Page 55 - QARANC Spring 2024

The Gazette QARANC Association 55
Major Alistair Bond before the wreath laying ceremony at St Georges Hall
Reserves was as the Unit Media Ops Officer, though originally it was called the UPO; and I was honoured to receive the Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate for what I achieved in this role.
I was proud to serve many Commanding Officers, both Regular and Reserve, in different spheres of operation both in the UK and abroad, from Denmark to Iraq and the USA. I organised editors abroad schemes, taking local journalists to Gibraltar, on Exercise Marble Tor, to help get unit members into the local press, on to TV and into Corp journals. It was a role I thoroughly enjoyed and will sadly miss.
On Remembrance Sunday in 2022, I fulfilled a personal and military ambition by laying the wreath on behalf of my Unit at St George’s Hall in Liverpool. I am a Reservist, and my civilian occupation is a Deputy Ward Manager at Wrightington Hospital near Wigan, a large Orthopaedic Hospital.
I joined 208 (Liverpool) Field Hospital in 1993 and had always harboured an ambition to do this on behalf of my family, in particular my grandfather Robert William Bond, his son and my great uncle Captain Arthur Holland. They never spoke much about their military service, and I don’t even know my grandfather’s rank, only that as part of his role in World War I he acted as a runner and his son served in the 8th Army during World War Two, carrying his younger brother’s photograph (my dad) with him throughout the war. I intend in the future to fully research all three individuals and gain a fuller insight into to their military service.
As I travelled to St George’s Hall that crisp, cold sunny November morning, I wondered how they would have felt knowing their descendent years later would be laying a wreath at The Cenotaph in
I was proud to serve many Commanding Officers,both Regular and Reserve,
in different spheres of operation both in the UK and abroad
Liverpool. I fortified myself with a hot cup of tea and soon found myself forming up with the other wreath bearers and proceeding out of the hall into bright sunlight and onto the steps of this iconic Liverpool landmark.
The Service of Remembrance and Dedication “The Commonwealth” was listened to intently by the massed crowds, who took the opportunity to reflect on friends and family members who had made the ultimate sacrifice. Then it was my turn to lay a wreath on behalf of my Unit. As I saluted, I was filled with a sense of fulfilling a long-standing ambition and pride.
It has not all been parades and using my nursing skills in sometimes very challenging and hostile clinical environments; I have had the opportunity to take part in the AMS Skiing Championships in Canada, France and Italy. Also, the Nijmegan Marches in Holland; I think my feet are still to this day recovering. I have also been canoeing in Ghana, camping out nightly, under the stars, on the riverbank as we progressed up the River Volta; eventually ending up in the capital of Ghana Accra, all the time once again taking notes and photographs so the expedition would be recorded for posterity.
The final thing I will look back on is the friendships I made and the people I have met in the UK and across the world. Without the help and support of my friends and family I could not have achieved any of the things I did.
I wish my friends and colleagues in my new unit 206 (North West) Multi-Role Medical Regiment all the very best for the future; but most importantly to my friends and family I would like to say, thank you for all your help and support throughout 30+ very memorable years.