Page 131 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 129 East Midlands Branch (Fondouk Troop)
The start of 2018 began with our annual reunion dinner which I mentioned in last year’s notes. At the beginning of March, Mr Harry Rack attended the Northern Branch Annual Reunion Dinner held at the Mercure Hotel in Willerby (near Hull). Thanks goes to Mr Alf Smith and his committee for a splendid weekend.
An Old Gits meeting was held at the Fellowes, Moreton and Clayton pub in Nottingham in March. Thanks to Mr Don Poole for organising this. My wife (Enid) and I along with Mr Harry Rack attended the North West Branch (Balaklava Troop) Dinner in the middle of April at Blackpool. A very enjoyable weekend it was, and we have all booked again for next year. Thanks to Mr Clive Bergstrand and his committee for such an excellent weekend.
We held our AGM on 17th April and our president General Sir James Everard KCB CBE agreed to continue in the post for a further year, all the officials agreed to remain in post. It was with great sorrow that we had to cancel our Annual Reunion Buffet at the Staff of Life pub in Sutton in Ashfield, due to insufficient numbers, this is the first time we have had to cancel this get together. It was with deep regret that we had to announce the passing of Mrs Betty Scothern on 18th June, the wife of Mr Malc Scothern (the past chairman of East Midlands Branch). Her fu- neral took place at Mansfield Crematorium and there was a large turnout. Betty had been a staunch supporter of Fondouk Troop since its inception over 20 years ago.
The committee had its annual dinner at the end of June at the Badger Box pub in Annesley (Nottinghamshire). This coincided with Mr Les Coleman’s 93rd Birthday. A special thank you goes to a member of the branch (who wishes to remain anonymous) for their very kind and generous donation. At the end of August, Bo Boden announced his resignation from the committee and being treasurer due to personal reasons. Again, with deep regret we had to announce the passing of a long serving member of the committee until he became ill. Mr Ernie Shirley passed away on the evening of 11th September. There were about a dozen Lanc- ers who attended the funeral in Kirkby in Ashfield. OR GLORY.
Mr Mark Wells at Mansfield Town Football Club
Another Old Gits meeting was held in Nottingham on 11th Sep- tember. Thanks again to Mr Don Poole for organising this. In November, Mr Malc Scothern and Mr Harry Rack attended the South East Branch (Canterbury Troop) Annual Reunion Din- ner at the King Charles Hotel in Gillingham (Kent). Thanks to Mr Dick Boorman and his committee for a splendid weekend. A number of branch members paraded at Mansfield Town Football Club ground on the afternoon Saturday 27th October.
The branch was very well represented at the Remembrance Day Parade at Forest Town (Near Mansfield), with Mr Mark Wells carrying the branch Standard and Mr Fred Bingham laying the wreath on behalf of the branch. Our Annual Reunion Dinner takes place on Saturday 26th January 2019 and this will be re- ported in next years’ Chapka.
North West Branch (Balaclava Troop)
Welcome once again to the branch notes for the North West Branch. Our annual dinner was held on the 14th April 2018 at The Parkhouse Hotel, Blackpool, we had arrived on the Friday to a dull and wet Blackpool, so to be met with bright sun- shine and warm weather was a pleasant surprise the following day. It also happened to be Grand National Weekend, so Black- pool was at it’s busiest and bustling best, with a lot of the specta- tors spending the weekend in Blackpool. You can certainly feel the buzz that weekend each year.
We had 64 were able to sit down to dinner, including three serv- ing members, Staff Sergeant Quinn, Sergeant Martin and Cor- poral Newberry. Thanks to the Regiment for their continuing support of the branch. The meal was to the usual Parkhouse standard in both quality and quantity; they have looked afters us so incredibly well for a lot of years now Mr John Kay the General Manager deserving special mention. After the meal our President, also the Colonel of the Regiment Brigadier Andrew Hughes CBE, spoke to us about the regiment’s programme and future tasks ahead, Staff Sergeant Quinn was also able to
Staff Sergeant Quinn – RL
GB