20th FEBRUARY 1976
INTRODUCTION
This week has been action packed with a lot of rioting and more patrolling than normal in an attempt to prevent crowds forming.
The latter seems to have been effective; although we have arrested a large number of the stone throwers and they must be a little reticent to be seen doing it again so soon. One of the stone throwers was sentenced to six months imprisonment. If that proves to be the normal sentence then it will be a good deterrent.
The bombers are still about and Gnr Johnson was very lucky to escape almost unscathed from an explosion which demolished his sangar. However bombs are still the exception rather than the rule unlike Belfast. Something we can all be thankful for.
This is the final Londonderry edition of the Newsletter. By the time the families in Fallingbostel read it the advance party will be almost home and the long separation over. I hope that this newsletter has helped to keep you all up to date with what we have been up to. Much of the time has been slow and boring, but everyone has worked hard and the. list of statistics shows how much activity there has been and the general low level of violence in our part of the strife torn Province. There have certainly been successes amongst the disappointments.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank those who have helped in the production of the Newsletter. 49 Battery who have been such good correspondents. There were times when it was all I could do to persuade BC 49 that there could not be an Inkerman Eagle instead of the 42nd crest on the cover. Sgt Green tells me that not including this newsletter we have used 39,600 sheets of paper, each one lovingly run off on the duplicating machine by him as well as all the stapling required.
Lastly Gnr Cross who has typed the skins in time to meet the dead lines. The next edition will be in three months.:
CONGRATULATIONS
We send our congratulations to Bdr and Mrs Nicholson on the birth
of their daughter.
STASTICTICS
The following is a list of interesting statistics of the tour as at the 17th of February.
1. People arrested:
a. Thefts 11
b. Stoning: 29
C Others: 115
2. Vehicles through checkpoints:
a. CLocked: 1,646,704
b. Searched: 423,203
3 Searches:
a. Houses: 128
b. Derelicts: 76
C Buildings: 146
d. Areas 100
4 People screened: 182 5
5 Bombings:
a. Real: 3
b. Hoaxes: 1
c Scares: 50
D False alarms: 10
6 Shooting incidents: 10 of which 2 were at us
7. Casualties: 25
8 Baton rounds fired: 240
9 Live rounds fired: Nil
10 Sangars removed: 7
11 Check points removed: 3
12 Sightings of persons of int interest: 2437
13 Photographs taken:
a. General: 7496
b Screening: 1456
14. Finds: 15
15• Youth Clubs assisted: 4
H TROOP Life in general seems to be hotting up, in fact the last couple of days have been like the culmination of training leading up to the GO's test exercise. We have been trying to pump the locals and see what is the next serial on the 'PINK' but like all good organisations they have either lost it or were not told in the first place.
things started last week when Frank snuffed it while trying for a weight watchers award. He's been disqualified due to non-completion of the qualifying period. Mind you it was a gallant effort and I'm sure we would like to see more of his kind attempting this sort of thing.
I
The Happy troop send their best wishes to Johnno for a speedy recovery after the blast at the Clarendon Road Checkpoint. The point to be made here is if you want a sangar building somewhere get planning permission from the provos first, it saves a lot of time and effort.
•
Welcome back Norman having had a couple .of weeks taxing his brain. He's now back to give the Boggys educated replies to their abuse. Like the woman who told him to go back to Barbados to which Norman replied: *,.£ *,.M!!! good stuff this education.
We also had some young lads lobbing the odd brick and bottle over the weekend. The naughty element managed to burn down the main mail sorting office, three of their own shops and attempted a bakery and bookies. They also broke into numerous others but to them its like going out in the park and playing on the swings.
The great jackbooted British squaddy calls it RIOTING. For both sides its great fun, so long as you don't get caught.
g
Having had just about everything it will be nice to get back to the wifes nagging. Seeing as this is the last newsletter, all the lads H troop wish everyone, for the remainder of the tour the best of luck and can't wait to see you in Fally.
Heard on William St at the height of the Rioting. Did you hear the brief?
No couldn't hear a thing!
Oh well come on, we will read whether we did it right tomorrow in the NIREP.
Troop Thought Is it true Baton rounds have got gold inside, as it takes a lot to part with them.
IT'S ALL IN FUN
It started as a joke
With the occasional jig and poke
About writing letters
Who would be the better.
Although it,s a private contest
I think I must protest.
104 was mentioned
I could almost feel the tension.
Step in if I may
And show you the way
141 was wrote today
To that, what do you say.
Is this the best
In all the west
Champion letter writer
Who could be better.
To Elaine I say
You must feel gay
The contact was won
'was all in fun
Take your beer
And shed no tear
RC (Mrs)
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Hello 31 this is 39, stay well away from everywhere, over.
