9th-12th-Lancers - Year 1987 - Page 0068
Image details
| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1987 |
| Transcription |
THE 9TH/IZTH ROYAL LANCERS REGIMENTAL JOURNAL Musketry Another good year for the Regimental Shooting Team. We started by qualifying for Bisley 86 at the Skill at Arms meeting in Sennelager. Initially it was not intended to enter owing to troop training commitments. However, despite limited range days the team managed to beat off the very hot competition from both RAC and In- fantry Units. The team, most of whom shot last year, comprised: Lt Wilson (Capt) Lt Crewdson (Admin) Sgt Maycock Sgt Annies Sgt Foster Tpr Howard Tpr Coupland Tpr Bradley also: Cpl Johnson Cpl Edge Downhill Skiing For the third year the Regimental ski team returned to Verbier in Switzer- land to join the RAC skiers on Ex White Knight I“. This season produced the best results so far, with a splendid success in the Army Championships at Fulpmes in Austria. Leaving Wolfenbtlttel at the begin- ning of December in a convoy of two private cars and a “Lady Bird" painted army landrover, we headed south for the Swiss Alps. The final squad con- sisted of Capt Cooke (Team Capt), Lt Zeidler, Lt Pooley, 2L! Carr, 2Lt Douglas-Miller, Tpr Martin, Tpr Randell and Tpr Petty. We settled down to the first two weeks training, in classes based on ability. Although this meant that the team was split up, practising basic techniques with others of similar standard provided a good base on The Team got as much practice as possible on the Cremlingen ranges and. thanks to the enormous efforts of Maj Burgess. we were also able to train in and around Aldershot during June. We shot at Sandhurst, Ash, Longmoor and Pirbright Ranges using the ETR Ranges to good effect. Our thanks to Lt Crcwdson who did a marvellous job securing range days and operating the stop watch. The training period went well and the hard work and effort was to pay off. Bisley, lst—llth July, was blessed with sunshine and all the team A and E shots did well. They achieved an all over position of 20th out of 35 Major units and were the top RAC Regiment. SGT MAYCOCK and CPL ANNIES shot for the RAC in the Methuen Cup. SGT FOSTER was in the top Army 25 in SMG while CPL AN'NIES was in the top Army 100 in SLR. which to build so everyone's skiing improved steadily. For two of the squad, (exempt those who pulled out en route), this included a day of ski touring well away from the pistes, where after a long climb on skis. they enjoyed some excellent skiing on the glaciert At the end of this two week stage the sky became overcast and for the next two weeks show never ceased to fall. I had not seen so much snow in the Alps at this time for a number of years; the quality and variety of skiing available was amazing. In the third week we moved back into teams. With one instructor assigned to two teams, we joined up with the l3th/ 18th Hussars under Corinne Nachter, an ex-member of the Swiss National team. With the enormous amount of show she managed to SGT MARCHANT shot consistently well which the '3' shots didn‘t. How- ever more than once they showed sporting form on the LMG‘s pairs section matches and falling plates. In the Para Cup the 9/12L put up a fine performance on their 2 mile run through Pirbright to Century Range and ended up hating some ‘Infantecrs’ at their own game. For the RAC, shooting at Bisley is difficult, due to the other commit- ments in the year. Taking men away to shoot when other jobs are pressing is a problem which Infantry Units suffer to a lesser degree. Therefore the team’s achievements reflect the keen interest and energy shown by it‘s members. provide us with an excellent balance of pole training and free skiing, although frequently the weather dic- tated this balance and made pole train- ing impossible and powder skiing a much more attractive option. Whilst the skiing made enormous demands, it was found necessary to relax in the evening with the occasional visit to a near-by nightclub, the highly publicized ‘Farm Cluh’t Although the team captain controlled these popular visits, certain officers were identified returning to the chalet, as the remainder of the team were crawling out of their beds for the next day skiingt Verbier became very crowded over the Christmas week, nevertheless the squad pressed on with its highly intensive training for the RAC races. However serious pole training became, we underwent a depressing period fighting a form of |
| Title |