9th-12th-Lancers - Year 1986 - Page 0091
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1986 |
| Transcription |
The Coal Hole it came as quite a shock to be given fourteen days nou'oe to report to some- thing called Headquarters Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT), in a place called Brunssum in Ihe Netherlands. The Adjutant quickly volunteered the (act that this was the place where you bought the cheapest Lax free cars. and that he thought HQ AFCENT was a coal mine with an enormous tower next THE 9TH/IZTH ROYAL LANCERS REGIMENTAL JOURNAL door to the garage. He subsequently proved right on both counts. With some trepidation I reported for work at the mine on the appointed day fully expect- ing to disappear underground to work in some bomb proof bunker — why else would the Headquarters be in a coal mine. Much to my relief I discovered that l was to be a surface worker on the day shift, running the outer office of a very senior UK airman. As a good rec- onnaissance soldier I soon established that the Commander in Chief BAOR, otherwise known as Commander Nor- thern Army Group, was one of the out- stations on the forward net and that the rear link was the Supreme Allied Commander Europe. So far so good, but it took only a moment longer to realise that I had travelled from the front to hack in more ways than one. Only seven hours on the road pulling a trailer full of bicycles. garden imple- ments and the family rabbit but a much bigger mental step. Gone for ever were the happy days and the relatively simple life of the Regiment. l was, but quick. going to have to learn what went on in the big wide world. sifting through the enormous pile of welcoming "buml" l dimvued that in war my Commander in Chief would command everything on the face of the earth. and in the air above it. from the Elbe to the Austrian border. This could amount to some two and a half million men and over two thousand aeroplanes. To my surprise people in the Head quarters appeared to talk with con— fidence about mo zero options. mutual balanced force reductions and other high falluting subjects. But even more impressively they did it effortlessly in English. Not too diffith for the Brits and Americans but a mighty challenge for Germans. French, Dutch and Bel- gians. I just wondered how many of us would be able to talk and write with authority about the finer points of flexible response in German Thinking that my exercise days were now behind me it came as quite a shock to be woken at three in the morning and told that Active Edge was effective from ......... The nearer you are to SHAPE the quicker the mmage reaches your 0" to the field we went, male and female. wearing a myriad of uniforms but still speaking English. The banks of telephones and row of television screens were most impressive; there is nothing so vulgar as a radio at this |
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