9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2003 - Page 0023
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2003 |
| Transcription |
REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) 21 the Sqn spread across the area we had to resort to a burger deliv- ery service which called for advanced Land Rover driving skills. On returning to camp it was all hands to the pump, to clean, sort and pack the stores to go to Bosnia. A daunting task that was completed in time, before departing for a well earned leave period. March 12th saw the SQMS and the advance party arriving in Bosnia. Banja Luka metal factory had not changed much since a few of us were here in 2000. We all soon settled in to day to day life in the cold factory amused by the joke of “What is the difference between the metal factory and a fridge? The lights go out when you close the fridge door. OK maybe you had to be there. Any ideas of not being busy were stamped out from day one the troop worked hard to ensure support was given to the SQN in its three locations. Tpr ‘Cookie’ Cook still found time to serenade Tpr Bagshaw with his guitar every night. The first of the team to depart was LCpl ‘Dom’ Cona who left to join up with 3 Tp. LCpl ‘Nev’ Chamberlain replaced him and soon realised he now had to start working for his money. Most of the younger members of the troop completed the adventure training package at Brac which was enjoyed by all, and those that wanted, managed to squeeze in a 96 hr pass. MT was kept busy with the Zagreb run, and others were enticed along by the prospect of a few Big Macs and chicken nuggets. Tpr Campsall joined the troop to replace Tpr ‘Stumpy’Cholerton who was off to the Iraq. Summer was soon upon us and room heaters were a thing of the past, fans were quickly distributed but in the height of summer these only aided in passing hot air from one part of the room to the other. LCpl ‘Sal’ Salih now in charge of accommodation bore most of the complaints of no air conditioning. The troop managed to squeeze in a meal at the Milka Resteraunt in Laktasi where “Mexico” and “Tequila” were the cry of the day. A good night was had by all. Being the summer months the troop also deployed to the river, to carry out low level train- ing and practice the Troops BBQ skills, a good standard was achieved. REME The fitter section deployed to Bosnia to support b squadron complete with all it’s CVR (T) s plus support vehicles and also a large number of out of date, worn out Landrovers. I was the first REME out, to be followed by Tiffy Locke and Sgt Sean Green a week later- Sgt Green had other ideas and unoffi- cially took the first 96-hour pass spending 4 days in Edinburgh. Cpl Carter being the last to join us having stayed in Hohne to greet the arrival of his new son Daniel. With the section now numbering eleven we took on a multitude of tasks 7 repairing vehicles, duty recovery, bus escorts, cordons, messing reps, fire NCO and one hundred other unnamed tasks, all on a daily ration of long hours and two beers. By the three month point with 96 hour passes and R & R well and truly depleting the ranks, the section had dropped to eight; Cpl Carter, LCpl Anger and LCpl Pankau all returning back to Hohne. At this point it must be mentioned that LCpl Dobbie Dormer steeped well and truly into the breech taking on not only his own CET duties but also that of the Optronics/E-Spire mechanic and vehicle electrician. The day to day routine usually involved visiting one or both of the two troop houses- an hours drive away. Sgt Green by this stage had become obsessed with moding every B Vehicle that came near us, even if it didn’t belong to us, leaving the brunt of the A vehicle work to Cfn’s Dave Anderson and Geo Boodram. Range periods passed mainly uneventfully, Cpl Bennison’s tank locking up a final drive and then my own Samson blowing it’s gearbox as I towed him in, luckily we had the ever resourceful Tiff who wasted no time calling duty recovery. The squadron itself had a few driver difficulties, parking a Spartan in the bedroom ofa little old ladies house and Sgt Curl’s Ops, where he managed to get two of the Squadrons wolfs stuck within minutes of each other. This led to Cpl palfrey’s finest hour; as a panel beater! Putting llA back on the road within 4 days of it being damaged. Towards the end of the tour the OC gathered us together as a Squadron and informed us that due to world developments we would be staying for an extra 2 weeks. The section true to the spirit ofthe REME and B Squadron, took the news firmly on the chin and then carried on as usual, the thought of more than 2 beers on our mind. The section reported 2508 man hours of work through its reporting table but this would be almost trebled if you consid- ered the hours put in on Escorts , Ops, Recovery tasks and the endless unseen hours put in by the Tiff. Never in the field of REME Engineering were so many ham- mers, spanners and screwdrivers turned, twisted and thumped so many times by so few. 7 Months in Bosnia is a long time in anyone’s book, so it sounds strange to say it has gone quickly. As I write these notes we are once again packing boxes and looking forward to returning to Germany and taking some well earned leave. It just remains for me to thank guys of Admin Troop for all their hard work over the last year. Another one for Cp/ G/H |
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