London Branch Report

Inset of the 95th from ‘The Rearguard’ RHA. So it was an even chance whether the guns depicted were my ancestor’s or from ‘B’ Troop.

He explained that Henry’s diary had been quoted in Nick Lipscombe’s ‘Wellington’s Guns’, published in 2013. So, I bought the book and finally, aged 57, read my great great great grandfather’s Corunna Campaign diary. It did not take long to read but had a profound effect. Two things struck me: the utterly abject and miserable conditions they had to endure which, of course, is well known, and that the Royal Horse Artillery was a relatively new arm (dating from 1793).

Many of those who embarked at Corunna died on the way back to England. Henry was himself in terrible health.

When he got to his home on the Isle of Wight, he was in such a dishevelled state that his own house staff turned him away saying “Mrs Evelegh doesn’t receive beggars”. Meanwhile ‘Mrs E’ herself heard her husband remonstrating loudly. She charged out of the front door into Henry’s arms. Henry rose to become Master General of the Ordnance. In later life he was said to like snuff, and his wife to chat: they were known as ‘snuffbox and chatterbox’! Nick: I was able to tell Ted that I thought the guns were more likely to be Henry’s, but more research was required. But let’s first deal with another potential misconception arising from the C&GC narrative. Craufurd’s Light Brigade withdrew to Vigo with the King’s German Legion Light Brigade and with both brigades under the command of the Hanoverian, Charles von Alten. No artillery accompanied the two brigades to Vigo – all artillery went with the main body to Corunna. It’s therefore a reasonable assumption that the painting depicts the last instance when Craufurd’s Light Brigade and

Hanoverian, Brigadier-General Charles von Alten the remainder of Moore’s rearguard, Edward Paget’s Reserve Division, were together. Beadle was generally meticulous and produced a number of well-annotated sketches from his visit to Spain in 1912 to produce further Peninsular War images. There may exist somewhere the sketches he made for ‘The Rearguard’ which he painted probably in 1909 for exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1910. Unfortunately, we don’t even know if he went to Spain to sketch for it. Another misconception in the C&GC narrative is that it was commissioned by the Rifle Brigade. If it had been, someone like Willoughby Verner, who wrote the history of the 95th in the Peninsula, published in 1912, would have spotted one of Beadle’s few mistakes – the brass cover to the cleaning kit compartment in the stocks of the 95th’s rifles is on the wrong side – (thank you George Caldwell). At the time, Beadle was sufficiently established as

Description from the frame of the original of

‘The Rearguard’ in 2 Rifles Officers’ Mess in Lisburn an artist to choose to paint such a major canvas, confident that it would sell. But who bought it? How the painting came into the possession of the Rifle Brigade is something of a mystery. It was given to the Regiment in 1935 by a Grenadier Guards officer, Captain Charles Michael Dillwyn-Venables-Llewelyn, later to become the 3rd Baronet Venables-Llewelyn.

Why would a Guards officer give such a valuable painting to the officers of the Rifle Brigade? Sir Charles’s son, Sir John, cannot explain how his father acquired it, for his family has no connection with the Rifle Brigade. He told me that his father married in 1934 so may not have had space in his quarter for it. However, I remember being told that the Rifle Brigade officers provided financial support to what was then the Cavalry Club in the Great Depression, so becoming eligible to be members of the Club. I put this to the Secretary of the C&GC that the RB officers had bought it from the Cavalry Club and that Captain Charles had fronted for them. This didn’t ring any bells. Back to the painting itself. The terrain is, according to Charles Blackmore, who walked the Retreat to Corunna route taken by 1/95th from Sahagun with a party of Riflemen in December 1983 and January 1984, more likely to be in the mountains well beyond Astorga. Von Alten and Craufurd’s brigades first separated from the rest of Moore’s rearguard (Edward Paget’s Reserve Division and Henry Paget’s cavalry) at Astorga and took the road through the mountains to Ponferrada via Foncebadon while the rest of the rearguard took the main highway via Bembibre. This suggests the scene depicted is at or around Astorga. The terrain may not be accurate, particularly if Beadle hadn’t visited Spain.

William Surtees, QM 2/95th, wrote as follows: “We continued our march from Astorga the same day [31 December] and reached at night the village of Fonceadon [Foncebadon], about 20 miles distant..... Till now our brigade had formed the rear of the

Corunna Campaign Map (reproduced by kind permission of Christa Hook) infantry, there being some cavalry in rear of us; but it was now determined that ours and the Light German Brigade under Brigadier-General Charles Alten, should strike off from the Great Road, and take the route for Orense and Vigo...

