9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2001 - Page 0066
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
| Transcription |
66 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) We were delighted to take delivery of a new subaltern in Verbier, straight from Sandhurst. 2Lt Eyre-Brook arrived two weeks into the expedition and was surprised to be met at the Station by the Greek exchange Officer, Capt Stavros Philladopolopolis (alias Capt Clifford, now the Adjt). He was no doubt even more surprised to be sharing a room with two homosexual soldiers, to be assisting the ski lift company with mending bubble cars at 6am, followed by a downhill speed trial in racing suit over a mogul field, whilst the rest of the Armoured Corps looked on with an evil glint in their eyes! It took him 24hrs to suspect a bit of foul play and the possibility of a practical joke! Having won the RAC championships, the A team then went onto the divisional Championships in Les Contamines which turned out to be more of a training week than we would have liked. A couple of tactical errors in the early GS races meant we were excluded from the team competition but we learnt valuable lessons. We took the subsequent Army finals by storm and came a credible sixth overall. There was not a lot to choose amongst the top six teams and on an individual basis, Capt Durie and Cpl Rutherford were giving the top Army skiers reason to look in their wing mirrors. With the Downhill skiers reaching speeds in excess of 75 mph, it really was a challenging competition. CaptDur/e bend/Hg /t We Beck/73m Finally, The Regiment would like to thank Mitsubishi Motors for their kind and extremely generous sponsorship of the ski team. Nick Cooper of the Fallingbostel office kindly lent the team a brand new Shogun for the duration of the season, which not only has functional advantages, but also promotes confi- dence and self esteem in a budding team. RD Regimental Cross-Country his year the cross-country team has been recruiting new run- ners as well as trying to establish itself within the 1(UK) Armoured Division league. The new kids on the block for 2001 are: Tprs Roy Fielding, George Lucas and Jock Stevens. All have recently managed to attend a variety of races and have competed at competition level. The list of old boys remains unchanged, Sgt Emery, Sgt White, Cpl Horsley and LCpl Potter. Throughout 2001, the majority of the team members managed to compete in 5 league races and the Divisional Championships 7 a course with an extremely large, and not very filnny, hill! Many of the races, however, were over 3 hours travelling distance, which sometimes made attendance difficult. One of the more memorable events was the league race held at Hohne. It was a pleasure to watch the visiting units turn up after a lengthy road trip only to slog around the 3? mile route, twice! One of the Team’s aims for 2001 was to enter some members into a local marathon. This saw the new but experienced face ofSSgt (SQMS) Keeney dust off his running shoes. He was determined to fulfil one of his lifetime ambitions. From that moment on, the winter months comprised many hours of roadwork, often in dark, cold conditions. SSgt Keeney and Sgt Emery started a gruelling routine of early morning, evening and Sunday runs, however, they admit that they never really knew where they were going, or how long they’d be out for. They just knew that it was going to hurt. On the morning of 22nd April, SSgt Keeney and Sgt Emery ran, with about 19,000 others, in the Hamburg Marathon. The weath- er was perfect and ensured that thousands of spectators turned up to line the route and support the runners. Sgt Emery broke the 3 hours mark with 2 hours 58 minutes and, in doing so, set a per- sonal best. SSgt Keeney was less than an hour behind, coming in at a credible 3 hours 50 minutes. Looking ahead, next year’s Team will be boosted with the return of Capt Watson who has just recovered from a long-term injury The team also looks forward to recruiting new talent and compet- ing in the 2002 league. MAE Sgt Emery at the Hamburg Ma 17 22 Agni 2001, |
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