Foreword by Colonel Carron Snagge OBE DL, Chairman of the RGJA

Foreword by

Colonel Carron Snagge OBE DL

Chairman, Royal Green Jackets Association

I would like to start by thanking Kevin Stevens for all the hard work that he has put into editing and producing this magazine; it takes an enormous amount of time, energy and skill. In the past he has been helped by Seamus Lyons who did most of the production. Very sadly Seamus has had to retire from this job (but remains involved in other ways) and Kevin has willingly shouldered the full responsibility. In addition Kevin does a host of other things in the background to support our Association; mainly at the centre of a web of information, acting as a source of knowledge who can signpost queries from members to the relevant experts. So thank you Kevin your continuing hard work on our behalf and thank you Seamus for your fantastic contribution.

We are of course blessed with a host of other volunteers who contribute to the running of our Association. Not least the Presidents and Committee Members at the national and branch levels and but in addition the large number of other volunteers who give up their time and energy to keep the Association running so cost effectively and efficiently. Thank you all.

In parallel with our own Association the Rifles Association is steadily gaining momentum and in particular, in the Rifles RHQ, a new Assistant Regimental Secretary has been established to develop the Rifles Association further. The post is also the point of contact in RHQ for all the Former Regiment Associations, like ours, and will be a useful point of coordination. It is inevitable, as the number of Rifles veterans increases that the Rifles Association will continue to develop. There will be much that we can do to together, to our mutual advantage, so I welcome this development.

Another new development in RHQ is “Swift”, an on-line, GDPR compliant system for exchanging information. It is open for all Rifles and Former Regiment veterans to register with and I have found it a useful source of information, in addition to our own website. And, of course, the more people who register and use it, the more useful it will become.

Very recently the MoD announced that Sir John Moore Barracks will close in 2024. So far, our reunion has been living somewhat hand to mouth, not knowing when and if the barracks might close suddenly. So it is good to know, if we wish to continue doing so, that SJMB should be available to us for another 4-5 years. This year, because of the training programme in the barracks, we have brought forward the date of our reunion by one week; I hope you all have 6 July firmly in your dairies. I would also commend to you the Northern Ireland Veterans Association Gathering at the National Arboretum on 14 September; where there will be a strong RGJ and LI presence, General Bob Pascoe will be taking the salute and the Lt Div Bugles will be very much in evidence. It will be a good day out with lots of friends and lunch afterwards courtesy of our Central England Branch!

Finally, I would like to pay homage to Lt Col Jan-Dirk von Merveldt, who has been at the centre of our Association (and RHQ) since well before the formation of the Rifles. He is retiring this Summer and we will find a way of thanking him properly but it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge publicly the huge contribution he has made to the Royal Green Jackets Association over an extended period of time. Thank you, Jan-Dirk.

In the meantime Happy Easter. I look forward to seeing you in Winchester on 6 July.