2012Vol. 3 No.1 The Chronicle The British OfficersClub of Philadelphia In This Issue: Patron: H.E. Ambassador to the U.S.A. Sir Peter Westmacott, KCMG, LVO 1 –New President’s Hon. President: Head of the British Defence Staff Message Major General Buster Howes, OBE 3 – Outgoing President and Publisher: David H. Leslie-Hughes, PhD(econ), Lt. President’s Message The Royal Welch Fusiliers (Ret) Editor: Brontë Hamilton, Major, Australian Army (ret) 4 – Outgoing Editor’s Asst. Editor: John D. Warlow, Lt. Col. US Army Ordnance Corps (Ret) Sayonara! Website: www.bocphil.org Email: [email protected] 5 – New Editor’s Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-the-British-Officers-Club- Message of-Philadelphia/200565772744 5 - Membership Message from the President: Committee: New Members To our Honorary Members, Life Members, Members and Friends of the British Officers’ Club of Philadelphia 6 – New British Ambassador We are at a truly exciting juncture in the transmutation of the BOC. New initiatives are taking place ‘amoebically’ in every theater of our 7- New Chief of Club’s activities and outreach. Defence Staff To have achieved this high ‘performance point’ in our long history of almost 100 years, 8 - Regimental Silver particular thanks and recognition must be meted out to our immediate past President – Collection Capt. Stewart Patrick and our former Allied VP – Lt Col. John Warlow. They presided 8 – Royalty: An over extraordinary achievements and change in the past 2 years. To name just a few of Economic Asset these – leading our Executive team, they spearheaded our IT revolution, our sophisticated database development, our transition to the ‘semi-paperless age, ’our spectacular cyber- 10 – 2012 Executive membership growth, and our high-profile events and activities calendar. We now boast a Committee membership of some 725 (approximately 500 globally-based through the internet and 225 ‘in the flesh’). And, our websites enjoy some 40,000 ‘hits’ per month (that’s 480,000 per 10 - Planned Events year!). 11 - Curry Dinner Many thanks also to each of the members of our past and present Executive Committee: Pictures every one of them has taken on added responsibilities – with equanimity, cheerfulness and zeal! 12 - The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee We live in a time of exponential change – in our Club, country and the world. This has behooved us to involve ourselves in new strategic planning initiatives – structurally, 1 financially, through national and international outreach and in operating cost-efficiency. We now have a truly exciting ‘mix’ of ceremonial, informal, educational, representational and age-varied (and that even includes grandchildren!) events in our annual calendar. This year we are stretching to some 14 purpose-driven ‘get-togethers’ – including what will be our central celebrational ‘showcase’ occasion – Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee – to be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Merion Cricket Club on Sunday June 3, 2012. We are expecting a completely ‘sold-out’ participation – leading our local ‘loyal societies’ – of some 225 persons – with 3 huge ‘real-time’ TV screens beaming the big event from London. We shall have ‘central cyber-seats’ watching and reviewing the splendid flotilla of Her Majesty who, similar to ‘Helen of Troy,’ will have been responsible for launching 1000 ships up the Thames! We shall be part of the crowd of billions of global watchers festively recognizing the extraordinary leadership and service to Great Britain, the Commonwealth of Nations and the world, of HM Queen Elizabeth II over a mega 60 year reign. We ourselves are planning a choral Mini-Service of Thanksgiving as part of the proceedings, led by our chaplaincy, which will include the communal singing of our greatest patriotic songs – those engraved on the ‘tablets of our minds’ from early childhood. We have started off the year with 2 ‘big bangs!’ The Recruiting Event in cold January at Eisenhower Hall, Valley Forge Military Academy & College was our best attended ever – with an unprecedented accretion of new membership: thank you Lt Col. Warlow - and our Sutler! The Curry Party in February was also a huge success – despite the evil-advent – on untimely cue – of snowy weather: thank you Capt. Stewart Patrick and again Lt Col. Bill Smith, our Sutler. For this year’s future events, I refer you to the Calendar listed elsewhere in this edition of The Chronicle and on our websites. Please mark these dates in your diary: your participation is very important to us. Lastly, I mention with reverence, the untimely passing of our President Emeritus Capt. Alan Stuart. We were all honored to ‘celebrate’ his passing under the spiritual leadership of our Chaplain Lt Col. Tim Steves in November of last year. Alan – wherever you are in