Page 73 - RADC Bulletin 2022

Turning
the Pages
Ceremony
Col (Retd) Paul Mannering
The Army Dental Corps (AD Corps) and Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC) Chapel
is in the Western end, Narthex, of the Royal Garrison Church of All Saints in Aldershot Hampshire. It is formed by an Altar covered by the Corps Altar cloth, the Book of Remembrance contained in a glass topped RADC crested Plinth, the Corps Standard hanging in the corner and chairs with prayer kneelers. The cross-stitch kit church kneelers were made by members of the Corps. On the left side wall of the rear of the seated area is a framed copy of the original Order of Service and a picture of the Festal Cape presented to the Church on the occasion of the Corps fiftieth anniversary.
The Book of Remembrance is bound with the AD Corps badge on the back cover and
the RADC badge on the front. It contains in alphabetical order the names of the fallen eighty-two Corps members. It is that Book of Remembrance that is referred to on the AD Corps and RADC memorial stone with the words “The names of the fallen are inscribed in a Book of Remembrance”.
The AD Corps and RADC memorial stone was originally placed at the Connaught Hospital building Duke of Connaught Road Aldershot which became the Depot and Training Establishment in 1948. The building closed in 1973 and the memorial moved
to the new Headquarters and Training Centre RADC in Evelyn Woods Road, Aldershot. This Army Centre then became a Tri -Service focal point on the creation of the Defence Dental Service. The demise of the uniformed technician and hygienist cadres and the move of the nurse training to Lichfield removed the critical uniformed Army dental personnel from the area. The Memorial stone was located at the front
of the building but did not have the focus
it once had. To ensure it had a place of Remembrance in perpetuity it was relocated
RADC BULLETIN 2022 71