the cra tsman 2017 magazine of the corps of royal electrical and mechanical engineers the cra tsman

March 2017

Magazine of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

THE CRA TSMAN

98 [email protected]

ContentsFEATURES

Talking Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

The Future Accommodation Model Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

A Year in the Life: British Forces Brunei (BFB) Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104

Shooting Team Captains Course 2017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

1MWD LAD - St Eligius Day 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

106 Battalion - St Eligius Celebration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Awards: Engineer’s Work on Supersonic Bloodhound Car is Recognised . . . . . . . . .116

Power Maxed Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Flanders Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

REME 75 March 1942 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

Competition - Where in the World? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

REGULARS

Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Deaths; London Gazette – Amendment; The REME Charity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

REME Association: Doncaster and District Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

Corps Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Happy 80th Birthday; Top Post Jan; Pers/Ops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

REME 75 Calendar; Corps Calendar 2017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Presentation of the MG REME Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143

Dine in MSEC(L) 16/003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

SPORT

Army and Great Britain in Triathlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

BMX The Nord Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Corps Boxing Championships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

REME FA USA Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

OPERATIONS AND EXERCISES

Dark Horse 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

Supreme Glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

MARCH 2017 Volume 73 No. 3

Front CoverArmy and Great

Britain in Triathlon

Back CoverDine in MSEC(L) 16/003

Corps Formation: 1 October 1942

Corps Motto: Arte et Marte

Corps Patron Saint: St Eligius

(Celebrated 1st Sunday in December)

Editor: Allison Woolley+ Corporate Publications Editor,RHQ REME, The Prince Philip Barracks, Lyneham, CHIPPENHAM, SN15 4XX [email protected] (preferred method) (Mil: 95481 4529 Civ: 01249 894529

SUBMITTING ARTICLES TEXT: should be submitted in MS Word and namesaved as per the article. No formatting, columns, powerpoint etc. Unit articles must be cleared by CO ornominated substitute and should be submitted as soonas possible.PHOTOGRAPHS: MUST be: submitted separately, injpeg format and be at least 500kb preferably 1mb ormore. Only photos over 3mb can be considered for thefront/back covers and please remember captions.FILESHARE:websites, such as dropbox are ideal forsubmitting larger files.EMAIL: The ONLY email address which should be usedis: [email protected]. Not DII. Pleaseuse the article title not ‘Craftsman Article’ as the emailtitle.TIMINGS: The latest submission date is the first day ofthe month prior to publication. This does not guaranteethe article will be published in that specific edition.

Births, Engagements, Marriages and Deaths:These will be inserted free to all past and presentmembers of the Corps.

Contents:The contents of The Craftsman are strictly copyright andall rights are expressly reserved. The views expressedherein do not necessarily reflect the policy and views,official or otherwise, of the Editor, the Corps or theMOD, therefore no responsibility for these will beaccepted. Whilst including an advertisement we are notnecessarily endorsing the product and as a result, thepublisher and its agents do not accept responsibility forany transaction between the reader and the advertiser.Whilst we take all precautions with regard toadvertising, readers are advised to take professionaladvice before entering into any commitments.Letters concerning reproduction, contributions or anyother matter should be addressed to the Editor.

© Published by REME Corps Secretariat.

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Before submitting an article you are requested to read the guidelines on the inside front cover 99

100 Talking Heads 110 Shooting Team Captains Course 2017

124 Corps Boxing Championships

112 St Eligius Day

127SupremeGlacier

106 Dark Horse 2016

133 REME 75

118 Power Maxed Race

TALKING HEADSHaving completed Phase 2 training and been assigned to field units,

we ask REME soldiers how they feel their first 6-18 months has gone.

S H I P W R I G H T

A R M O U R E R

V E H I C L E M E C H A N I C

17 Port and Maritime Regiment RLC WorkshopRight from the off, the last six months have proven to beboth challenging and exciting. On arrival I was immediatelyput to work, getting stuck straight into my first job workingon a boat using Oxy-acetylene to repair a damaged fender.The following month I went on my first production exercise,Ex Seahorse JACANA, thiswas a different experiencefrom the Phase 1 typeexercises as it revolvedaround providing equipmentsupport during Ex GRIFFINSPANNER and included aMATTs camp. Trying to planahead and think about whatis needed in the field, whilstthinking what can be feasiblypacked onto a truck and DMSunit, was a lesson in itself andshowed me how theWorkshop can operate in thefield.

Having come back fromsummer leave, Septemberproved to be a busy month,firstly supporting 51 and 165Squadron during their exercise with the MEXEFLOTE cells,putting what I had learnt previously into practice. Then it wasthe Freedom of the New Forest parade, initially I was a littlerusty with rifle drill but a week of practice put that right.

I’ve also been able to develop non-trade related skills,getting involved with charity runs and photographing eventssuch as AT, Remembrance parades and the New ForestShow, where we were able to demonstrate ourblacksmithing skills in a competition and I was introduced tosome cracking local cider.

4 SCOTS LADArriving at my first unit wasvery nerve racking, butmembers of the LADimmediately made me feelvery comfortable and a partof the team. It’s a verydifferent experience incomparison to Phase 2 as youare a lot more involvedwithin the Battalion routine,doing what you have trainedso long to do. As soon as Iarrived I went straight onto aJACKAL driving course, whichwas great fun; I recommendit to anyone unless it’sraining, then it’s not so muchfun! One thing that stood

39 Engineer Regiment WorkshopSince coming to the unit I’ve been kept busy with constantwork with many different pieces of equipment, some ofwhich I never knew were an Armourer’s job to maintain(such as the operational field catering system and the HILTIbolt gun)

Since becoming a Class 2 Tradesman I have found that I’mexpected to work on my own and without guidance a lotmore than as a Class 3, which improves the amount of workwe can get done in theArmoury. Being a Class 2Tradesman also allows me toattend range packages asarmourer support, ensuringthat the soldier’s weapon canbe repaired at the point offailure and put back into thehands of the user, ratherthan waiting until they’vefinished at the ranges. I havealso found that members ofthe unit will come to meseeking information on theweapon systems andequipment we hold.

The Regiment has takenpart in a few public eventsand we have hosted aweapons stand, displayingthe weapon systems we holdin the unit and explaining their use to the general public; ourstands often prove to be the most popular.

Cfn Alexander Gardiner

Cfn Marshall Bullock

Cfn Carl White


V E H I C L E M E C H A N I C

R E C O V E R Y M E C H A N I C

A I R C R A F T T E C H N I C I A N C L A S S 2

Queen’s Royal Hussars LAD I arrived at the Queen’s RoyalHussars LAD at the end ofJuly this year and after onlythree days I found myself inCanada deployed on ExercisePRAIRIE STORM 3 with HQSquadron. I was fortunateenough to work on a varietyof equipment often inchallenging conditions, whichwas a real eye opener for abrand new ‘crafty’.

On my return from BATUS Iwas immediately redeployedwith D Squadron FitterSection to Warminster aspart of the Land CombatPower Visit (LCPV), giving mean excellent opportunity towork with the Challenger 2MBT for a month. Afterreturning from LCPV I finally got some time to enjoyGermany, its Christmas Markets and Glühwein; but not forlong as I took the opportunity to go to Austria on ExerciseSupreme Glacier 16 to refresh my skiing skills as part of theRace Development Camp and of course sample the UmbrellaBar.

Looking in to the future I will be attending a H cat drivingcourse in January 17, learning to drive tracked vehicles. This isin preparation for the annual firing camp in February wherethe regiment will redeploy to Bergen-Hohne ranges and fireall 25 x CR2s. The regiment is also on their High ReadinessYear in 2017 which means I will be sat at 10 days’ notice tomove in preparation for a deployment anywhere in theworld.

I’ve had an incredibly busy start to my Army career,however it has been enjoyable and rewarding. I’m lookingforward to the challenges and adventures that lie ahead.

2 CS Bn REMEAfter completing phase 2 training I was posted to 2 CloseSupport Battalion REME. 11 January 2016 was my first day atthe unit and I didn’t know what to expect. My first year hasbeen busy, enjoyable and a great learning curve. Sincearriving I have taken part in various exercises, AdventurousTraining and within fivemonths qualified as a Class 2Recovery Mechanic aftercompleting Exercise ATLASCREED. Hearing all therumours and stories of whathappens at a battalion I wasapprehensive about what toexpect, but since I have beenat the unit and meeting allthe people and fulfilling myjob role, it has fully exceededmy expectations. Being the‘new lad’ I was worried abouthow I was going to fit in but,everyone was extremelywelcoming and my first yearat unit has been enjoyableand full of good memories.

72 Avn Sp Coy 7 Avn Sp Bn REMEPost finishing Phase two training at MOD Lyneham, youarrive at your unit where you will book in and then continueto do your specific to type aircraft training. You will be given

an Under Training (UT) folderwhich will contain variousjobs which you will have tocomplete to help furtheryour engineering knowledge.You will also need tocomplete a minimum of 10Technical FlightServicing/Daily FlightServicing workarounds tomake sure you’re capable ofsafely conducting a flightservice. However it’s not allwork, you are given variousopportunities to go and doadventurous training such asskiing, kayaking aroundCyprus or even mountainbiking. If you participate in

any sports you are always given time to go and representyour unit and compete all over the world. When you havecompleted your UT Folder you will then do your UT testwhich consists of a paperwork exercise, a book search, a TFSwalk around and a presentation on a given aircraft system.Once you have completed your test you will then be givenyour class two authorisations which means you can startsigning for your work.

out was that you are always busy and getting the requiredexperience to achieve my Class 2 was really easy.

There are so many opportunities to take part in sports,physical activities and challenges. Since arriving in theBattalion I have taken part in the REME AthleticsCompetition, where 4 SCOTS LAD came 1st in the MinorUnits’ Competition and also several Cross-Country eventsincluding the REME Cross Country Championship and finallythe highlight of my year was boxing in the Battalion Boxingcompetition.

I had the opportunity to put my military skills to test aspart of the LAD team in the Battalion’s Military skillscompetition, consisting of a 24 hour forced march acrossHowgill Fells in North Yorkshire, carrying 30kg and finally Iended my first year in the Battalion with a six-week Battalionexercise on Salisbury Plain. The exercise was great for me todevelop my military and trade skills ready for deployment onOp SHADER early next year. After my first year within theBattalion I am 100% positive that my remaining time will befull of many more great opportunities.

Cfn Ryan Stocks

LCpl Joe Shaw

Cfn Tom Bailey


3. At this stage, we expect that you will be asked to choose thepackage that best meets your individual needs1.

4. Mobility Package. The mobility package entails rentingfrom the private market. Those who opt for the mobilitypackage will receive a subsidy in the form of a rentalallowance to offset the cost of renting a property at themarket rate. In this way the MoD will continue to subsidiseaccommodation to the order of 40-60%. The rental subsidywill be based on the number of dependants living in theproperty and SP will pay the same rate for the same type ofproperty wherever they are located across the country.There will be the option to upgrade or ‘top-up’ from pay ifyou feel you need a larger home. Finding a rental propertycould be difficult for some, particularly for those returningto the UK from an overseas posting and an option will existto help those who need assistance to source a property. Ithas also been recognised that we will need time off work tofind suitable properties and the policy for FAM will reflectthis. In some areas private rental accommodation is unlikelyto be available in sufficient quantity to meet the demandlocally and this will mean that SP will have to find privateaccommodation further away from base locations. Themodelling that has taken place has assumed a dailycommute of up to 40 minutes for all locations outsideLondon, and 60 minutes for London, but it is expected thatthe majority of SP will find rental properties a lot closer totheir base, but the actual location will be the subject ofpersonal choice and circumstances. Whilst it is likely thatHome to Duty travel will continue to apply, in offsettingcommuting costs, other costs associated with living out willbecome the responsibility of the individual, such as theadditional cost of buying and running a car for getting towork and for accessing facilities that may have been free inbarracks, such as access to a gym.

5. Stability Package. The detail of the stability package is stillin nascent form, but we envisage that it will support thosewho decide to buy their own homes or to rent on a longterm basis. It is hoped that the stability package will placethe Forces Help To Buy (FHTB) scheme on a permanentfooting and will provide additional benefits for those whoneed to weekly commute and require SLA accommodationduring the working week. FHTB is already seen as a positiveinitiative in helping more than 10,000 SP who aspire tohome ownership.

6. Benefits of FAM. FAM provides the opportunity to live inyour own home, with who you like, and to a certain extentwhere you like. It provides choice for single and marriedpersonnel alike, including the option to house-share withfriends, a long-term un-married partner or an elderlyrelative. The cost to Defence of maintaining 49,586 SFA issignificant and by outsourcing this liability to privatelandlords, or incentivising people to buy their ownproperties, the holdings of SFA could be reduced; the effectwill be to make the provision of subsidised accommodationsustainable. It has been calculated that the potentialsavings may be sufficient to enable the rental and stabilitypackages to be funded and the defence efficiencies to beachieved at the same time.

On 21 November 2016, Brig Ghika (Hd Pers Cap) released anupdate on The Future Accommodation Model (FAM). In the nearfuture the FAM is likely to bring change for all service personnel;therefore it is imperative that all REME personnel and theirfamilies are kept up to date on its progress. I would urge allserving REME personnel to take the time to read the followingarticle as it will directly affect you in the future - WO1 (Corps ASM)Bateman. Introduction1. The Future Accommodation Model (FAM) represents a

different approach to making subsidised accommodationavailable to all at an affordable cost. Initiated in November2015, following 18 months of preliminary scoping, FAM is adefence wide project that will affect all three Services. Atthis stage no firm decisions have been made, but FAM willchange the current accommodation offer through theintroduction of mobility and stability packages. This updateaims to provide important information on proposedchanges to the current accommodation offer under aproject known as the Future Accommodation Model (FAM).

Background2. FAM was initiated as a result of the SDSR 15. It is being

conducted against three themes of attractiveness, agilityand affordability, and against a back drop of furtherefficiencies. a. Attractiveness. While attractive to those who are

married, the current accommodation model offers littlechoice to those who are single, who no longer wish tolive in the service provided accommodation of eitherSingle Living Accommodation (SLA) or Service FamiliesAccommodation (SFA) and those who wish to live withlong-term partners who are not entitled to SFA. SLA isideal for supporting training (Phase 1 and 2) and initialservice, but there is also a requirement to support thosewho want to move out of ‘the block’ or who wish to livewith long term un-married partners. This choice existsnow, but Service Personnel (SP) who opt out of serviceaccommodation receive no subsidy and they also loseout on other elements of the wider accommodationoffer; this could increasingly be viewed as unfair.

b. Agility. The Army continues to adapt. Some changesresult in the rebasing and re-roling of units whichfrequently increases the requirement for serviceaccommodation in new locations to fill a shortfall.Building new accommodation takes time and is veryexpensive, whereas the supply of alternativeaccommodation, close to barracks, through the privaterental market has the potential to provide flexible andrapid solutions to offset accommodation shortfalls. Atunit level, this could result in SP sourcing private rentalaccommodation independently, rather than beingallocated service accommodation.

c. Affordability. The cost of maintaining the 49,586 MoDmanaged SFA is viewed as unaffordable. Additionally,there is a requirement to save over £500M from theaccommodation budget over the 10 years to 2025/26 aspart of the Defence efficiencies plan.

The Future AccommodationModel Update


availability of private market accommodation and howquickly the area might respond to the increasing demandfrom our people. This is only a small part of the issue asother factors also come into play. For example, access togood schools is a key determinant for families whenmoving. The FAM must also predict the availability of rentalaccommodation in areas where we are likely to choose tolive (where schools are considered to be good), butinevitably this will coincide with more expensive rents andincreased competition with civilians and other Armypersonnel. In the same way, the availability of rentalaccommodation might be constrained by the number ofprivate landlords who will accept pets. The last examplemight appear frivolous, but for many of us it will become aserious issue and could potentially restrict our access torental accommodation. The analysis of this level and type ofdetail will drive policy development; numerous otherexamples exist.

What are the next key milestones? 11. Main Gate. The Main Gate will mark the next key milestone

for FAM. It represents the culmination of a number of workstrands and the distillation of data, evidence and modellingwork into several strategic level options for scrutiny by theMoD’s Investment Approvals Committee in June 2017, in theform of a second Business Case.

12. Pilot. Whilst the Main Gate Business Case will provide theformal basis for implementation, it will not mark the endpoint. It will be necessary to conduct a pilot in order to testthe modelling assumptions, to ensure the policy is fit forpurpose and, most importantly, to ensure the ‘livedexperience’ of those involved in the pilot is a positive oneand an improvement on the current offer. The pilot willinvolve selecting a number of units/locations to convert toFAM. Selection is likely to be determined by the maturity ofthe private rental market to supply private rentalaccommodation in a particular area. The pilot is vital forproving the concept of FAM, and for providing theopportunity to make corrections as necessary. At this stage,the location and nature of the pilot sites have yet to bedecided, but they will be confirmed by Main Gate.

13. Implementation. Assuming a successful pilot, FAMimplementation will follow across Defence at a date thathas yet to be determined. The role out plan will takeaccount of other programmes such as Army 2020 Refine andOptimisation of the Defence Estate, which will see Armyunits rebasing across the UK and is likely to start around2019/20. It is estimated that FAM will take some 25 years toimplement fully, but large scale changes may need to beimplemented early to achieve the savings required.