31 Wilco, out.
NO COMMENT
Prom the Adjutant to OG "Rear Party:
Please submit bids for additional buses to move passengers tr lling on the special aircraft between Fallingbostel and Hannover.
49 INTSUM
similarity between a bra and a sheepdog is that they both round them up and point them in the right direction.
G TROOP JOTTINGS
The long awaited day is almost upon us; the return to the fold. At the moment the Troop has started its last tour at the different tasks. The Bridge, probably the coldest of all locations, has seen the "last' of G Troops stags, we shall sadly miss the passing of the Mothers Pride trucks on the way from the Bakery. Bdr "Gin e Cunliffe is absolutely frantic, he has no idea where his next chocolate snowball will come from.
Bdr "Ragsy" Dodds has returned from trying to pour beer in his ear at Plymouth, hard luck with the Football Ragsy.
Lcpl Ernie-Henderson celebrated his 21st''birthday on the10th of February:
21st? doesn't time fly.
The following article on the fair sex has been found and as we are returning home shortly, it may be useful to remind ourselves of this strange beast.
Chemical properties;
1. Possesses great affinities for gold, silver, platinum and precious stones.
2. Able to absorb great quantities of expensive sustenance’s
3. May explode spontaneously if left alone with a male.
4. Insoluble in liquids, but activity greatly increased by saturation with alcohol.
Physic Properties;
1. Boils instantly and freezes without reason
2. Melts with correct treatment
3. Bitter if used incorrectly
Uses;
1. Highly ornamental especially in sports CTS.
2. Most fearful money reducing -agent known.
3. Can be a great aid to relaxation.
Tests;
1. Pure specimens turn rosy when discovered in natural state
2. Turns green if placed beside a better specimen.
Medical:
1. Essential to normal life, deficiency results in various uncomfortable symptoms.
Caution
1 HIGHLY DANGEROUS except in experienced hands.
2 Illegal to possess more than one specimen, though a limited amount of exchange is permitted.
One note we look forward to seeing you, girls, where ever you are; four months has been a long time.
PROMOTIONS DURING THE TOUR
TO SGT
DECEMBER:
BDR EVERITT
BDR TOHODE
BDR WALSH
FEBRUARY
BDR HARKIN
TO BDR
DECEMBER:
LBDR CAMERON
LBDR GRAVES
LBDR HILT
LBDR MOORE
LBDR NOBLE
LBDR STRETCH
TO LBDR
DECEMBER
GNR ALLAN
GNR APPLEBY
GNR BARROW
GNR CALLAGHAN
GNR EVERALL
GNR FIELDHOUSE
GNR HARRIS
GNR MITCHISON
GNR MURPHY
GNR STINTON
GNR WALTON
The Final Chapter in the memoirs of a Subaltern
I have now reached a most enjoyable part of the tour as my relief has arrived and I can enjoy myself by showing him round the patch. There are two thoughts in my mind, firstly I am convinced that knowledge gained over the last four months must be very impressive (l have to convince myself before anybody else) and secondly the end must be in sight.
Before I get too far into this article I must mention the Second in Command, He has convinced us all that when he retires he will become an English Teacher.
How imminent his retirement is we do not know but at the moment he is having plenty of practice at correcting the spelling and punctuation of numerous officers.
There was a rumour that he was going to write an article for this final edition of
"The thoughts of Chairman Thornton" "but his original idea of "An Ode to a Bicycle" had to be shelved due to the difficulty in finding words to rhyme with bicycle.
Many people have said that having been living together for so long we all know each others habits very well but there is one set of habits that have not been greatly discussed or witnessed.
However there is always an exception, Lt "Euan Pyper managed to attract the caress of a female "Bograt" while standing at a check point. We believe he would prefer to tell this story himself as there is a strange tweak to it. He assures us that it is not the same girl that sent him a Valentines Card.
Although the last few days have been a little hectic there has been some time available for planning the activities after our return,, Somehow most of the recent planning in the 49th Battery has been next years equestrian events which has resulted in the "Battery Commanders Office being known as "The Stable"
No piece of literary genius written by myself for this magazine would be complete without a mention of my "PIGLETS".
They are alive and well having stood up to the latter part of the tour without incident only hope that they will withstand the journey back to Fallingbostel without injury or getting cross as it was in transit that they sustained the injury which required Araldite treatment.
Now that I have mentioned returning to Fallingbostel I will stop and say we all look forward to returning home to wives, girlfriends, dogs, horses and a normal life again.
