Page 33 - Chiron Calling Spring 2017

Capt Richard (Dick) Lyne RAVC 08 Sept 1957 – 11 Dec 2016
Dick Lyne passed away on the 11th Dec 16, after a long and debilitating illness aged just 59.
Dick enlisted into the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery in 1975. His ability as a horseman was evident from the start of his career and despite a few lapses of discipline as a young Gunner by 1982 he had reached the rank of A/Sgt.
In 1986 Dick transferred into the RAVC in the rank of Sgt and was trained as a Veterinary Technician. Training that he never used, as soon after this training, he was posted to Hong Kong to run the Saddle Club in Lo Wu. Here he became a popular and much respected gure in the small but elite equitation circle. This was followed by a posting back to the RAVC Training Centre as a member of the Army School of the Army School of Equitation staff.
On promotion to WO1 he was posted to ADU NI as the Unit Sergeant Major. He used to joke that the two week dog course he attended as a transferee stood him in very good stead for this role. Despite being away from horses for the rst time in his career, and very much out of his comfort zone in a dog unit, he did a rst class job and after a year was selected for the appointment of RSM at the newly named Defence Animal Centre.
In 1996 he was commissioned and took up the role of OC Army School of Equitation where he remained for the rest of his service. He retired from military service in 2001 and after a brief spell managing a private stable yard in the UK he moved to Dubai, where he worked for a couple of large equestrian establishments for about
six years, before being diagnosed with Motor Neurones Disease. He spent a lot of time in Thailand where he ordained as a
Buddhist Monk and lived in a monastery for a number of months before moving to a village in the northeast of the country prior to moving back to the UK.
He returned home to the UK in July 2015 where he was accommodated in a care home in Nottinghamshire.
He will be remembered by many for being an excellent horseman and riding instructor; by his friends for his sharp sense of humour, and on the golf course where he loved to spend his free time.
All those who knew him will join in offering our condolences to his two sons, Oliver and Declan and the rest of his family.
May he Rest In Peace
OBITUARIES
Mr Irvine Robinson
Mrs Corrine Hammond, Chester eld
Dear Sir,
I am writing on behalf of my grandfather Mr Irvine Robinson who sadly passed away on 17 October 2016 following a period of illness which preceded by a severe stroke. He asked me to pass this information on to yourself after his passing.
My dear grandad served in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps from 1952 to 1955 and he kept in touch with the Corps through his regular copies of Chiron calling which you very kindly sent him twice a year and very much looked forward to.
Irvine Robinson was born in Chester eld in November 1934, but moved to Clowne after at a very young age birth. He attended Clowne Infant and Junior Schools before going to the local Grammar School at Staveley, Derbyshire. He served in the local Army Cadet unit where I reached the rank of Sgt in the Sherwood Foresters.
He joined the Army in 1952 and was accepted in the RAVC as the Corps of his choice. Like many others, he underwent basic training at Lincoln Barracks which did not prove so hard, based on his experience in the Army Cadet. On completion of basic training he reported to the RAVC Training Centre in Melton Mowbray with his friend John Palmer RAVC. During his tour at the RAVC Training Centre, he was employed in the QM’s Stores, followed by a stint on Regimental Police duties then equitation. He then moved to Hyde Park where
he became the VIP Groom to ‘Delilah’ from the Coronation Horse Line in Hyde Park. Delilah was ridden by a Principal Services Aide-de-Camp to General Sir Frank Simpson KCB DSO and she would be riding 3 places behind the Standard. Whereas Delilah would stay in London after the historical parade, Irvine went to Scotland to prepare for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s state visit to Scotland. While in Scotland, Irvine was the groom to ‘Nipper’ who was ridden by Trooper Cowell who escorted VIPs from the Middle East.
On his return to Melton Mowbray, Irvine was told that he would be on the next Dog Training Course that was about to start. Much to his delight, only after a few days into the course, Irvine was posted to No3 Army Dog Unit in Singapore where he was assigned to the QM’s Stores. Here he became known as the ‘No dog training Robinson’. Also on the same draft to the far East was Sgt C Jackson, Cpl K Marshall, Colin and Ken who were all going up country to the Jungle Training Wing.
Along with the Cherry-Pickers (Hussars), they sailed from Southampton on the Georgic. On leaving Southampton Irvine and his mates were detailed to work in the Butchery Department which was well down below the main deck, but this also meant that they were very well looked after by the butchers with coffee, tea and bacon butties.
While on board, Sgt Colin, who had had some experience of the Far East, told them that the experience they would gain with military war dog in a hot country will set them in good stead in future. En route, they transited in Eden and were allowed off shore only to nd this transit a de nite culture shock with ies and more ies everywhere. Then it was Colombo in Ceylon as the last port before Singapore. It was nally time to say goodbye to their friends the butchers, for looking after them so well. Before disembarking it was ‘all hands on deck’ with cleaning the cabins and the decks. On our arrival in Sangapore the Ghurkha Band was playing the ‘Sound of Music’ and the Malayan driver would take them on their nal journey to No3 Army Guard Dog Unit in Singapore. Grandad never forgotten these years in Singapore and the wonderful service he had in the RAVC which he often recounted.
CHIRON CALLING 31