Conclusion14. FAM aims to change the way we live by widening the

accommodation offer, allowing more choice and helping usto access the accommodation we want irrespective of rankand relationship status. For many, it provides a newopportunity but for others it represents a threat. However,the case for subsidised accommodation remainsundiminished. Currently no firm decisions have been madeand Army HQ will continue to be engaged in thedevelopment process.

15. More information is available on the FAM website(www.gov.uk/futureaccommodationmodel.

1 FAM policy will consider the circumstances whereby SP mayswitch between packages due to changes in circumstances.

7. Consultation. In February and March 2016, FAM WorkingGroups were held at Aldershot, Catterick and Tidworth.They were attended by Unit Welfare Officers and MilitaryHousing Liaison Officers to review early FAM policy optionsand provide feed-back to the FAM Project Team. They werefollowed by Focus Groups with SP in May in the samelocations. The feedback resulted in the development of theFAM Survey that went live in September 2016. The purposeof that survey was to elicit feedback on options underdevelopment; not on the principle of FAM itself. The surveyhas been the subject of some criticism. It was complicatedand many felt that it did not allow them to express theirpreferences and concerns in a meaningful way. However, itdid allow respondents to express views on the mobility andstability packages. Many of you also contributed to the ArmyFamilies Federation Survey, launched in June, which clearlydemonstrated the benefits that SFA provides to a largesector of the Army. Feedback to both surveys has beeninvaluable. Thank you, and I will share the results of the FAMSurvey and how they impact on shaping FAM policy in thecoming months.

8. Retention of Service Accommodation. Whilst the FAMpackages are attractive to some, others will prefer toprotect ‘patch’ life as they currently know it and haveargued that they should retain the right to choose to retainSFA. The case for the retention of SFA to support operationaleffectiveness, unit cohesion and individual circumstances(such as the provision of welfare/contact houses and whereadaptations are required) is being considered within theFAM options; along with the retention of SFA to provide SPwith choice. There may also be options for increasing theeligibility of SFA to un-married SP in long termrelationships, and further increasing choice to more SP withthe added benefit of increasing the revenue from rentingSFA that might otherwise be empty. For those who preferthe potentially cheaper option of living on site, the offer ofSLA is likely to continue for anyone that wishes to remainliving in SLA.

What work is now underway and will be undertaken in the next nine months?9. Initial Gate Business Case. The Initial Gate Business Case

for FAM was approved in late summer 2016, marking thestart of the Assessment Phase. This phase will assessvarious options for delivering FAM and the practical issuesassociated with FAM implementation. Changing the wayaccommodation is provided and managed will havesignificant second and third order effects to other aspects ofour lives such as schooling and welfare support. FAM is alsodependent on systems like JPA, for the payment and controlof mobility and stability subsidies and other allowancessuch as HDT, loans for rental deposits and subsistenceallowances to support SP when reviewing private rentalproperty. The Army HQ is fully engaged in this changeprogramme in order to understand its complexity, itspotential impact and to make sure that it is fit for purpose.

10. Analysis and Policy Development. Central to the FAMconcept is the availability of rental property in the privaterental market. In certain geographical locations, we knowthe supply of rental property is plentiful and we will be ableto switch to FAM rapidly, but in others the reverse is true.Indeed, there are certain areas that may never convert toFAM and will require the permanent retention of SFA tomeet service accommodation needs. The FAM Project Teamis developing a detailed model which will predict the rate atwhich areas could convert to FAM based on the current


Views of the Himalayan Mountainsfrom the flight into Pokhara (Nepal)

major training areas; specialising in jungle warfare; with theJungle Warfare Division (JWD) training school running a variety ofchallenging courses. In conjunction with 1 RGR the garrisoncomprises of approximately 900 personnel.

The BFB Workshop is unique within the realms of ES. To providea better service the two ES elements of garrison and RGR LADwere combined within one technical space. This has provided acombination of a second line support element (Garrison Wksp) andfirst line support the RGR LAD to better serve the entire garrison.The combined ES elements comprises of; 11 REME personnel, 10RGR tradesmen and 15 Locally Employed Civilians (LECs). Thefollowing trade groups are represented: Art Veh, VM, Armourer,MDSS Tech Elect, Recovery Mechanic and a Shipwright. WO2AQMS (Bernie) Brennan manages 1 RGR personnel with an oversight of the entire ES with SSgt (Chalky) White who is IC Gar Wksp,managing the remaining REME personnel and all LECs.

The combined ES Workshop/LAD currently supports thefollowing units within BFB; 1 RGR Resident Infantry Battalion (RIB),7 Flight Army Air Corps, JWD, QOGLR and Brunei Boat Section; soas you can imagine the job can be very diverse and busy.

Over the last twelve months, the Wksp has had a very busyperiod. As if living here in Brunei wasn’t challenging enoughcontending with the local wildlife, 98% humidity and temperatureswhich rarely dip below 30oC. 2016 began with 1RGR personneldeploying on ASKARI STORM (AS) 2/16, with the Gar Wksppersonnel attached to fill manning shortfalls (including myself)ready to support the RIB on their CT3 exercise. The first challengewas to address the lack of competency on the equipment to beoperated within Kenya, the tradesmen in Brunei currently supporta fleet of 4T Leyland DAF so would need to be brought back up tospeed with MAN SV. This was resolved by deploying two weeksearly to Kenya and receiving a well-organised training package byBATUK personnel on various platforms including the MAN SV fleet.

The exercise came with the usual difficulties that working inKenya affords, with the additional complexities of unfamiliarequipment. Not only were the equipment and the surroundingsunfamiliar but of the previous AQ, WO2 (AQMS) (Fish) Mackrelland SSgt White decided to take turns with being bedded downover night in the Medical Centre. When the work force returnedback to full strength the LAD delivered an unprecedented highlevel of availability throughout the exercise a credit to thededication of all those involved. On the final assessment of the

The questions that may come to your mind when you see thewords British Forces Brunei (BFB) are, ‘Who is there and why arethe British Forces in Brunei?’ It certainly did for me when myfamily and I moved here on assignment twelve months ago. Tobegin, I wanted to give a quick recovery mechanic’s version of whythe British Army are here today.

BFB is the only remaining British Garrison within South EastAsia. The Garrison has been stationed in Brunei at the Sultansrequest since 1984, when Brunei gained independence from GreatBritain. The main roles of the British Forces within Brunei are toassist the Sultan, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief(recently deployed to provide aid after Nepal’s earthquake) and toretain a footprint in South East Asia.

BFB is located in Seria, a small town that is just over an hoursdrive from the capital city Bandar Seri Begawan. Currently centredaround 1RGR; one of the two Light Infantry battalions of the RoyalGhurkha Rifles (on a three year rotation). A small number ofGarrison Support troops are permanently stationed in Brunei (suchas Garrison Workshop personnel including me) support the RGRBattalion. In addition, Brunei serves as one of the British Army’s

Scribe: Sgt (Andy) Beacock

A Year in the LifeBritish Forces Brunei (BFB) Workshop

HQ Garrison battle beach PT

BFB Wksp families Christmas function

Recovery crew helping the locals clear the route to the beach.


equipment handover, OC BATUK Wksp Capt McMahon MBEclaimed it was ‘one of the best handovers he had ever seen!’ hiswords! Not sure if that statement had anything to do with the factthat Capt McMahon was in receipt of an Assignment Order tobecome SO3 ES Brunei Garrison!

The majority of the LAD then conducted some well-deservedadventurous training.

On the tail end of AS 2/16 there were already elements of theworkshop preparing to deploy in support of 1 RGR C Company on alive firing exercise in New Zealand, in addition to already havingseveral Wksp personnel on real life operations in Mali, stretchingthe Wksp to its limits.

Meanwhile back in Brunei the Wksp LEC VMs (the real grafters)were hard at it as usual, performing the impossible ensuring theaged DAF fleet was maintained in a roadworthy state under thewatch full eye of Sgt (Kev) Sibley IC Rear Party.

By the middle of 2016 (the ‘even hotter’ season) the majority ofBFB Wksp personnel had returned from their variouscommitments around the world. These deployments had limitedthe workshops involvement to the play hard aspect of military life,missing out on the following adventure activities that living on thisside of the world has to offer from; scuba diving in Malaysia,mountain biking in Bali, quad biking down the Brunei beach andskiing in Japan.

On the back end of 2016 (the rainy season)and following a successful trial of LEA(T) (Theadeptly renamed ECI) with very positiveresults; BFB started to receive a much neededuplift of MAN SV and Pinzgauer. This meantBFB personnel going through the process ofequipment courses and driver training. Allmilitary and LEC VMs have recentlyundertaken the MAN SV maintenance andrepair training course delivered in countryutilising an FSR, this was well received bythe multicultural workforce, which was ahuge credit to Cliff Hemsley from MAN.

Plans for upgrading the infrastructure toincrease the Wksp’s capability are wellunder way including a winch and crane testarea, new air-conditioning testing and therecent upgrade of the MRBT. Who knows, in

the near future with the increasing MAN SV fleet there will also beroom for a new workshop and an SV(R)!

Due to the geographic location of Brunei the stores system,correct STTE and any increase in entitlement is frustratingly slowbut this is just part of living almost 7000 miles away. All of thisupgraded equipment will enable BFB to operate and use the samecore fleet the rest of the British Army employ.

Bringing the year to a close in December, the REME members ofthe Wksp had the opportunity to sit on a very informative brieffrom the RAJA REME WO1 (ASM) Guthrie. The Christmas festivitiesbegan with the Wksp bonding day organised by Sgt (Kev) Sibley,where all members of the Wksp had the opportunity to show theirskills in the bowling ally; much to the dissatisfaction of SSgt (Joe)Manderson who had to hand over the 2015 Wksp Bowling Trophyto Sgt (Kev) Fellows. Later, in the week it was time to appreciateour families by organising probably the best Wksp Christmasfunction Brunei has ever seen, which was held at MumongCommunity Centre. The Community Centre has its own splash poolto keep the children entertained and a giant inflatable water slide.With the temperature reaching 35 degrees for our Christmasfestivities, all enjoyed what was a fantastic event, except thecomplaints from a rather sweaty Santa, WO1 (AQMS) Brennan.

Brunei has been a very interesting and challenging assignment,as the sole recovery mechanic in the Far East operating the only

IVECO recovery truck operated by the BritishArmy. I have had to tackle many challenges notfaced anywhere else in the world, whichincludes working closely with the Royal BruneiArmed Forces (RBAF), deploying to BritishGurkhas’ Nepal (BGN) every six months toconduct inspections and provide advice onlifting and recovery equipment inspections.

A two-year posting in Brunei provides afantastic opportunity for you and your familyto experience diverse cultures, whilst being anamazing starting base for exploring what SEAsia has to offer. This is definitely a work hardplay hard posting and is not an assignment toturn down with the opportunity to serve in oneof the last bastions of garrison life overseas.

IVECO Recovery winch task, at the disused

school on Labi jungle training area Cpl Dal celebrating the last vehicle leaving the Laikipia Trg Area (Kenya)

Rotor blades lift on one of 7Flt’s Bell 212 helicopters

Sgt (Kev) Fellows 2016 Bowling Champion


The 100 strong 103 BnREME Coy Group

In November 2016, 103 Bn REME deployed to BATUS for two weeks onEx DARK HORSE (Ex DH16) forming a 4 + 96 strong Coy Gp. Eighty onetroops from 103 Bn REME were augmented by a small number ofattachments from 101, 104 and 105 Bn REME, six Vehicle Support Spe-cialists from 165 Regt RLC and three Regular soldiers from 30 SignalRegt LAD. The battalion’s mission was to contribute to the output of Ex PRAIRIE

PHOENIX (the BATUS Repair Programme), by embedding within 4 ArmdClose Sp Bn REME Warrior, Bulldog, CVR(T) and Support Vehicle (SV)automotive repair lines, or through another bounded task mutuallyagreed with BATUS Workshop. Production and furthering trade competence aside, Ex DH16 offered

the opportunity to meet and work with Regular soldiers from our

CO: Lt Col John Hanson MBE OC: Maj Warwick Izzard

Dark Horse 2016103 Bn REME

101 Log Bde DComd ES, Colonel Ware, visits A&G

paired Regular REME battalion and to get away and enjoy a bit ofCanada during the middle weekend. Three options were offered to thetroops; a weekend of skiing at Trails End Camp, a trip to Calgary to visitthe Military Museum or the short trip to Medicine Hat to sample thelocal culture! The battalion also ran a 5-a-side football competition as well as rou-

tine PT, held a Curry Night with guests, attended a BATUS Workshophosted St Eligius Service, conducted a Medal Parade and held a shortservice on Remembrance Sunday. Visitors to Ex DH16 included our Honorary Colonel, Brigadier W J

O’Leary TD and 101 Log Bde DComd ES, Colonel M J Ware.

Bulldog Line – Scribe: Cpl KerryI was assigned to WO2 (AQMS) Johnston’s Bulldog Line. Our team wasmostly made up of VM 1’s and VM 2’s. Despite our many years of expe-rience in the Reserve, we had not had too much experience on Bulldog.What we did have though, was a tremendous amount of enthusiasm

A pack change in the Bulldog Line

and we all wanted to prove to our Regular counterpartsthat they could rely on us to do a job.We integrated with the Regulars on the line and spent an

initial period being coached through the tasks that wewould be expected to complete. After that, we were awayand playing our full part in the Bulldog Line. During the twoweeks of production we carried out a range of differenttasks including pack changes, servicing and many otherrepairs.I really enjoyed Ex DH16 and certainly learnt a lot. The

Regulars really made us feel part of the team and it was agreat experience.

CVR(T) Line – Scribe: Cfn TaylorI was part of a team of Reserves deployed onto the CVR(T)Line alongside 4 Bn tradesmen. Most of our work was gear-box alignment or track-off inspections. This was challengingat first as Sgt Harding seemed to have the monopoly on7mm sockets and constantly denied having them! Moralewas high and it remained that way throughout the wholetwo weeks. Working with 4 Bn was great and we integratedwell. We learnt plenty from them and I liked to think thatthey learnt a few things from us. All in all, it was a mostenjoyable exercise. I never did get back my 7mm sockets!

MEI Inspections – Scribe Cpl FoulkesFor Ex DH16 I was deployed into the MEI Inspections Bay. I had onlyrecently completed my Vehicle Inspectors Course and needed toinspect MAN SV and Landrover variants in order to be signed-off ascompetent. Our team of three integrated well with the Regulars and Ienjoyed working with them. We worked really hard to inspect as manyvehicles as we possibly could to help 4 Bn out and I like to think that weimpressed them with our work ethic and determination to keep going.All in all it was an amazing trip with lots of real time experience gained.

CO 103 Bn REME, Lt Col Hanson, smashes out another final drive on the Warrior Line

Cfn Edghill working in the Power Pack Repair section

103 Bn REME Honorary Colonel, Brigadier O’Leary, discussing the finer points of recovery with Sgt Baxter

Warrior Line – Scribe: Cfn CorderAfter a long journey to Canada and RSOI package, I was assigned to theWarrior Line as part of an eight man team. We had been set the mam-moth task of completing 17 RH final drives in the time we had on theline. It was going to be a big ask but we knew we had to do it – espe-cially as our line lead, WO2 (AQMS) Smith, guaranteed our OC that wewould! Once the Regulars had shown us the procedure we were up andrunning. By the middle weekend, we were pretty much halfway there.For the weekend, I had decided to visit the Military Museum in Calgaryon Saturday then I went to the nearby town of Medicine Hat the follow-ing day. On Monday, it was back on the line. We worked very hard toreach the 17 mark by Thursday. ‘Luckily’ four more RH drives werefound, so we pushed even harder to ensure these were completedbefore we left on the Friday. I really enjoyed myself and it was a greatexperience but I was looking forward to getting home for some sleep!

Recovery – Scribe: Cfn HoweI was part of a team of four Recovery Mechanics to help BATUS withvarious taskings and moving vehicles. I was able to put into practicemany of the skills I had learnt in training. We were asked to shift


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A weekend skiing. 103 Bn REME AT at Trails End Camp

vehicles to locations around BATUS, using a number oftechniques including support tows, straight tows andusing Holly Bones. Initially, we only had one SV(R) butafter a few days our Company ASM got us a second.This meant that we were really able to make a real dif-ference, with two crews and cleared out a whole castpark, which I think BATUS were keen to get done. Itwas a great opportunity to work with some experi-enced Recovery Mechanics and I certainly learnt a lotfrom it.

Armourers – Scribe: Cpl CassonOn arrival at BATUS it seemed strange that it wasalmost T-Shirt weather although that was soon tochange. We quickly built up a rapport with the civilianarmourers and got into it pretty quickly. We weresoon helping out with servicing and re-fitting mono-pod mortar lifts and were only restricted by the speedat which the Bulldogs could be brought in. We werealso able to complete taskings on Rarden, Chain Gunand GPMG for our Class 4 tradesmen. I really enjoyedthe experience and would love to come out again.

