9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2001 - Page 0088
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
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88 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) After the 1922 Indian Army reorganisation Connop was pro- moted Lieutenant Colonel and given the command of the 13th Duke of Connaught’s Own Lancers and retired from the Army on his 50th birthday in 1930. Despite months of extensive (and expensive) enquires I have still not discovered Connop’s place ofbirth, nor his school, nor his marital status, nor his date or place of death. The (unusu- al) surname can be found in those counties where Wales and England meet and in 1912 a Herbert Connop was MFH of the United Hunt. He was a doctor whose father lived in Devon. But his alma mater, Winchester, listed no other Connops. However, unsatisfactory this may be to me, I am quite con- vinced that Connop in fact led the last cavalry charge in regi- mental strength, in line and with drawn sword, in British mil- itary history. There have been many claimants to this distinc- tion and many yardsticks by which ‘the last charge’ should be measured. But I think this an honest one and a gratifying one that a 12th Lancer should take the honours. The Adventures of Tomasz 1946-49 by Clive Allen This is the story of Tomasz (pronounced Tomash). Tomasz was a handsome, athletic German Alsatian dog. He was about 4 years old when he came into my life. Let me explain how this came about...I passed out of the Officer Cadet Training Unit at Bovington in July 1946. After one week’s leave I proceeded to Catterick Transit Camp. From Catterick I took the train to Dover and continued my journey by boat to Calais. I then took a long rail journey across Germany to Villach in Austria, where I spent four weeks in a transit camp 7 almost a holiday. One morning in September a 15 cwt truck arrived to take me to the 9th Lancers at Osoppo in Northern Italy. I understood the 9th Lancers were in position to attempt to dis- suade Marshal Tito from invading Trieste. The Regiment was billeted under canvas. I was directed to share a tent with Captain Pat Sylvester and his beautiful Alsatian Tomasz. Pat told me he had acquired the dog in exchange for a packet of cigarettes from a German soldier. Tomasz’s identity number was clearly tattooed inside his ear. At this stage, Tomasz only understood two German words “sitzen”, which means sit, and the rather more aggressive “raus” which means shove off. The latter made him cower so I only used it once: he turned out to be a very friendly and intel- ligent animal. One day Pat invited me to join Tomasz and him on a trek to the small mountain on the other side of the River Tagliamento. We set out after lunch and hiked to the top. On the way back down we came across a cluster of huts inhabited by Italian peasants. They invited us to share their bread and cheese even though they had little enough to eat themselves. Pat, who spoke Italian, explained that we had to return to the camp for the Regimental Dinner by 1900 hours. One of the village elders told us it would not be possible to cross the river to reach camp on the other side because the water was so fast flowing and we would be swept away by the current. Suddenly four young men appeared from nowhere and led us down to the river where the six of us formed a human chain and we were able to wade across to the other side. Poor Tomasz duly dived into the river to follow us but was swept down river by the raging current! To this day I can see him struggling in the water, disappearing down the fast flowing river. Fortunately he was swept to the other side, only 200 yards further down the bank. He came rushing back to us, /Tomasz tail wagging in triumph. Pat and I reached camp exhausted. But we were in time for dinner! A few weeks after this incident, Pat announced he was to be demobilised and invited me to look after Tomasz after his depar- ture: I was more than happy to agree because, by this time, Tomasz and I had come to know one another well: I had made a point of taking him to the Regimental Mess each evening for a dinner of leftovers and he seemed to be happy with this arrangement. One sunny day some time later, we went horse racing at Aiello I remember that Desmond McInnes-Skinner was to be the 9th Lancers “star turn”. However as it turned out I did not get the chance to see any of the racing! I was watching the racecourse from a small hill, when Tomasz came across a small pug dog. |
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