Page 258 - The Rifles Bugle Autumn 2019

EVERYONE THEN TOOK THE SHORT
WALK FOR THE USUAL FOOD, DRINK AND BANTER
and Dorset Regiment and The Rifles respectively. Another very enjoyable and memorable Reunion was held in Exeter in May. The weather was lovely and sunny. After the AGM the parade formed up, led by the excellent Devon Army Cadet Force Corps of Drums in their scarlet uniforms, followed by the Standards and the guard. It looked very impressive indeed as the eyes right was given to the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Devon, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Exeter and the Mayor of Dorchester. The Drumhead Service was conducted by the newly-ordained Reverend Ann Lewis, wife of an Association member and well-remembered as a stalwart supporter of 1 D and D families, particularly in Northern Ireland and Germany. Everyone then took the short walk across to the Corn Exchange for the usual food, drink and banter. Many people commented on the relaxed and friendly atmosphere throughout the afternoon and that mood was evident just up the road in the Rougemont Hotel where well over 100 members continued the movement into the late evening thanks to arrangements made by the Exeter
Branch. It was undoubtedly another excellent day, which showed that the Association is still very much alive and kicking.
Finally, in June members of the Association travelled to the village of Asnelles on the Normandy coast to remember those men of the Regiment who died on D-Day. 1st Dorsets, 2nd Devons and 1st Hampshires formed 231 (Malta) Brigade which landed on Gold Beach and liberated the village on the morning of 6th June 1944. Exactly 75 years later representatives of those battalions joined local dignitaries to remember those who took part in the largest seaborne invasion in history. A much larger group visited the area later in the month in order to avoid the crowds and security restrictions, while yet others took part in the commemorative events at Hill 112 overlooking Caen where one of the fiercest battles of the Normandy campaign took place. It was here that 43rd Wessex Division, including 4th and 5th Dorsets fought so valiantly to win despite taking devastating casualties.
A happy group at the annual Reunion
The Regimental Association Standards marching past
Lieutenant Colonel D P Lovejoy MBE
Douglas Lovejoy was born in November 1928 in East Ham, London. He went on to be educated at Plympton Grammar, interspersed with periods at Plymouth College and Kelly College in between air raids. After school he completed his further education, unusually for a future Army officer, at The London School of Economics.
Douglas joined 1 Devons as a National Service Private in January 1947 before being selected for officer training at RMA Sandhurst in January 1948. On the conclusion of training he was awarded a Regular Commission in The Devonshire Regiment.
He spent the next four years as a platoon commander in 1st Battalion, then Regimental Signals Officer in Malaya, Colchester and Libya before being posted as Chief Instructor on the NCOs Skill at Arms Wing at Hythe.
In 1959 he became the third Adjutant of 1 D and D, in Cyprus (being mentioned-in-dispatches), before being selected to attend the Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) which led to his next appointment as GSO2 (Technical) in Aden for which he was awarded the MBE. From 1965-68 he was a
company commander in 1 D and D in BAOR before being posted to another technical appointment, this time at RARDE at Fort Halstead for a year followed by a further year on exchange at the Canadian equivalent in Quebec.
From 1969-72 Douglas commanded 1 D and D in Malta and on the first operational tour of N Ireland before moving the Battalion to Gillingham.
For the next three years he was appointed to the Directing Staff at the RMCS. Then, despite being selected for promotion to Colonel, he took early retirement in 1975.
As a civilian he worked in sales and manufacturing in the Middle East and South America before running a metal fabricating company in County Durham. In the 1990s he launched a computer and secretarial training company in Guildford.
He was a good hockey player and rifle shot in his youth, but his abiding love was sailing and he competed for the Army Dinghy Team in the early 60s, winning the Army Sailing Association champi- onships in 1963.
Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Lovejoy died on 14th November 2018, aged 90
256 RIFLES OFFICES AND ASSOCIATIONS THE RIFLES