Metalsmiths – Scribe: Cfn WilliamsThe Metalsmiths were based in the A&G Sectionworking with our own team from 103 Bn as well as Regular soldiers andcivilians. We helped out on a number of welding and manufacturingtasks to help 4 Bn and BATUS. We also got to cut up a fire damaged Bull-dog into small enough chucks to be able to put in a skip. That was a fairamount of scrap!!

SV Line – Scribe: Cfn GarnerAfter a long journey from RAF Brize Norton to Calgary then on toBATUS, I was placed on the SV Line working alongside the Regulartradesmen in the OPFOR workshop. Most of our work was relativelysimple and we were able to clear all the jobs with the spares we had bythe end of the first week. As the SV work had dried up, I was movedinto the Pack Section for a few days to gain some experience, then fin-ished up on the Bulldog Line. The rest of the SV section completed areclamation task on a fire damaged Bulldog removing anything thatcould be re-used, before the Metalsmiths cut it into small sections. Ireally enjoyed working on the equipment and learning from the moreexperienced VMs both Regular and Reserve.

Powerpacks – Scribe: Cfn AslamI went to work in the Powerpack Section with a mixture of Regular andReserve soldiers working and testing CV8’s and CV12’s. It was the firsttime I had worked on either and I enjoyed the experience. We werereally busy and the pressure was on to get the engines tested and avail-able for the next pack change. I also spent a few days within other sec-tions to gain even more experience. It was my first time in Canada andI hope to come back soon.

Technical Storeman – Scribe: SSgt BirdWe arrived at BATUS not knowing what would be expected of us butwere able to get going pretty quickly. Our first task was the issue of toolboxes to the production lines so that they could start churning out thework. The initial few days were spent in the main workshop storeschecking VM(B), VM(S) and CET toolboxes, inspecting specialist toolingand relocating the Terrier STTE to a new building. This we completed inthree days! For the remainder of our time we completed a refurbish-ment and overhaul of the BVSG stores and the same again in the PowerPacks store. Two younger members of the team helped in the R&Iworking with the Regular Storemen.

EpilogueMission accomplished. 103 Bn REME integrated with 4 Armd Close SpBn really well, demonstrating what pairing can deliver and provided acredible repair capability. We were able to provide 4 Bn with an injec-tion of manpower to help them and BATUS Wksp stay well on trackwith repair targets. We were all proud to make a real and determinedcontribution to Ex PRAIRIE PHOENIX and help get the training fleet fitfor next summer’s PRAIRIE STORM exercises. We were also able to gaina great deal of experience working on Armour which we don’t often getto do and the retention factor of taking Reservists overseas should notbe underestimated. We are confident that having now spent a goodtwo weeks working with our paired battalion, that we have proved thatEx DARK HORSE can deliver results for the deployed Regular REME bat-talion and to the Corps.

A reclamation and de-militarisation task on a burnt-out Bulldog


101 Bn REME 102 Logistic BrigadeScribe: WO2 Roberts 101 Bn REME

Shooting Team Captains’ Course 2017

102 Log Bde

• Elementary application of fire• Advanced application of fire • Match practice/Competition firing drills• Developing the firer in marksmanship

The course began with Team Captains’ going backto basics with the weapon system from general goodhousekeeping of kit and equipment and the weaponsystem (pre-firing drills). As the initial day progressedzeroing procedures and the capability of the SUSATwere trailed and tested to each individual TeamCaptain and incorporating the four marksmanshipprinciples. To any motivated firer this is the bible ofshooting.

Once all Team Captains were content and confidentelementary application of fire procedures wereundertaken, the aim was to give the firer and thecoach the confidence to work together as a team andprogress.

Pistol firing commenced which was exciting to allfirers practising engaging the target accurately up to25m.

The REME Rifle Association is continuing to moveforward in operational shooting with a successful yearin FTC OSC, Methuen cup and units entering AOSC.In 2016, there were 13 firers from the Corps gainingthe prestigious army 100 badges and the REMEShooting team being placed 2nd at the Methuen cupand being placed the highest British Army team.

Moving forward the New Operational ShootingTeam Committee is formed this is a number ofdedicated, motivated and highly experienced coachesfrom within the Corps that have delivered the recent102 Log Bde Team Captains’ course.

The Team Captains course is designed to give theselected individual from either a major unit or aminor unit the confidence to prepare there unit teamsfor competitions throughout the year. Also to be thesubject matter expert (SME) in marksmanship withinthe unit, whether this be at FTC OSC or the DivSAAM competitions they are required to enter andhopefully gaining a place at AOSC.

The REME Team Captains’ course covered the followingsubjects:• Range management as RCO• Duties of the Coach/Procedures• Administration prior Competition

Sgt Prabeen Gurung (REME Top Shot) and SSgt Robinson

The Team Captains’ advanced application at 300m


LCpl Binding (ARMY Shot) application with the pistol

The remainder of the weekend concentrated onvarious combat positions up to 300m and the use ofthe SARRT equipment this was well received andenables the coaches to engage with the firer.

All Team Captains learnt a great deal from theinitial planning, the coaching of a team and thepreparation needed to compete highly whenrepresenting the Corps, maintaining our ethos ‘soldierfirst! Tradesman always.’Key Dates:

REME Marksmanships course 23 – 28 April 17REME Marksmanship course 2 – 9 June 17 (Forteams that qualify for DEFOSC)

FTC OSC (CORPSAAM) 6 – 7 May 17 Reservist competitions8 – 12 May Regular competitions

REME Shooting 2017


Shooting ForwardThere is a myth that all range days are the same ‘cold and wet and not enough time on the

range’ the REME Operational shooting team are here to disregard that myth and supportenthusiastic personnel to engage in Operational shooting and move it forward. If personnelengage in this training and support network it will be a successful 2017 season

If you have any queries regarding Operational Shooting, contact WO2 Roberts (AdjtOperational Shooting) ‘: 94555 8162, all queries will be answered.

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All teams Sleigh ride

104 Sqn blind grinch relay

The day before themain event, the LADshop floor resembledsomething close to aSanta’s grotto withwrapping paper andglitter everywhere.However, thanks to anLAD effort and a lastminute flap we finallygot on top of our newand final plans. After alate finish and a lastminute shop run forChristmas jumpers, theday was soon upon us.The morning consistedof setting up stands andcarrying out dry runs ofeach event to ensurethat everything ransmoothly and that ourLAD had a ‘tacticaladvantage’. After lunch, everyone

This year I volunteered to host St Eligius Day for1 MWD Regt LAD, based at St George’s Barracks,North Luffenham. After realising that the RoyalArmy Veterinary Corps shares the same Patronsaint as REME, the LAD decided it would be agood idea to invite the Regiment to this year’scelebrations. After many weeks of planning and multiple

changes to the original plans, the final week ofpreparation came quickly upon us. With the eventorganiser nowhere to be seen, the rest of theLAD had to put their heads together to make sureeverything fell in to place on time. With myselfonly returning three days prior to the event, thereality of the task soon hit me hard as newchallenges were still being thrown my way. After 2 MedRegt LAD had to pull out of the team events at the lastminute due to regimental commitments, I soon started tofeel the pressure, which also forced us into merging withthe QM’s Dept in order to be able to put a full team forward.

1 MWD LAD

St Eligius Day 2016LAD EngO: Maj Stu Bass Scribe: LCpl Mclinden

Opening address and St Eligius history lesson

104 Sqn Xmas treechallenge


RHQ Santa dash

then paraded in their Christmas themed fancy dressready to commence the main event. I then addressedthe Regiment with an opening speech, which wasthen followed up with a brief history lesson on StEligius, presented by the LAD’s newest member CfnAshley Scott. This speech educated some of theRegiment on their Patron Saint, during which theRegimental 2IC also learned that St Eligius isn’tSpanish. The participating squadrons were RHQ, 104 Sqn

and QM’s Dept each with a team of eight people.The teams were then taken for a warm up beforestarting the competition, which consisted of eightChristmas themed stands. The first six stands wereorganised as a ‘round robin’ and at the last twostands all three teams competed at the same time.The event finished on aChristmas themed stretcherrun where each team had tocarry their sleigh full ofweighted presents aroundthe PFA loop. After realisingthat we were finishing alittle bit earlier than plannedI decided to add another lap.The sweaty, tired lookingSanta’s and Elves, oneSuperman and a Spaniardthen retired into the gymwhere they were takenthrough a cool down.Everyone then met at the20/twenty bar where Ithanked everyone for theirparticipation and efforts andthen announced the results.Due to a tie break betweenthe QM’s department andRHQ, one final challengewas necessary in order to determine a winner. One member from each team wasselected to compete in a mince pie face off, the first person to fully consume both withminimal wastage would be the winner. Due to a poor decision from the LAD to allow theaccommodation storeman and probably the skinniest guy on the team to represent uswe came second behind RHQ. The BEME, Maj Stu Bass then presented the trophy to 1MWD Regiment’s first St Eligius Competition Winners. I would like to take thisopportunity to congratulate the RHQ and thank theRegiment and especially the LAD for their support.

LAD Xmas pud shuffle

BEME presenting the St Eligius trophy to RHQ

LAD Mince pie munch

Tie breaker challenge


Engineers in the making Sgt Slimming – this is how you do it youngster

The competitors ready to race

It all started with what every command team loves; a CO’s goodidea. The vision was clear; to run a celebration in the name of StEligius that included REME cadets, reserves, regular and associationmembers based upon an engineering theme. After muchconsideration, WO2 (AQMS) Fitzpatrick was ‘voluntold’ to organisethe event and transfer the CO’s vision in to a successful event. Theweekend chosen was 3-4 December last year, with the venue forthe day one activities being the home of 155 Company at BarnsfordBridge in Glasgow.

After a brief from the CO to the amassed 40 REME cadets and 45participants from battalions, which set the scene for the morning’sactivities starting with the Bloodhound challenge. After a detailedpresentation on the principles of aerodynamics delivered by a VMwho clearly had aspirations to transfer to become an air tech, 17teams were formed.

The aim being to fashion, from the provided high density foam,

CO Lt Col P B Hughes Scribe: WO2 (AQMS) Fitzpatrick SPSI 153 Fd Coy

1 0 6 B A T T A L I O N

St Eligius Celebration

Ready, Set, Go…


Too many Chefs!

the fastest jet propelled racing car,which of course also had a coolname with appropriate decoration.All joviality suddenly ceased as theteams started to refine theirdesigns before it was time to testthe vehicles on the track outside.To the many cheers and theoccasional jeer for the lesssuccessful, the BHQ team led bythe ASM, WO1 Shakir, delivered aparticularly poor performance;what were those additional wingsfor? With speeds ranging between25mph and over 40mph, no landspeed records broken but muchenjoyment was had by all, with theREME cadets putting the REMEreserve teams to shame.

After a packed lunch enjoyed by all, which the QM, Maj Si Kellyhad particularly enjoyed preparing himself, it was time for theafternoon engineering challenge. The cadets were put into teamsand carried out a ‘round robin’ of activities.

Whether developing their recovery skills, using the SV, under thewatchful eye of SSgt Adam McNee, or conducting command taskssupervised by the QMSI, WO2 Roddie McLeod, who was eager toget his own back after his three legged dog ‘wobble’ had benefitedfrom the cadets eagerness to share their packed lunches, much funwas had. LCpl Dazz Rae then wowed the cadets with his tales of hisoperational experiences, which also included information on what

the Corps could offer. At the same time, the reserve

contingent split in to their sub-unitgroups before completing theafternoon engineering challenge.The task set was to design andmake a machine capable ofshooting tennis balls at targets toscore points with.

WO2 (AQMS) Fitzpatrick wasclear that innovation was key andhis decision as the referee wasfinal; even if 157 Coy did offerbribes to increase their chances.The competitive spirit once morecame to the fore resulting in fivevery different ideas; that not onlyutilised the supplied materials, butalso included a weights bench

found in the hanger and a number of plastic drinks bottles. Aftersome test firing that resulted in much hilarity and a number ofclearly critical refinements, the time for the final firing arrived. Assilence fell upon the assembled audience the BHQ team moved tothe firing line first; however once again the senior element of thebattalion failed to impress, with WO2 (AQMS) Kev Burke clearlynow more at home in front of a computer (or on the golf course !!)than doing real time engineering. The other sub-unit teamshowever fared better with 157 Coy from Northern Ireland being theclear winners; hitting the target with all of their shots. This successon the range resulted in the Company being the first recipients of

the trophy for engineering excellencepresented to the Battalion by theHammerman Society, a trade house fromGlasgow.

After the departure of the cadets, who feltthat sitting in the SV was the highlight of theday, it was time for the soldiers’ Christmaslunch. Returning to BHQ the smell of theChristmas dinner got the gastric juicesflowing, with Sgt Mack and her team onceagain making every effort to impress byproducing a three course meal fit for a king.The dinner was served in the drill hall thathad been turned in to a festive dining roomand as always the RQMS, WO2 Ritchie hasacquired lots of decorations and crackers,but just don’t ask where from.

Whilst the juniors sat down, the officersand seniors did the serving, and beyond afew burnt fingers no meals were dropped,although it was interesting to see the chaosin the kitchen that occurred - too many chefsChristmas Dinner is served

The Hammerman Prize

An interesting technique from the winners


Christmas Dinner No 2 for the CO

definitely jumped to mind. After congratulations on their promotionwere given to LCpl Greer, LCpl Curran and LCpl Haslam, the festivequiz rounded off the evening; even if it did start before the officerswere ready to join in !

The second day commenced with a St Eligius church service in thelocal East Kilbride parish church. The service was attended by theentire REME family, including members of the Scotland Branch ofthe REME Association. The minister, Anne Patton, delivered aparticularly informative sermon on the life of the Saint whichincreased the knowledge of us all. Readings by the CO and Pte SukaVarasiko followed with Lt Col (Retd) Roger Jagger delivering theREME Collect.

The command element then returned to BHQ with the 20members of the Association to enjoy their second Christmas dinnerof the weekend. The Scotland Branch AGM then followed, duringwhich the significant progress made by the Battalion washighlighted by the CO; including that the unit had just reached InitialOperating Capability and breached its 60% reserve manning target.

Activities then concluded, with the original aims of delivering afully inclusive event that had highlighted REME’s innovativeapproach and camaraderie clearly satisfied; now to wait for thenext CO’s good idea…


• applying practical engineering expertise to manufacturebespoke components to critical tolerances.

• providing professional opinion to assist design engineers toassess whether components can be turned in-house.

• personally saving the project tens of thousands of poundsby manufacturing intricate components that wouldintimidate even the most experienced of fitter turners.

• delivering artisan hand skills at the lathe and three axismilling machine which rival cutting-edge computer-basedmachinery.

• delivering some of the most innovative tooling in order tomanufacture over 40 separate components for the vehicle,notably components that are safety critical with little or nomargin for error.WO2 Chapman, who was accompanied by his OC, Major

Allan Tribe, received his award at our London offices from theInstitution’s CEO Stephen Tetlow MBE.

An engineer likened to a modern day Trevithickfor his work on a pioneering attempt to the breakland speed world record is named Best SeniorNCO 2015. Staff Sergeant Matt Chapman, (nowWO2 (AQMS)), IEng MIMechE, has been praisedfor his ability, ingenuity and doggeddetermination – as well as his exceptional artisanhand skills. The Bloodhound Supersonic Car project, which

is sponsored by the Institution, is aiming for anaudacious double: to break the land speed recordin 2017 and then pass 1000mph the followingyear. The IMechE Best REME Senior NCO award is

to recognise the individual who is deemed tohave made the best contribution to engineeringduring the year. Any Regular or Reserve Sergeantto WO1 is eligible for consideration for the award.WO2 Chapman said: ‘Bloodhound was a really,

‘all day every day’ intense experience whichdefinitely tested my love of engineering’. ‘You needed to be very reactive. There was

always something to make. I was being constantlyrequired to solve engineering problems’. He added: ‘It has been a great experience

meeting different people at the top of their game.I intend to stay involved in the project wherepossible’WO2 Chapman, who began his career as an apprentice, is

now based at the Defence Accident Investigation Branch atMoD Abbey Wood.He said: ‘IMechE professional accreditation gives you

validity as an engineer in accident investigation. I want to be achartered engineer, it’s the pinnacle of our profession.Engineering is my hobby as well as my career.’ The relationship between the IMechE and the REME

provides a well-developed path for individuals of all ranks toachieve professional registration. WO2 Chapman was seconded as a senior machinist working

on the manufacture and assembly of the BloodhoundSupersonic Car. As the second-in-command of the BritishArmy’s involvement in the project, he is one of the Army’sfounding Bloodhound ambassadors. WO2 Chapman’s achievements include:

Awards: Engineer’s Work on SupersonicBloodhound Car is Recognised

By Jill Dwyer Senior Business Development Executive (Defence Liaison) Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Stephen Tetlow, Matt Chapman and Allan Tribe


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or : [email protected]

1 7 J u n e 2 0 1 7Corps Weekend

The Corps will be celebrating its 75th birthday in 2017 with events starting in April2017 through to April 2018. One of the key events will be the Corps Weekend takingplace 17 June 2017 in Lyneham, our new home. All Battalions will attend includingrepresentation from our 1st line units where possible. The day will start with a

military parade under the watchful eye of the Master General. Numerous activitieswill keep everyone entertained, including the Cfn Cup football major units final,other sporting events, vehicle displays, Corps parachute display team and much

more. The day will finish with a party in the park themed event with what promisesto be an excellent performance including our own Corps band. Planning is still inits infancy and finer detail will be provided in future issues of The Craftsman

magazine. Nonetheless, ensure you keep this day free in your diaries and make aday of it with your colleagues and family.

