Page 14 - 1RHA 2024

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
The Gun Gp’s final hurrah took place on a mixture of public and private land in the south of Estonia, providing a dynamic and aggressive enemy for the 2nd Estonian Brigade during their vali- dation on Ex SPRING STORM. Amidst some glorious and much longed-for spring weather, the Battery provided Battle Group Fires alongside French and Estonian soldiers. The exercise was conducted over public land, leading to some entertaining decon- flictions with local farmers and scenes reminiscent of the BAOR days. All in all, it was some of the most realistic training the Bat- tery has had the pleasure to conduct in the past year.
Op CABRIT wasn’t all frozen exercises and long winter nights. Interwoven into the busy year was a full variety of extra-mural activities for the troops to get their teeth into. El Tamar Troop (B Bty TAC) took on the icy waters of Tallinn harbour in the Ice Swimming World Championships, with their TSM SSgt D Mars- den stealing the show by placing in the top 100 of swimmers in the 100m freestyle and qualifying for the next year’s champion- ships. Good luck SSgt Marsden! Members of the Battery took part in the Estonian Scout’s Battalion 30km loaded march, a gru- elling yet scenic trudge around the Central Training Area, with a strong showing for the regiment, beating the 5 RIFLES’ Recce
platoon. Several of the troops were lucky enough to get away on adventure training centred around Voru in the south of the country. B Battery members enjoyed a mix of mountain biking before the snows set in for good and later took to cross-country skiing. The troops even conducted some alpine, although given that Estonia’s largest hill stands at a modest 300m, this soon turned into more of a cardio-based event than some had hoped for! At the start of March, the Battle Group hosted a NATO Boxing Exhibition in Rakvere in which B Battery’s Gunner Aspinwall and Gunner Blakeman boxed excellently, putting on a fine display for the Battle Group and the British Ambassador.
The Battery’s recovery to Larkhill in June was keenly anticipated, and the vast majority immediately took some much-needed Post Operational Tour Leave while the Tac Group got stuck back into work, keeping the Battery ticking over while the guns enjoyed the summer. Looking ahead, B Battery aims to reintegrate into the regimental family after some well-deserved leave. We now look forward to directing our experience on Op CABRIT into a period of conversion to the L118 (Light Gun) and later converting to our new platform, ARCHER.
B Battery
Maj J Partridge Capt S Bates Capt B Burnett Capt T Crowe Capt K Pounsford Capt B Thomson Lt M Cox
WO2 (BSM) Webber WO2 Musvipa
Ssgt Camara
Ssgt Hughes
Ssgt Marsden Sgt Adamson Sgt Asante Sgt Bradshaw Sgt Foster Sgt Taylor
Sgt Taylor Sgt Thomas Sgt Trude
Sgt Watts
Bdr Aldous-Ball Bdr Ashley
Bdr Barker
Bdr Beale
Bdr Birkett
Bdr Brewer
Bdr Champ Bdr Godsmark Bdr Hall
Bdr Josaia
Bdr Kechida Bdr Kirk
Bdr Payne
Bdr Read
Bdr Sims
Bdr Whitrod Lbdr Altifois Lbd Ashdown Lbdr Bainivesi
Lbdr Brooks Lbdr Buckle Lbdr Degei Lbdr Dorset Lbdr Harrison Lbdr Johnston Lbdr Mills Lbdr Morcom Lbdr O’Mara Lbdr Palu Lbdr Reevey Lbdr Riley Lbdr Singh Lbdr Stanley Lbdr Tennent Lbdr Whyte Lbdr Wilson Gnr Aspinwall Gnr Bakani Gnr Barabi
Gnr Bell
Gnr Bennett Gnr Bhullar Gnr Blakeman Gnr Davenport Gnr Hickling Gnr James
Gnr Latham Gnr Narara Gnr Robinson Gnr Squire
Gnr Stewart Gnr Terblanche Gnr Thomas Gnr Tila
Gnr Wilkinson
Postings in
Capt B Thomson Lt M Cox
Postings out
Capt B Burnett Capt O Newnham Lt H Knight
Lt C O’Bryan SSgt Taylor
Births
Bdr Barker –
Bdr Sims – Winnie Sims, 16/03/24
Gnr House -
Gnr Robinson – Iris Robinson, 09/10/23
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