. A holdall had been discovered on the steps beside the door. He

found that it contained 10lbs of high explosive and a timing device.The police who had secured the area were ordered away but Clouterhad to work fast to minimise the danger to those who had to remainin the station. He attached a line to the holdall but, as he was easing itaway from the door, the line snagged on something and broke. He ranfrom cover, repaired the line and, having taken cover once more, man-aged to pull it further away before it exploded. On one occasion, he was defusing a bomb when, as he said later, “I

got a bad feeling about it and, in getting clear, probably broke allrecords for a man in EOD body armour before the device exploded.” A bomb going off in Northern Ireland: Alan Clouter had had a bad


feeling about it and managed to get to the pavement On another, there was a big explosion in a pub and Clouter arrived

with an NCO to investigate. A crowd gathered around them andbecame very threatening. The two men were armed but either of theiroptions – to try to shoot their way out, or be seized and have theirweapons used against them – would, they believed, result in theirdeaths. Clouter was saying his last prayers when the Reverend Ian Paisley

came through the door. “Step aside!” he boomed. “And let these ladsget on with their jobs.” Clouter was in no doubt that Paisley had savedtheir lives. Clouter played a notable part in pioneering a remote-controlled

vehicle which could be used to disrupt an explosive device withoutendangering the ATO. Apart from three months on active service inIraq in 1991, he served in BAOR for the last 18 years of his Armycareer and remained there as a civilian adviser on health and safety atwork and on handling dangerous goods. He then worked for the BBC, the National Grid and, subsequently,

Kellogg Brown & Root, the civil engineering company, in the MiddleEast. His last job was with Bertling Group, the ship-owning and trans-port organisation, where his work as global head of Health, Safety,Security and the Environment involved worldwide travel. Alan Clouter married first (dissolved), in 1964, Wendy Annette

Moss. He married secondly, in 1976, Catherine Mary Hawkins. Shepredeceased him and he is survived by a son and a daughter of his firstmarriage and a stepson and two stepdaughters of his second. Major Alan Clouter, born September 18 1941, died February 20

2015.

‘This obituary is reproduced in entirely (less all pictures) by kindpermission of The Telegraph newspaper, in which it appeared on7 April 2015.’

CAPT (RETD)D J CARPENTER (DAVID)

Capt David Carpenter died on 2 April 2015 at the age of 89. He wasborn in Banbury on 26 August 1925 and was educated at BanburyCounty School having passed his 11+ examination and latterly at TheCity of Oxford High School for Boys when his family moved to Oxfordin 1937. He left school at the age of 16 and joined the local branch ofLloyds Bank in August 1941. He remained there until May 1943, butduring his service in the bank he was awarded an Engineering Cadet-ship and from June 1943 until December 1946 he served his cadetshipat Northampton College of Technology (this included a period of sixmonths working in industry). He was called up in January 1946 andafter initial training including OCTU he secured a war emergencycommission on 19 July 1946. He then did basic training at 22 Com-mand Workshop Hadley; 3 Central Workshop Bordon (RE equipment)and 3 Command Workshop Scorton before being posted to BAOR inJanuary 1947 as Administration Officer and then 2IC of 10 LofCTroops Workshop. This workshop eventually became ‘D’ detachment1CVD Workshop of which he became OC. He was demobbed in July 1948 and rejoined Lloyds Bank. During

his time at the bank he was approached by AG 21 and offered a ShortService Commission of eight years and this was accepted and herejoined REME in September 1951 in the rank of T/Captain, beingposted to 104 Transport Company LAD as OC. The unit was based atOgbourne Saint George and was part of 6 Armoured Division and inJanuary 1952 moved to BAOR (Munster).