This is a great opportunity for new and old member to gettheir clubs out and participate in some semi competitive,friendly golf on fantastic courses at a great subsidised

rate; no matter what your handicap is.Please make yourself known and support the following events:

FOEHigh Handicap Paultons Park GC 5 AprilSpring Meet Bowood GC 3 MayCorps Championships St Andrews 21 – 22 JuneCorps Golf Tour Scotland 18 – 23 JuneSummer Meet Basingstoke GC 19 JulyAutumn Meet Wrag Barn GC 31 AugustBrass Balls & AGM Tidworth Garrison GC 12 October

For more information please visitwww.remegolf.co.uk

or contact RGA Assistant SecretaryWO2 (AQMS) Carl Wray on:: [email protected] or

(: Mil 94391 7184 or Civ 01264 381184

REME Golf Association (RGA)Calling all aspiring REME

golfers for the 2017 season

unique experience at the top level of UK saloon carMotorsports. With the ‘can do’ attitude of themilitary ethos, the PMR team enjoys the work hardcommitment given by all those who volunteer toattend. The job roles available as part of thepartnership are varied with garage tasks such asmanaging the 50+ wheels and tyres, car mechanicsand setup crew but also roles that include VIPdriver and hospitality roles including hosting andcatering support. Each weekend is long, hard work

Members of the British Army and Royal Navyhave partnered up with Power Maxed Racing(PMR) for a second consecutive year. 2015 was ataster year with the team and in 2016, growthwas evident of the partnership with membersacross the armed forces attending to support theBritish Touring Car Championship (BTCC) team.The majority of personnel who attended werefrom REME with 1 Regt RLC LAD leading thecharge. Cfn Djikic and Hart were regularsupporters and found at most rounds of theBTCC with PMR. A most notable occasion sawdriver Kelvin Fletcher run off circuit, damagingthe front end of the outgoing Chevrolet Cruizeinstigating ‘all hands on deck’ with repair worksrunning into the small hours due to the need of afull front end strip and rebuild for the next day’sracing. The partnership does very well inproviding members of the armed forces with a

Members of 1 Regiment RLC with the Power MaxedRacing grid girls

Team car in action

By Capt Rikki Abel

Power Maxed RacingPartnership Success

Cfn Djikic and LCpl Hart managing the tyres between races


1 Regt RLC LAD engineering experience delivered by Power Maxed Racing (PMR)

Hard at work in the garage

and tiring but at the same timeabsolutely rewarding when you see thecars out on track doing well. In 2017, the partnership will progress

to the next level, upping the game oncemore. With the team preparing threebrand new Vauxhall Astra chassis’ andtwo new drivers, including a WorldTouring car driver, it is set to be anexciting year. The team manager is keento offer more posts to the team thereforea development programme has beenconfirmed. For 2017, the BTCC eventslist will be offered along with theVolkswagen (VAG) cup series.

PMR is a British auto racing team in Bidford-on-Avon,Warwickshire.The intent of this familiarisation visit was to provide

the LAD information on the vehicles and equipmentinvolved in Power Maxed Racing, with a view toproviding the team engineering support on a volunteerbasis. The staff at PMR were very keen to work withREME soldiers.With the increase in opportunity, interested soldiers

should contact: Capt Rikki Abel RLC, 12 Armd Inf BdeHQ : [email protected]. He is happy to discussfurther details to anyone willing to volunteer theirtime to the partnership.

Cpl Rai about to attempt the driver’s test ofdismounting from the driver’s seat within 40seconds - it’s not as easy as you may think!


Army and Great Britain in

TRIATHLON

Working hard on the bikeExiting the swim

By LCpl Dan Walsh - 4 Armd CS Bn REME and Sgt Becky Hoare - 5 FS Bn REMELCpl Dan Walsh: Age Group StandardDistance Triathlon World ChampionshipsWe set off for Cozumel, Mexico on Tuesday 13 September 2016 andafter a long and boring flight (10 hours) plus a boat and a coachjourney, we finally made it to the hotel nearly 24 hours after settingoff. The first thing that hit me after stepping out of the airportlounge, was how humid it was, I don’t perform very well in the heat,but I would just have to cope with it.

Waking up the following morning, I built my bike and headed outto recce the 40km bike course. The course was an out-and-back loop,along the shore. The views were stunning but it was very open to thewind. That evening it was the Opening Ceremony and Parade ofNations and due to me being taller than the young person who wassupposed to carry the British Flag, one of the volunteers took it offhim and gave it to me instead!

On Thursday it was my run route recce and the Age Group Sprintrace, I managed to catch the later age groups but didn’t hang aroundfor too long because the heat was nearing 35 degrees and I didn’tfancy getting burnt so close to my race.

Friday and Saturday merged into one, consisting of some lastminute training, resting and briefings as well as picking my race packup and getting an early night.

The 4am alarm call on Sunday morning was the signal that it wasrace day. After grabbing a quick breakfast, I went for warm up andheaded to the start line for the Swimming phase.

The swim was supposed to be a 1500m course but due to thestrong current, it was shortened to 1250m. As the klaxon went off,there was a flurry of hands and feet everywhere but I managed toavoid getting punched/kicked and settled into my rhythm early.Turning at the first buoy I managed to get near to the second group,but I completely overshot the buoy which then meant I was on theback of the third group with a lot of work to do.

I pushed as hard as I could against the strong current but the non-wetsuit ruling meant I wasn’t used to swimming without the extrabuoyancy. I exited the water just in front of the third group in24mins.03secs.

After a quick transition, it was time to head out on the bike courseand try and make up for the mistake in the swim. I pushed hard fromthe start and aimed to keep the pace and cadence high for the entireride. Drinking every 5km, I managed to keep hydrated and tried tokeep cool in the rising temperatures.

Just before the turnaround point, I saw the lead bikers comingtowards me on the other side of the road and I was shocked to see agroup of around 10-15 athletes drafting each other, especially withthis being a World Championship event. I carried on, picking peopleoff slowly but surely and finished the bike leg in 1hr 1min and11secs.

The run is where my race strategy fell apart. I aimed to run a sub40 minute 10k, but by the time I got offthe bike the heat was 38 degrees with91% humidity. As I mentioned earlier Idon’t run well in the heat so I backed offmy pace and tried to get as much wateras I could at each aid station, throwing itover my head and neck and down my tri-suit. On the second of the two lap course,I started to feel the heat getting to meand my arms went cold. I didn’t want togo down with a heat injury so I backed offthe pace again and just aimed to finish

the race in the besttime I could.

Passing the 8km mark Istarted to feel good again and decided

to up the pace, managing to catch a coupleof runners who had overtaken me. With 1km

to go I upped it again and could hear the noisefrom the spectators.

As I rounded the final corner, the famous blue carpet came intosight. I opened up into a final sprint, passing a Mexican athlete onthe way and crossed the line with a run time of 43:29. That was it,my first race representing GB at an international level was over.

ResultsSwim - 24:03; Bike - 1:01:11; Run - 43:29;


Pushing hard to catch the 2nd group

Sgt Hoare - A truly mental battleHeading back into T2

Total Time - 2hrs:12mins:50secsAge Group Position - 38th out of 73Country Position - 4th out of 6 British AthletesWith this being my first event representing GB, I’m happy with my

time and position but with some of the results I have had this year, Iknow there is much more to come.

Sgt Becky Hoare: IRONMAN Triathlon World ChampionshipsThe inaugural Hawaiian IRONMAN Triathlon was first considered in1977 as a way of challenging athletes who had seen success atendurance swim, running and cycling events. Honolulu-based Navycouple, Judy and John Collins, following an argument about whichsport produced the fittest athletes, proposed combining the threetoughest endurance races held in Hawaii, the 2.4-mile WaikikiRoughwater Swim, 112 miles of the Around-O’ahu Bike Race and the26.2-mile Honolulu Marathon, into one event,.

On 18 February 1978, 15 people came to Waikiki to take on theIRONMAN challenge. Prior to racing, each received three sheets ofpaper with a few rules and a course description. The last page read:

Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest ofyour life!

In 1981, the race moved from the tranquil shores of Waikiki to thebarren lava fields of Kona on the larger island of Hawaii. Along theKona Coast, black lava rock dominates the panorama, and athletesbattle the ‘ho’omumuku’ crosswinds of 45 mph, 40-degreetemperatures and a scorching sun.

On 8 October I was lucky enough to be on the start line with 2000athletes, for the third time in four years, for the 38th edition of the

Ironman World Championships. An incredibly tough race, bothphysically and mentally, there’s something about this race that oftenmakes it the ultimate goal for any aspiring triathlete.

I arrived in Hawaii after forty eight hours travelling, to stiflinghumidity, but after two years of training and preparation, along withthe prospect of racing alongside the World’s best in one of triathlonsbiggest races, it was great to be there again.

I had eight days before race day, not the ideal ‘one day per hour oftime difference’, but not far off and the days that followed werepretty full on with swimming in the beautiful Pacific which is notunlike an aquarium, riding the notorious ‘Queen K’ highway, andrunning in the midday sun to acclimatize properly to the heat. Ofcourse there was plenty of rest and ‘down time’, staying out the sun,feet up and film watching and trying to nap in a non-air conditionedcondo in 35 degrees.

I was up at 0400hrs on race day preparing for the day ahead. Therace started with the traditional cannon blast which was enough tosend the butterflies in my stomach into a barn dance. Not because Ithought I wasn’t ready for I knew I was equipped to have the bestrace possible to my ability, I was well rested, injury free and fully fit.However, there was the nagging doubt in my head that ‘I wish I’ddone more’ (a common thought among any athlete embarking ontheir ‘A’ race); I knew how much this race was going to hurt, both

physically and mentally. Unlike most triathlons, wetsuits are banned in Hawaii, and

although a single layer of neoprene material is allowed on top ofrace suits, this is often one too many layers! The cannon blastsounded the start of the race and I kicked off on the one lap, 2.4 mile‘out and back’ course, which seems an incredibly long way in astraight line. I could barely see the turnaround point! The swim iscomparable somewhat to a washing machine, often being the mostviolent part of the race, with dunking and, kicking being notuncommon for the duration of this first leg. I exited in1hr.03mins.34secs, a personal best.

I made a quick transition on to the bike, to take on the brutal,unforgiving course along a single, traffic free, dual carriageway fornear enough 40 miles; the ‘Queen K’ - is about as hard as they come.It’s either up or down with little riding on the flat and althoughnever particularly steep, the climbs adds up to nearly 1300m by theend of the leg. At midday, the heat becomes oppressive as it bounces


Sgt Hoare on the podium

off the iconic blackened lava fields. I found two water bottles wererequired at every aid station, 10 miles apart, one for fluid, the otherto throw over myself just to keep my temperature down. There isone significant climb up to the turnaround point, but as ever, thetraditional trade winds put paid to any hope of a fast return and abrutal head wind made the return leg incredibly tough. As well asbeing physical, it was a truly mental battle in the intensifying wind,with riders stretched out along the highway it’s an incredibly lonelyride back in, leaving even the toughest of riders doubting their ownability. Nevertheless, I made it back in one piece, hot and sore andmore than happy to leave my bike behind.

Switching to trainers, it was out onto the famed Ali’i Drive for thefirst section of the run. It was nice to have some support again andthe first ten mile out and back was full of shouts of ‘you’re awesome’and ‘you got this’ despite still having 20 odd miles to go. After tenmiles, the course heads away from town and returns to the dreaded‘Queen K’, where I was once again left alone with my own thoughts,with only the cheers and support of the aid station volunteers forcompany. Still feeling good, despite racing for nine hours, I still had

sixteen miles left yet but havetraditionally run out of energyin this race a few miles fromthe finish. Eighteen miles to goand feeling comfortable, thiswas the first time in nearly160km I thought to myself I canreally do this. In IRONMANracing, it is the common mantrathat the race doesn’t beginuntil this point. Up until nowit’s all about survival andlimiting your losses. I had notgot a time in mind for this race,bar the swim and run, as withsuch changeable conditionsliterally anything can happenon the bike leg. It was game onand this was going to hurt. Iupped it one more gear; twentymiles to go. Another threemiles ticked off, three to go andI was really starting to feel it. Iwas maintaining pace, but onlyjust. I had 30 minutes, twomiles to go and I’d hit the finalhill. Now I was really hurtingand slowing. Not only that, butdue to my lack of water andfuel for the past few miles, Iwas cramping up. One mile togo and I resembled a T-Rex,having literally no control overmy hands or arms. But thefinish line was in sight, as wasthe elusive sub 3hrs.40minsmarathon. I fell over the line in3hrs.39mins.51secs, with anoverall time of10hrs.54mins.11secs. I honestlyfelt like it left all out there, and

the fatigue and exhaustion that proceeded somewhat took over theelation of finishing at Kona, the IRONMAN World Championships; atthat point everything was irrelevant and all I wanted to do was curlup in a ball and not move for several hours. After being escortedthrough the medical tent, receiving my t-shirt and medal (I knew Ihad paid my £756 entry fee for something), I found a nice comfypatch of grass to lie down and assumed the horizontal position forthe next two hours.

The days after were spent recovering with a few swims but not alot else. The feeling of exhaustion lasted for several days and for thefirst time in a long time I had no desire to do any training of any kind,I just wanted to float about in the sea and do nothing. However, afew days later, I was feeling more alive and although still in no fitshape or form to do any training, at least I was feeling alive enoughto enjoy Hawaii for a few days, swim with turtles, try surfing (I was

Trying to focus!

Heading towards the finish

awful) and reflect on the race. I’m genuinely thrilled with the race Ihad, to be able to really race a marathon at the end of an IRONMANis a great positive for me, and signifies I got a lot right on race day,when so much can go wrong. Of course, I am still looking for thatperfect race, but as races go, it’s definitely up there with one of mybest.

To come away with the title of ‘World Military Champion’ makesthe sacrifices, the hours spent training, the missed social occasionsand early nights seem worthwhile. But it It goes without saying thatnone of this would have been possible without the unwaveringsupport of 5 FS Bn REME, and 1Fd Coy; without this support I wouldhave never achieved a World Champion status and who I amincredibly grateful towards. I now have a title to defend and bigplans for the future.A great few weeksover on the BigIsland, leaving mewith a title to defendand big plans for thenext few years.


race time was getting near and I had to leavemy friends to go to the start hill. Race 17 was my first race. Pinned in lane 8

I wasn’t hopeful as I looked up the hill. Icould hear the gate falling and it soondawned on me I hadn’t actually done a gatestart before! This became a real issue. How Ihadn’t noticed before, and why I hadn’tthought there was a gate, I have no idea. Ibegan to break into a cold sweat as mostraces can be won from a good gate start.Being asked a question in German, I pointedat the Union Jack on my shoulder and wrylysmiled though my helmet. Luckily for methey worked out I was trying to explain I wasEnglish and they told me competitors in race17 were about to walk the hill. I nodded andmy heart began to race.As I reached the top of the hill, the sound

of the gate falling for race 16 was crashinginto my ears. I had practiced balancing oncamp but never on a hill at a 45-degreeangle. Placing my wheel against the gate Isteadied myself, having a quick look aroundat the other riders for inspiration. Too earlyand I was sure to fall over the gate onto my

face, too late and I’d lose a decent start sprint and be playing catch up.I stood up onto my pedals, making it even harder to balance. The gatecrashed down and, raising my tyre over it, I shot out as fast as I could,racing down the hill. My heart was pounding as I cleared the first jumpwith a little more air time than I had anticipated. I sprinted to the nextrhythm section, a series of small jumps and dips, and tried to keep mybike flat. Rounding a corner I took it high and at speed ready to hit thenext big jump. Taking the final corner much lower I cleared the finaltwo jumps in one go! It was unintentional, but disaster was spared as Imanaged to stay up right. Flying over the finish line, my friends wereall going crazy and cheering something. As I looked right the rest of

I recently took part in my first BMX race, TheNord Cup 2016 in Bielefeld, Germany. Afterriding for only three full months with no realtraining, I began to wonder if I was making amistake. The sport is extremely physical andcan at times be the cause of serious injury.Riders of all ages and calibre were atregistration. Collecting my plates I made ahasty retreat to my bike to attach them,double checking my number and completinglast adjustments. The bike was ready; I,however, was not. Too late to back out, Iwalked the hill for the first time ready for myfirst practice around the track. Over 600 riders waited in the lanes to be

called forward to the start gates and beginpractices of sprint starts and jumping the firstmain berm. After an extremely hairy start Isoon found my feet and picked my sprintpoints for the track, taking my time to makesure I didn’t crash during a practice. Luckilythe gates stayed down so it was a freewheeldown the start hill into the first corner andjump. This made me feel much better and Ibegan to relax. Time seemed to fly by andeventually the track was closed for theposting of the riders. Scanning for my number on the boards in thecrowd I eventually found 194 and took note of my races and lanes. Three motos or rounds, as they are known in Germany, awaited me

over the day as well as a potential final. I wasn’t thinking that farahead. I was mainly concerned with not crashing, causing damage tomyself or indeed my ego. Being the only English rider and one of ahandful of females I was already gaining a lot of attention from thespectators. Luckily enough for me a few of the boys from work hadcome to support me through the day so I wasn’t alone. They kept myhead clear and my spirits high squashing any last nerves as we waitedand watched the first races from the pens. The banter soon stopped as

