i i iii iv vii ix x i xii Castle The Journal of The Royal Anglian Regiment 1981 Vol. 6 No. 4 1st Battalion (Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire) Contents Page 3 Pte. Angle 14 Mainly About People 18 1st Battalion 27 The Poachers 38 The Pompadours 2nd Battalion 46 The Depot, Queen’s Division (Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and 49 The Regimental Association Northamptonshire) 52 Around The Branches 62 5th Battalion 66 6th Battalion 69 7th Battalion 76 Army Cadet Force 78 Obituary 80 The Regimental Shop 81 Journal Order Form 3rd Battalion (Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex) Editor: Colonel P. D. Blyth, OBE Our Cover (retired) Printed by Reproduced from the original painting by Charles C. Stadden of a Regimental Drummer against a background of the Abbey Charles Elphick Limited, Gale, Bury St. Edmunds. Shortmead Street, Biggleswade, Beds. 1 Colonel-in-Chief: HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH THE QUEEN MOTHER Deputy Colonels-in-Chief: Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester Colonel of The Regiment: Major-General J. B. Dye, CBE, MC, DL, Deputy Colonels: General Sir Timothy Creasey, KCB, OBE Major General J. B. Akehurst CBE. Brigadier R. J. Randall ALLIED REGIMENTS Canada Pakistan The Lake Superior Scottish Regiment 5th Bn. The Frontier Force Regiment The Sherbrooke Hussars The Lincoln and Welland Regiment Malaysia The Essex and Kent Scottish 1st Bn. The Royal Malay Regiment Commonwealth Forces The Barbados Regiment Australia The Bermuda Regiment The Royal Tasmania Regiment The Gibraltar Regiment New Zealand 3rd Bn. (Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly’s Own) and Northland) Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment Regimental Headquarters: Gibraltar Barracks, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Telephone: Bury St. Edmunds 2394. Regimental Secretary: Colonel P. D. Blyth, CBE. Assistant Regimental Secretary: Major A. G. B. Cobbold. Regimental Secretaries: Headquarters (Norfolk) -Lt.-Col. A. W. J. Turnbull, MC. (Suffolk and Cambridgeshire) —Lt.-Col. H. S. R. Case, MBE. ,, (Lincolnshire) —Captain A. Smith. (Northamptonshire)—Major E. P. Kelly, DCM. (Essex) —Major D. B. Riches. (Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire) —Major J. A. Girdwood. ,, (Leicestershire)—Major J. T. Dudley. 2 Private Angle On On Horseguards Achievements 11 June 1981 1st Battalion There will be no Regimental Reunion at Sgt K. J. Bodger: Army Hammer Cham­ Bassingbourn in 1981. pion. At 1830 hrs on 9, 10 and 11 June 1981 the Pte D. H. Hurd: Army Open Welter Weight eleven Bands and Corps of Drums of the Champion. Queen’s Division and its affiliated UDR bat­ Winners, Infantry Nordic Team Skiing Cup talions, will parade on the Horse Guards in aid of Army and Regimental Charities. 1st Armoured Division Skill at Arms The 11 June performance is to be spon­ Meeting sored by The Royal Anglian Regiment and Champion Major Unit (11 entries) will take place in the presence of our Deputy Champion At Arms Colonel-in-Chief HRH The Princess Champion ‘B’ Class Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. Champion Young Soldier Provided demand warrants it the parade will be followed by a Reception in the an­ 2nd Battalion cient Banqueting House which may be at­ Berlin Field Force Inter Platoon tended by any member of the Regiment or Competition our forbears, and their families or guests, provided children are over the age of sixteen. Winners: The cost of the evening would be £7 a head, First six places. Nine out of first twelve. including a £3 seat at the parade, followed by wine/sherry/soft drinks and small eats in Tug-o-War the Banqueting House. Regimental readers Berlin Field Force Champions will already have received this information. Runners-up BAOR Championships. Because of the need to distribute tickets to “ the trade” for sale to the public, we need to Boxing know by 30 Mar 81 how many seats are re­ Berlin Field Force Team Champions. quired by the Regiment. Tickets would still be available after that date but would need to be obtained by individuals from the Football Ticket Office, lb Bridge Street, Westminster Runners-up. The Infantry Cup. (opposite Big Ben). Further information may be obtained from Regimental Headquarters. 