Page 6 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

4 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN)
Colonel of the Regiment’s Foreword
This is the fourth edition of The Chapka. It illustrates su- perbly the breadth and ambition of the activities being con- ducted by the serving regiment together with the progress and unity now evident across both our Old Comrades’ Association and our museums. There is a lot for which we can all justifi- ably be very proud. This is my last opportunity, as Colonel of the Regiment, to write this Foreword, so I thought it would be appropriate to take stock of the remarkable level of achievement across all aspects of the regiment.
The serving regiment continues to flourish at its home in Catter- ick where, after much deliberation, it will stay until at least 2025. Its first operational tour in Cyprus was an undoubted success; in particular, it was a great opportunity for our young officers, NCOs and troopers to practice their leadership and experience the independence and empowerment that is so important for our role as recce soldiers. In Canada, C Squadron was able to develop further their core recce skills at BATUS. Both locations will be well known to many readers of this journal and you will recognise much of what is written about these activities in sub- sequent pages. Crucially, following the years of campaigning in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have led important conceptual work to understand again (and ensure the Army understands again) the requirement for armoured reconnaissance. This is essential work as we begin to think about how best to optimise on the capability offered imminently by our new platform, AJAX.
When visiting the regiment, wherever they are, what instantly stands out is the positive approach shown by our soldiers, and this is something that has routinely been pointed out to me by the Army’s hierarchy. A lot of this can be put down to leadership at every level, and I would venture that our Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess is as strong as I can remember. These two factors, combined with the energy and enthusiasm of the Offic- ers’ Mess, enables the sort of indomitable spirit that is so evident and of which I am both excited and proud.
Turning now to the Old Comrades’ Association, our aim has been to provide a vibrant organisation that is attractive to its many members and delivers what they both need and want. Its raison d’être is to ensure those in need of benevolence come to the at- tention of HHQ, allow remembrance and enable members to keep in touch with each other through a variety of physical and virtual networks. Vitally, in delivering this, we have stressed the importance of maintaining the great histories and traditions of our antecedent regiments, whilst looking to the future and estab- lishing and maintaining links with the serving regiment and the outstanding soldiers of today, all of whom will in turn be Veteran Lancers themselves. I aspire to all Lancers of whatever origin be- ing ‘all of one company’, from cradle to grave, and the combina- tion of a strong, energetic and committed Old Comrades’ Com- mittee, combined with the diligence of Home Headquarters and the remarkable work being done in our branches, gives me confi- dence that we are on track. We now have 11 active branches, repre- senting all five regiments (we already have veterans who have only ever been in The Royal Lancers), all recognising the new regi- ment, and with members who are proud to be Veteran Lancers.
I strongly encourage everyone to visit our museums in Derby and Thoresby. They are both outstanding examples of what a regimen- tal museum should look like and deliver, and both achieve signifi- cantly higher than average footfall. My direction to the Chairman of the Museum Working Group in 2015, acknowledging that we would only receive funding for two museums for an finite period of time, was to create the conditions for a single Lancer museum, initially on two sites but quite possibly merging onto a single site should somewhere suitable become available. They have been
busy, overseeing detailed consultancy work to provide the best way to bring the two museums together under the new Royal Lancer Museum Trust. By the time of publication, we should have a single collection (housed in the two existing Museums) and the predeces- sor Museum Trusts will have been dissolved. From this, the final act in the amalgamation journey, we will develop a single Royal Lancer story and brand at our two sites.
The home team at Home Headquarters somehow holds all this together, conducting unseen and unthanked work in support of us all. Having lived with the uncertainty of moving, somewhere and sometime, Lancer House in Grantham is now secure until 2025 at the earliest. What we don’t see but what is most impor- tant, is the remarkable and painstaking benevolence work that they do in support of our Veterans together with the administra- tion of the Charitable Trust.
There are a huge amount of people involved in supporting all of this: from the Trustees of the regiment’s Charitable Trust; the Old Comrades’ Committee, branch hierarchies and all those unoffi- cially looking out for each other; museum Trustees, curators and volunteers; to the team in Home Headquarters; to our serving of- ficers and soldiers. All go above and beyond, giving their time, energy and expertise to the Regiment and its many aspects and I could not be more grateful than I am for their support. Above all, a regiment is about its people, and their preparedness to give their all; to pay the ultimate sacrifice, and I am most indebted to our serving officers and soldiers for their extraordinary loyalty and dedication to their country, their regiment and their mates.
In summary, our story to date is one of great progress, unity and success.
Following the tragic and untimely death of Brigadier Jamie Mackaness (obituary elsewhere in this journal), to whom I was planning to hand the Colonelcy at the regimental weekend in June, I will now be handing this immense privilege and hon- our to Colonel Richard Charrington. He is highly qualified for this appointment and there can be no one more committed to the regiment: he commanded the 9th/12th Royal Lancers from 2002 to 2004; until recently he has been Chairman of The Royal Lancer Museum Trust; he wrote Spearman, the history of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers; and his father and grandfather both served with distinction in the 12th Lancers. I wish him every success and know that you will support him during his tenure as much as you have supported me.
I look forward to seeing many of you on 8th and 9th June at the regimental weekend in Catterick.