Page 102 - MERCIAN Eagle 2021

The Worshipful
Company of
Bowyers
Mr Simon Leach, Court of Assistants
This year, 2021, marks the 400th Anniversary of the Charter of 25th May 1621 granted By King James the First to the Master, Wardens and Society of the Mystery of Bowyers of the City of London, although the company was already ancient at that time with records dating back to 1363. To mark the occasion, the Bowyers have published not one commemorative publication, but two! The Bowyers: A New History by Past Master Tony Kench tells the story of how the company survived the Great Fire of 1666 and evolved over the centuries to become what it is today. Central to the story is the bequest of James Wood of 1629 by which the company inherited an estate at Isley Walton in Leicestershire, the income from which was to be used to fund education at England’s two universities and other charitable giving.
The management of the estate over a period of 260 years and of the charities gave the Bowyers a purpose and direction without which they may not have survived into modern times. Court Assistant Simon Leach took a different approach with the New Red Book. The name was taken from a book of documents, known as the Red Book, published in 1901. By reference to original charters, grants, ordinances and estate records (being 64 documents in total) the book plots the key events in the life of the Company over seven centuries. The author was obliged to decipher medieval secretary hand, the flamboyant script of the Restoration period and the formal copperplate handwriting of the Victorians.
No history would be complete without a mention of military affiliations. Prizes for Army Rifle Shooting began in 1881
and continued until 1937. A wit of the day commented that, although weapons and targets had changed, the Bowyers are still carrying out their useful mission of encouraging Englishmen to shoot straight. The affiliation with the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment was signed in 1999. By a co- incidence, the winners of the Bowyers Cup in 1907 were the 3rd Bn of the Worcestershire Regiment. On the amalgamation of the WSFR, the Cheshires and the Staffordshires, a new scroll of affiliation was signed with the Mercian Regiment in 2008. Over the years, a close
relationship has developed between the Mercians and the Bowyers.
There were two events to mark the anniversary. On 25th May itself, a Service of Thanksgiving
was held at St Botolph without Bishopsgate and on 29th September a banquet was held
at the magnificent Drapers’ Hall.
Mr Simon Leach with New Red Book
100
Specialist Weapons School
Capt RG Courtney
Specialist Weapons School is delivering perhaps the most significant level of change since its inception. The Integrated Review detailed the vision for the Army to
be more flexible, agile and
innovative – delivering a
warfighting capability that is
underpinned by the embracing of new battlefield technologies.
At SWS, we have been working hard to explore how we can continue to deliver training to commanders that will ensure Support Companies will cut a leading edge in shaping the modern battlefield, setting the conditions for our Rifle Companies’ success. We recognised that some of the courses had stagnated in recent years and a freshening up was required.
We have worked in tandem with industry partners and explored
a broad range of capabilities. We have formed partnerships with several UAV companies who are developing their products by testing them on our exercises and in turn, allowing us the opportunity to explore how we can employ UAV in order to push surveillance and target acquisition capability down to the lowest tactical level.
In conjunction with UAV, we have performed some tests with
the ATAK software. A situational awareness software which can
be operated on a smartphone and can securely pass information almost instantly – all geared towards shortening our decision-action cycles, helping us to seize and maintain the initiative.
There have also been trials of the remote piloted vehicles – battery powered vehicles able to carry heavy loads across rough terrain which has already proven to be a big hit with students on courses. The RPV has enabled students to move more quickly and with more agility where they had previously been heavily laden with support weapons kit. The fact that it can be remote piloted also means that fewer soldiers need to be risked when extracting casualties under contact. One particular line of effort in our capability development across
all divisions is experimenting with ways to reduce our thermal signature. With current capabilities being overall cumbersome and ineffective against modern Thermal Imaging sights, it is important that we engage with new means of reducing our thermal signature. The nightwalker suit, a light and thin suit that can be worn over the top of MTP has proven to vastly reduce the thermal signature of
an individual, even at short distances. We have also trialled other lightweight thermal sheets that can be placed over an observation post which almost removes the thermal signature of an individual completely.
A historically constant thorn in the side of Support Weapons, Particularly Anti-Tanks is load carriage. We have had extensive engagement with designers across the world who have developed updated versions of our current load carriage equipment for us to trial. With sturdier material, improved load distribution and firmer support on the back and shoulders, these bags have been received with eagerness by our students and Anti-Tank Platoons across the Army are now beginning to procure their own through innovation funds.
The message from SWS remains that all of our practices as Specialist Weapons commanders must continue to be underpinned by doing the fundamentals well. That said, the embracing of capability development and the employment of new technologies
is allowing us to explore ways that can fundamentally change the tactics, techniques and procedures of our Support Companies
that will give us a leading edge on the modern battlefield. More importantly, these capabilities are giving us the opportunity to maximise our own lethality as well as our own soldiers’ survivability.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE