Foreword

FOREWORD by Brigadier Hugh Willing CBE Chairman of the RGJ Regimental Association

Summer has arrived and we hope to see as many of you as can possibly make it to the Veterans’ Day Gathering at Winchester on Saturday 12th July. This year we will be joined by the Rifles Band and Bugles who will perform a Sounding Retreat after the March Past. And as a special concession the RGJ Museum in Peninsula Barracks is giving free entry to card-carrying Association Members on Friday 11th July, Saturday 12th July (morning only) and all day Sunday 13th July. So why not make a weekend of it and arrange to meet up with your old muckers to make it into a really good re-union. I would also encourage you to support ‘Greenstock’ which takes place from 29th-31st August and to note that it should not be seen in competition with or as an alternative to the Veteran’s Day Gathering. This is an initiative of the Central England Branch who, on our behalf, are also undertaking the repairs to our memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas which was under water again in the winter floods. A big ‘thank you’ to them, and also to Captain Bill Shipton and the Website Team for redesigning and launching the new RGJ Association Website which went ‘live’ on 9th April. If you haven’t yet logged in, please do so as you will see how much easier it is to search and find information and news. And on there you will see a link to encourage new members to join the Association. There are so many benefits for just £10 a year, and now keeping in touch with your fellow Riflemen could not be easier. I would also encourage you all to give your support to the RGJ Museum Battle of Waterloo Bicentenary 2015 Appeal, which under General Wallace’s firm guidance is approaching the halfway mark in reaching its target of

Contents

Page Title

3 Foreword 5 Pegasus Bridge 6 RGJRA Reunion Timings 7 Museum Report 2014 11 External Addresses 12 RGJRA Contact List 13 SJM Memorial 14 Poster 15 Memories of 1 RGJ from warm Australia 18 A Memory of Snipe and Alamein 22 If the Cap Fits 23 Central England Branch 26 Gosport & District Branch 27 North West Branch 31 Wiltshire Branch 34 North East Branch 39 A Pilgrimage To The Front Lines 41 SOFO 47 A Day in Anderson Town - 1972 48 The Horsa Glider 53 A Rifleman’s Duty (Turning of The Pages) 54 Annual General Meeting 63 Finances 69 In Memoriam

We wish him well in what will surely be a testing and demanding tenure.

My best wishes to all fellow Riflemen and I look forward to seeing you at Winchester on 12th July.

Hugh Willing

[Hugh and Jane Willing at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May with Captain Simon Hudson – late 3RGJ on the Oxley Fine Furniture Stand which won the prestigious Five-Star Trade Stand Medal]