Page 64 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

62 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN)
Sergeant (SQMS) Matt Wooff, ‘Tosh’ Tiffy White and his Troop Sergeants Miles, Pennington, Nagorski, Ross, King and Walker. No BATUS would be complete without the mandatory seniors’ trip to Med Hat: visiting the score board and chowing down on some inferno chicken wings (body-meltingly hot), then going to Ralph’s bar to try one’s hand at some good old authentic line dancing – all finalised with a request to leave by the door staff (usually), for the Canadians are not very understanding of the British sense of humour.
The third and final frontier was at home in Cambrai Barracks with the Rear Operations Group (ROG). Stepping up as Regi- mental Sergeant-Major rear was the Regimental Quartermas- ter (Technical) (RQ(T)) Matt Pook, Squadron Sergeant Major Warrant Officer Class II Damo Hill, and President of the Mess Committee, Warrant Officer Class II Jon Hobson. The three ring leaders of the ROG kept the home fires burning and managed to eat as much toast between the three of them as the whole mess would normally consume in six months. (We will not mention the beer they supped). Whilst the three amigos indulged, the workers that remained grew slimmer, appeared wearier and had slightly less hair than prior to when the ROG started. Artificer Sergeant-Major (ASM) Jase Pordage, Artificer Quartermaster- Sergeant (AQMS) John Froggart, Sergeant Major Dave Quinn and Sergeant Kris Palmer worked tirelessly managing the regi- mental vehicle fleet, regimental duties and the small number of soldiers left in Cambrai Barracks.
The mess finally re-grouped in October just in time for Balak- lava – a dinner night was in order. To cries of excitement and euphoria, the PMC laid out the plans for the upcoming night’s entertainment. Newly promoted Sergeants were appointed: Ser- geant Atherley acted as Mr Vice (his grace will go down in Mess history) and Sergeant Wooderson was the superstar Disk Jockey (DJ). The evening was a great success and a fantastic opportu- nity to bring the mess back together to swap stories and tell lies of the last six months.
In a blink of an eye, December was upon us and time for the greatest sporting event in the WORLD: Officers Vs SNCOs rug- by. This year it lived up to the hype. Both teams put everything on the line. There was slick ball handling, tackles that could be felt on the side-lines and a turn of pace which would have left Usain bolt trailing far behind. Deep into overtime; the deadlock was broken. The officers crossed the line and scored (the referee was an officer), taking victory. All was not lost, with the third half due to be held in the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ mess.
What a third half it was. By the end of the night only a few of- ficers were still standing (Late Entry officers that is) and a great night was had by all.
It was finally time to stand down for Christmas, but not before the spectacular winter ball. The Blackwell Grange Hotel was the destination. After the PMC had convinced the RSM that “it’s only money”, rooms were booked, a magician vowed to wow us all and a photographer came to capture the mess thoroughly en- joying themselves. (I suspect some photos didn’t look so good in the light of day)
Notably is the recent success of Warrant Officer Class I (Regi- mental Sergeant Major) Kev Hough, Warrant Officer Class I (Regimental Sergeant-Major Instructor) Carl Hackney, War- rant Officer Class I Danny Franks and Warrant Officer Class I (Regimental Sergeant Major Royal) Armoured Corps Training Regiment) Neil Renton on the Late Entry Officer commission- ing board. Also notable is the great achievement and success by Warrant Officer Class II (Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant) Stu Hollis and Warrant Officer Class II Damo Hill on the War- rant Officer Class I board.
PMC Jon Hobson