By Cfn Thompson

The Nord Cup 2016



never, so I switched technique. Ratherthan freewheeling up to it I pedaledhard, clearing it in one big jump. I feltlike I was in the air for ages, too longalmost, as all of a sudden the groundcaught my tyres and I smashed over thefinish line. It was a tight finish and Iwasn’t sure on my place; I looked to myfriends and they were celebrating but Iwasn’t sure if it was for support orvictory. The other riders and I shookhands as we walked off the track unsureof who had won. A quick change out of my race kit, a

bite to eat and it was time for podiums. Iwas uncertain if I had even placed as Iwaited in anticipation struggling tounderstand the announcer. They wouldcall the number, the club and then theplace. We all hushed down to find outwho had won. I heard my race number, Iheard my name, I heard British Armyfollowed by 1st place! I had won myfinal, and was the Nord Cup champion

2016 for age category 17-29. My friends and I erupted much to theother racers joy as they didn’t really celebrate that much and werevery reserved. I was invited to take the 1st spot on the podium andpresented with my medal to cheering from the watching crowd.We set off back to camp, all tired and slightly sunburnt and I was

proud of all I had achieved. Hard work paid off on the day and allthose days riding and training myself had worked too. Given that Istarted riding for the Army after a quick trial day in December and thiswas my first race I was extremely pleased with how it had turned out.Proud to wear the Army jersey on a European BMX circuit, I plan torace more events in the future both in UK and Germany.

the riders appeared. I had won by a fullcorner and straight. Shaking from excitement and sheer

panic I ran back to my group and joinedthe celebration. However, I still had twomore races to go. The same gate startwas all I was after on my second race,the rest seemed to come naturally. Sureenough the gate crashed down and Iraced round not checking to see otherriders. Another win; I couldn’t believeit, surely not, not on my first ever raceday. Surely it was a fluke. Next it wasrace 3 came and the nervesreappeared. This showed as I hit thesecond to last corner, losing the backend and almost crashing into the jumpjust in front of me. I managed to correctmyself and stay trackside taking a thirdwin. By this point I could not contain myexcitement. Trying to stay calm hadgone out the window, I was like a coiledspring. Three races won and aguaranteed final.Feeling more confident, I put my Army jersey back on feeling a little

more comfortable in what I was representing. Knowing thecompetition was for the best riders of the day, it was hard to not gettoo excited or anxious. Before I could think it was time. I chose lane 4,right in the center of the track. The other riders formed up around meand I balanced myself in the gate. All other distractions now aside, Iwas ready. GREEN LIGHT: the gate fell, I pushed hard over the topheading for the first jump I’d hit three times before. Clearing it, I couldsee the other riders at my side and knew I had to push harder. Passingthrough the rhythm section I was getting ready for the mammothjump that awaited me. With them still hot on my tail it was now or

This year the REME Boxing Championships were hosted by 3 CS Armd Bn REME inPaderborn, Germany. Cfn ‘Cozzy’ Costello was the sole entrant from 5th Regt RAWksp and travelled over to compete for the middleweight championship belt. The

competition had its largest number of entrants since 2011, which meant Cfn Costellowas going to have to fight twice in the preliminary rounds to reach the finals, as therewere eight entrants at middleweight. This was his first ever bout and he was up againstan opponent from 2 Bn REME who had fought recently against the Royal Scots DragoonGuards.

Cfn Costello was very nervous stepping in to the ring for the first time, but he soonsettled down, looking to win the majority of the exchanges to take the first round. Hisopponent stepped it up a gear in the second round and came back to make it one roundeach going in to the last. Cfn Costello dug deep in the final round and threw some goodcombinations to get the decision and progress through to the semi-finals. He had thefortune of watching his semi-finals opponent boxing in the prelims and a plan was puttogether to fight the 3 Bn REME fighter, who boxed well at length on the back foot.

Cfn Costello got off to a good start and took the first round by putting his opponentunder pressure, not allowing him the chance to box and move. During the second round,his opponent managed to avoid Cfn Costello’s big shots and did well to box and moveand steal some good shots to win the round. It all came down to the last round andunfortunately the fighter from 3 Bn REME stuck to the same style and out boxed our manto have his hand raised and progress through to the final. In his first boxing experience,Cfn Costello fought two fights in two days, with a win and a loss.

He has gained valuable experience and can hold his head high as he put in fantasticperformances, representing his regiment and himself well, in a tough competition.

By SSgt Rose, 5th Regiment Royal Artillery Workshop

Cfn Costello

Corps Boxing Championships 2016

and a 25-yard toe punt from CplBenfield.Day three was an excursion

into Washington and sightseeing;Capitol Hill, the White Houseand the National Memorial.Unfortunately, some mistook theCapitol building for the WhiteHouse and were thereforemissing from the photo outsidethe White House.The second game was against

a Naval Academy based inWashington; again, it was a lateafternoon kick off. Theopposition were not of a highstandard, which allowed us touse the whole squad withoutfear of losing the game. One ofthe moments of the tour

On 20 June 2016, 22 squadmembers of the REME FAembarked on an OverseasFootball Tour to USA. The aimwas to increase team spirit andmorale within the current squadto prepare us for a challengingseason ahead. On arrival at Dulles

International Airport inWashington, we weretransferred to our hotel, whichnever really lived up to thereviews on the website but was‘comfortable’ at best. The nextday was a free morning, whichallowed time to visit some of thelocal malls and restaurants. Some failed tobudget properly and were out of money onday two!Our first game was a late afternoon one in

the middle of a heavy storm with torrentialrain and lightning. Kick off was delayed asthe lightning was deemed too close to theplaying surface. We eventually got underwayagainst Andrews Air force Base, a young fitteam but it was clear almost from the kickoff that they were not going to present aserious threat to us. We felt so comfortablein the second half we even gave our tour kitman, Sgt Carl Hartley a run out. He nowboasts to be the oldest (and heaviest) Corpsdebutant but quickly announced hisretirement siting, ‘the kit was too tight’ ashis main reason. We came away with aconvincing 4-0 win with goals from Cpl JaseSilver, LCpls ‘Flanny’ Flanagan, Isaac Sands

REME FA USA Tour 2016Scribe: WO1 (ASM) Terry Lynch

REME FA v Andrews Air Force Base

REME FA outside the White House

Suns out, tops off (unless you have sensitive skin)



occurred during the game, as LCpl IsaacSands was nut-megged by one of thenaval base female players. As she did soshe shouted ‘MEGS’ and winked at him,much to the delight of the touring partyand ensured ‘Sandsy’ was presentedwith’ Tour Donkey’.We went on to win the game 8-1. The

goal we conceded was from a rash tackleby Sgt Pete Bailey, giving away a penaltyin the second half. This was the only goalwe conceded throughout the tour.Immediately after the game we

travelled, pretty much overnight, toNew York and checked in to our hotelon Broadway. The following day was afree day, which gave the guys ampleopportunity to see the sights of NewYork. Some hired bicycles and saw thewhole island from pretty much top tobottom, whereas other members justused the photos the guys took to say they had been up anddown the island!An impromptu training session ensued in Central Park on day

six. The weather was boiling so the more sensible (and fairhaired) kept their tops and sun cream on throughout. It wasruined slightly by being told we were not allowed to performorganised sports in the park but great while it last lasted with afantastic backdrop of the city.

Our final game against Gotham CityFC was our toughest test as they hadjust won their respective leaguecompetition and boasted the league’stop scorer in their squad. The gametook place on Randall’s Island, which isoff the east coast of New York.Another evening kick off and westarted very brightly, perhaps fieldingour strongest eleven for this fixtureand it showed immediately. SkipperLCpl Matt Evans controlled the gamefrom start to finish with some fantasticinterventions and strong forward runs.He set up chance after chance forLCpl Sands who again lived up to hisTour Donkey billing.Goals from Cpl Silver, LCpls Burkhill

(2) and Flanagan saw us run away witha 4-0 victory. After the game, we had agreat opportunity to present the highly

prestigious tour awards.Player of the Tour: LCpl Dee FlanaganTour Donkey: LCpl Isaac SandsTour Slug: LCpl Louis MurrayThe aim of the tour was achieved completely and the

committee hope it acts as a springboard for a successful yearfor the Corps as we aim to bring back the Massey trophy.Arte et Marte.

LCpl Flanagan sporting his Player of the Tour award


There cannot be anything better to bring an end 2016 than to go skiingand snowboarding. Those in the LAD had been working hard dealingwith the needs of the medics and covering exercises, now was the time toget some AT action in. This would be my fourth Supreme Glacier andbeing an experienced skier, I thought it best I organise it before becominga civilian!

After arriving safely, getting registered and kit sorted, we made ourway to the apartment which was in the centre of Neustift.

On Monday morning we made our way to the top of the Glacier and wecould see there wasn’t much snow on the lower slopes but enough at thetop to ski and snowboard all week. Sorting into different groups of activ-ities and abilities was first, and lucky for me I ended up with an old col-league Steve Taylor who instructed the advanced group. As always on afirst day of skiing, it takes a few runs to find your ‘ski legs’ again but itgets better as the days go on.

Each day consisted of trials on a race course set up to give practice forthe end of week timed race. This helps with confidence as it seems daunt-ing prospect racing for the first time. At the end of the day everyone meetsup again and exchanged stories on how many times each of us fell over,mainly LCpl Ben Carter and Cpl Helen Stead. Tiff Webb (Webby) had thebest story, telling us all how much of an experienced snowboarder hewas, with all his own gear, but was asked by his instructor if he wouldlike to join a beginners group! Supreme Glacier is always brilliant eachyear and the best AT worth organising. Race training will always give youthe better skills and confidence to progress to the REME Championshipsand further.

5 Armoured Medical Regiment LADScribe: Cpl Jamison

Cfn Rice getting the hang of snowboarding

LCpl Perry showing off snowboard skillsSgt Partington learning to skiKrampus got Tiff Webb for being naughty

Tiff Webb selfie

Cpl Stead just didn’t want to make new friends

Sitting with his friends

5 Med Regt LAD gang, out for a steak!

WO2 Egan, Cpl Jamison and Tiff Webb


BATTLEFIELD TOUR

OC: Maj Cooper Scribes: Cpl Simmonds and Cfn Lee

Flanders Landing 2016

ica. Albert was devastated by shelling during the war and the Basilica,being an obvious target, received a heavy dose of German artillery. TheGolden Virgin became a famous landmark for the British soldiers aftera shell struck the tower and left the statue leaning over precariously.Charlie told us that legend grew amongst the troops that when thestatue finally fell the war would end. She eventually toppled from herpost when the British retook the town in spring 1918, a little early toprove the legends true. Perhaps she had a premonition and knew thatthe armistice would happen a few months later.

November 2016 marks the 100th year anniversary ofthe Battle of the Somme. The offensive, which lastedfrom 1 July - 18 November 1916, was one of the mostdevastating battles in history and left well over a millionmen dead or wounded. It was with this in mind that themembers of 128 Field Company 103 Battalion REMEembarked on Exercise Flanders Landing, a two day bat-tlefield study where we hoped to learn more about theconflict and maybe expand on our schoolboy knowl-edge of World War One.We left our day jobs and gathered at the Army

Reserve Centre on Friday evening. WO2 Johnson, asgroup leader and organiser, gave a full brief on theforthcoming tour before boarding the coach for the tripto the ferry port.We eventually figured out where we were supposed

to be and it was all aboard the overnight ferry to Caen.Sleeping on the moving ferry was a challenge for someof us, but morning rolled around eventually and weemerged bleary-eyed from our cabins at 0500 hrs, tofind ourselves docking in France. There was time for aquick breakfast then we were back on the coach tobegin the day’s events.Our tour guide was Charlie Haskell, Director of the World War 1

Remembrance Centre in Portsmouth. He kept us entertained as wedrove from place to place, pointing out landmarks and regaling us withsnippets of history and stories from the war. Our initial stop of the daywas Albert, a town dominated by the famous Golden Virgin, a giltstatue of the Virgin Mary that stands atop the main tower of the Basil-


In Albert, we visited the Somme 1916 Museum which winds through250 metres of underground tunnels and we spent time gazing at thedisplays as we made our way through. There was enough assortedweaponry in the form of rifles, artillery and grenades to fulfil anarmourer’s wildest dreams and there were several dioramas set upportraying soldiers going about their everyday lives in the trenches. After an hour making our way through the tunnels we found our-

selves back in the light of day and discovered that the exit was totallyout of sight of the entrance and the only signpost seemed to be point-ing in a random direction. It became a short exercise in orienteering inorder to get back to the coach and we had to pause to recapture anerrant Sergeant who had gone in the wrong direction, but soon wewere back on the road and on route to the Lochnager Crater.This giant crater is the result of a huge underground explosion set by

the Tunnelling Companies of the Royal Engineers and detonated by theBritish on the first day of the Somme offensive, annihilating the nearbyGerman dugouts and flinging earth several thousand feet into the air.Apparently this rather confused a passing pilot of the Royal FlyingCorps who took a moment to realise that his plane wasn’t going down;the ground was in fact coming up to meet him.We didn’t have long here, but there was just enough time for us to

walk around the crater and read some of the small brass plaques thathave been laid in the ground here in remembrance of fallen soldiers. Itwas here that one sharp eyed member of our company spot-ted a plaque dedicated to one Spr. T.H. Haddon of 128 FieldCompany Royal Engineers, a spiritual ancestor to all of usthere from the days before REME even existed. He fell on 3July 1917.By now lunch was severely overdue, but happily our next

stop was Le Tommy Café in Pozieres. An amazing place, whichnot only serves the best sausage and chips this side of thechannel, but also doubles as a museum of artefacts that havebeen dug up in nearby fields. The back garden consisted ofexcavated trenches in which were displayed weapons, hel-mets and other paraphernalia in various states of repair,from rifles that were little more than lumps of rust to trenchmortars which looked almost serviceable There was even

an entire wall built solely out of hundreds ofspent shell casings. Inside was more of thesame – rifles, pistols, Vickers and Maximmachine guns, stacks of bayonets andartillery shells of absolutely terrifying size.It was a remarkable collection, but again itwas time to move on so we boarded thecoach and headed to Thiepval.

Thiepval Memorial is a huge archway on which are inscribed thenames of over 72,000 British servicemen who fell at the Somme andhave no known grave. We paused for a group photo then disbursed intotwos and threes to explore. The memorial is a solemn place and seeingthose names really clarified the sharp reality of a battle so fierce andterrible that the bodies of so many men who fell were never recovered,or at least never identified. We stood quietly for a while and scannedthe lines of inscription, many of us looking for soldiers who shared thesame name as us.It was now mid-afternoon and we were nearly done with France for

the day. On route to the Dear statue (all will become clear) we carriedout a drive past, this was the Ulster memorial tower – built in 1921, itwas the first official memorial to be erected on the Western front. Thetower is a lasting reminder to the memory of the officers and men ofthe 36th (Ulster) division.We made a stop at the Beamont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial,

more simply known as the Deer statue, though it is actually a caribou.The park is a memorial to the 29th Division Newfoundland Regiment,most of whom were killed or wounded within twenty minutes of thebeginning of their advance.A serene expanse of parkland in which the scars of the trenches are

still visible on the ground, punctuated by numerous shell holes. Wewalked around under the vigilant gaze of the caribou statue thatwatches over the park, then it was back to the coach and onwards toBelgium.


