Page 143 - Mercian Eagle 2014

Visit of Peter Cash to Derby
by Alan Derbyshire
Not many people will be aware that, in the USA, is a re-enactment group which portrays The Sherwood Foresters. In the past, this small group has donated £600 to the Crich Tower Fund and the Derby Branch WFRA is in regular contact with them. Peter Cash is a member of the group.
During WWII, Peter’s father, sadly recently deceased, served in the USAAF as a member of a bomber crew flying missions from an airbase in southern England. Peter contacted me to tell me that he was visiting the UK for the first time to visit his father’s old base and other tourist attractions down south and that he intended to come to the Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire area to visit the Regimental Museum and Crich, saying that he would like to meet some members of the Association. I could not let Peter stay in a hotel so I invited him to stay with Brenda and me and we were delighted when he accepted. We met Peter at Derby station late on Wednesday 10th September.
On Thursday, following a hearty English breakfast, we took Peter to Crich where he met Tanky Harrison, an experience he will not soon forget! Even though we had pre-warned Peter, it must have been a bit of a shock when Tanky’s face appeared at the car window with a big toothless grin on his face and a courteous ‘Ey up, me duck’! Peter then had a tour of the memorial site, climbed the tower and took numerous photographs. He was very impressed with
the way in which Tanky cared for the site and told him so before handing over a donation of £150 from the re-enactment group. Their contribution to the Memorial now totals about £750 – and that from people who are not part of the Regiment or even British! One cannot thank them enough for their kindness.
We then moved on to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas but, as time was short, we had to be selective in what we showed him. It was then back to Derby and, in the evening, out to the Oast House, which is built on the site of the Sherwood Foresters’ Depot, Normanton Barracks, for a meal. Friday morning, another English breakfast and we were off to Nottingham to visit the Castle and Regimental Museum. After an extensive tour of the Museum and
the WW1 exhibition, we went down to the ‘Trip to Jerusalem’ for a drink. In Peter’s case it was a pint of ‘Old Trip’ and, as I was driving,
The Home Service Force Association (part of your Regimental History)
Alan Derbyshire (L) presents the glasses to Peter Cash
I had a tonic water! Friday night saw us at the ‘Mount Everest’,
the Gurkha Restaurant in Derby. Ten members of the Branch were there to meet Peter and we had a very good night, one that Peter will remember! We presented Peter with two glasses on which were engraved the badges of The Sherwood Foresters and Derby Branch WFRA. We took Peter on Saturday to the B & B in Cambridge where he was to spend the night before visiting the Duxford Air Show on Sunday. We went via the American Military Cemetery at Madingly, just outside Cambridge, as we thought that he would be interested in this very impressive place: we were not wrong! Then it was time to take him to his lodgings, where, once he had booked in, we said our goodbyes. Peter could not thank us enough for our hospitality and he sends his best wishes to all in the Association.
The Derby Branch meets at 1945 hours on the first Friday of the month at the Rolls Royce Foreman’s Club situated at the junction of Bateman Street and Osmaston Road, Derby. All past and serving members of the regiment are welcome. Contact RHQ at Chilwell for more information.
by Paul Hallett
The HSF Association is relevant to The Mercian Regiment because its Antecedent Regiments sponsored many HSF Companies between 1982 and 1992. Their purpose was to guard Key Points and
they comprised ex-servicemen or women with previous service in any of the three Services, Regular or Reserve, Service- sponsored Cadet Adult
In 1985, the HSF “went live” and spread over Great Britain; Companies emerged
at Kidderminster, Walsall, Stockport, Derby and Worksop (HQ locations). Back in 1982, The HSF Pilot was so popular amongst ex-servicemen and women that it was oversubscribed; little wonder, after the Falklands War, perhaps. The training
Instructors and a few MOD Police Officers; they were administered by local Army Brigades and TAVRAs. 2nd Battalion The Mercian Volunteers sponsored No 4 HSF Company
Local Brigadiers were all for it and made this clear to Commanding Officers
activity was therefore very manpower- viable with so many enthusiastic troops that “the system” had to fight to catch up. Local Brigadiers were all for it and made this clear to Commanding Officers, including the
1984, when
invitations to
sponsor the
HSF went out
to all COs in the
Territorial Army in
Great Britain. In the
early days, expediency
and opportunity ruled and so HSF soldiers, all recruited with the rank of Private, often used their initiative and that led to one or two rules being imposed. Officers were recruited from everywhere; some from the ranks, where a former Warrant Officer or SNCO was spotted regularly getting things
in 1982, the other
four being based in Stirling, Reading and Bedford. The Company, always badged
to The Mercian Brigade, was renamed
F Company and stayed so until 1988 when The Mercian Volunteers were disbanded and the Company became F Company 4 WFR.
reality that HSF companies needed to train at weekends, were exempt from certain Bounty Tests and they had an equipment scale all of their own, which mostly excluded accommodation and G1098.
The military administrative system eventually caught up, especially after
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