In August 1954 he was postedto 24 Command Workshop inRotenburg as 2IC and stayedthere until September 1956.During his time at Rotenburghe applied for a Regular Com-mission and was granted one asCaptain in January 1955. Hemarried June in January 1952and during his time in Germanyboth his two children wereborn, Michael in 1954 and Jon-quil in 1956.He was posted to Cyprus in

December 1956 to EME Direc-torate initially as EME (ORG)and l a t t e r l y a s DADEME(ORG & Plans). He left Cyprusin May 1960 and became Adju-tant of 5 Training Battalionwhich eventually became, afteramalgamation, SEE. In April1962 he became OC 24 Com-mand Workshop in Grantownon Spey, Scotland and in August 1964 he was posted as DSI ‘A’ WingSEME. Having had problems with his tactical ‘B’ paper for his promo-tional examination, he retired in October 1965.After leaving the service he was employed in industry and after two

years in a firm making engineering tapes and tools, he took a job withMobil Oil Company as a Fleet Engineer. Here he was responsible forthe maintenance policies and operation of this policy on all Spirit andLubricant carrying vehicles in the Mobil Fleet. He was also responsi-ble for the initial design and manufacture of these vehicles.He retired from Mobil in August 1990 and spent his retirement in

Oxford where he had moved to when the Engineering Department ofMobil moved there in 1975.His wife June died in February 2012 and in July 2012 he moved

back to Grantown on Spey into a cottage which was in the grounds ofa house he occupied as an Army hiring when he was OC 24 CommandWorkshop. The house is now owned by his daughter Jonquil and herhusband.

MAJ (RETD)I C BURBRIDGE (IVAN)

Ivan died peacefully in Tameside Hospital on 23 April 2015 after ashort illness. Joining the Army in 1937, at the age of 16 into boy serv-ice, he joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders a year later. Hewas promoted to the rank of Sergeant with postings to Stirling,Focharbers and the Shetlands before shipping out to India in 1942.Ivan was then attended Officer Training at Bangalore and was commis-sioned into the Royal West Kents.He then went into act ion atKohima, attached to the RoyalBerkshire Regiment. Despite beingwounded in both legs he fought inBurma up until VJ day and wasMentioned in Despatches (MID)for his efforts and remained inBurma for a further year beforereturning to UK. Back with TheRoyal West Kents he went to Egyptwith the regiment and served thereuntil they were disbanded in 1947. Ivan joined REME in 1950 and

served as Adjutant in Arborfield,Gibraltar and Malaya. He was pro-moted to Major as OC REMEAdmin in Singapore. He returnedto SEME in 1966 as a Staff Officerto the Commandant, where hestayed until retiring from the Armyin 1975.Although he didn’t stop there,

Ivan and his wife Audrey (deceased 2012), over the next 15 years suc-cessfully ran two pubs and tearooms until retiring to appreciate therewards of their hard work; eventually moving to Lancaster to settledown.His eldest brother, Michael, was killed on active service in NI in

1982 and was also a member of the REME family. The ‘BurbridgeCup’ was commissioned in his honour and is competed for annually inSEME (I understand!!).


13 April 2015REGULAR ARMY

Commands and StaffBrigadier M. J. GAUNT late Corps of Royal Electrical andMechanical Engineers 520645 assumes the appointment ofDirector Support Army Headquarters 7 April 2015 and is grantedthe substantive rank of Major General with seniority of the samedateRegular CommissionsLieutenant Colonel M. CHAMBERS 512584 retires 11 April 2015Major C. C. JONES 547944 retires 11 April 2015

28 April 2015REGULAR ARMY

Intermediate Regular Commissions (Late Entry)Captain A. V. PARSONS 24779467 retires 23 April 2015

12 May 2015REGULAR ARMY

Intermediate Regular Commissions (Late Entry)Warrant Officer Class 1 Lloyd David MORGAN 24879322 to beCaptain 6 May 2014 (Belated Entry)

Extracts from theLondon Gazette

Corps and Garrison Church of St. Eligius

Concert for June18th June 2015The Cameo Singers

Wokingham’s Chamber ChoirAdmission free, to include buffet lunch.

