Page 115 - RSDG Year of 2021 CREST

EAGLE AND CARBINE 121 Op GRANBY 30th ANNIVERSARY REUNION
‘A trip to nostalgia now and then is good for the spirit’ and it was in this vein that an occasion to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Regiment’s participation in Op GRANBY was conceived. Initial plans to hold a Reunion Lunch at the Cavalry and Guards Club were scuppered by persisting COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings, so a Zoom enabled Reunion took place instead. In many ways, this was fortuitous as many more officers were able to participate, especially those living overseas.
Working off the 1991 edition of Eagle and Carbine, contemporaneous staff lists and the Commander’s War Diary, the composition of the Regiment and attached officers that made up the SCOTS DG Battlegroup was compiled. John Sharples (Commanding Officer), James Cushnir (Adjutant), along with input from the Colonel of the Regiment, Association Chairman Andrew Phillips (7 Armd Bde LO to 1 (UK) Armd Div), and the Regimental Secretary agreed the format for the evening. Home Headquarters were, as ever, extremely helpful in tracking down officers’ contact details, liaising with other Regimental Headquarters and compiling the attendance list.
On the night of the 25thFebruary to coincide with the start of ground operations, reminiscent of events in the Gulf 30 years before, following months of preparation and planning there was a last-minute panic as John Sharples’ computer had stage fright, which threatened to sabotage the whole event. Fortunately, with minutes to go, disaster was averted as the laptop came back to life and we launched across the proverbial start line, reflecting John’s words in the final assembly area, ‘You all appear to be here .... so let’s go!’.
With 65 attendees from as far afield as Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, the evening opened with a message of good wishes from our Colonel in Chief, read by the Colonel of the Regiment. Following welcomes and
introductory remarks from John Sharples, Lt Gen Sir Norman Arthur, Colonel at the time, gave his reflec- tions on the preparations leading up to the deploy- ment and his visit to Fallingbostel, giving special mention to the fortitude of the wives and families. After which, a film, edited by Roger MacMillan, was played, which was a compilation of photos and video capturing the personalities and events throughout the deployment. Following some personal reflections from John Sharples, we dispersed to squadron-based break- out rooms to meet in smaller groups for reminiscing and storytelling of daring-do, cockups and brushes with disaster that characterised our time in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait. The evening concluded in ‘Geoffrey’s Bar’ with those wishing to swing the lamp for a while longer.
Feedback on the event was hugely positive, not least due to the very good attendance from most of the offic- ers involved in the deployment to the Gulf. Sadly, some officers who played key roles including Marty Graham, Tony Crease and Graham Pearce are no longer with us and they were especially missed on this occasion. However, to have assembled most of BG HQ, all the Squadron Leaders, many of the Troop Leaders, Battle Captains and LOs, the BC and FOOs, MTO, EME, RMO and Bandmaster, along with BBC jour- nalists Kate Adie and Martin Bell and Brian Trueman from Vickers Defence Systems made this a very enjoy- able and unique celebration.
Other events that marked this important Anniversary were John Sharples and Billy Raitt’s (RSM) pres- entation to the serving Regiment in Leuchars and Association events in Glasgow and Bovington that attracted a very good turn out of GRANBY veterans. In addition, Mark Ravnkilde (OC A Squadron) authored an excellent pamphlet ‘Desert Dragoons’ The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in the 1990/1991 Gulf Conflict.