Page 61 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 59
Final Fling 31 – 40 Years of Field Sports
For those of you who were unaware, Exercise FINAL FLING is now in its 40th year. It was started in the Summer of 1978 by five officers and over the next few years wove its way into the
calendar of the officers’ mess as an annual event. This year we had two sons of the original flingers of ‘78.
For the majority of the 15 who drove or flew up to Exercise FI- NAL FLING 31 last year, it was their first experience of Scottish field sports. The exercise this year returned to Rhifail Lodge, on the North Coast about an hour West of Thurso. It is in fact the third time the Regiment has been there; once in 2007 led by now Lieutenant Colonel Woolgar and in 2009, led by Major Horne. Reassuringly, it has lost none of its charm with it also being the authors first fling!
And what a week we all had this year. Led by the more expe- rienced hands of Major Bowie, Captains Purbrick and Henson and Lieutenant Marriott the week started well with a diversion to Sutherland for some excellent roe stalking courtesy of General Marriott, which was followed by an excellent dinner. Lieutenant Titcomb’s stalk provided some delicious venison for supper later in the week. The remainder of the party debussed after their (9 hour) minibus journey to find Captain Purbrick characteristi- cally well settled in; in front of a log fire and with whisky in hand. An introduction followed with the superb head keeper, David, and his team, Alistair, Julie and Ryan (16 years old but famously claimed by his father to be ‘twice as tall and twice as wide’ as Lieutenant Hastings, also in the conversation). We quickly struck up a rapport over a few bottles of wine and they gave us the good news that, this being the last week of the season, they were keen for as much stalking as possible.
And so the next morning two parties of three apiece headed out onto the hills with the remainder taking on one of the nearby Munros. This was a pattern that continued throughout the week. The only notable exception was Second Lieutenant Free, sitting out the first couple of days to allow his feet to recover from his Jordanian Ultra Marathon, before returning gloriously into the fray to claim his first quarry on day 3. The week was compli- mented by a day of sea fishing organised by Second Lieutenant Mackaness where Lieutenants Marriott and Woodward failed to find their seas legs and Lieutenant Cave managed to dress appro-
Lieutenant Cave in his Sunday Best
priately in a Hawaiian shirt and aviators. Lieutenant Batterbury and Second Lieutenant Kalish cooked up a storm with the catch – the ling a particular favourite. We should also not forget the efforts of an enterprising Lieutenant Gray in managing to get in three days of surfing; joined by the author on day two who man- aged to find the only wetsuit without a zip...
Some truly demanding and stunning stalking took place as the main activity though, with the terrain favouring long, looping approaches and a premium on ground selection and wind con- ditions. David and Alistair were truly excellent, with the latter having driven up from Norfolk to host us and given the group’s experience they were great. We were also fortunate to have Cap- tain Purbrick with us, whose skill with the camera made for some excellent photos of the officers in the hills. All in, 14 stags
The Mess bravely conquers Ben Hope