I beg to notice here, that both Mr Gifford and Mr Moore (Sir John’s brother), have fallen into a trifling error respecting the period of our separation from the main body, they both making us be detached before our arrival at Astorga, whereas it was not till we had passed a day’s march beyond it that we were sent off...The next day, the 1st of January 1809, we marched by a most difficult road through the mountains to Ponferrada...”

The routes from Astorga taken by the Light Brigades and Reserve Division converged at Cacabelos. The 2/95th’s Lieutenant John Cox is very clear in his journal entry for 1st January 1809 that “here [at Ponferrada, short of Cacabelos] it was decided that the main body of the army should retire by Lugo on Corunna and that our Bde. with the two Light Bns. K.G.L. [King’s German Legion] should fall back by the Vigo road to secure that Port and form a flanking column.” This was the last point that the two Light Brigades could have deviated from the route to Corunna. Consequently, the scene Beadle depicted could only have taken place near Astorga. However, Ted has another theory about the scene being at Bonillos, just beyond Astorga, but the detail only came to light recently, so more about that another time!

Beadle depicts the separation of the Light Brigades from the Reserve Division and the guns. He depicts a Highlander at the rear of the retreating body who could be from the 91st (later the Argylls) which, with the 1/28th (later the North Gloucestershires), were in Disney’s brigade of the Reserve Division. In the other brigade, Anstruther’s, were the 20th (later East Devonshires), 1/52nd and 1/95th. So, apart from the Jocks, the Reserve Division was all Rifles’ antecedents, making the painting even more relevant to The Rifles. (For an excellent account of our forebears in the Corunna Campaign and especially their role in the bridge demolition guard at Castrogonzalo before the action at Benevente, do buy Volume 1 of The Light Division in The Peninsular War 18081811 by Tim Saunders and Rob Yuill). From his journal, we know that Henry Evelegh asked Downman, who’d been sent forward to Villafranca, presumably with his guns, if he could spare any horses. He couldn’t. Furthermore, it was Evelegh’s guns who supported the actions at Cacabelos and later at Constantino. So there’s a strong presumption that the guns depicted in the painting are Henry Evelegh’s. We also know that part of the Reserve Division, including the 1/95th, were destroying stores in Astorga for much of the day (31 December 1808) when the Light Brigades were marching to Foncebadon. So maybe the Reserve Division troops shown in the painting are from Disney’s brigade. This may be the most plausible interpretation of the retiring troops in the painting. There’s much we don’t know nor may ever learn. But, what a fabulous painting! The last word in this tale must go to Charles

Blackmore: One memory, if I may. We marched through the falling snow into the dark snow-lined streets of Astorga on New Year’s Eve 175 years to the hour nearly. A passing car stopped and we were asked if we were ‘los chaquetas verdes reales’? (the RGJ). It was the 10th Marquis de la Romana and the direct descendant of the 3rd Marquis who led resistance against the French. We were invited inside his castle in the centre of town. It was with pride that our young Riflemen stood by a roaring log fire at midnight with large balloons of fine brandy recalling their exploits marching the route since Sahagun seven days Highlander ago. Answering the Marquis’s questions as to how it was being done, one Rifleman said: “We are recreating the Retreat exactly as it took place to the day and the events; except for fighting the French, of course”. To which the Marquis responded: “Well, please do not rape my staff and burn down my castle as the retreating British troops did on this night 175 years ago!” Much shared laughter and more brandy. It would be super to hear from anyone who might know more about ‘The Rearguard’ and the scene depicted. Please contact us via: nickhaynes51@gmail.com

Swift and Bold

The ‘In Memoriam’ Board

The RGJA website runs three message boards the most important being The ‘In Memoriam’ board. This lists the names of those who have gone on to the FRV, it also gives those who wish an opportunity to share a memory of the person with others. With the growth of social media, it has become noticeable that the board is not always used, instead notifications are being left on Facebook etc. Not everyone uses Facebook, however, therefore can I ask that if you are reporting the death of a comrade, you also post it to The ‘In Memoriam’ Board. All that is required is name and date. Details such as number, rank, Bn(s) served are not necessary though helpful. Any problems please contact me on: admin@rgjassociation.info Thank you, Kevin Stevens (Editor)

A Swan with 2 RGJ in the Bogside in 1972

Major (later Colonel) Henry Hugh-Smith LVO Blues and Royals Following Bloody Sunday in January 1972, Major Henry Hugh Smith (Blues and Royals) was accommodated in the 2 RGJ Officers’ Mess in Ballykelly. He was the Military Liaison Officer to Lord Widgery, who was leading the first investigation into Bloody Sunday. Henry had served in Northern Ireland in 1971 commanding his armoured reconnaissance squadron but he had no experience of patrolling on foot in Londonderry. So, as the tribunal concluded, he asked the Commanding Officer Lt Col Welch MC if he could accompany a foot patrol into the Bogside: “to get a feel for what it was like”. Unfortunately he picked a really bad night and in today’s peaceful existence it is extraordinary to look back at this time of extreme violence in this part of the United Kingdom.