It was a two hour drive to Ypres, whichgave our CSM Howard Watson an opportu-nity (not to be missed) to hold a quiz. We hada short time on arrival to drop our kit at thehotel and get changed into our best bib andtucker in order to parade at the Last Post Cer-emony at the Menin Gate. Similar to Thiep-val, the Menin gate is a memorial to Britishand Commonwealth soldiers who fell at theBatt le of Ypres and whose graves areunknown. The last post was sounded hereevery evening by buglers of the local firebrigade since 1928, barring a hiatus duringthe German occupation in WWII when theceremony was temporarily relocated to Sur-rey. We paraded for the ceremony and threeof our number led by Cfn Bodenham, the youngest soldier on the tour,laid a wreath on behalf of the company. Then there was time for a brieftalk from Charlie, before we getting ourselves fed and watered.Sunday was a slower start, with the coach driver’s hours finely tuned

we could relax over breakfast and look forward to our day ahead. Thismorning was one of grave stones. Nothing stands testament to theslaughter of the Great War more than the sheer amount of war ceme-teries which are scattered throughout the countryside of Belgium andFrance. We visited three such cemeteries in Belgium and spent themorning walking solemnly through the lines of white headstones.Many of the stones bore the name, rank and regiment of the soldierinterred beneath but far too many were simply marked ‘A Soldier of theGreat War’ with the simple epitaph, ‘Known unto God’. First stop was Essex Farm cemetery. One of the smaller cemeteries

on the Western front there are 1200 servicemen buried or commemo-rated here. Essex farm was used as a dressing station cemeterybetween April 1915 and August 1917. It was also at Essex farm thatLieutenant-Colonel John McCrae wrote the famous poem ‘In FlandersFields’ in May 1915.We didn’t just pay our respects to Commonwealth soldiers though

and our second stop was the German cemetery at Langemark. This isone of only four cemeteries from WWI in the Flanders region. Thearchitecture is also very bland with lots of concrete being used. Thiscemetery is the final resting place of 44294 German soldiers, many ofwhom remain unidentified.It seemed a dour and grim place, with flat, grey grave markers which

contrasted sharply with the bright, white British headstones. Still, therewas the familiar mix of inscriptions, some giving name and rank, somemerely marking the resting place of an unknown soldier. It’s easy tosimply dismiss the Germans as the bad guys but, regardless of theintentions of their government, the troops were just men, the same as

our own, who were called up to fight for their country. It was particu-larly striking to see how many of the men buried here had beenReservists.After the cemeteries, we made a quick stop and photo opportunity

at the Brooding Soldier, a hulking statue that stands as memorial to theCanadian troops who held the line during the first use of poison gas inthe war in April 1915, when the Germans deployed nearly 170 tons ofchlorine gas against the allied trenches.



A stop at Poelkapella cemetery found us listening to Charlie’s stories.There was however a truly moving one involving a soldier by the nameof John Condon, from the Royal Irish regiment. John is recognised asbeing the youngest casualty of WWI, he was 14 years old. Maybe oneof the most sobering thoughts over the weekend.We then moved on again to the Memorial Museum Passchendaele. The museum is housed in a beautiful historic chateau and contains

enough weaponry, equipment and general hardware of war to makeany self-respecting REME soldier happy. There were also more interac-tive displays where you could feel the weight of a Lee Enfield rifle, tryon the surprisingly comfortable British helmet and smell the (hopefullynot real) scents of chlorine and mustard gas. Most interesting of all wasthe recreated trench system set in the grounds of the museum wherewe could walk through the various different types of combat and com-munication trenches and have a go standing on the firing steps(some of our shorter members would have needed a boosterstool had we served a hundred years ago).The museum tells the visitor about the war in Ypres Salient,

with special attention to the battle of Passchendaele 1917.The entire area was devastated following month after monthof shelling, so in this part of the salient the men went under-ground. Specialist tunnelling companies were brought in,25000 men with 50000 attached infantry building almost 200constructions. These dug outs could accommodate anywherebetween 50 and 2000 men, with many of them still hiddenbelow modern day FlandersPasschendaele was the last stop of our trip and once we had

reassembled it was time to make our way to Calais for the tripunder the Channel Tunnel and the long journey home, (whichwas made even longer by the fact that Le Shuttle was, unsur-prisingly, horribly delayed). We made it back to Portsmouth atabout 2200 hrs on Sunday evening, weary but hopefully rather moreeducated then we had been when we left. It was a brilliant experienceand hopefully one that will be repeated in the future so the history canbe passed on to more incoming junior soldiers. Thanks must go to all those involved in making this visit a huge suc-

cess. First among these is WO2 Johnson who put in a massive effort,including his own time to recce the route- hotel- memorials- museumsetc. Also CSM Watson without who this trip just wouldn’t be the same!Our coach driver Kevin for getting us everywhere on time. Finally ourtour guide Charlie Haskel whose knowledge is amazing and justbrought so much of this story to life. Lest we forget.


him he could give a hint of the decision to his meeting of MPs.”Not everyone was in agreement. John Heaton, Chairman of the

Tilling Group of companies and member of the Finch Committee,which I reported upon in the January article, sent a note to S of Son 10 March. He stated that his company was the most prosper-ous operator of motor vehicles in the country. He argued that inthe operation and maintenance of the Tilling fleet, a team of50,000 men are employed and, by divorcing the operation fromthe maintenance of a fleet, it would reduce efficiency. He partic-ularly pointed out the weakness of the Libya campaign wherethere was divided control between the Tank Corps as the opera-tors and the RAOC as the maintainers. His view was that, in bat-tle, maintenance should be forward and the RAOC depended toomuch on rearwards echelons. He thought that the War Office hadbeen rushed into a hurried decision.

S of S’s response on 18 March pointed out that various commit-tees had looked at this issue over the past 20 years “with varyingand contradictory results” and that the Army Council took a deci-sion “which they believe to be in the best interest of the service.”11 March – A statement was made in the House of Commons byDuncan Sandys, Financial Secretary to War Office, announcing ithad been decided to form a new Corps in the army. When thequestion of a suitable name was debated the Commons wasgiven the answer “The baby is not yet christened.”

The decision is taken4 March – Starting on this date, a series of notes was passedbetween S of S and the Rt Hon Sir Alexander Hardinge, PrivateSecretary to the Sovereign, asking him to acquaint The King withthe proposal and asking if the new Corps may be allowed theprivilege of the title “Royal”. 5 March – The response from The King the next day wasapproval of the formation of one Corps and the use of the title“Royal”. 6 March – ECAC noted the response from The King and recom-mended “Royal Corps of Mechanical Engineers” as a title. 9 March – In a note to S of S, Sir William Beveridge reported ona meeting with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers who hadconcerns about using the term “maintenance” in the title, whichhad a particular connotation in the engineering profession and,for the first time, the term “Corps of Mechanical and ElectricalEngineers” was mentioned. 10 March – The Institute followed up the meeting with a notestating that: “Maintenance is a part of the function of mechanical engineers,but if the new corps is limited to maintenance there will be nodefined Army Corps whose function is to seek and pursue thedevelopment of improved fighting vehicles of warfare and offi-cered with men of the necessary training competence and author-ity”15 March – The King was happy to go along with the ArmyCouncil proposal to name the Corps “Royal Corps of MechanicalEngineers”.17 March – Beveridge again reported on a meeting with, thistime, The Institution of Electrical Engineers who pressed for theinclusion of “Electrical” in the title, pointing out that there wereprofessional men in the RE and RA who may not be willing totransfer “if the new corps did not rank in the fullest sense withthe older Corps”. 20 March – This was discussed again at ECAC and they notedthat the Institution of Electrical Engineers was senior to the Insti-tute of Mechanical Engineers. The Chief Royal Engineer thoughtinclusion of the word “Corps” in the title would impinge on thatof the Corps of Royal Engineers. They agreed to propose “RoyalElectrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME)” to the S of S andalso agreed that the new corps be given combatant status.

What’s in a name?Last month I took you through the Executive Committee of theArmy Council’s (ECAC) 27 February meeting where the decisionwas made in principle to form the new Corps after which QMGwrote to the Secretary of State (S of S) Sir James Grigg. Hisresponse was almost immediate and hand written and is repro-duced here.3 March – S of S agrees the recommendation to form a new Corpsand proposes the prefix “Royal”. This is the first time that“Royal” has been mentioned.

The text reads:“I agree what is proposed as the first steps but am anxious that the

possible further steps should not be left unconsidered for too long. I alsoagree as to the method of implementation.I should like to make an early announcement and indeed I shall be

forced to do so. This means that I ought to tell The King about it straightaway and I should like a draft letter for this. No doubt QMG in consid-ering the title will bear in mind the importance of preserving the prefix“Royal” if the new Corps is to get a good start.PS. I have had the enclosed from Sir W Beveridge. I saw him and told

REME 75by Col (Retd) Mike Crabbe, Corps Historian

IntroductionI have been involved with REME for over 50 years either inuniform, as a supplier or in this post and I always believed thebirth of REME was 1 October 1942. Indeed, I have attendedmany celebrations on that date and have had the hangoversto prove it. Last year Colonel REME, Col Dan Scott, decidedthat the celebration at the REME Memorial at the NationalMemorial Arboretum would be more appropriate for 19 Maysince this was the date of the Royal Warrant, and, by the way,that is when the bluebells would be in bloom. As you will seebelow, there could be an argument for a date in March orApril. I have been fascinated, when reading the documentsfor March 1942 that we hold in the Archives, by how quicklysome decisions were made, especially in the era before elec-tronic communication, and I have taken the liberty of quotingverbatim from some of the documents.

M a r c h 1 9 4 2

“S of S Agreement”


26 March – A letter was sent to all technical training centreson “Formation of a Corps of Mechanical Engineers” fromMajor Mellor the War Office. It gives the history of the wayin which Beveridge had addressed the use made of skilledmen. Its final paragraph reads:“It has now been announced in the House of Commonsthat the greater part of the engineering maintenance serv-ices of the Army are to be reorganised and formed into anew and separate Corps. The new Corps is to be formed bythe transfer of the entire engineering side of the RAOC, thebulk of the maintenance personnel of the RASC and part ofthe mechanical maintenance personnel of the RE.”27 March – The ECAC decision was then proposed to The King. 29 March – The King thought that the word “Corps” should beincluded but “has no strong views, and is prepared to agree towhatever the Army Council prefers”3 April – ECAC reaffirmed the title of Royal Electrical andMechanical Engineers (REME) and decided to make a formalsubmission to The King.

The People Who Made it HappenMajor Alexander Henry Louis Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge

of Penshurst GCB, GCVO, MC, PC He was Private Secretary to the Sovereign and acted as the con-duit between ECAC and The King during this period.

Born in 1894, the son of The Hon Charles Hardinge (who wascreated Baron Hardinge of Penshurst in 1910 and served asViceroy of India from 1910 to 1916), he was commissioned intothe Grenadier Guards and fought in the First World War, along-side his brother, rising to the rank of Lieutenant and winning theMilitary Cross. In 1920, he became Assistant Private Secretary toGeorge V and was promoted Captain. On 8 February 1921, hemarried Helen Gascoyne-Cecil (a daughter of Lord Edward Gas-coyne-Cecil and his wife, Violet) and they had three children. In1929 he was promoted Major.

Hardinge served as Assis-tant Private Secretary up untilKing George V’s death in1936.

He was promoted to PrivateSecretary upon the accessionof Edward VIII that sameyear, contributing to somedelicate negotiations betweenThe King and the British Gov-ernment in the run up to theking’s abdication in Decem-ber 1936. He continued in thisrole under George VI until hisearly retirement in 1943. Sig-nificantly, Hardinge’s ulti-mate loyalty lay towards theKing in Parliament ratherthan personally to a monarchin conflict, especially whenthe conflict was between theSovereign and “His” Parlia-ment. This was particularlyreflected in Hardinge’s warn-

ing letter to King Edward received on November 13th 1936,which showed evidence of prior consultation with Prime Minis-ter Stanley Baldwin, who, with his Cabinet, had serious misgiv-ings about the suitability of Mrs Wallis Simpson as the possiblespouse of the monarch. The precise nature and extent ofhis loyalty was thus constitutional doing what he thoughtwas right in his post as Private Secretary to the Sovereign.

What else was going on in March 1942?General18: Franklin D Roosevelt, President of the United States,

signs Executive Order 9102, creating the War Reloca-tion Authority (WRA), which becomes responsiblefor the internment of Americans of Japanese and, to alesser extent, German and Italian descent, many ofthem legal citizens.

War with Japan9: Executive order 9082 (February 28, 1942) comes into

effect reorganizing the United States Army into threemajor commands: Army Ground Forces, Army Air

Forces, and Services of Supply, later redesignated ArmyService Forces, with Henry H Arnold as Commanding Gen-eral of the United States Army Air Forces.

12: US General, Douglas MacArthur, his family, and key mem-bers of his staff are evacuated by PT boat, under cover ofdarkness, from Corregidor in the Philippines. Command ofUS forces in the Philippines passes to Major GeneralJonathan M Wainwright.

16: New Zealand and Australia declare war on Thailand.20: After being forced to flee the Philippines, US General, Dou-

glas MacArthur announces (in Terowie, South Australia), “Icame through and I shall return.”

War with Germany17: The Holocaust: the Nazi German Bełżec extermination camp

opens in occupied Poland about 1 km south of the railroadstation at Bełżec in the Lublin district of the General Govern-ment. At least 434,508 people were killed here up to Decem-ber 1942.

23: The Germans burn down the Ukrainian village of Yelino(Koriukivka Raion), killing 296 civilians.

24: The evacuation of Polish nationals from the Soviet Unionbegins. It is conducted in two phases: until 5 April; andbetween 10 and 30 August 1942, by sea from Krasnovodsk toPahlavi (Anzali), and (to a lesser extent) overland from Ashk-abad to Mashhad. In all, 115,000 people are evacuated, 37,000of them civilians, 18,000 children (7% of the number of Polishcitizens originally exiled to the Soviet Union).

28: St Nazaire Raid (Operation Chariot) – British Commandosraid Saint-Nazaire on the coast of Western France to put itsdockyard facilities out of action.

Operation ChariotThe St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a successful Britishamphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dockat St Nazaire in German-occupied France during the SecondWorld War. The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navyand Army Commandos under the auspices of Combined Opera-tions Headquarters on 28 March 1942. St Nazaire was targetedbecause the loss of its dry dock would force any large Germanwarship in need of repairs, such as the Tirpitz, to return to homewaters via either the English Channel or the Greenland, Iceland,UK (GIUK) gap, both of which were heavily defended by Britishunits including the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet, rather than havinga haven available on the Atlantic coast.

The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown, accompanied by 18smaller craft, crossed the English Channel to the Atlantic coast ofFrance and was rammed into the Normandie dock gates. Theship had been packed with delayed-action explosives, well hid-den within a steel and concrete case, which detonated later thatday, putting the dock out of service for the remainder of the warand up to five years after.

Hardinge

HMS Campbeltown

Saint Nazaire Harbour 1942

A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and otherstructures. Heavy German gunfire sank, set ablaze or immo-bilised virtually all the small craft intended to transport the com-mandos back to England; the commandos had to fight their wayout through the town to try to escape overland. Almost all wereforced to surrender when their ammunition was expended andthey were surrounded.

After the raid 228 men of the force of 611 returned to Britain;169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war. German casu-alties were over 360 dead, some killed after the raid when Camp-beltown exploded. To recognise their bravery, 89 decorationswere awarded to members of the raiding party, including fiveVictoria Crosses. After the war, St Nazaire was one of 38 battlehonours awarded to the Commandos; the operation has sincebecome known as The Greatest Raid of All within military circles.

Adolf Hitler was furious that the British had been able to sail aflotilla of ships up the Loire unhindered. His immediate reactionwas to dismiss Generaloberst Carl Hilpert, Chief-of-Staff to theCommander-in-Chief West. The raid refocused German attentionon the Atlantic Wall, and special attention was given to ports toprevent any repeat of the raid. By June 1942 the Germans beganusing concrete to fortify gun emplacements and bunkers in quan-tities previously only used in U-boat pens. Hitler laid out newplans in a meeting with Armaments Minister, Albert Speer inAugust 1942, calling for the construction of 15,000 bunkers byMay 1943 to defend the Atlantic coast from Norway to Spain.

The battleship Tirpitz never entered the Atlantic. She remainedin Norwegian fjords to threaten Allied shipping until she wasdestroyed by the RAF on 12 November 1944.No 4 Commando 22 April 1942

Chariot Line of Approach



OBITUARIES

FORMER WO1 JAMES MICHAELFAIRCLOUGH

James Michael Fairclough known to his friends as Jim, started hiscareer in the Army at the Army Apprentice College in August1972, successfully qualifying as a Telecommunications Technician.It wasn’t long before he met Julie, his wife and they were marriedin July 1976.He served in various units in UK, Germany, Cyprus and a tourto the Falklands, also on exercises in Denmark and Norway andhad a full and varied career. He thoroughly enjoyed his time in theCorps and always enjoyed the company of the many friends hemade along the way.After a successful career in the military, he retired in January1996 to join EDS now known as Hewlett Packard and ended upworking with a few of his former military friends from the past. Jimhad a very successful career with EDS/HP reaching managementlevel. In January last year he decided it was about time to start enjoy-ing life so retired to do just that. Unfortunately, during a trip toFrance in November last, to celebrate a birthday with his brothers,he took ill very suddenly whilst driving to France and passed awayon the 10 December 2016 at the age of 60.He is sorely missed by his wife Julie after 40 wonderful yearstogether and by his brothers, Neil and Mark and all his family andfriends.