To book your lunch please contactRita Le Var (: 01252 372320 : [email protected]

BROWN – Lt Col (Retd) J K A Brown died 8 February 2015, due toheart and kidney problems, aged 79. Dates of Commissioned Service:1946-1981.CARPENTER – Capt (Retd) D J Carpenter died 2 April 2015, aged 89.Dates of Commissioned Service: 1946-1965.PARSONS – Maj (Retd) Simon Parsons died 9 April 2015, aged 56.Dates of Commissioned Service: 1995-2007.SMITH – Former Cpl James Michael Smith (Jim) died 23 March 2015,after a long illness. Dates of service: 1966-1979. Thoughts are with hiswife Pam, his daughters Kay and Tina and their five grandchildren. Hewill be greatly missed.WILTON – Capt (Retd) Thomas (Tom) Wilton died 12 April 2015, atMansfield.

Death Notices

June 2015Lieutenant ColonelP J Beck SO1 ES HQ Sp Comd 08 Jun 15C S Ireland SO1 Ops HQ JHC DComd 29 Jun 15MajorJ M Anthistle DCMT DTG Cse (Land) 01 Jun 15 (Acting)W Bailey AEO OC 74 Sp Wksp REME 22 Jun 15J D Blunn DCMT DTG Cse (Land) 01 Jun 15 (Acting)R Calder DCMT DTG Cse (Land) 01 Jun 15 (Acting)D A G Coles SO2 Core Acq Apache DE&S 29 Jun 15G W Crilley DCMT DTG Cse (Land) 01 Jun 15 (Acting)S T Dickson DCMT DTG Cse (Land) 01 Jun 15 (Acting)D J Fallowfield CIMA Cse Offr MAS HQ 29 Jun 15M D Lavelle DCMT DTG Cse (Land) 01 Jun 15 (Acting)I C Rae DCMT DTG Cse (Land) 01 Jun 15 (Acting)P R Taylor SO2 DCAM HQ 1 ISR Bde 29 Jun 15C J Watson DCMT DTG Cse (Land) 01 Jun 15 (Acting)CaptainK R Axon 2IC 8 Fd Coy (PARA) 7 AA Bn REME 01 Jun 15J S Bamber OC 1 RRF LAD REME 01 Jun 15C L Coward Adjt 4 Armd CS Bn REME 01 Jun 15C W Fisher OC QRL LAD REME 30 Jun 15E G McCann OC LD LAD REME 01 Jun 15H R Morse Adjt 6 Armd CS Bn REME 01 Jun 15J M Reed Adjt 2 Bn REME 01 Jun 15LieutenantO J Cartwright Offr Rec RHQ REME 01 Jun 15

OfficerAssignments

Battlefield Tours(Prices based on 40 travelling via Dover)

Ypres Passchendaele The Somme CambraiDunkirk Normandy Arnhem

3 days from £165 4 days from £215

Galina International Battlefield Tours16 Bridge Street Row Chester CH1 1NQTel: 01244 340777Web: www.wartours.comTwitter @WarTours.com ABTA No. Y4466

ApologyOn page 238 of the May edition, in the article entitled More MilitaryTraining by BSB, two typing errors were made during the re-typingprocess. Column 2, paragraph 3, line 1 should read: The RAOC in 1940opened an Officer Training Wing, which was soon retitled OfficerCadet Training Unit (OCTU).Apologies to both author and reader and hope it did not spoil yourenjoyment of the article.

Where Are You NowMrs Carole Wadner (formerly Mrs Carole Smethurst, wife of thelate WO2 (AQMS) Smethurst) would like to contact former WO1(ASM) Charlie Adams and wife his Lisa. Carole has many happymemories of the time spent with Charlie and Lisa, amongst oth-ers, when they were stationed together at Tidworth with the16/5th Air Troop back in the seventies. Regretfully she lost con-tact with the Mrs Adams after their paths crossed fleetingly inHong Kong in 1987. If you are, or know them, please contact thisoffice.

