Page 37 - QARANC Vol 16 No 2 2018

beautifully coloured dive site. Many octopuses, lobsters, a seahorse and even a turtle were spotted. Day nine was the final day on the live-aboard, where we had our first experience of wreck diving at ‘The Boon Sung’ – an old tin dredging ship which sunk and subsequently rolled over in the tsunami in 2004. Here we spotted honeycomb morays, scorpion fish and even a stingray nestled in the sand.
Day ten, back on dry land, we had 24 hours to entertain ourselves in Phuket, before we were able to fly again. This gave us the opportunity to try out the Thai cuisine and a Thai massage.
Throughout the trip, we have had the privilege to not only be in the company of some amazing people, but to dive with them. To see how they have adapted themselves to diving, and to see the impact that the sport and the charity Deptherapy has had on their lives has been astonishing. We have also had the opportunity to interact and dive with current serving medical professionals, of all different ranks from all three services and hear their experiences within the military so far. It has been a trip we will never forget.
Private Louise Finch, Private Lilith Holdsworth, Private Lauren Bray and Private Geminnie Cunningham
Defence School of Healthcare Education
THE GAZETTE QARANC 35
Army Women’s Rugby
The Army Rugby Union (W) played one of the toughest inter-services tournaments this year commencing the competition on RAF’s home ground in Halton on the 11 April. Having defended for 40 minutes on our own try line, the RAF battled but couldn’t convert their attempts to points on the board. In the second half, the Army were able to capitalise on their heavily defensive season, and fitness levels, pulling away with a 10-0 win, with both scores by
Corporal Lou Dodd scoring one of her many tries
Corporal Louise Dodd from QARANC. These are the closest inter-service games so far, and congratulations go to the RAF and Army women’s teams for putting up such a good performance on the day.
The Army went on to play the Navy at Kneller Hall in Twickenham on 5 May. It was an incredibly hot day where the Army managed to play some impressive attacking pieces and finish with an equally impressive score line
Lieutenant Nikki O’Donnell in charge of the game in Twickenham
of 72-3. Nine different women in red bagged tries against the Navy, securing another victory to remain undefeated inter-services champions.
A special mention is awarded to Lieutenant O’Donnell who was the first female to referee on the main pitch at Twickenham on Army v Navy Day. She refereed the UKAF vs. Oxbridge U23s, and said how honoured she was to be a part of the day.
Maggie Hodge
The AMS team together after the match (including Medical team)