wireTHE April 2009 The Royal Corps of Signals THE WIRE, APRIL 2009 LEGACY OF THE LATE MAJ BARCLAY HANKIN Maj Barclay Hankin was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals in the early days of the WW2, serving in North Africa, Italy, the War Office and Germany. On leaving the Army he spent many years in operational research for the Army and London Transport before retirement in London and Chichester. He was a pupil at Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham and in his will, Barclay left a most generous and significant legacy to The Officers’ Association. The terms of this are to fund a place at Christ’s Hospital School for the children of officers who are serving or have served in Royal Signals and who have lost their parent as a result of his or her death or who has become seriously incapacitated. This bequest typifies Barclay’s generosity and his continued and strong loyalty to the Corps. In addition to meeting the requirement of the will, potential candidates will also have to meet the entry standards of the School which can be found at www.christs-hospital.org.uk. If you know of a family that might be eligible to take advantage of this bequest, please contact the Regimental Secretary, Lt Col (Retd) Conlon in Regimental Headquarters Royal Signals on Blandford Military 2081 or 01258 482081. HONOURS AND AWARDS We congratulate the following Royal Signals personnel who received Awards In the Armed Forces Operations Awards List in March 2009 For Service in Afghanistan Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVS) Cpl SJ Ball 16 Sig Regt For Service in Iraq Members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) WO2 RD Allen 1(UK) Armd Div HQ & Sig Regt WO2 PR Howson DISC Chicksands WO2 SR McGuckien MOD Maj DTH Wilson JSSU (Cyprus) For Service in National Operations Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) SSgt JW Fawcett 1 (RBY) Sig Sqn (SC) Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVS) Sgt PV Wade MOD B HE WIRE, FEBRUARY 2008 April 2009 Vol. 63 No: 2 The Magazine of the Royal Corps of Signals Established in 1920 The Wire Editor Lt Col (Retd) Alan Wallace Published bi-monthly Tel: 01258 482079 Annual subscription £12.00 plus postage Editor: Lt Col (Retd) Alan Wallace Deputy Editor: Mrs Amy Petersen Deputy Editor All correspondence and material for publication in The Wire should be addressed to: Mrs Amy Petersen Tel: 01258 482085 The Wire, RHQ Royal Signals, Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8RH Email: [email protected] Welfare Contributors Deadline for The Wire : 15th February for publication in the April. Miss Linda Rowley 15th April for publication in the June. Tel: 01258 482089 15th June for publication in the August. 15th August for publication in the October. 15th October for publication in the December. 10th December for publication in the Feburary. Accounts / Subscriptions Please refer to Guidelines for Contributors. http://www.army.mod.uk/royalsignals/thewire/ Mrs Sharon Sterne Subscribers Tel: 01258 482087 All enquiries regarding subscriptions and changes of address of The Wire should be made to: 01258 482087 or 94371 2087 (mil) or [email protected]. Remittances should be made payable to Royal Signals Benevolent Fund EDITORIAL CONTENTS Page This edition of The Wire contains an interesting variety of submissions covering operations, training and sports. It is clear Movements & Retirements 2 from the many reports on Ex MERCURY GLACIER that skiing and snowboarding have been enjoyed by many, even though News from Formations 3 virtually every report starts by complaints about the long journey to find the snow! News from Regiments 4 I am pleased to include reports from three organisations that News from Squadrons 51 seldom appear in these pages. The Theatre Fleet Support Unit (Germany) (TFSU(G)) submitted a good article about a visit to Other Units 63 Arnhem. It was good to hear too from The Global Operations and Security Control Centre (GOSCC) who left their big tin shed and chose a pleasant winter day to enjoy the countryside and Sport 70 finally, I have included a report from the SOinC(A)’s Recruiting and Liaison Staff (SORLS). The Royal Signals Association 72 These articles are all worth reading and they introduce three new Donations 73 abbreviations to the majority of the serving and retired Corps: TFSU(G), GOSCC and SORLS. I must confess that initially I only Last Post 75 recognised two of the three abbreviations and could only work out what the letters meant for one. In The Wire, I try to keep the Obituaries 75 number of abbreviations to a minimum and obey the usual rules of staff writing where their use is inevitable but it seems that new Miscellaneous Stories 78 abbreviations are being generated every day and some are not at all obvious. I appeal to those who send in unit reports to spell Correspondence 86 out abbreviations, at least for the Editor’s benefit! Adverts 87 FRONT COVER Lt Nichols of 3 Div HQ & Sig Regt