Page 27 - QARANC Vol 15 No 2 2017

oldest Association member present, who presented the bouquet
HRH Countess of Wessex with Col Bush, SSgt Evans and students from the Health Care Assistant school
by the Band of The Royal Logistic Corps. The band played until it was time to go home, and its presence added a very special element to the afternoon. The Countess looked the epitome of style in a suit of the palest powder pink, echoing the popularity of one of this year’s ‘in’ colours. After meeting the Colonels Commandant and the Chief Nursing Officer the Countess was introduced to small groups of us, circulating amongst the rest of the guests after tea.
We adjourned to the marquee for tea and cake cutting – a most impressive confection in red and grey created by Sheila Jones who transported it all the way from Glasgow. The Countess was presented with a bouquet by Bettina Wood, the oldest member present, and one of eighteen Millbank Branch members attending. Col Sue Bush presented her with Army Nurse Fuchsias to plant in her garden. The Army Nurse Fuchsia is a very hardy plant, and has survived in my garden for over twenty years, so hopefully it will prosper in the garden of Bagshot Park. Despite being created and named for the American Army Nurse Corps after the Second World War, the QAs have certainly made the Army Nurse Fuchsia their own!
Following tea, many of those present took the chance to have photographs taken by the official photographer as it was an opportunity not to be missed, not being able to bring our own cameras. We could relax, mingle, chat with each other, enjoy the blazing sun, and listen to the band before it was time to return to RMA Sandhurst and set off for home. I don’t think I am alone in wishing we could have stayed longer at what was a fun and very relaxed afternoon in convivial company and in the presence of our Patron and Colonel in Chief. One
– with cake of course!
Anniversary - Alison Spires and Jacqui Hall
HRH the Countess of Wessex with the immaculately turned-out members of the working party who looked after us so well
of the household staff remarked to us that he loved his job, and as he lived in, he rarely had to venture down the drive to the bustling A30 and the real world!
The afternoon went off without a hitch, and we thank Col Sue Bush, RRC, Colonel Commandant and Chair of the Trustees, for her meticulous planning in the early stages. Thanks must also go to our new General Secretary, Sue McAteer, for taking on much of the final organisation when she was very new in her post – surely a baptism of fire! Just how many portable loos do 150 ladies and gents, of varying ages need? Many others offered help to organise members’ arrival and departure from Robertson House so that its work could carry on unhindered by the presence of 150 extra people descending on the dining room just after lunch.
All of us will have gone home with good memories, feeling privileged that we were invited to celebrate our 70th Anniversary at the family home of our royal Patron, (a rare honour) and happy that we could renew friendships. ‘Friendship’, the motto of our Association, has never been more appropriate.
Alison Spires, Membership Secretary, RHQ
With thanks to the following for their contributions: Carolyn Smith, Vice Chairman West Country Branch Diana McCrea, Welsh Branch
Trish McCann, Millbank Branch
Pat McKay, Jurassic Coast Branch
THE GAZETTE QARANC 25
The Countess with Bettina Wood, the Celebrating 70 years of Friendship Old Friends for 30 years at the 70th