9th-12th-Lancers - Year 1986 - Page 0005
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1986 |
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THE VTH/IZTH ROYAL LANCERS REGIMENTAL JOURNAL Foreword by the Colonel of the Regiment 1 am honoured and delighted that on the lst January, 1986 to have been app- ointed as your Colonel. In the short time which has already elapsed i feel very much a part of reg- imental life, helped by my short visit to Bavaria in April. ooinu'ding with the end of troop training, allowing me the opp- ortunity to see and talk to many members of the Regiment. It was most impressive. The standard of professional efficiency and skills were very evident and this was borne out in June when the Regiment beat all comers in the Boeselager Reconn- list-nee Competition to become the first British Regiment to do so, a high- note on which to end a long BAOR tour. The Old Comrades Association is nourishing and it was pleasing to see Foreword by the Commanding Officer We have reached our last twelve months in Germany and everyone in Wolfenbuttel is eager to find out more about life in Essex, the schools and the shopping. Most are looking forward to the change. partimlarly those who have been in Germany for 7 years or more. With petrol costing 10 pence per litre, no car tax or television licence and the shops nearby. there will be many who miss the advantages of Germany after the novelty of life in England has evap- orated. As we look forward to four or so years in Wimhish as the 3 Armoured Division Reconnaissance Regiment it is fitting to recall our fun and achieve- ments this past year. so well covered in these pages. We have been to Gunnery Camp at Hohne twice this winter. in December and March. The benefits of planning these visits to be close together are that 3 squadrons achieved an ‘A' grading and the Regiment produced standards of 30 millimetre cannon gunnery that are seldom seen today. The support troops survived an exacting regime of demolitions when they split concrete beams. blew huge craters. parted iron bars and then threw grenades and pat- rolled the ‘urban village’. The guided weapon troops fired £15 million worth of Swingfire missiles from the bleak ridge on Range 1 and despite the show. winds over 40 knots and various tech- nical difficulties hit more than 65 per cent of their targets too. The other major achievement was out team winning the Boeeeiager inter- national Armoured Reconnaissance Competition in June. This was held in Hesse and is run by the Bundeswehr for the to Armoured Reconnaissance Reg- iments from each German Division. with up to 2 teams from each NATO nation of which there were 2 British. 2 American, 2 ltalian, 2 Turkish and Belgian, Dutch, French and Canadian teams. Our team were placed first over- all out of the 22 Teams, winning the highest scoring event the Combat Veh- icle Patrol. The team was managed by Major Short and had trained for 6 months in the most gruelling routine to achieve the outstanding fitness. skills and knowledge necessary to beat the best hand-picked reconnaissance sold— iers in NATO. We ate my proud of Sgt Williams, Cpls Pearce, Watson, Kerr. Harrison and Bailey, LCpl Radhourne. and Tprs Henderson 890 and Tpr Ran- dall. They were magnificently supported by Sgt Shipley from last year's team and his men and those who spent such long hours teaching Soviet Equipment, Map marking. Orienteering or shooting for example. We returned to Baden thrttenberg for troop training again in April which formanywillbeourlastvisitforSyurs. 'Rhine Farcwell' saw us crossing the steep Danube Valleys on escape and evasion. squadron-versus-squadron phases and a 4-day Regimental Exer- such enthusiastic support by the "Old and Bo] " It the "OCA" dinner and at the Cavalry Memorial Parade in May. To all past and serving members of the Regiment I send my wishes for a very happy and successful year and look forward to l987. when the Reg- iment will once again be stationed in the "U.K." at Wimbish in Essex. cise. The scenery was challenging and unforgettable and the weather pendulum swung to predictable extremes. It was fitting Colonel Woodhead should pay us his first visit as Colonel for the final weekend. when the sun warmed the inter-squadron sports and the band brightened the evenings and played at each squadron‘s church ser- vioe. He arrived just after another cut in overseas allowance was announced. and as double guards were mounted in the wake of the Gadaffi threat. We are contemplating the summer as an opportunity for variety and fun. for sport and 'tnmmer hours’. The volley- ball team are BAOR champions again. the ski team got to the Army Champ- ionships and we even staged the Army Chess Championship in Wolfenbuttel. and we were ntnners up in the RAC Fishing Competition. D Squadron returned to Baden thr- tenberg to be an elusive enemy to the International Long Range Patrol School Students, and C Squadron visit- ed north ltaly to visit the Cavalleggeri di Lodi. Thusourfinalyearpromisestobe fun but not too full. with time to aim off for the financial shocks of returning to England and yet the opportunity to make the most of our last year of this tour on the Continent. We look forward to welcoming those who come for Mons Moy in September. and to seeing so many of our friends in Wimhish from April [987. |
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