Page 51 - The Chapka 2016

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 49
Dad and ‘Lads’
some from ERE, booking a box in order to get the best possible view of his victory. Alas, he was unlucky to fall early and ‘re- showed’ again in 2017. The LEs also hosted an excellent ‘Lads and Dads’ night with the livers-in to Newcastle Greyhound track; age and experience clearly won out.
With the deployment of most of the Regiment to BATUS in 2016, mess life shifted continents. An early Mess visit to Banff for some late-season skiing and some overdue antics was hugely successful, as was the Commanding Officer’s fishing trip – his guide had never seen so many fish caught in a single day. Others took themselves on various trips over the American continent and four subalterns definitely did not go to Mexico.
With the return from BATUS, the Livers-In have seen the de- parture of some key personalities in the form of Arthur Purbrick and Lieutenant (Retired) Harnett, with the former formally voted out of the Mess during ‘Purbrexit’ – an event that saw him invite every stable girl in Yorkshire to dinner in a (failed) ploy to influence voters. The year ended with the usual Officers’ Mess Christmas antics. With Rugby cancelled, the Officers’ Mess were surprisingly talented on the Football field. The panic coming from the Seniors was felt by everyone - even the spectating Lab- radors were unable to watch the last five minutes. Captain Teddy Nickell-Lean led the angelic Officers’ Mess singing of Christ- mas Carols to the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess and even managed to bring in a professional musician to improve the output. By contrast, the singing back to us was something to behold; a cross between something out of ‘Spartacus’ and ‘Fro- zen’. It was no wonder at that stage Colonel Marcus finally had
“The look of love...”
enough and left Catterick for good. We wish him, Vics and the children all the best in Andover where ‘knees to chest’ will prob- ably replace ‘beers on the train’.
As we look to the future, 2017 holds yet another opportunity for Canadian-frolics as the Regiment deploys for Exercise PRAIRIE STORM 3 and 4. Closer to home, the resurgence of the Adju- tant’s Weekend will probably mean that next year’s article will be much much more interesting; watch this space/newspaper headlines...
WG
To the delight of the Livers-In and the horror of the housekeepers, the Wager’s Book is still going strong
Officers’ Mess Cricket - the entertainment
The Officers’ Mess Swimming Team 1926