Page 132 - The Bugle 2018

Y Coy’s victorious PROUD BUGLE fireteam
THE PHILOSOPHY OF “IF YOU SAY SOMETHING FOR LONG ENOUGH THEN IT WILL EVENTUALLY COME TRUE’ APPEARS TO BE CORRECT AFTER ALL!
Y Coy
Around a decade ago the Regimental footprint in Yorkshire was almost disbanded altogether, with a single platoon remaining in Doncaster as part of D (RIFLES) Coy under the command of 5RRF. From the outset, the two sides of D Company worked tirelessly together to keep the RIFLES ethos alive in the North. Y (RIFLES) Platoon in Doncaster quickly proved to be one of the best recruited and attended detachments within the Battalion, and arguably nationwide, providing a significant portion of troops on exercise and operational deployments.
The news of 8 RIFLES forming was a ‘personal’ vindication for Y Platoon, with the direction to reorganise into a full-size Company with its HQ based in Pontefract. The philosophy of “if you say something for long enough then it will eventually come true’ appears to be correct after all!
Since our formation on the 1st November 2017, Y Coy have continued to build on its strong foundation, albeit with a new set of challenges, The OC, Major John Elms MBE, joined us from Yorkshire YOTR, bringing with him a wealth of experience and quickly setting the tempo for the forthcoming year. Y Platoon’s very first Platoon Commander, Benjamin Clare, finally returned to Yorkshire after a few years with 7 RIFLES and LONDIST to take up the Coy 2IC post.
Our main effort has been recruiting, as we need to grow another Rifle Platoon and an Anti-Tank Platoon. Despite a seemingly endless run of challenges and technical issues the Company has grown from platoon strength to nearly 60 personnel in just 9 months, aided by the appointments of some experi- enced individuals with Captain Gaz Case coming from QM to be our PSAO and the arrival of QPSI ‘Elvis’ Pressley.
The Company has managed to achieve a huge amount in a short space of time, starting with a combined training weekend attended by D, Y and HQ Coy. Exercise PROUD BUGLE was a traditional inter-platoon competition, based around MATT stands, culminating with a March and shoot. Despite having only just been formed Y Company achieved fantastic results and came 1st overall out of 9 teams. This was shortly followed by the Battalion Operational Shooting Competition, where we shot
some individual high scores and won the falling plate competition on the last day. This competitive energy and success had led some members of the Company to join the Battalion shooting team at the Divisional OSC, where we came 7th of 12 teams, with two team members finishing in the top 30. Not bad with only 3 days’ practice!
The Company has been working on various Community Engagement events, including Ex MINDEN SIRAJ - a ‘Look at Life’ inviting individuals to the barracks to experience a day of informative stands and refreshments. Other important activities have included support to the local towns and villages by setting up information stands and marching in support of a WWI dedication in Edlington, in remem- brance of the Mine Workers war memorial parade, and finally supporting the unveiling and dedication of the new KOYLI memorial in Doncaster. The success of the company is down to the riflemen and the role modelling of our excellent SNCOs WO2 Carswell, CSjts Christian, Venning and Jessop, Sjts Rider, Bywater and Walcott.
As we approach our 1st full year as Y Company, we are very much looking forward to our first Annual Deployment Exercise; this year we will conduct this in Otterburn, primarily a confirmatory exercise of the year’s training.
As we continue to grow in strength we also grow in energy, we look forward to updating you next year on the further progress we have achieved and how Y Coy has gone from strength to strength again! Maj John Elms, OC Y Coy
Y Coy supporting the KOYLI memorial dedication on Minden Day
138 EIGHTH BATTALION
THE RIFLES