3rd Battalion Cricket Winners—The Army Cup On Winners— 7 Field Force Sports Trophy Football— Eastern District 6-a-side Deputy Colonels Trophy Major General J. B. Akehurst CBE suc­ Boxing— Eastern District Novices Boxing ceeded Major General R. E. J. Gerrard- Team Championships Wright CBE as Deputy Colonel for Lin­ Training— In Kenya colnshire, Leicestershire and Northampton­ Operations—-In Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. shire on 1st January 1981. Three officers and twenty-eight men. 3 tion we arrived in Salisbury on 19 December On to begin an extensive series of briefings on everything from military intelligence to how Zimbabwe to handle the wildlife. Donning white armbands, deployment forward took place in the early hours of Christmas Eve; but already a change had to Barely had the lids been taken off the be made. The small and overstretched force MFO boxes from Belfast in November 1979, was obliged to commit the two reserve teams when three Officers and twenty eight men and we were spread over the length and found themselves warned to take part in breadth of the country. Small groups of men Operation ‘Agila’, the monitoring of the reinforced the Assembly Place teams at Rhodesian ceasefire. This contingent was to Romeo, Golf and Hotel and the remainder be the largest from any single unit. moved to the notorious ‘Repulse’ Opera­ The next couple of weeks, were probably tional area on the South-Eastern border. the most frustrating time of the whole opera­ There Capt David Clements monitored the tion. Despite the departure to Salisbury of Rhodesian Army Headquarters in Fort Vic- Sgt Brandon, Cpl Neville and the team at Assembly Place Romeo. Lord Soames and the reintroduction of toria, with responsibility to investigate the British rule, the Lancaster House talks drag­ numerous breaches of the ceasefire and to ged on and hopes were raised and dashed monitor the activities of the auxilliary with almost daily changes in the degree of forces. As these proved to be four thousand notice to move. The talks finally broke down men in an area slightly larger than Scotland, (with the aid of a radio interview given by he and Sgt Matthew Lindsay certainly had Capt Tim Page) and everyone was resigned their work cut out. Three company base to a cold English winter. But then on 17th monitor teams were also deployed to Rhode­ December agreement was reached and we sian forces in Repulse; CSgt Monty Beau­ were off! mont and CSgt Bill Smith built up very close We formed three teams; the first under links through their teams with 2nd Battalion Capt Simon Bacon was to set up a Rendez­ The Rhodesian African Rifles (2 RAR). vous Point to collect Patriotic Front forces They soon discovered that although we don’t and the other two teams were initially ear­ use the same abbreviation this ‘R A R ’ had a marked as the Force Reserve, acting as a lot in common with the Rhodesian one. heliborne quick reaction force. After a huge The third company base team, Capt Tim and amazingly successful movement opera- Page and Sgt Pasco Pascovitch, mosied 4 A Patriotic Front Muster Parade at Assembly Place Romeo. down to the Mozambique border to monitor went on. This consisted mainly of in­ the long range mounted patrols carried out vestigating the endless allegations and by a squadron of the Grays Scouts. There counter-claims of breaches of the ceasefire. the horse replaced the landrover and, nurs­ The investigations, although often pro­ ing saddle sores, both our intrepid heroes tracted, tricky and not a little dangerous were volunteered to monitor a normal infantry straightforward compared to the process of unit again. getting the interested parties to agree to the Meanwhile back in the Assembly Places, findings or apportion blame. including Assembly Place Mike to which the The time passed amazingly quickly once a RV team moved at the end of the collection routine had been established, and after a period, the task of collecting, transporting short but very welcome break of R and R at and administering the Patriotic Front forces Kariba or Victoria Falls the elections were had begun. Soon the numbers in the soon upon us. Assembly Places far exceeded all previous During the voting monitors visiting the estimates. However once set up, often in polling stations were staggered by the poor conditions, life became monotonous numbers of people queuing to vote. One sta­ and very frustrating with the demands of the tion visited by Capt Clements had fourteen inmates testing everyone's patience. It isn’t thousand blacks outside before the polls easy to know what to do with two thousand opened and it took some time to clear the “ freedom fighters” for three months. The area to allow the helicopter to take off again. threat of violence was always present. If The result of the election is now well known. nothing else those at the Assembly Places To the Pompadours in the country it was improved their personal fitness and suntans probably obvious beforehand. Despite in­ while carrying out a very difficult and often timidation of the voters the outcome was dangerous job. almost a certainty. This was due to many Those monitors with the Rhodesian factors; ignorance; tribal loyalty but above Forces had an altogether different reception, all a heartfelt desire to put an end to the although it was often equally frustrating. fighting and end the war. There was certainly none of the expected The recovery process took place the mo­ hostility from White Rhodesians, and the ment the election results were announced. hospitality received by all was tremendous.