the ‘heavens’ – the Club profoundly thanks you for your herculean efforts in leading the BOC through many stages of critical evolution over many decades. We expect to venerate your legacy in perpetuity by raising the necessary money to endow 2 more rooms at the Royal Star & Garter Homes in Great Britain (a legendary institution with some shades of similarity to our own Walter Reed rehabilitation operations). My humble regards to you all, Respectfully, David H. Leslie-Hughes, Esquire, PhD (econ), Lt – The Royal Welch Fusiliers, ret. 2 Outgoing President’s Message: December 17th, 2011: As my term of office has now come to its close, I must remark on what an unusual year this has been. On the one hand, a year of accomplishment in outreach to the military community in the US through our website, and in the significant growth of our membership. And a year marked, too, by spectacular events – first, the success of the Royal Wedding Breakfast at the Merion Cricket Club before dawn’s crack in April; then the August polo match on the Brandywine, a family event, that is becoming a favorite feature of our calendar. But at its end, the year was saddened by the passing of Capt. Alan Stuart, our President Emeritus, -- our guide (and goad), mentor (and tormentor) - and good friend above all! He is a loss that we shall feel for years to come. I am pleased that his daughter Gail Stuart – a BOC Member in her own right – will take his place as Welfare Officer on the Executive Committee. The Stuart family has asked that, in memory of Alan, donations might be made to the Royal Star and Garter Homes in Richmond, England, which was Alan Stuart’s favorite charity. At the Annual General Meeting I proposed that the BOC make a special donation to honor him. The Society of the Sons of St. George, of which Alan was a long-time member, will also make a donation and our gifts will be combined with any that you may wish to make in Alan’ memory. This arrangement will have a tax advantage for BOC members. My wife Leny and I are now preparing to retire slowly into the Californian West. So it’s an appropriate time for me to acknowledge all of the contributions that our Significant Others make to our Club – in hands-on hard work; or in participating in sister organizations like the Daughters of the British Empire; or simply in tolerating what to others might seem to be our aberrant behavior. We appreciate your support, and your forbearance, and we thank you! I thank the members of the Executive Committee for their loyal service on your behalf. Until you have served as our Sutler, Treasurer, Flags Officer, Secretary, Membership Chairman or Editor of the Chronicle, you have not experienced the effort and commitment it takes to serve this Club. Finally, I sincerely thank you all for the privilege to have served a second time as your President. Our westward retirement will be a gradual process that will take a couple of years to play out. Leny and I will be involved here as long as we can and wish this fine club continued growth and success. With our good wishes to so many friends, gathered over these past years together. C. Stewart Patrick (Capt. Royal Artillery, retd) Past President 3 EDITORIAL SAYONARA! Once again it is time to say ‘good-bye’ as your Editor – on the one hand – and ‘hello’ as your new President – on the other! Altogether, I have had the privilege of serving as editor for a total of 6½ years in 2 separate terms – one of 4½ years in the waning years of the 20th century, and the other – now closing – of 2 years. As some of you will remember, I originally succeeded the late President Emeritus Capt. Alan Stuart, at a time when our publication came out approximately 3 times per year, was typewritten and simply titled: ‘BOC Newsletter.’ At the time of my assumption of duties the late Capt. George Chimples, DFC (sometime Allied VP of the Club) and I embraced the precedent of the Merion Cricket Club and changed the name of our publication to ‘The Chronicle,’ computerized its print and upped its publication to bi-monthly – under Capt. Hugh Jenkins’ presidency. During my just-ended term of service we re-formatted The Chronicle and turned it into a more pictorial, short-pithy-topical articles medium – drawing somewhat on the ‘USA To-Day’ model, with selected commentary on burning military-political-allied ‘topics of the day,’ restoring it to mostly every-other- month publication again. A final giant step was to publish The Chronicle electronically (by e-mail and on the internet) and largely cease to print it as a hardcopy entity. As Major Brontë Hamilton (Australian Intelligence, retired) takes over from me, we are happily setting 2 further precedents. One, she becomes our first female Editor in the history of the Club and two, she is our first-ever Editor hailing from the Commonwealth/Allied ranks of our membership.