For further details and to express your interestto attend contact either:

WO2 Phil Woodward: (: Mil 94251 2353or civ: 0118 9763353

or : [email protected] Tony Kemsley: (: Mil 94251 2388

or civ: 0118 9763388 or : DSEME 11 Bn BHQ MasterCoachMr Steve Coope: (: Mil 94251 2653

or civ: 0118 976653 or : DSEME-TrgPlans Val HoD

Numbers will be limited to a maximum of 140 placesand will be dealt with on a first come first served basis

Rapier Maintainers

ReunionFriday 17 July 2015

The Bailleul WOs’ and Sgts’ Mess will hold its finalRapier Maintainers Reunion before the battalion

move to Lyneham. The format for the evening will bea meal and drinks with plenty of time to catch up andreminisce. The general consensus has been made tomake this a semi-formal occasion to keep the costs

down and the mood high.All serving senior ranks, officers and former Rapier

Maintainers are invited to attend.

The AGMs of the REME Headquarters Officers’ Mess andthe REME Institution are to be held on Thursday 2 July

2015 at West Court Officers’ Mess.Proceedings will start with the REME HQ Officers’ MessAGM at 1000 hrs, followed after a short break by theREME Institution AGM at approximately 1130 hrs.

Serving REME officers are encouraged to attend the first ofthese events and to stay on for the second event, to which

all REME Institution members are invited.Refreshments will be available from 0945 hrs and again

during the break between events.

The Arborfield Old Boys AssociationANNUAL REUNION 2015

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGSREME HEADQUARTERS OFFICERS’MESS AND REME INSTITUTION

ANNUAL REUNION 18-20 SEPTEMBER 2015To be held at Beachley Barracks/Chepstow RacecourseAll Ex Beachley Boys and Staff, together with partners arewelcome. For further information please visit our website:www.armyapprenticescollege.homestead.com or contact:Reunion Secretary: Mr Peter Burridge (: 01305835989 or 07716405587 : [email protected]

REME QUARTERMASTERS’ ANNUAL DINNER NIGHT

The REME QMs’ Annual Dinner Night will be held at WestCourt Officers’ Mess on Friday 12 June 2015 for all serv-

ing and retired, past and present Quartermasters.Details are available from

Captain Iain McDavid, 2IC A Coy 11 Trg Bn REME( Mil: 94251 2790, Civ: 01189 763790or : [email protected]

NOTICES

The REME Reserve Officers & Warrant OfficersConference will be held on 3-5 July 2015 in Arborfield.

A calling notice has been promulgatedthrough the Chain of Command.

The POC for the event is the SO2 REME Res, Maj LisWilson on(: 94391 7854 Civil: 012654 381854or DII(F): Army CapCSS-ES-Reserves–SO2

THE REME RESERVE OFFICERS &WARRANT OFFICERSCONFERENCE

BEACHLEY OLD BOYS’ASSOCIATION

The Arborfield Old Boys Association annual reunion is tobe held on the weekend of 17-19 July at the HinckleyIsland Hotel, Leicestershire, with a visit to the National

Memorial Arboretum on the Saturday morning.If you are an ex-Apprentice and would like to come alongthen please join us, you will be made very welcome. It

doesn’t matter if your time at Arborfield was not completed,or when you attended, it doesn’t matter how your Armycareer progressed (or didn’t), as long as you were anArborfield Apprentice you are eligible to join our

Association. We are a charitable organisation and canprovide, either generally or individually, to members of theCollege, the Association or former Apprentices of theSchool or College and their dependants who are in

conditions of need, hardship or distress. The Association isfree to join and the annual fee is only £15. We have amagazine which is published three times a year and is agreat way to keep in touch. For full details, please contact

any of our committee members via our website:www.arborfieldoldboys.co.uk

SSAFA Forces HelpThe Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and FamiliesAssociation - Forces Help are looking for

volunteers to carry out their workthroughout the UK and overseas.

Contact your local branch, whose address isin your local telephone directory, or ask the

Citizens Advice Bureau

to help others

Help the

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