Page 36 - KRH Regimental Journal 2022

34 The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars
The Quartermaster’s Department
“Don’t mention the QR code”
It was soon apparent that 2022 was going to be a challenging year for the QM’s department; the forecast of events was full of high-profile activity, from ranges at Castlemartin to operations on the Eastern front. The year kicked off with preparation for ranges, a well-trodden path for our seasoned campaigners WO2 (RQMS) Nathan Dyer and Cpl Wilson. To their credit, they prepared all of their required duties with smiles on their faces and toddled off down the M4 to sunny Wales. As the weeks passed rumours flooded back to Tidworth that they had sprung roots in Merrion camp, indeed that they had been there so long they had swapped their uniform for a DIO t-shirt, and the RQMS had clocked up that much mileage on his bicycle trainer it would have made Sir Bradley Wiggins proud!
As the RQMS and Cpl Wilson continued their DIO work expe- rience in Merrion camp, the team back in Tidworth, under the watchful eye of the QM - Capt Jason Mawhinney, set about dis- secting the infamous LSA&I question set – a task that would cause many an eye to bleed, even for the most hardened of G4 warriors! As it happens, this turned out to be one of the outgo- ing QM’s last throws of the dice as he was soon packing his bags for the Dorset countryside and a new assignment within the Corp’s training sphere. It was then the start of a new dawn as the QM’s department welcomed a new QM in the form of Capt Chris Pople, ably accompanied by his trusty side kick ‘Frank’, a rather cylindrical golden Labrador! With ‘Pops’ fresh from the QM’s course in Worthy Down he set about the department, as all new QMs do, with an outlook akin to the phrase ‘why settle for the wheel when you can reinvent it’. As time passed and, like the many great QMs of the past, he belatedly realised that it was actually a steady ship that only needed the odd tap on the tiller. As the weeks drifted by the department’s main effort switched to supporting the Regiment as it geared up for Ex DEFENDER EUROPE 22, a NATO reassurance exercise in Poland. With all hands at the pumps two of the departments ‘Avengers’, Sgt ‘TJ’ Twanje and Cpl Wilson, embarked upon the lengthy pilgrim- age to Drawkso Pormorskie Training Area (DPTA) via the once
“What is this and why do we have so many?” The QM getting to grips with the unit’s Infra
The clothing stores new staff attempt to tidy up after Pte Tripe
infamous Sennelager ‘strip’ in Germany (those who know know!) to support the forward troops. It is fair to say the journey, via road, was Lord of the Rings esq!
With the department split across Europe we bid farewell to one of the department’s stalwarts Cpl ‘Squeaky’ Pearson, who made the mammoth trek from Main to Tech, and welcomed Cpl ‘Old man’ Eardley. Squeaky’s chair had not even stopped spinning as Cpl Eardley set about his new responsibilities like a man possessed. From organising brass plaques for the new technical accommoda- tion, being at one with the skips, and making portaloo bookings look like child’s play, he was a man on fire. He even found time, amongst families day preparation, to calm the irate QM after he had threatened to dismember the civilian contractors as they tore up the ground which had been earmarked for the day’s main events. It was fair to say ‘Old man’ Eardley had found his calling. After the QM’s angst had subsided, he and his team could toast a ‘jolly well done’ as the Families day turned out to be a roaring success; one of the day’s premier events, the crushing of a car by a Challenger 2, even allowed the RQMS to ‘dispose’ of a few smoke grenades that were found by the side of the world-famous amnesty lake. Ask no questions, get told no lies!
With families day in the rear-view mirror and the aroma of Challenger 2 engine fumes and burger stands dissipated summer
Pte Ed Tripe settles into Estonia; busy with all his footwear, his bunk helmet and a reminder which one was his...