Page 26 - QARANC Vol 14 No 7 2013

24 QARANC THE GAZETTE
QARANC Corps Day Wednesday 27 March 2013
QARANC Corps Day celebrations were held at DMS Whittington last March to which we were honoured to welcome The Colonel-in-Chief Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex GCVO. With snow still melting on the ground and the unit in the middle of major construction work, planning had been in place for months to make this day as special as possible and to overcome any challenges that the weather or a building programme might present! The Corps day celebrations were declared the national event for all QAs past and present and invited guests by the Director of Army Nursing Services, Col Pete Childerley L/QARANC. This included a Service of Remembrance and Dedication at The Garrison Church of Saint George in DMS Whittington followed by an All Ranks Buffet Luncheon in the Combined Mess.
The Colonel-in-Chief was accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant Ian Dobson MBE and his wife Jane and was received by the Colonel Commandant Col Rosemary Kennedy CBE OStJ TD QARANC(V) supported by the Corps RSM WO1 Donna Martin QARANC. The event was well attended by QAs from a variety of units including phase 2 student nurses, TA units, QA Association members and nursing associates from the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force as well as the NHS and Professor Liz Robb from the Florence Nightingale Foundation. The phase 2 students currently undertaking their training at Birmingham City University had a pivotal role on the day led by WO2
Karen Race QARANC.
The service, led by Padre Maj
Stewart Young RChD, commenced with the presentation of the QA Association and Royal British Legion Standards. It was a very moving and thought provoking occasion and yet contained some amusing moments during the Padre’s sermon entitled ‘Simples’! This followed the theme of ‘Service’ encapsulating the message given by Christ in the story of ‘The Good Samaritan’ of ‘Go and do thou likewise’, taken from the lesson beautifully read by student nurse Pte Lucy Ashford-Brown QARANC. Musical accompaniment throughout the service was provided on the organ by Verger Michael Ackroyd and a brass quintet from the Minden Band of the Queen’s Division who also sounded the Last Post and Reveillé.
Maj Alison Cripps QARANC and her vocal singing partner Mrs Jill Saunders, together known as ‘Cripps and Saunders’, were invited to perform two set pieces. In the earlier part of the service they sang the sacred duet ‘Panis Angelicus’ by Cesar Franck, arranged by Henry Geehl. Then during The Act of Remembrance they sang the very moving piece ‘For the Fallen’ by Geoff Stephens, arranged by David Cole MVO, Director of Music, Royal British Legion. The latter piece was adapted especially for Maj Cripps and Mrs Saunders for this occasion.
Following the Service the Colonel- in-Chief was invited to the Combined Mess for lunch where she was received by Commander JMC Surg Rear Adm Calum MacArthur RN and
Defence Nursing Adviser Col David Bates L/QARANC. The standard of food and presentation in the Mess was commented on by many guests and certainly contributed to the success of the day. Her Royal Highness was introduced to more than 40 QARANC personnel who gathered in small groups to be presented. She also met Sgt Chapman, the band leader of the Minden Band, for which she is also Colonel-in-Chief. As she took her leave, Her Royal Highness kindly signed the visitors’ book and was then presented with a posy of flowers, symbolically in Corps colours, by Miss Evie Dalby-Welsh (aged 8 years) daughter of Maj Kathryn Dalby-Welsh QARANC. It was a most apt conclusion to what was considered a very special day for the QARANC, summed up by one of our QA Association members as ‘acknowledging our past, paying tribute to the present and giving hope for the future’.
The original aspiration for the day, however, had been to incorporate the re-dedication of the QARANC Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. These plans had to be postponed owing to inclement weather delaying the completion of the QARANC Memorial Garden. Later in June 2013 and on a considerably warmer day the service went ahead as planned supported again by QAs past and present. 2013 is proving yet another memorable year for the QARANC.
Maj Alison Cripps QARANC