Page 62 - Bugle Issue 16 Autumn 2020

SOUTH
REGION
OVERVIEW
Little did we know at the beginning of 2020 that by March we would be facing a pandemic which would radically change everything that we took for granted and we would all have to adjust to the ‘new normal’.
The month of May is traditionally the time when Mayor making takes over the civic calendar. In some of our Freedom towns and cities this happened virtually, whilst in others the outgoing Mayor was extended for a further year in office.
In the South Region, as indeed all over the country, ACF Summer Camps were planned, then all had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 and the need to isolate, not meet in large gatherings and look after the vulnerable in our society. Cadets, however, busied themselves in other ways, showing their support to the national call.
The ‘stag and oak’ is the traditional symbol of the Royal County of Berkshire
Cadet Sjt Maj Ashley Nuccio,
HM’s Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire (Mrs Sarah Troughton) and Cadet Sjt Maj Shyan Barber-McLean
LORD-
LIEUTENANT
CADETS
Wiltshire ACF Presentation of CO 7 RIFLES’ Coins to Lord-Lieutenant Cadets in February 2020.
THE ‘BERKSHIRE OAK’
The ‘Berkshire Oak’ was presented to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment by
the Royal Borough of Windsor in 1960, as a Freedom to allow access to the region. This was their first Freedom.
It was manufactured by Royal Garrard & Co Limited, a producer of luxury jewellery and silver in operation from 1735 and the first official Crown Jeweller (1843-2007). The Oak was created in London in 1851 and has the sovereign head duty mark of Queen Victoria engraved into its side. The Lion passant engraving in the hallmark guarantees it’s 925/1000 sterling silver fineness.
The ‘stag and oak’ is the traditional symbol of the Royal County of Berkshire, thought to be taken from the 17th Century poem Battle of Agincourt, which describes the men of Berkshire marching under the symbol of “a Stag, under an Oake that stood”.
The High Steward presented this centre- piece at the same time as the Freedom was granted and it accompanied 1 DERR and both its TA Battalions, 4th/6th R BERKS and 4th WILTS when they exercised the Freedom. The three battalions were on the parade (the only time that happened) and the Scroll of Freedom was presented to HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as their Colonel-in-Chief, by
HRH The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, in his capacity as the High Steward of the Royal Borough.
The “Berkshire Oak” now resides in The Officers’ Mess, 4 RIFLES.
62 RIFLES The Bugle