BOB,s BIRTHDAY
Bob's Birthday is a twelve year old chestnut gelding by Mosquito. He is in fact a racehorse and in 1974 won ten races, unfortunately he did not race in 1975 due to an
Injury.
During the month of March Bob is going to be the property of the Regiment
(at no expense to any soldier). He is going to run at Sandown Park in the Grand Military Meeting on 13th March and again at Sandown Park in the Royal Artillery Gold Cup on 30th March.
He will be carrying the Regimental Colours of dark blue sweater with light blue X belts and sleeves and a dark blue cap with light blue spots.
The race on 30th March is televised on ITV so all those on leave in UK, switch on!
If Bob can reproduce his form of 1974 he should stand a good chance provided the jockey Lt Charles Moore can match his standard.
The 42nd Regiment is the very first Regiment to own and run a racehorse in England, yet again we lead the way!
.
To my husband J
Manys the day
I've wished you far away
But now that you're gone
Its so awful alone
No-one to turn to
When things get bad
Excepting the boys,
Who are missing their Dad
Darling I love you
I think you must know
I just have to tell you
I'm missing you so.
But try not to worry
Here we're all fine
Love you forever
Dearest husband of mine.
STEVENSONS ROCKETS
Since our last contribution I Troop have had a very busy and quite an interesting time We had a good find during an area search when Gnr 'Bernie Fletcher unearthed a transistorised radio transceiver. Later that day we were visited by Felix with his Lilliput equipment who had a strong indication of a signal from another receiver in almost the same place as we had found the first one. Just as we got back to camp after having had a look for it a device was exploded somewhere in the Bogside but we never found out where - draw your own conclusions!
Three days on observation post duties continues to be looked on as a therapeutic cure where sections can't be got at by Battery Commanders and Battery Sergeant Majors.
The latest weekend activity is rioting and we have had our share of minor aggro and received our fair share of bricks. Silverstone was never matched by the "outer circuit''. The small circuit is in essence stock car racing in a pig. The idea is for them to break our wing mirrors and lights etc in the shortest possible time. Quite a few collisions have occured and we have not yet caught up on all the FMT 3 action yet, (FMT 3 is the military form used to report all the details of a traffic accident — Ed).
Gunner Peter Hornsey always wanted to do a bread round and he was last seen driving up William Street in a bread-van. This was after the rioters had tried to burn a bakery down.
Bdr !Ena' Sturgess is still thought to be alive and living on a diet of "fritters and bastard fish.
•
Congratulations to Bdr Benny Hill and Gnr Roy Brown who played soccer for the regiment against 29 regiment, hard luck on the result.
Comments of the week mast go to Gnr Keith Bignell; Troop Commander 'Good Morning Bignell Bignell, lt was when I got up sir I
and from an irate Irishman in the Bogside to Gnr Zakrezewski;
"You Brits are trigger happy and always doped up
•
I Troop goes into suspended animation at the end of the tour and the lads return to E and F Troops. It will give those two troops a touch of class and help their rugby teams when the Inter-Troop Competition "begins again in May.
REGIMETAL HOCKEY TEAM TRIP
On Thursday the 12th of February the hockey tea;n was informed that they were playing in the quarter finals of the Gunner Cup against 29 Commando Regiment in Plymouth, The game was to be played on the Monday bully off at 10 oclock.
This at first seemed unlikely as Frank Stagg's death had stirred Derry into an excitable, tense and riotous City. However the CO was prepared to dispense with our valuable services over the weekend and we were t old to be ready to leave at midday on Saturday.
We assembled together on Saturday and left on time at 1430 hours. By 1440 we were back in Victoria barracks since the OIC (who shall be nameless) had decided to check the warrants and discovered they only took the team as far as Liverpool. Despite this clerical attempt to defeat the team before we even started we successfully arrived at Plymouth some 28 hours later.
The highlights of the journey seemed to be the bar on the ferry and the buffet/bar on the train. Fortunately for our heads the bar on the train started at Birmingham and was removed at Bristol even though the team were making valiant efforts to wipe out British Rail's debt buying beer at 37p a can.
Sunday night was enjoyed by all, perhaps too much by some, and the less the better. On Monday morning we all emerged from different corners of the barracks and straggled wearily into a minibus. The team at this stage looked anything but a winning combination. However the pitch which was in a windswept naval barracks on the edge of an enormous clifff soon woke us up and we began the game in a good attacking mood. After several attacking moves we were rewarded with a goal scored by Lcpl Ian Elliott. We continued to play good hockey and were unlucky not to score again.
The second half was notable for the loss Captain White injured and for allowing the opposition to break up our defence and take the initiative. However Sgt Phil Everitt scored a good goal early on in the second half despite the commandos scoring 1 goal we managed to hold them until the end, thus winning 2 — 1.
