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9th-12th-Lancers - Year 1984 - Page 0042

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Regiment 9th/12th Lancers
Year 1984
Transcription rrtE strir i2riri novAt LANCERS nEciMEN IAL JounNAL
MT Troop
Twelve months have now etapsed
since writing our last troop notes
during this time quite a lot has
happened. including our move to
Wiillenbuttel During May 83 we
packed our kit, loaded vehicle spares
and, With the assistance ol the RCT,
departed tor Bavaria on ‘Exeicise
Mountain Goat'. It rained ‘rust a lot’
and the boggy countrysrde forced the
troop to spend a lot of the exercise On
hard Standing, irantely Larigenbtirg
Railway Station Our usual Support
for the Regiment, however, was not
hampered and everything went
according to plan, At the end pl May
the troop returned to l—tohne and, alter
drying out, began preparing for ’Ex
Happy Voltrguer', an adventure
training exercise to he held for two
weeks during August at La Courtine in
France The tourney down tor the 8
vehicles was carried out in two stages,
both of winch were exhausting lot all
concerned
Stage l consisted or‘ a t4 hour drive
and an overnight stay at the German
Luftwaffe camp in Esbach, Stage 2
saw the convoy heading for the
French Border at Mutheirn With
another early start and a 20 hour
tourney to La Courtrne The Troops
involvement during these two weeks
Flepleri Point, Langenburg Railway Station
during Exercrse Mountain Goat
W02 Mason. LCDl Hampton and Tpr
Batters Stacktt’tg teriicans.
varied from particrpation in sailing,
Canoeing and Hillwalkrng, to running
the Ranges for the Regiments APWT
Some members of itte troop managed
to get three days on the
Mediterranean Coast The Journey
back to Germany was done in reverse
but was somewhat quicker (strange
how much faster one travels when
going home).
Our AHU test day during September
was di'tterent to other tests in past
years Trenches were dug wrth Royal
Engineer assrstance and we Spent the
night in a Squadron delensrve
position, which was inspected next
morning by the Commander Armoured
who asked awkward military
questions The easrest part 01 the test
day was lilling In the trenches,
followed by a Regrineirtat Sports
afternoon The maior exercise of the
year was held during October/
November and Called Exercise Eternal
Triangle It was good training for MT
Troop, for not only were there all night
replens to experience but. also, long
road marches, which tested most
drivers It) the limit W02 Mason and
SSgt Edwards would like to thank the
QMlTl for his expert map reading
demonstration and grant him honorary
membership of the ’Fugarwee‘ tribe.
River crossrngs diirirtg Exercrse Eternal
Triangle were an interesting
experience to say the least, especially
when Iowrng trailers. Entry With and
exit thl‘ioul trailers trorn a certain
bridge crossing enlightened 8391
Edwards and frightened the Sapper.
who called tor a change at
undercloihrngl
wouLD [T HEIP [F WE
GAVE THEM BACK TO
r‘ THE sqiimuoym?
tr 7 . t
r
_ _ Kg;
For the remainder of the year we
prepared for and went through our T
Annual REME lnspectron As usual our i
hard efforts were rewarded With a lrrst
class report; our thanks go to the LAD
for their patience and understanding
on all vehicle inspections. After '
Christmas Stand»DoWri Work started
in earnest on movrng the Regiment to
Wolfenbunel and handing over Hohne
to 1 Welsh Guards, Although our new
station was only 110 Kms down the
road, the hours spent driving were
long and tiring. but by 9 February we
had completed the move.
At Wotlenbuttel we settled tlowr:
quite quickly and Within three weeks
ol our arrival we commenced the
Spring troop training exercise aptly
called ’Fresh Start’ This involved
Troop Squadron and Regimental
training, all valuable and worthwhile,
especrally to the new members ol MT t
Troop During the months of April to V
September we are due to be involved
in a Regimental Skill at Arms
competition at Sennelager, along wrth
getting the vehicles back to scratch
atter a hard time in 1983 and early
t984.
The Troop Annual Dinner was
delayed until January t984, mainly tn
say farewell to Captain Grant. Captain
Grant has been the MTO tor rust over
6 years and Will be missed by all the
Troop, We Wish him and his tantily
every success at Northampton
Captain Mackaness arrived during
April lrorn the demanding post of
Adjutant One way or another. he is
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