Page 16 - QARANC Vol 14 No 11 2015

14 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Corps Day in Sierra Leone
Greetings from Sierra Leone
Yesterday we celebrated one of the most enjoyable Corps Days of my time in the Army, Lt Col Alison McCourt ARRC Commanding Officer of the KTTU and 21 QA Nurses and HCAs from KTTU were joined by 2 QA’s from HQ ISAT, 10 from the Role 2 and 2 from RFA ARGUS for an afternoon of celebration.
The afternoon commenced with a montage of QA pictures, - No I was not in them - followed by an introduction to our Corps history, Maj Jayne Atkins spoke about the history of our Corps, Cpl Jamie Hallam spoke about the courage of three QA’s during WWII and LCpl Jodie Burke spoke about a QA who had served in Sierra Leone which was quite fitting. Rev Farmer commenced the service by lighting the candle for absent friends and missing colleagues, a hymn, prayers, The Corps Collect (read by Cpl Sally Webster) was finished with a rousing rendition of the Corps hymn fantastically played by the Royal Marine Band. A very moving service.
With a lot of hard work put in by the team and an absolutely blinding meal of Prawn Cocktail, Beef Wellington and a very tasty Bakewell Tart with Ice cream (all produced in the field kitchen by ‘Chief Chips’ and his team) we dined alfresco under a palm tree in camp (surreal) the evening entertainment
continued with the Royal Marine Corps band with the vocalist Lt (RN) Sue Jeffreys playing some Dixie music LCpl Emily Gurton took a turn on the mike singing Son of a Preacher Man, (she was good). No time for the Quiz (I am sure some were very relieved) we will save it for later, a ‘disco’ and then the night ended at 22hrs. a good time was had by all.
Special mention to our colleague who made the initial plans for the day, SSgt John Fagan who stepped in last minute to tie up the loose ends, all who volunteered to serve on for
the evening (RAF Navy RAMC) Rev Farmer for conducting the service, Brigade Commander Brig Andrew Hughes L/QRL who was our honoured guest, Lt Col Anne Phillips RAMC and Capt Eugene O’Connell for being the photographers and a special thank you to LSgt Mikey White and his team of Chefs for what was truly a great meal.
I would also like to thank the QARANC Association for the contribution of funds towards this fantastic QARANC Corps Day.
Lt Col Pat Gibson MBE
QARANC Corps Day Celebrations
22 Mar 15
Each year in March, members of the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps at MDHU Frimley Park as well as friends from the local branch of the QA Association combine their Corps Day church service with the Turning the Pages ceremony.
This year our QA Corps Day was on Sunday 22 Mar at the Royal Garrison Church in Aldershot. In attendance was the QA Col Commandant; Col Bush RRC and the AMS Corps Col, Col Borham L/RAMC as well as many QA’s from MDHU’s Frimley Park and Portsmouth, 22 Fd Hosp and 4 Med Regt.
I, having just arrived at my first posting at MDHU Frimley as a registered nurse, was asked to take part in the ‘Turning the Pages’ ceremony. This for me was a huge honour and privilege as a brand new private soldier and nurse.
The Book of Remembrance honours all QAIMNS and QARANC personnel who were sadly killed in active service during the First and Second World War as well as in other conflicts. Each year on Corps Day a page is turned and
the names of those who have fallen are read out in respect of their memory; this year read by myself and SSgt Jude Chambers (4 Med Regt) with the Corps Collect read out by WO1 Halligan; additional readings were read by Capt Yarker (22 Fd Hosp) and Heather Duncombe (Regimental Secretary). Following the Turning the Pages the remainder of the service was taken by the padre, where during one of the Hymms a collection was taken for the Royal Marsden; in memory of Cpl Lara Whittaker QARANC who sadly lost her battle with cancer this year.
Once the service finished, those who were able showed off their marching skills by taking part in a march past in acknowledgement of the corps. A traditional curry lunch was then served in the all ranks mess at Normandy Bks, a great way to end a successful and sunny Corps day!
Pte Louise Weaver
RN (A)
QARANC