Page 6 - Light Dragoons 2022 CREST

The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Foreword by the Colonel of the Regiment
When I wrote this piece at this point last year, I expressed hope that in 2021 we would be able to meet each other and reconnect across the Regimental family as the pandemic relaxed its grip. Happily, that hope has been realised and, although the Cavalry Memorial Parade and the Liverpool Branch reunion were cancelled, the Newcastle and Barnsley branches enjoyed excellent reunions and the Officers Dinner in London was a resounding success. As we look forward to 2022, I am confident that events will go ahead as planned including in Liverpool and in Hyde Park, with the added bonus of a Regimental Association visit to Catterick in July.
I also wrote a year ago about the commit- ment to Op NEWCOMBE in Mali. There is plenty about the deployment elsewhere in these pages in both words and pictures, and it is a very good story. In short, the Regiment, accompanied by a rifle company from the Royal Anglians and a variety of other attachments, performed admirably; really cementing the importance of the Light Cavalry capability in the Army’s
ORBAT and enhancing the Regiment’s already strong reputation for professional excellence as a reconnaissance regiment. I pay tribute to the leadership of officers and NCOs at all levels, and especially to the Commanding Officer, Tom Robinson, for all they did to ensure that all ranks acquit- ted themselves in exemplary fashion in such a demanding environment.
Closer to home, I must pay tribute to a number of members of the Regimental Association who have devoted consider- able time and effort in the last two years to establish the Light Dragoons Peer Support Group. As a regimental family, we must look out for those members of the family who may be struggling as a consequence of their service, and help them to find a way through such that they can establish some peace and stability in their lives. Recently, we have also launched Leafyard and you will find further information about this important initiative elsewhere in these pages. I commend it to you, and encourage you to give it a go, and make contact with the LDPSG if you need.
Of course, the glue that binds all these things together and which provides the support to so many members of the Regimental Association is Home Headquarters in Fenham Barracks in Newcastle. Mel, Dicky and Mandy work tirelessly on behalf of all ranks, serving and retired, and they are an excellent team. However, the end of an era beckons in 2022 as Mel retires as Regimental Secretary later this year, bringing to a close a staggering commitment of 49 years to the 15th/19th Hussars and The Light Dragoons. A full tribute will appear in these pages next year; in the meantime, I am sure that you will all join me in wishing him the very best of good luck as he heads off into retire- ment, perhaps in the hope that Newcastle United, with their new found wealth, will compete for honours.
Carrie and I wish all Light Dragoons, wherever you may be, the very best for 2022 and we very much look forward to seeing you soon.
AW
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