Page 87 - RSDG Year of 2021 CREST

London and South East
We began last year’s report like this: “As with all other branches and Associations we were to be hit by the pandemic, with events severely curtailed in line with national restrictions. This resulted in no Cavalry Memorial weekend in May, No Founders Day Gathering at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in June and no annual RAC sponsored Sunday Governors parade at the Royal Hospital in October.”
In 2021, aside from some relaxation of restrictions both nationally and locally, not a lot changed at the begin- ning of the year. However, come September there was a concerted effort by Old Comrades across the country to be involved the Regimental events in Edinburgh to mark the 50th anniversary of the amalgamation. The London Branch was no exception. The Secretary headed north to be joined in Edinburgh a day later by his partner in crime from Chelsea, Mark ‘Mad Pierre’ Smith. It was good to meet up with a lot of older faces once more, to participate in the formality of the Edinburgh events and then go on an extensive review of the hospitality establishments along the Royal Mile. Social distancing was evidently not a major concern in some places, but good to report that post excursion testing of the detachment proved all was well on our return south.
While there was still no group attendance allowed at the Field of Remembrance in Westminster in November, the Chairman designate, Rupert Gather, represented the Branch. On Remembrance Sunday a relatively small group of twenty members of the Association from the London, South West and Glasgow branches, braved the crowds and marched at the Cenotaph Parade in Whitehall. Our new In-Pensioner at Chelsea, Mick Skerratt, resplendent in his Scarlet coat and Tricorn marched alongside the RAC Parachute Squadron Old Comrades but joined us after the parade for a chat. This year, because of restrictions at the Royal Hospital, mem- bers of the Association then gathered at the Rose and Crown in Chelsea for a few “warmers into the bank”.
On 5 December the annual gathering at the Carabiniers Memorial on the Embankment at Chelsea Bridge went
ahead. This year, with no restriction on numbers, over twenty serving and retired people including representa- tives of the South African Legion UK attended. Wreaths were laid on behalf of the Association and Serving Regiment after the customary sounding of the Last Post and Reveille. The Reveille raised a couple of eyebrows amongst the serving detachment who questioned why such a nice tune was played. It was the Carabiniers Reveille, a tune that we have played for the last two decades at Chelsea! At that point it struck home that this old Thursday morning tradition of it being played outside Regimental Headquarters is now consigned to the history books, so it is good that in this corner of the country it is being maintained for posterity.
‘O du liebe Augustin’ is an Austrian childrens folk song published in about 1800. In 1679, Vienna was struck by the Great Plague and Augustin was a ballad singer and bagpiper, who toured the city’s inns entertaining peo- ple. The Viennese people loved Augustin because of his charming humour in bitter times, and they called him Lieber Augustin (Dear Augustin). However, the lyrics were adapted by the Carabiners to “The Carbs have got no High-lows, no High-Lows, they’ve sold them for beer!” High-Lows were an early form of ‘boot, combat high’ developed in the early 1920s.
As the year ends, we hope that, despite the arrival of Omicrom and all that entails, 2022 will see us return to some sense of normality with the Association here in the South East marching on under a new team of Rupert Gather, Chairman, and George Cochlan, Secretary, from the AGM in January.
EAGLE AND CARBINE 93