Page 46 - QDG 2023

44 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess
Regtl Christmas day.
This year has been a quieter than usual year for the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess due to exercises and operations. The Mess has continued to celebrate key events including a pensioner’s dine out, where the mess dined out Maj Mansel and has also supported A Sqn Mess Members to cele- brate Christmas while deployed on Op CABRIT 14.
The start of the year saw the hand over take over of Regimental Sergeant Major from WO1 Chant to WO1 Ruddy. WO1 Chant moved to Sandhurst and assumed the role of the senior advisor for the Centre of Army Leadership (CAL). As a Mess we wish him all the best in a role he will certainly flourish in.
As a Mess, we continued to reinforce relations with the Officers’ Mess and would usually try and fit a few events in the calendar to incorporate both Messes. This year, the Officers were hosted by the Mess for a clay pigeon shoot followed by a BBQ in the Mess. The weather had other plans and it was almost rained off, but as the age old saying goes “If it ain’t raining,weain’ttraining”.Theshootwent ahead and Capt Carter (RSO) turned up giving Mess Members advice on the best
The HOTO of Regimental twitter account
methods to use, but was quickly put in his place when SSgt Wright took the lead and put Capt Carter firmly back in his box. We then moved back to the Mess and continued the afternoon with a BBQ.
Waterloo 208 was the next major event in the calendar. The evening was a great success, and this year was some of the best skits the mess has seen. This involves a lance serial that went embarrassingly wrong but was swiftly rectified by Maj O’Shea. This year is also the first time that the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess has won both the cricket and the rugby, placing both
trophies where they rightly
belong. Towards the
end of the year, the regiment
PMC’s HOTO complete. Accounts intact
celebrated Regimental Christmas Day. The day was a great opportunity to get everyone together and calibrate as a Mess. Upon rehearsing the Christmas carol, we soon realised that SSgt Taylor had been hiding his ability to sing with pitch perfect precision. The Mess utilised this when we sang our carol to the Officers’ Mess and Tails deliv- ered an outstanding solo. After being hosted by the Officers’ Mess, including an outstanding curry, we moved down to the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess where the nails tournament began. I think its safe to say that since Germany, both Messes have slight skill fade.
The year ended with some movement within the committee. The President of the Mess Committee (PMC), WO2 McKinnon, has handed over to WO2 Roberts prior to B Sqn deploying on Op CABRIT. Due to pre-deployment training, the only time Mr McKinnon and Mr Roberts could complete the hand over take over was in Las Vegas on the strip. Times are tough.
2024 will be another busier than usual year due to operational commitments, however the mess will continue to cele- brate key events and support those deployed on operations.
MR