In March 1972, bombing and incidents in Londonderry had increased significantly. On one day alone there were six separate bombings; two were defused and four exploded, including two very large car bombs, one of which destroyed the Post Office. Soon after this the IRA called a 72 hour truce, during which there were no major incidents but it did of course give the terrorists the opportunity to regroup and to resupply their petrol bombs, weapons, ammunition and explosives. The Bogside had been declared by its residents as a ‘no go’ area for soldiers and police. Nevertheless, Army patrols into the Bogside continued to challenge the ‘no go’ idea, often on foot and at night. The patrol to which Henry was assigned was tasked to investigate 22 Stanleys Walk, a house on the edge of the Bogside, which had been reported to be a store for arms, ammunition and explosives and a lying up house for IRA gun-men. The 72 hour truce ended at midnight on 13 March and was marked, at one minute past midnight, with five explosions in the City Centre. An hour later, at 1am on the 14th, the patrol set off as planned. Stanleys Walk was a narrow street with two-storey terraced houses on one side and the 15ft perimeter wall of the City’s Gas Works on the other, some of the street lights were still working but many were not.

As soon as the patrol entered the area, the alarm was raised by a team of vigilantes who dashed about on foot and in cars, monitoring the patrol’s progress. The patrol arrived at 22 Stanleys Walk to find the area around the address well-lit but the house itself derelict, bricked up and impossible to enter from the front. 2nd Lieutenant John Young, the patrol commander, sensing a ‘come on’ decided to withdraw. He sent half the patrol back to the junction of Lecky Road and Stanleys Walk, while the other half remained in position to cover their withdrawal. At this moment four gunmen opened fire with machine guns and rifles from the Cable Street end of Stanley’s Walk, which was in darkness. The initial burst of fire hit one Rifleman in the thigh, a second Rifleman lost most of his nose from a ricochet off his rifle and a third Rifleman had a lucky escape when the stock of his rifle was shot away. Fire was returned immediately, not only by the patrol but also by a sniper team, prepositioned in overwatch on the city walls. As the shooting became more sporadic, the task of removing the casualties became the priority. Two Riflemen, using the very sparse cover available in the street, attempted to keep the gunmen’s heads down, while another team of four riflemen, including Henry, exposed themselves to extract the casualties. At this moment the gunmen, having moved their positions, opened fire again. Henry was hit in his lower right arm and moved into the shelter of a doorway, while the gunmen were re-engaged. Soon afterwards, having crashed through the barricades in their one ton armoured vehicles, the reserve platoon arrived, the gunmen were suppressed and the firing stopped. The casualties were extracted and taken to Altnagelvin Hospital and the rest of the patrol withdrew back to base. The casualty list included three soldiers seriously wounded, including Henry, whose right hand could not be saved. Two terrorists were confirmed killed and probably another three were wounded. The exchange of fire had lasted eight minutes, with more than 600 rounds exchanged. IRA propaganda described their two casualties, as “unarmed, out for a stroll, smoking cigarettes.” 2nd Lieutenant SJ Young, who commanded the patrol, was subsequently awarded the Military Cross, Corporal Grant the Military Medal and two other riflemen; Cpl Jeffrey Seeney and Rfn John Ferrier were Mentioned in Dispatches. Rfn Geoff Bye and Rfn Mark Lydiat were the other two members of the patrol. Following the incident to commemorate his time with 2 RGJ, Henry presented the Officers’ Mess with a beautiful silver swan with a broken wing, mounted on an inscribed plinth.

To this day the presentation remains the property of the Officers’ Mess 2 Rifles and the inscription reads as follows: Presented toThe Officers 2nd Bn The Royal Green Jackets by Major HO Hugh Smith The Blues & Royals

Who was wounded whilst accompanying a patrol into The Bogside Londonderry on 14 March 1972

Colonel H O Hugh-Smith LVO died on 1 December 2016, at the age of 79, his memorial service was held in the Guards Chapel on 14 March 2017, exactly 45 years after the incident . The Swan was on display .