There was no time for rejoicing as we were due back on the train at 1240 hours.
The journey back was a repeat of the one ther except that the bar on the train lasted from Plymouth to Birmingham. We caught all the right connections and collapsed thankfully onto the ferry in the evening. Despite travelling for the best part of 55 hours for 1 and half hours of hockey we all enjoyed it and are grateful to 29 for our stay in Plymouth.
Finally it was encouraging to note how well the Regiment had managed to cope without us during the busiest week of our tour in Derry - maybe they will not mind if we do the same next weekend but this time to London and with an extra day to recover from travelling fatigue.
RUDDICK,S RIDDLES After bending my listening flaps for some considerable time, the Acorn from the she den has persuaded my favourite person to waste the pen refill he bought for 12p.
A right old organ, sorry acorn, he is to. No doubt old moneybags, sorry, the paymaster, will not refund the 12p.
A friend of mine once said I had the IQ of a petrified amoeba. I am pleased to announce that I am no longer petrified but still have a problem.
J
What can you write about, I say to myself, that hasn,t been written before; a load of garbage about nothing or vice versa. Although writing nothing about garbage would not have brought me this far, it is obvious I'm going all out for the former.
To add a touch of sarcasm would not be out of order and I do so with impunity.
It comes so easy. To date I have encountered the same situation twice.
Two co-operative, but very unsuspecting, young lads paved the way, Lt Cook and
Lt Pyper in that order.
The conversation was about PYE radio batteries, what was expected came.
"Sir, may I have a battery" I said quite simply.
"Sure you can, which one 18, 49 or 94".
They even laughed, "Makes no difference to me sir, they're only good for six hours whichever way you use them".
For some strange reason their laughing tackle became inoperative, isn't it easy: easy isn,t it.
Bogratus Thatpesterus, that wily native of these parts have been exercising their intelligence more these last few weeks than ever before.
Protest marches, like Bloody Sunday though not on as great a scale, and up with missiles hurled at 94 mph on the poor, unsuspecting squaddie. Mind in neutral, the noble gladiator plods on.
The long awaited snows arrived on the 25th of January and disappeared two days later. (Bogratus took advantage of the situation and kneecapped a few snowflakes.)
Going even further back in time to the 17th showed Lt Cook placing his foot in it again, I,m sure he's a "hit man" for the wooden tops. he was travelling in a "pig as front passenger, in order to obtain better vision he decided to adjust the window.
Placing his left hand through the window, to maintain balance, his right hand operated the ELEVATION KNOB? Avoiding the BRAKE LEVER? he turned the dial.
Oh what a clever boy he was, and all by himself too. Instead of going up, the window - came crashing down, crushing his digits as it did so.
I hear he,s now in hospital.
If ever you're out on patrol and spy a chunky (Pioneer Corps) peeling a banana in the middle of the road, please leave him alone, He will be attempting his second class trade test. Both theory and practical no doubt.
I'll take this opportunity to say a few words to my fellow REME warriors, who are just as devoted to Einsteins theory of relativity as they are to soldiering. "Hello you slobs-
I hope you havn,t forgotten which Army you're in. Remember, you once wielded spanners and the mighty hammer. Be prepared to face reality and turn your switches off now". Happy 21st Ernest and take the gas mask off.
You remind me of the stegosaurus, it too had a walnut sized brain weighing 2 half oz
BHQ 18 BATTERY'
There once was a Major called Nick
Who never seemed to win a single trick
By free wheeling around
Without making a sound
In X ray with Marshall his sidekick.
He would go out at night
To make sure things were right
With The BK, the BSM or Pronto .
But the boys got the knock
Of four clicks and he's back
Riding through the night like Tonto .
He,s put flower pots Here
And flower pots there ,
In fact he's put flower pots everywhere.
But with three .weeks to go
And the time going so slow
Even Nick wont see his plants grow.
The electricity folk
Have said "It's no joke",
For, a Major repairing their lights.
T,is a wonderful sight
To see all this light
But "somehow it dont seem quite right.
It,s hard to believe it was a disgrace,
With so much GRAFITTI all over the place,
But now its all gone and the walls are so clean
,A BEM for the BQS you know what I mean!
On the Craigavon Bridge , for the one millionth car
Came our Mary Peters from Belfast a far,
She stepped out of her car with her crown in her hand,
Placed it on our Nicks head, by gum it looked grand!
Now its nearly all done,
Or so we all think ,
But still there remains a horrible stink.
Weve all done our best in this city of Derry,
It's been very hard, but were all still merry.
So goodbye to painting, flower pots and rain,
Pull the plug out now lads, let it go down the drain.
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