Page 23 - The Bugle 2018

Officers’ Mess
As ever, it has been a busy year for the Officers’ Mess, although challenging to bring the Mess together given the dispersed nature of our commit- ments. Summer 2017 saw our South West Summer Party, a more casual night of rural fete games, cider and magic hay bales, which seemed to disperse and multiply across the lawn throughout the evening. Over Summer leave, a band of subbies took part in ‘The Yacht Week’ in Croatia. Much to the Adjutant’s disgust, this involved significantly more use of the engine and consuming of refreshments than sailing; although he was probably just jealous not to be invited!
During the Autumn we enjoyed an ‘El Alamein’ dinner night to commemorate the actions of 2nd Rifle Brigade, during which the CO, OC S Coy and the Adjutant read their respective excerpts from the battle, under our copy of the ‘Snipe’ painting. The dinner was also used to bring together the wider Battle Group team for Ex ASKARI STORM 1/18. At Christmas the Mess enjoyed a larger formal ball, themed as ‘The last night of the Tsars’, organised by Jim Foster and Sam Daly (ETS), on the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution.
With the Mess split across the expanse of Archer’s Post, Kenya for the majority of January and February, we reunited for a cocktail party and bugle display to thank the BATUK staff. Post Kenya, in April, the Battle of the Imjin River was remembered
during a dinner night, where we hosted Comd 160X and Lt Col (Retd) Rob Dixon OBE. The new PMC was kind enough to arrange a bugling presentation and test for the subalterns from the Bugle Major. Having begun confidently, even the Adjutant and PMC began sweating whilst trying to identify the more ‘specialist’ Bugle Calls.
Our Summer party made use of our coastal setting, with a ‘Pirates of the Peninsula’ theme, the hot weather making the River Severn look slightly more Caribbean than usual. A particular highlight being the ‘Barnacle Buoys’, an all-volunteer sea shanty group that managed to sustain a 2 hour set – to the deep delight of the PMC! The ‘tropical island’ of sand on the Mess lawn is being considered as a permanent feature along with the Jolly Roger flying atop the Mess!
Maj Tom Redon PMC
THE ‘TROPICAL ISLAND’ OF SAND ON THE MESS LAWN IS BEING CONSIDERED AS A PERMANENT FEATURE ALONG WITH THE JOLLY ROGER FLYING ATOP THE MESS!
Subbies appropriately attired for Yacht Week
THE RIFLES
FIRST BATTALION 29