being put through her paces on the Super Grand Slalom on Ex MERCURY GLACIER. Authors alone are responsible for the content of their articles. The opinions expressed in the articles of this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy and views, official or otherwise, of the Royal Corps of Signals or the Ministry of Defence. All articles and submissions are published at the discretion of the Editor. This publication may contain official information. It should be treated with discretion by the recipient. THE WIRE, APRILPrinted 2009 by Holbrook Printers Ltd, Norway Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth © Crown Copyright MOVEMENTS Name and Rank Unit to which posted Name and Rank Unit to which posted 2Lt BJA Naughton ..............10 Sig Regt 251 Sig Sqn JANUARY 2009 2Lt PO Osabwa ..............16 Sig Regt Maj SVD Hargreaves ………....Maternity Leave 2Lt DL Pooley ..............12 Mech Bde HQ Sig Sqn Capt JR Caveen …………12 Mech Bde HQ Sig Sqn 2Lt JE Roberts ...............7 Sig Regt Capt K Read ………….21 Sig Regt 2Lt RM Wall ...............7 Armd Bde 207 Sig Sqn Lt S O’Connell …………102 Log Bde HQ Sig Sqn FEBRUARY 2009 MAY 2009 Maj AC Aylward …………DAAVN Lt Col D Wright ..............DES (Temp) Maj MA Bosworth …………G6 CBM HQ Land Maj MJ Rayner ..............HQ DCCIS Maj SF Coeshott …………Bowtag (JT) Maj RC Quinsey ..............RSS A/Maj AJ Barry ..............HQ SOinC(A) COS Capt JN Copeland ..............RHQ HQ SOinC(A) A/Maj SP Cowan ..............51 (Scottish) Bde Capt P Mhango …………16 Sig Regt 255 Sig Sqn Capt JR Coupland ..............30 Sig Regt Capt KL Oldridge …………1 Mech Bde HQ & Sig Sqn Capt AS George ..............14 Sig Regt (EW) Capt NJA Reynolds …………1(UK) Armd Div Sig Regt Capt PG Griffiths ..............HQ 19 Lt Bde Lt RJ Hayes …………1(UK) Armd Div Sig Regt Capt NR Jennings ..............34 Sig Regt(V) Lt JME Hollins …………90SU-TCW-1 Sqn Capt S McKenzie ..............11 Sig Regt Lt AF Macdonald …………AFC(H) Capt NJ Pollitt ..............22 Sig Regt Capt J Swindell …………11 Sig Regt MARCH 2009 Maj W Anderson …………MS Officers Combat Spt Maj AJ Jenkins …………3 (UK) Div HQ & Sig Regt JUNE 2009 Maj CD Kidd …………14 Sig Regt (EW) Capt KJ Griffiths ..............40 Sig Regt(V) Maj SN Meadowcroft …………DES Capt JC Long …………HQ 19 Lt Bde Maj DL Palmer ..............Air 22GP-GT Capt MR Mallett ..............10 Sig Regt (ECM) A/Maj A Higgins …………38 Sig Regt Capt JR Stillie ..............AFC(H) A/Maj CG Milne …………2 Sig Regt Capt LE Webster ..............HQ 3 (UK) Div Capt P Andrews …………37 Sig Regt Capt MP Hunston …………2 Sig Regt JULY 2009 Capt TJW Masi …………2 Yorks Lt Col AE Percival …………37 Sig Regt Capt EA Mortimore ..............HQ ARRC Capt JA Markendale ...............21 Sig Regt (AS) Capt J Reid ………...HQ Brunei Gar Capt RA McLeod .............. IMATT Sierra Leone Capt DP Wilson ………...1 Mech Bde HQ & Sig Sqn Capt RF Plested …………7 Armd Bde 2Lt RK Painter ..............1(UK) Armd Div Sig Regt Capt NJ Pryce-Jones …………30 Sig Regt Capt CJ Raynor ..............HQ ARRC APRIL 2009 A/Lt Col S Palfreyman ..............JSSU Cheltenham Maj NR Coatsworth …………1 (UK) Armd Div Sig Regt Maj TJ Keates …………16 Sig Regt Maj MA Schofield ..............HQ 11 Sig Bde RETIREMENTS Maj T Smith ..............AFC Maj Woodcock ..............AFCO Cambridge A/Maj MG Osborne ..............HQ JSSO Name and rank Date Capt JJ Alger ..............1 (UK) ADSR Capt JV Boyden ..............11 Sig Regt Capt MA Brown …………21 Sig Regt JANUARY 2009 Capt RF Campbell …………DGISS 642 Sig Tp Capt MJ Cox …………3 (UK) Div 202 Sig Sqn Capt LJ Ellaway ..............JSSU Cheltenham Drain - Lt Col WJ Drain 03 Jan 09 Capt MA Gilbert ...............22 Sig Regt Evans - Maj SL Evans 15 Jan 09 Capt TJ Lappin ...............HQ 52 Inf Bde Harbin - Capt MR Harbin 15 Jan 09 Capt LS Matthews ...............22 Sig Regt McNelly - Capt I McNelly 05 Jan 09 Capt M Nuttall …………16 Sig Regt Morris - Capt AD Morris 19 Jan 09 Capt SA Ruxton …………7 Sig Regt Capt KRJ Smith …………71 (Y) Sig Regt (V) FEBRUARY 2009 Capt SM Smith …………CBM Div HQ Land Capt MJR Wakeling …………16 Air Asslt Bde Capt DC Whitworth …………7 Sig Regt Hammett - Lt Col NJ Hammett 06 Feb 09 Lt SV Thomas …………4 Mech Bde HQ & Sig Sqn Pilling - Lt Col LS Pilling 18 Feb 09 2Lt KE Apps ............. 16 Sig Regt 230 Sig Sqn Smith - Capt SN Smith 25 Feb 09 2Lt NJ Barrett ..............30 Sig Regt 256 Sig Sqn 2Lt RL Bonner ..............1(UK) Armd Div Sig Regt JUNE 2009 2Lt R Burrows ..............3 (UK) Div 206 Sig Sqn 2Lt DM Gavin ..............7 Sig Regt 2Lt CG Jones ..............7 Sig Regt Curtain - Capt KP Curtain 06 Jun 09 2Lt VJ Langston ..............14 Sig Regt(EW) Fensome - Capt KA Fensome 09 Jun 09 2Lt GW Merchant ...............2 Sig Regt Webber - Capt LD Webber 18 Jun 09 2 THE WIRE, APRIL 2009 NEWS FROM FORMATIONS 1st SIGNAL BRIGADE Comd Brig Ivan Hooper COS Maj Julius Caesar First, congratulations to Maj Guy Lewendon, Capt Caroline Anderson, Capt Liz Mortimore and Capt Jo Wilson who have all been selected for promotion to Maj.