BRIG (RETD) ALAN NEEDHAMI am sad to report the death of Brigadier Alan Needham on 8December 2016 aged 90 at a nursing home in Moulsford inOxfordshire. He joined the Army in 1946 and took redundancy in1977 as DEME BAOR. He served in the Royal Electrical andMechanical Engineers, with a particularly successful tour as Headof Manning and Records in Leicester. He set up West Court atArborfield; served in Malaya during the Emergency, where hemarried Audrey; went to Los Alamos as part of a missile technol-ogy contingent; set up the missile test ranges on Benbecula; wentto HQ 2 DIV as CRÈME amongst many other postings. He andhis wife were very much aware of the need to look after servicemenand their families.Alan joined SSAFA in 1981 on leaving the Army. He served 35years with SSAFA Berkshire and was one of the most respectedvolunteers in the branch. Alan filled the responsible positions of Branch Secretary andBranch Treasurer for many years. He was Branch Treasurer from1991 to 1996 and then again from 2000 to 2013, also Branch Sec-retary from 1992 to 2000. He put much time into helping new vol-unteers and personally assisted with new cases.Alan was awarded the SSAFA Meritorious Service Award byPrince Michael in 2010. He was also a Church Warden at Brad-field Parish Church. Amongst his other interests, he was a non-executive director of a security association. He served as a Justiceof the Peace on the local Reading Bench.His wife, Audrey, served as Branch Chairman from 1981 to2000. She also served on Central Office committees and initiatedthe Needham Formula, by which branches passed a proportion offunds to Central Office.

FORMER CPL COLIN BONDBy Graham Matthews, Secretary Lincolnshire

Branch The REME AssociationIt is with great sadness that I report the death of Colin Bond amember of the Branch, who passed away on 8 January 2017, aged87 in the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston after several years fighting ill-ness and infirmity. Colin was born on 12 September 1929, he wasa twin at birth but unfortunately 48 hours after the birth his twinpassed away; he also had older brother who died in 2000.He was born and raised in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire and leftschool aged 15. He had various jobs, including plumbers mate andmechanic until, aged 18 he joined the Army on 1 November 1947enlisting in REME as a Vehicle Mechanic.His time in REME gave him his passion for anything mechanicaland with the camaraderie and discipline he gained whilst serving,his life had been changed forever, In his word’s ‘the best thing that could have happened to me’.After basic training at Training Battalion and Depot REME fol-lowed by trade training, Colin served in several UK postingsincluding Lincoln and Baughton. He never forgot his time inREME, having made lifelong friends and gaining the qualificationsthat would set him up in his civil-ian life as a Diesel Mechanic withthe Trent Valley Bus Company.In 1962 he met and married hiswife Mary and they then moved tostart their new life together inGosberton in Lincolnshire. In1967 Colin and Mary had theironly child, a daughter Elaine.Colin had secured a job as a HGVDiesel Mechanic for SunBlestBakery in Spalding where heremained until retirement in1995.Colin continued with his pas-sion for Cars, Motorbikes, Trainsand anything that had an engine,his knowledge and experience ofall things mechanical would seehim explaining to the Techniciansat Branch Meetings the benefits ofbeing a member of the ‘Blackhand Gang’.Colin and Mary enjoyed travel,having many overseas holidays

MAJOR (RETD) JOHN (JOHAN) RUFFLES

Supplied by Jim Keen, Welfare Officer, Shropshire BranchREME Association

I regret to inform the Corps of the death of John Ruffles on 17December 2016.John was born on 14 January 1924 into a military family. Hejoined the Army on 30 June 1938, aged 14½ as an ApprenticeArtificer in the Royal Artillery at Military College of Science. After three months basic training he commenced trade trainingand at the start of the war of was sent to Lydd in Kent for morefitting practice, common military law, and more military type edu-cation. In 1940 he went to Stoke on Trent and Bury for courses onradar, small arms and optics and then to Rhyl for more technicaltraining. In November 1941, after qualifying he became a Bom-bardier then Sergeant, still stationed at Rhyl. In June 1944 heattended an Artificer course and qualified as Staff Sergeant inREME. In October 1944 he was posted to Kirkee Arsenal in India.On 14 January 1945, on his 21st birthday he was told he wouldbe going in two weeks to Burma on posting to an Infantry Work-shop where he stayed until the end of the war. In November 1945,he was in Saigon in Indo China and after four months went to hos-pital with Sprue (inflammation of the intestines). After six monthshe came back to India as an invalid and was sent home to Englandon a hospital ship.On his return he met his wife to be, Eileen, whilst on leave in

especially to Italy and Austria. Sadly Mary died in early 2016 andafter struggling with independent living, in October 2016 Colinmoved to the St John’s Care Home Spalding where on 8 January2017 he suffered a heart attack. Colin will be missed but not for-gotten, both he and Mary were prominent members of the Lin-colnshire Branch attending functions and events with the manyfriends they had made over the years.A Service of Remembrance and committal was attended bymany friends and family on Wednesday 1 February 2017 at theSurfleet Crematorium, where the Branch Standard was paradedand members were able to pay their respects.Colin is survived by his daughter Elaine and son-in-law Andrew. Our thoughts are with them.

Bognor Regis. They were bothpoorly and both believed theywouldn’t live very long so theydecided to get married. Theywere married on 26 June 1946and a son Peter was born in1948, who was unfortunatelyborn deaf. He was posted to Arborfieldfor two years and became anins t r uc to r in Methods o fIns t r uct ion and was thenposted to Germany, where hehad four years with a REMEwork shop a s a Work shopSuperintendent, becoming aWarrant Officer. In November 1952, the fam-ily returned to England and foreight years John was at theRoyal Military College of Sci-ence, teaching officers on Field Guns and Howitzers, He was thena Sergeant Major. He then served in Singapore as Workshop Offi-cer from 1960 to 1964. For the last two months of his service heserved in Scales Branch in Woolwich and decided on retirement tojoin the Civil Service as a Professional Technical Officer. Heretired on 14 January 1964 as a Captain and became a Major inthe TA until finally retiring in 1984. John and Eileen had a wonderful life together and leave a Son,Granddaughter, two Grandsons and a Great Grandson.


FORMER SGT PETERRONALD WEST

By Mark WestMy father Peter Ronald West died on 6 January 2017 after a longillness.He joined the joined the Royal Artillery at Larkhill in 1950 as aNational Serviceman. He later trained and became a DespatchRider, riding the BSA M20, which he hated and later the Match-less G3L, which he apparently liked very much. After serving the required two years, he left the Army butrejoined within a year and having completed a trade apprentice-ship in a garage in Somerset, joined REME. He served in Libya,Klagenfurt in Austria, Cyprus and Malta. However, the majority ofhis service, over seven years, was spent in BAOR, with 32 HeavyRegiment RA Workshop in Hildesheim and later 12 Regiment RALAD in Dortmund. He narrowly avoided serving in Northern Ireland but he didserve in Cyprus during the Emergency, in not inconsiderable dan-ger. He remained in Cyprus until discharged in 1975After demob in 1982, he served for 15 years as a Fitter at theFording Trials Branch at Instow North Devon. He also worked atthe Armoured Fighting Vehicles facility at Chobham in Surrey. A Memorial Service was held at Berrynarbor Church, NorthDevon on 27 January. He was truly an ‘old soldier’.The photo is of a civilian Royal Enfield Bullet 500, which myfather had sent out to Libya from England and I hope your readersenjoy the picture. I can be contacted via the magazine should any-one wish to get in touch with me. I am his only son and his wife sadly died in 1987.

MAJ (RETD) GEORGE ELLIOT HODGE

I regret to inform the Corps of the death of George Hodge whodied on 30 December 2016. George was born in Richmond, Sur-rey on 24 May 1928 and joined the Army as an Apprentice tradesman at Arborfield during the war years,qualifying in 1945 as a Telecommunication Technician. He soonspecialised in Radar and served in BAOR and the Middle Eastwith heavy air defence and mortar locating Royal Artillery units.Training formed a thread running through the whole ofGeorge’s career, he first started teaching basic electrical principlesand radar equipment in the late 1940s, he designed a course on athen new air defence locating and guidance system, FCE 7, andthen taught it in the 1950sWhen a WO1(ASM), he was commissioned in 1965 and servedat the School of Artillery at Manorbier until 1969, when he wasposted to HQ 1 BR Corps LAD in BAOR as OC. In 1971 hemoved to Arborfield and became a Head of Department at theSchool of Electronic Engineering teaching Radar and controlequipment to all ranks and initiated the first courses in the Rapierweapon system. His next appointment was at 35 Central Workshopat Old Dalby, where he was responsible for base workshop refur-bishments of missile systems, electronic test equipment, pilotlesssurveillance aircraft and clean roomproduction.From 1977 until 1981, havingreturned to Arborfield, George heldtwo appointments in the School ofElectronic Engineering. He wasHead of Tra in ing Eva luat ion,responsible for writing trainingobjectives and validating trainingand Head of the Department teach-ing Weapons Systems.His experience of training in theseareas and his enthusiasm for hiswork equipped him for his first civil-ian post as a Training Officer withthe National Supervisory Councilfor Intruder Alarms (NSCIA) in1981 and he retired from the Armythree years early to take up theappointment.He stimulated the production ofnational qualifications for intruderalarm engineering with City and Guilds, designed and managedthe NSCIA Youth Training Scheme and Skill Competence Testsand was initially involved in forming NVQ’s for the industry. His work involved travelling to visit YTS placements and tomanage short training courses and seminars in alarm engineeringand related security matters. He also arranged and managed par-ticipation in security exhibitions.At 60 years of age in 1988, he decided to change his work com-pletely and was appointed Technical Editor of a security magazine,Security Installer, in which capacity he had to learn to type. Hedevised training features and testing procedures for security prod-ucts which are still in use today. Eventually appointed EditorialDirector he continued as a Technical Consultant to the magazineafter his retirement until well into his 70s.Once retired, he became a director of the Security Systems andAlarms Inspection Board (SSAIB) which again brought him intocontact with the late Brig Alan Needham (former Director Gen-eral of NSCIA).His personal life was a busy one with an involvement in the localresidents association and an increasing commitment to Freema-sonry, of which he was an active member. He published a newssheet for the Provinces of Berkshire and London as well as his nor-mal Masonic activities, which tended to be secretarial in content.He occasionally escaped from these duties to sail with his familyand friends. During service life he conducted a number of adven-turous training cruises, was a competitive dinghy sailor and at onetime was Secretary of the REME Yacht Club. As an RYA CoastalSkipper he pottered the Solent in one or other of Corps yachts.Later, he purchased, with a friend a 26 ft bilge keeler, Tuesday’s


SPAWFORTH - Former Corporal David (Spoff) Spawforth, died10 January 2017 in hospital from heart failure after long illness,aged 70 years. Years of service: 1962-1976.

Death Notice

03 JANUARY 2017Promotions Commands and StaffThe undermentioned Lieutenant Colonels to be Colonels 31December 2016 with seniority 30 June 2016A. LEWIS OBE Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engi-neers 528906A. REILLY Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers548012

This is an amendment to page 92 of the February edition of TheCraftsman regarding the Promotion of Lieutenant Colonels A.LEWIS and A. REILLY

London GazetteAmendment

The Trustees of The REME Charity acknowledge with sincere thanksthe donations received during the month of January 2017. They alsowish to acknowledge the regular subscriptions received from theOfficers and Soldiers in the Corps and retired members of the REMEInstitution:DonationsIn memory of Capt Richard John Hilton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£219.29Billy and Pearl Manning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£100.00Virgin Money Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£57.93Old Boys of 16th Independent Para Wksp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£50.00In memory of Lt Col Frank Penfold MBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£30.00C & C Nibbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00Payroll Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£14.44Robert Davies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£10.00Robert Davies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£10.00Donations/Grants MadeTotal Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£506.66Total £’s paid in grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£13,819.64No of grants authorised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Average Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£418.77

If you would like to see how your money is spent, we welcomeone or two observers at The REME Charity meetings. The meet-ings are held midweek, approximately every three weeks, if youwould like to observe a meeting please contact The REME Char-ity Secretary on ( Mil: 95481 4527 or Civ: 01249 894527 in thefirst instance.

Anyone wishing to leave a legacy to The REME Charity, which is exempt from inheritance tax, can add a

codicil to their will. Our registered charity number is 246967

The REME Charity

The AGM of the Doncaster branch was held on Wednesday 14 December 2016. Itwas a special meeting too as it is our 25th year since the branch formation. BarryWoodward, one of the founders has held the position of Branch Secretary for thewhole of this period. He held the position of branch President for a short time too.We could not let this milestone pass without some form of recognition and cele-bration. Our President, Maj Adie Hunt presented Barry with a statuette of theREME Stallion (available from the Corps shop) suitably engraved with his datesof service. Our Chairman Ian Tilson presented Barry’s wife Ivy with a beautifulbouquet of flowers. After the presentation, we served a buffet and cut the celebra-tion cake.

Thanks go to all the Doncaster branch members past and present for their sup-port. Barry has stated that he will step down from his role after the March 2017meeting, handing over responsibilities to Mr Jo Dixon-Haxby, who I am sure withthe support of his wife Lyn will carry on the good work Barry has done over theyears.

Doncaster and District BranchBy Treasurer, Mr John Lloyd

MARCHLieutenant Colonel S R Bridges SO1 Pers Ops RHQ REME 01-Mar-17MajorEG Watters SO2 ES Plans 102HQ 15-Mar-17LieutenantB P Wilkinson PC C Coy DSEME 01-Mar-17

Officer Assignments

DEATH INFORMATION REQUIREDIn order to publish a death notice, certain details are required.Unfortunately, a death notice cannot be published in TheCraftsman magazine without the following information:Surname, first name, rank, full date of death, age and datesof service.In addition, whilst preferable, the following information isoptional: Cause of death and known as.To inform RHQ REME of the death, please contact Ms Bev-erly Bate, Corps Welfare Manager on tel: 95481 4523 Civ:01249 894523 or emai l [email protected]

Child, which was brought round from the Isle of Man toPortsmouth and then to the West Country. She was traded in foran LM 27, a comfortable motor sailor, used to cruise the ChannelIslands, the French Coastline and Brittany. His final boat was amotor yacht, Snowflake, kept on the Thames because his wife onlyenjoyed river cruising. However he usually went off annually toexplore the waters of the East Coast of England and other placeseasily reached from his Thames mooring.His highly developed work ethic kept him busy all his life andalthough he had a few disappointments, he was reasonably contentwith his lot.


25203519 Cpl Kitching KC 14-Nov-16 VM30049499 Cpl Lattimer TA 05-Dec-16 Tech Elect25204693 Cpl Loughlin CS 05-Dec-16 VM25156668 Cpl Mazan JC 09-Jan-17 VM25195970 Cpl McGivern AL 17-Oct-16 VM30028415 Cpl Milne L 24-Oct-16 Tech Elect25183769 Cpl Muirhead ET 09-Jan-17 VM25087824 Cpl Mullen RR 02-Jan-17 TSS25216952 Cpl Mulrooney CP 09-Jan-17 Armourer25152476 Cpl Nash DA 01-Oct-16 VM25210629 Cpl Nelson DJ 01-Oct-16 VM25106746 Cpl Purnell MA 21-Nov-16 TSS25208618 Cpl Rowe OE 22-Jan-17 Rec Mech25216947 Cpl Stephens KA 11-Jan-16 Armourer25096431 Cpl Taylor D 14-Nov-16 VM25233624 Cpl Thomas JS 14-Nov-16 Tech Elect30054120 Cpl Thompson E 01-Oct-16 Tech Elect30032611 Cpl Walsh MJ 01-Oct-16 Tech Ac30055258 Cpl Waterworth J 01-Oct-15 Tech Av25124093 Cpl White CB 04-Jan-16 ArmourerTo be Corporal30158155 LCpl Baker GR 01-Oct-16 Tech Elect30033656 LCpl Ball TM 07-Nov-16 VM30125667 LCpl Bloomfield CB 01-Oct-16 Tech Elect30030547 LCpl Bowser OD 01-Feb-16 VM25229236 LCpl Campbell MS 18-Oct-13 Armourer30065473 LCpl Cash BL 09-Jan-17 VM25208211 LCpl Coakley SMT 07-Oct-16 VM30086453 LCpl Craven T 30-Sep-16 Armourer30072482 LCpl Donkin SG 08-Feb-16 VM30068789 LCpl Hayden MJD 20-Nov-16 Armourer30061367 LCpl Holyoake OJ 09-Jan-17 VM30073990 LCpl Hutchison GA 14-Nov-16 VM30131808 LCpl Jobe S 01-Oct-16 Tech Elect30133650 LCpl Keenan TM 30-Sep-16 Armourer30130659 LCpl McKendry CC 20-Oct-15 Armourer30033085 LCpl Millington NGA 07-Nov-16 VM30034774 LCpl Mortimer JA 22-Jan-16 Tech Ac30165595 LCpl Murray WGS 01-Oct-16 Tech Elect25187926 LCpl Norman CJ 07-Nov-16 VM25227275 LCpl Patterson J 01-Oct-15 VM30098461 LCpl Pickstock GA 20-Nov-16 Armourer30066848 LCpl Seldon MC 12-Oct-15 Armourer30130731 LCpl Stokes LA 15-Oct-16 VM30026724 LCpl Swaine JSS 15-Oct-16 VM21170822 LCpl Tamang I 24-Oct-16 TSS30071247 LCpl Thomas A 02-Oct-15 VM30172496 LCpl Vasper AG 05-Dec-16 Tech Elect25180673 LCpl Vukitabua IS 09-Jan-17 VM30126924 LCpl Wellington JD 08-Oct-16 Armourer30035674 LCpl Wilks PM 20-Nov-16 Armourer25209217 LCpl Curtiss RH 01-Oct-16 Rec Mech30013173 LCpl Daly SJ 01-Oct-16 Rec Mech30109279 LCpl Haylock RMG 27-Feb-17 Rec Mech30060181 LCpl Swithenbank NR 02-Jan-17 Rec Mech25205022 LCpl Tennant MA 27-Apr-15 VMTo be Lance Corporal30199457 Cfn Allin J 28-Feb-17 Armourer30122683 Cfn Barry JL 01-Feb-16 VM30215548 Cfn Bayley AJ 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30215550 Cfn Bill AL 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30227395 Cfn Bootle-O’Reilly CJ 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30220613 Cfn Brough AS 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30189426 Cfn Caddick AL 30-Jan-17 Armourer30173849 Cfn Campbell GS 01-Dec-15 VM30171398 Cfn Chand S 30-Jan-17 TSS30213929 Cfn Cook BRP 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30221569 Cfn Coulson J 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30150632 Cfn Demirhan JN 21-Mar-16 Armourer30216517 Cfn Dickerson TG 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30213880 Cfn Dixon HJ 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30221871 Cfn Downham TD 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect

