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The Sergeants' Mess
Farewell Events
It has been a very busy period for the Sergeants’
Mess with a working lunch and a farewell dinner in the
same week, all just before the Battalion depart on some
much deserved POTL (Post Operational Tour Leave).
30 May 2008
On Wednesday 30th May 2008 there were many faces in the
Mess, some of which had not been seen for years. Most
were smiling, sharing a beer, and rekindling old stories
but all had turned up for the Working Lunch which
officially said farewell to WOII Barry Crane, WOII (RAOWO)
Nobby Clarke, SSgt (WOII in new post) Tom Sawyer and Sgt
Andy Hoggarth.
(anyone
with any images from lunch event please send them into
us)
It was a fantastic day, and all present were also
treated to a fine display from the Corps of Drums. I am
sure that although these men have been bid farewell, it
won’t be too long before they cross the threshold of the
Sergeants’ Mess again.
02 May 08
Friday 2nd May 2008 saw the Sergeants’ Mess hold a
Regimental Dinner to say farewell to the Commanding
Officer, Lt Col GCC Waters and his good lady Claire.
 I had the pleasure of producing the menus for the
evening which with the help from Claire (in a shroud of
secrecy) managed to portray ‘The Life & Times of Lt Col
George Waters’ from teddy bears to Battle Honours!
The food was excellent, and I know it is complimentary
to comment on how nice the food was but it really was,
excellent. After coffee the Corps of Drums marched on,
with the Drum Major playing an active part in the
dazzling display, notably the Corps were also aided by
the skills of Sgt Collum Keenan who flew all the way
down from Catterick to be part of the show. After a few
‘tracks’ Drum Major Ben Roberts then asked for the
Commanding Officer and his good lady to join them for
the next piece. They were handed some maracas and sticks
and asked to ‘join in’, unbeknown to the pair (but much
to everyone else’s entertainment) it had been previously
arranged that the track the pair were helping with
‘would never end’! Again, the Commanding Officer and
Claire showed how much they were good sports and this
was reflected in the rapturous applause from the
Sergeants’ Mess at the conclusion.
Note to the Corps of Drums, as usual a fine display and
something that I know after your recent display of
‘fighting skills’ in Afghanistan will not be taken for
granted. The speeches were made and the Regimental
Sergeant Major touched on previous incidents when his
career had crossed paths with the Commanding Officer.
Col Waters then rose and asked everyone to raise their
glasses in appreciation to wives and families who
support all of us in whichever role we look to achieve,
a touching remark that was echoed by all present. The
evening was finished off in style with a disco ran by DJ
O’Brien and his speaker kit.
WO1 (Regimental Sergeant Major) A Johnson spoke of
thanks to the mess staff for all their hard work in the
week and I would also like to reiterate those
statements. The new Mess Manager (Ben Price) had only
just took over a few days previously and did an
excellent job, ably assisted by his 2ic AK (LCpl
Anderson Knobs). Their job however would not have been
possible without the tremendous talents of the Catering
Staff and the waiters for the evening from Sodexo and
others who, for many, had not done this before and most
of which were departing to Number 7 Company first thing
Monday.
WELL DONE TO ALL INVOLVED
and to the Battalion ENJOY YOUR WELL DESERVED LEAVE
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