Page 216 - Bugle Autumn 2014

RGJ Association Oxford Branch
Since the last report in the 2012 Bugle, the Oxford branch has become a much livelier organisation.
Early in 2013 the branch’s new newsletter, The Lightbob, was launched and is now published in colour 3 times a year. Now that the Oxford branch website is back online the newsletter, photographs and even a video are available for all to see and read. The 43rd and 52nd Old Comrades Googlegroup mailing list now has over
100 subscribers, and is a useful way of exchanging news and information.
The branch enjoys the splendid facilities at Edward Brooks Barracks, home of
7 RIFLES, where all our activities take
place. As well as the Officers’ Mess and a number of conference rooms, there is the Volunteers’ Bar, where members meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 2000 hrs.
The branch’s two lunches each year, in April and September, continue to be well supported, and diners always enjoy the very high-quality food. In April 2013 Brigadier Robin Draper gave an enthralling illustrated talk entitled, We were young once and ..., tracing the history of the 43rd and the 52nd from their earliest days. An innovation at the 2014 spring lunch was a draw for prizes donated by branch members, organised
by branch secretary Phil Evans. This raised £150 for branch funds.
2013 was also notable for the highly- successful Cyprus 13 seminar, organised by Lt Col Ingram Murray of the Soldiers
of Oxfordshire Museum and chaired by General Sir Robert Pascoe, who served as a subaltern with the Regiment in Cyprus
in the 1950s. Many stories were told and experiences remembered, and the raffle raised £101 for The Veterans Charity, of which General Pascoe is the President.
The Band Concert each June by the Waterloo Band and Bugles is always popular, and in 2013 the weather allowed it to be held out of doors. The wide variety of music played is a tribute to the Director of Music, Major Peter Clark.
The branch’s one visit in 2013 was in October to the Assault Glider Trust at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, where the party of 25 were able to inspect the replica Horsa,
A representative of 142 (QOOH) Vehicle Sqdn RLC and Cpl Dave Phillips of 7 Rifles reading the names of the fallen at the 4th August ceremony
L/Cpl Alex Oates A Coy 7 Rifles with veterans Sam Langford and Geoff Day
the model of glider used in the 52nd’s Coup de Main operation on D-Day. They were entertained by veteran Godfrey Yardley, who served with the Regiment in 6th Airborne and survived a glider crash on Operation VARSITY.
The Reunion in November was notable for an illustrated presentation by L/Cpl Alex Oates of ‘A’ Coy 7 RIFLES, who had just spent 6 months on attachment to 4 RIFLES in Afghanistan. He was later seen listening to the reminiscences of 91-year-old Sam Langford, a D-Day veteran, and Geoff Day, who served in the Regiment in Cyprus
in 1957. This produced a memorable photograph.
An honoured guest was Canon Roland Meredith of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and his companion.
Canon Roland is well known to branch members who regularly attend the Turning the Pages ceremony in the Regimental chapel at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, where he officiates in the brief service. This is held every two months and has begun to attract good deal of attention in the Oxford papers. A special version was organised for 4th August 2014 by Terry Roper to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War I.
With the 70th anniversary of D-Day occurring in June, 2014 promised to be a
The branch AGM
in December saw
Chairman Major Charlie
Helmn, who was PSAO
of 7 RIFLES, stand
down as he would be
retiring in 2014, and
the election in his place
of Major Terry Roper, a
former Greenjacket. An enlarged committee was put in place to further the branch’s objectives. One proposal is to revive the associate membership scheme to attract members from other cap badges, the wider armed forces and relatives of those who served.
As it incorporates the former 43rd and 52nd Old Comrades Association, the branch contributed towards the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry paving stone which will be laid and dedicated in Heroes’ Square at the National Memorial Arboretum next year. Branch members have also given their help and support to the new Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum at Woodstock, which opened on 15th June 2014.
Edward Brooks Barracks is home to
a number of organisations, including the Rifles Officers Oxford Club, and their chairman, Tom Shannon, invited Oxford branch members to join them for their post Christmas lunch in early January 2014.
very full year. Led by General Bob Pascoe and Penny Bates, daughter of Major John Howard, a number of branch members were among what General Bob had christened ‘The 52nd Group’ who travelled to Normandy
for the commemorations. This was composed of 100+ veterans, old comrades, families and those with a connection to or interest in the Regiment’s part in the capture of the Orne bridges.
The weather was fine, a most memorable time was had by all, and the hospitality of the people of Normandy was unstinting. While the ceremonies were going on at Pegasus Bridge on 6th June, branch members were involved in a special ceremony at John Howard’s grave at Clifton Hampden, where his cousin Derek Chivers laid a wreath. A second one was laid in the church on behalf of the Royal Green Jackets. This wreath-laying will now become an annual event on that date.
It will be difficult to follow two such busy and exciting years, but we shall try! Already some members are planning to participate in the 200th anniversary celebrations at Waterloo next June, where the 52nd Light Infantry played such a vital role.
Roy Bailey
Brigadier Robin Draper gave an enthralling illustrated talk entitled, We were young once and ...,
214 REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION NEWS
THE RIFLES