The random thoughts of a Rifleman

I shouldn’t have been in the Green Jackets

I shouldn’t have even joined the Green Jackets, I had left grammar school in December 1970 with both ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels and was set for a career in the RAF as a technician having passed all their tests and was waiting to report to RAF Swinderby although they had told me it could be 12 months or perhaps even longer as the RAF was a much more popular choice of career than the army at that time. No surprise there given the problems in Northern Ireland. I was therefore working as a trainee manager for a well known electrical outlet, Currys. I was bored to tears, so bored that one Monday morning I paid the extra bus fare and carried on into Oxford deciding to do something else and forget the RAF. My choice was simple. I already wore the Green Jacket cap badge as a cadet CSgt in the ACF (I was also a cadet F/Sgt in the ATC as well but that’s another story). I wanted to be a LUMBERJACK! Actually I wanted to join the 17th/21st Lancers. Who else has the skull and crossbones for a cap badge? I was going to drive a tank! I was told, I forgot this sound advice just the once and I can still remember his displeasure to this day! Everyone in 2Pl respected JP for his no-nonsense firm but fair approach. He was also acting Pl Comd as Lt Neil Bunce was away doing something.

In July I remember being woken up sometime around dark O Clock and asked where Cpl Bob Chapman slept. This was the start of the very quick and busy build-up for a trip to Belfast. Getting on the aircraft to NI, I asked one of the the loadies if they would be kind enough to post a letter for me letting my mother know where I had gone. He looked at the address and went one better and hand delivered it the same evening as I came from Carterton the home of RAF Brize Norton and the base for the aircraft on which we were flying.

The Recruiting Sgt happened to be a Green Jacket who during my interview asked if I had any relatives in the army, I mentioned my older brother a Sgt, also in the Green Jackets. I was asked to go away for an hour while he got my paperwork in order. In that time he located my brother who just happened to be on a KAPE tour locally in the Thames Valley with the RIT and to cut a long story short I ended up after training in 1 RGJ in Celle.

I was posted to 2 Pl, A Coy, our Pl Sjt at the time was John (JP) Perkis. If you wanted to maintain a head on your shoulders never call him Sarge. Much has been written about Op Motorman so I will skip over it except for a couple of things, if Roy Baillie, our database manager, had not been reading a copy of the Witney Gazette in the dinner queue in St. Teresa’s Parochial Hall, I would not have made a friend who I still insult to this today. He misplaced one of his legs a few years back and has still not gone diffy to the QMs for a new one! I recently asked him for his memories of that tour, I thought I might gain a useful insight into his thoughts and feelings for this article given he was older than me and already had two tours under his belt, some shift in the political situation he as a long serving Rifleman might have noticed, certainly something profound. His reply? “The toilets in St Teresa’s were too bloody small to sit on”.

The painting shown here was originally hung in the Officers Mess of the Devon and Dorset regiment and was presented to the officers by Lieutenant Colonel Lucius Hamilton who had served with the regiment a number of years before. It was apparently sold for £85 during the merger of the DDLI, RGBW, LI and RGJ in 2007. I learnt how to carry, tune and use an A41 also a C42 and ‘radio speak’ all without the benefit of a signallers course such was the speed with which we deployed to Ulster. The reason I think I got lumbered with the A41 was because I probably stupidly volunteered and possibly because I was also the nig in C/S 12B. Patrolling was intense either on foot or in the back of a Pig but looking back on it I found the whole experience an err… experience. Who can forget the night we went down to support the Blues & Royals in East Belfast and a factory was emptied of all its bottles when the rioters needed more ammunition. When I was in one of the Sangars in the newly built Fort Monagh when they took a pop at us from the area of Turf Lodge, or maybe the time Jimmy Pat’ bollocked me for not getting rounds off quick enough when we walked into a contact again from Turf Lodge. I wasn’t going to argue with Jimmy or mention my first priority was a contact report, he would probably have decked me! I actually greatly respected Jimmy. Anyway have you actually tried to fire an SLR when in the prone position with an A41 on your back? No? It’s an interesting experience.

On 7th November my first tour came to a somewhat abrupt end just 100yds from Fort Monagh. I remember thinking to myself, “I’m not going over the bank there into cover, there’s nettles and I don’t want to be stung.” So I ran a couple of yards further on. I discovered I had developed a rather neat hole in the front of my upper arm and a much larger hole in the back. I also lost about 2 inches of bone and other bits and pieces inside which allowed my arm to swing quite freely on its own, the bone was replaced later by a lump of plastic apparently. All quite interesting really in a somewhat painful way.

I had actually called in to the Ops Room that a contact in the area was likely only 10 minutes earlier when I realised how quiet Turf Lodge had gone with even the dogs disappearing. As the contact progressed Lcpl Lionel Hitchcock led a section attack across the wasteland between Fort Monagh, the Granshas and Turf Lodge to take on the gunmen who had taken exception to our presence and were being quite beastly towards us. I decided to stay behind and bleed a little while keeping everyone up to date on my trusty A41 which I later found out had lost half its ariel to another round from those gunmen.