Number Rank Name Initials Effective Date Trade25043812 WO2 Cole LM 06-Feb-17 Art AvTo be Warrant Officer Class 225050367 SSgt Bate A 18-Apr-16 Art Veh25020396 SSgt Battiscombe SG 11-Apr-16 VM25119909 SSgt Brumpton-Taylor SCJ 04-Apr-16 Art Veh25067244 SSgt Canning SW 11-Apr-16 Art Ac25063798 SSgt Cheesman MA 25-Jul-16 Art Veh25090680 SSgt Dillon JR 13-Jun-16 Art Veh25114269 SSgt Garwood JR 01-Apr-16 Art Ac25074956 SSgt Matthews J 25-Jul-16 TSS25082421 SSgt O’Callaghan A 04-Apr-16 Art Veh25070349 SSgt Rudderham SW 04-Apr-16 Art Veh25020006 SSgt Siddall MD 06-Jun-16 Armourer25068842 SSgt Stifman MA 01-Apr-16 Rec MechTo be Staff Sergeant25191365 Sgt Al-Khaldi OO 10-Oct-16 VM25199811 Sgt Anderson-Jones JS 11-Nov-16 Art Elect25205453 Sgt Blackbourn MP 11-Nov-16 Art Elect25126989 Sgt Campbell IR 11-Nov-16 Art ElectW1053837 Sgt Derbyshire EL 07-Jul-16 Art Veh25110616 Sgt Grayson PR 13-Feb-17 TSS25169199 Sgt Houghton SA 11-Nov-16 Art Elect24970383 Sgt Lemin ST 30-Jan-17 Tech Elect25162914 Sgt Mason MD 13-Dec-16 Art Veh25141705 Sgt Morris PW 13-Dec-16 Art Veh25088125 Sgt Palin PM 31-Jan-17 Armourer25144763 Sgt Parnell SJ 20-Aug-16 TSS25126756 Sgt Redman MAC 13-Dec-16 Art Veh25024528 Sgt Ross RC 16-Jan-17 Tech Elect25155302 Sgt Shaw WJ 11-Nov-16 Art Elect25116653 Sgt Smith LK 29-Jul-16 TSS25152983 Sgt Stokes SB 13-Dec-16 Art Veh25122280 Sgt Wood C 13-Dec-16 Art Veh25139388 Sgt Ashton TD 11-Nov-16 Art Wpns25145852 Sgt Gething RP 11-Nov-16 Art Wpns25183943 Sgt Mellor SC 11-Nov-16 Art Wpns25160931 Sgt Taylor L 11-Nov-16 Art Wpns25156276 Sgt West PM 11-Nov-16 Art Wpns25123724 Sgt Wright L 11-Nov-16 Art WpnsTo be Sergeant25139468 Cpl Anderson AR 09-May-16 VM25167115 Cpl Andrews CD 17-Oct-16 VM25173203 Cpl Atkinson SC 09-Jan-17 MTSM30066348 Cpl Barnes ASL 01-Oct-16 Tech Ac25156631 Cpl Bartlett IP 14-Nov-16 TSS30087554 Cpl Bartley JD 03-Oct-16 Tech Elect25221518 Cpl Beal S 11-Apr-16 Tech Av25112906 Cpl Best JM 12-Oct-15 TSS25193067 Cpl Blackmore AJ 01-Oct-15 Tech Av25139624 Cpl Byrne AG 01-Oct-15 Armourer25181100 Cpl Cooke C 01-Oct-15 Armourer25206194 Cpl Creighton SP 01-Oct-16 Rec Mech30060791 Cpl Culley DR 01-Oct-16 Tech Ac25217256 Cpl Curran G 19-Dec-16 VM25104666 Cpl Davidson K 01-Oct-16 VM25170789 Cpl Dyson AJ 07-Nov-16 VM25164349 Cpl Evans LR 01-Oct-16 TSS25126031 Cpl Forster EM 07-Mar-16 Tech Av30050627 Cpl Gallagher J 01-Oct-16 Tech Ac25233105 Cpl Griffiths JL 01-Oct-16 Tech Ac21170774 Cpl Gurung A 01-Oct-16 Tech Av25049927 Cpl Hardman RJ 01-Oct-16 TSS30025767 Cpl Hoare R 01-Oct-16 Tech Elect30070315 Cpl Hoggarth A 01-Oct-16 Tech Ac30049989 Cpl Jardim DJ 01-Oct-16 Tech Ac30046111 Cpl Jones O 09-Jan-17 Tech Av30035320 Cpl Kirwin A 03-Oct-16 Tech Elect

Corps Orders


30220805 Cfn Evans MS 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30189421 Cfn Ferrari D 16-Jan-17 Armourer30217599 Cfn Fry CJA 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30100541 Cfn Gamble CJ 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30167518 Cfn Gorrie MAG 30-Jan-17 Armourer30218866 Cfn Greig ER 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30228201 Cfn Grimshaw DP 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30189427 Cfn Herrick JL 06-Feb-17 Armourer30148322 Cfn Hollinghurst AJ 09-Jan-17 MTSM30229838 Cfn Hume LRK 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30213319 Cfn Kay LS 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30151842 Cfn Kingdon MF 07-Mar-16 Armourer30210441 Cfn Lawlor FMA 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac21171169 Cfn Limbu A 28-Nov-16 TSS30221189 Cfn Loughlin GK 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30158121 Cfn Marshall KJ 25-Sep-15 Armourer30215551 Cfn Mather NG 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30176341 Cfn Morrison S 16-Jan-17 Armourer30146185 Cfn Mortimore TO 30-Jan-17 Armourer30228200 Cfn Nicholas AG 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30227967 Cfn Pinder JL 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30195779 Cfn Prewett DC 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30085699 Cfn Rai N 30-Jan-17 TSS30216093 Cfn Rides EL 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30228517 Cfn Ross EML 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30228202 Cfn Rossall AM 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30222965 Cfn Ryder SJ 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30220068 Cfn Shah AH 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30215863 Cfn Sherwood JB 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30229479 Cfn Smallman AD 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30167840 Cfn Stephenson SB 02-Dec-16 Tech Ac30047697 Cfn Thapa B 30-Jan-17 TSS30213795 Cfn Watson-Breckell K 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac30228204 Cfn Wells TG 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30230486 Cfn Weston PA 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30215865 Cfn Wilkes MVJ 30-Sep-16 Tech Ac

Please direct any requests for further information to the Corps Mess and REME Institution SecretaryMaj (Retd) Geordie Wright-Rivers : [email protected] or (: Military 95481 4525 Civilian 01249 89 4525.

The 2017 REME Institution London Reception is plannedto take place at Buckingham Palace on Thursday 19October 2017 to closely coincide with the Corps 75thbirthday. It is hoped that our Colonel in Chief will bepresent for this momentous occasion.The London Reception 2017 is open to all members of

the REME Institution with a maximum capacity of 500attendees. It is anticipated that the event will beoversubscribed so ticket applications are limited to amaximum of two tickets per REME Institution member(one for the member plus one guest).The event will take the form of a drinks reception and

please note that there will be no food served at thisevent. . Attendees will be selected by intelligent ballotwhich will ensure that allocations represent a fair spreadacross ranks and units, serving and retired. Everyapplication received will be considered in the ballot with thosewho are initially unsuccessful being placed in order on areserve list.In a similar fashion to WestFest in 2015, the primary means

of applying for tickets will be via the Eventbrite website usingthe following address:https://remelondonreception.eventbrite.co.uk. The site will beaccessible from Saturday 1 April – Monday 3 July 2017. Theballot will then take place before Friday 14 July 2017 withthose successful applicants being notified no later than Friday

21 July 2017. Those without internet accessshould contact Maj (Retd) Wright-Rivers (detailsbelow).Further administrative details will be provided

closer to the event though dress will be loungesuits or equivalent and timings are expected to befrom 1800–2000hrs. While there will be no officialtransport provided for the event, information willbe provided to enable those travelling fromneighbouring locations to arrange to travel share.

THE REME INSTITUTION LONDON RECEPTION 2017

30227966 Cfn Zuger TJ 13-Jan-17 Tech Elect30180978 Cfn Allison MD 02-Feb-17 VM30102640 Cfn Anderson RW 05-Jan-17 Rec Mech 30149788 Cfn Barker LE 09-Jan-17 VM30089727 Cfn Barstow PA 09-Jan-17 VM25225968 Cfn Bell RAJ 09-Jan-17 Rec Mech30135647 Cfn Briggs KA 09-Jan-17 VM30096385 Cfn Bromley STV 30-Jan-17 Rec Mech30157975 Cfn Bull LMC 09-Jan-17 VM30158125 Cfn Burrell RJ 15-Oct-16 MTSM30158336 Cfn Carradice SN 10-Oct-16 Rec Mech30173848 Cfn Chamberlain SJA 09-Jan-17 VM30151714 Cfn Connor MG 09-Jan-17 VM30165635 Cfn Garland Ridding BS 09-Jan-17 VM30147808 Cfn Gurung N 09-Jan-17 VM30170066 Cfn Harris JD 10-Oct-16 VM30043182 Cfn Howe MH 10-Oct-16 VM30149795 Cfn Kelsey KLA 09-Jan-17 VM30149541 Cfn Malcolm CK 10-Oct-16 VM30168179 Cfn Massey EA 09-Jan-17 VM30191429 Cfn McHattie MD 05-Jan-17 VM30167533 Cfn McHugh AG 10-Oct-16 VM30156463 Cfn Nixon JP 15-Feb-16 VM30172098 Cfn O’Connor WP 09-Jan-17 VM30135713 Cfn Paterson IC 09-Jan-17 VM30173844 Cfn Phillips M 09-Jan-17 VM30195314 Cfn Platt D 09-Jan-17 Rec Mech30149737 Cfn Robertson KW 09-Jan-17 VM30172503 Cfn Sanders RJ 09-Jan-17 VM30159858 Cfn Scott AC 09-Jan-17 VM30119489 Cfn Singh R 30-Jan-17 Rec Mech30143448 Cfn Sowter K 09-Jan-17 VM30047700 Cfn Thapa J 30-Jan-17 Rec Mech30073314 Cfn Vodden D 09-Jan-17 VM30170081 Cfn Ward CP 10-Oct-16 VM30174110 Cfn Williams LP 10-Oct-16 VM

Top Post January 2017

COMMUNICATIONSCORNER…


COMPETITIONWhere in the World?

I have introduced a fun competition to see who can send me a photo, clearly showing our belovedmagazine, in the most unusual place (or situation) on earth. The prize is yet to be determined but is notlikely to have a monetary value. This month’s offering is gratefully received from the Warrant Officers andOfficers of 2 Bn REME enjoying The Craftsman magazine in the Dead Sea.Think you can do better? If so, send me a good quality photo to [email protected]. I lookforward to some exciting, healthy competition!

By Allison Woolley, Corporate Communications Editor

Happy 80th BirthdayJohn Hughes

Born 13 March 1947From The 211 Old Comrades Club

WHERE ARE YOU NOW?Don't forget to let us know if youwould like to try to get in touch

with long lost friends

REME Ski TripEx Abominable Tiger 31 Mar-9 Apr 17Contact: Major Paul Logie REME(: 95481 4515 : [email protected]

UOTC Special To Arm Weekend 17-19 Mar 17Contact: Major Paul Logie REME(: 95481 4515 : [email protected]

PERS/OPS


C o r p s C a l e n d a r 2 0 1 7March7 REME Soldiers’ Conference South9 The REME Charity Trustees’ Meeting14 REME Association Executive Committee16 Colonels’ Commandant Dinner 21 Museum Policy Committee Meeting24 Artists’ Lunch (Postponed New Date TBC)30 The REME Charity Budgetary Committee31 Corps Sergeants’ Mess Spring Dinner NightApril 4 REME Soldiers’ Conference BF(G)6 REME Soldiers’ Conference North8 REME Museum Grand Opening27 The REME Charity Trustees’ Meeting 28 Corps Council Meeting 28 Reserves Management BoardMay11 REME Institution & HQ Officers’ Mess AGMs 11 REME Colonels’ Command Group11 ES Executive BoardJune10 Colonel in Chief’s Birthday24 Armed Forces DayAugust31 The REME Charity Finance and Investment CommitteeSeptember2-3 Reserves Conference7 REME Colonels’ Command Group7 ES Executive Board21 Senior Officers’ Conference26 Museum Policy Committee Meeting28 Corps Finance CommitteeOctober14 Reserves Management BoardNovember9 Field of Remembrance 12 Remembrance Sunday12 Association Event Cenotaph March Past23 The REME Charity Trustees’ Meeting 24 Corps Council Meeting25 Reserves Management BoardJanuary 201819 ES Executive BoardFebruary2 The REME Charity Finance and Investment Committee

On 1 October 2017 the Corps will be 75 years old. To mark ourspecial year, celebratory events will run from 1 April 2017 to 31March 2018, our 75th year, and activities during that year will bepart of REME75. Events already in the calendar are:April 171 REME75 Start of Celebratory Year 27 REME75 Corps Spring Guest Night May 174 REME75 Young Officers’ Club Dinner11 REME75 Corps Officers’ Mess Dinner Night15-19 REME75 Corps Quadrangular Football Tournament19 REME75 Association Memorial Day at NMA23 REME75 Football Junior Craftsman Cup FinalJune 1715 REME75 Institution Beating Retreat and Cocktail Party 16-19 REME75 Association Reunion17 REME75 Football Senior Craftsman Cup Final17-18 REME75 Corps WeekendJuly 171 REME75 All Ranks Commando Reunion 7 REME75 Commando Officers’ Dinner16 REME75 Corps Regimental Sunday at RHC19-20 REME75 Sports Festival 201720 REME75 Corps Sports Dinner Night22 REME75 Institution Corps BallSeptember 177 REME75 Corps Officers’ Mess Dinner Night15 REME75 Retired Officers’ Dinner22 REME75 Airborne Officers’ Dinner29 REME75 Corps Sergeants’ Mess Autumn Ladies’ Dinner

NightOctober 171 REME75 CORPS 75TH BIRTHDAY 6 REME75 75 Corps Officers’ Mess QMs’ Dinner19 REME75 Institution Royal Reception (Provisional)November 1723 REME75 Corps Autumn Guest Dinner NightDecember 173 REME75 St Eligius SundayJanuary, February and March 2018 dates to follow.As you will see the events listed so far are centrally organised,

mostly by the Messes, the Institution, the Sports Association andREME Association. To make the year great we would like to addevents held across the Corps, everywhere we serve and organisedby those who serve or have served within our great Corps. Are youorganising an Adventurous Training exercise, Battlefield Study,Corps level sports competition or even a party or Association gettogether? If you are then let’s make it part of the Corps 75thbirthday celebrations. Contact the team on the e-mail addressbelow and let’s make it a REME75 event.In addition would you like to be involved in organising or helping

in a Corps level event? Maybe you are an NCO who would like tosee a REME75 Cpls’ Mess event? If so, contact us and let’s make ithappen. All ideas are very welcome.Contact us at [email protected]

C A L E N D A R

Lt J Tovey of 1 CS Bn REME

Presentation of the MG REME Sword by Lt Gen A C Figgures CB CBE

Lt I Taylor of 1 CS Bn REME

Presentation of the MG REME Sword by Lt Gen A C Figgures CB CBE

Front Row: Lt G

en A C Figgures CB CBE (M

G REM

E), Col C P Phillips ADC (Col REM

E).Middle Row

: 2Lt M Tranham

, 2Lt T J Ferris, 2Lt L C McIlw

ain, 2Lt G S Curtis, 2Lt J A

Pittams, 2Lt B D

arney.Back Row

: 2Lt J W Sow

erby, 2Lt M Harrison, 2Lt A

J Maling, 2Lt B H

ickman, 2Lt L M

Bridge, 2Lt E D Grant.

Dine in

MSEC(L) 16/003

the cra tsman 2017 magazine of the corps of royal electrical and mechanical engineers the cra tsman

Documents