A little while later the Ops room got around to asking for any injuries so I gave them my butt number and ask for an Elastoplast. Sadly there was a death that day, that of an elderly lady who died of a heart attack during the follow up search.

To be honest I was by now losing a little bit of interest in proceedings although the pictures on the RGJ Photo website do show me calmly smoking a cigarette while the Coy Medic busied himself around me. Once Doc Brown arrived in his Saracen I got carted off to Musgrave Park Hospital. There was a picture taken just before I received my second injury of the day when, after apparently refusing to lay down on the stretcher, I smacked the back of my head on the door frame of the Saracen! Thus ended my first tour of NI.

In April of 1973 I finally returned to the Bn to continue my recovery and was put on light duties and told to report to CSjt ‘Bob’ Roberts in the Officers Mess. He explained I would be sleeping in the attic in accommodation set aside for the staff, we would not be used at any time for regimental guard etc. (music to my ears!) but would be expected to work a shift system in the mess including weekends. He then asked me if I preferred to be a waiter or barman I immediately said that I had no experience as a waiter but had previously worked behind a bar, sorry Bob I lied about the bar work but there was no way I was going to be a waiter!

I soon settled into the way of life of a barman. I was surprised to find that officers actually had a sense of humour! To be fair with the continual commitment to NI where life was a very serious business there wasn’t really much time for a sense of humour. I should however mention that in 1976 when I was by then in the Antitanks we had a young Oxford OUTC officer attached to us in Cyprus for a month or so who allegedly got himself a few extra duties for doing a ‘zulu warrier’ in the Rainbow bar just outside ESBA in Dhekelia egged on by Bob Munroe and a few others in Sp Coy. No names no pack drill etc. but M.R. you know who I am talking about. Incidentally in the Antitanks back-blast bags, foofoo valves and giggling pins don’t really exist Martin. They can however be found on the same shelf as multi-coloured paint and long weights.

Back in 2 Pln and in July we were again off to Belfast this time to the Lower Falls scene of the ‘Leeson Street Patrol’ painting by Terrence Cuneo depicting members of R Coy 3 RGJ in Sept 71. Three events stand out. The first when we as a patrol were returning to Mulhouse via the Grosvenor Road. We were running a few minutes early so set up a snap VCP. Almost immediately an Austin 1100 came towards us from the Falls Road junction.

We stopped it to find a very nervous driver. Opening his door for him it was found the window would not wind down and the door appeared very heavy. There was also a whiffy sort of smell. On further inspection by ATO it was found to be stuffed full of explosives. 1 RGJ 1 PIRA Nil… The second was when we were doing the Telex Guard and OP at the bottom of the Grosvenor Road. This OP gave us a really good view over to Divis flats and up into the lower falls.It was about 06:00hrs and I was watching up towards the bottom of the Falls and the Mayflower Bar, this was of course a staunchly republican bar. I watched as the dray pulled up and unloaded a few kegs off the back, and took a few photos using the long range lens. The lorry pulled off disappearing up towards the Falls road. A few second later I was surprised to see a large cloud of smoke and a few flames, this was followed by a rather large bang and the Mayflower bar had ceased to exist! The photos were passed up the chain of command but I never heard anything else regarding their usefulness or not. Finally one night I was doing front Sangar duty which looked up a short street called err... something on through a 10ft high metal fence made of wriggly tin and on to the Grosvenor Road itself with my Sangar partner Joe.

We had removed our tin hats and were chatting away quietly while watching up the street. One minute it was quiet and the next some person had popped around the fence and fired a few rounds at us from a hand gun. We might have been chatting but our rifles were still in the shoulder, loaded, cocked and safety catch on. We returned fire with two rounds each. Your man had already disappeared and I doubt we hit him but he may have had to change his underwear quite soon afterwards though as three of the four shots were found to have punctured the fence at chest height roughly where he had been stood, the 4th was a little higher – about four feet higher – we said he had an awfully long neck! I quickly replaced my tin pot but Joe was not so quick. JP now the CQMS came storming into the Sangar, he had heard the original shots and our reply and wanted to check we were okay. On seeing we were he congratulated us on our prompt return of fire and then nicked Joe for not being properly dressed. You had to love JP!

So ended 1973.

In early 1974 I joined the Antitanks. This was in the days before fireworks on strings of course. Once again the platoon was filled with characters. Sadly both Brian Hesketh and Ken Hudson NCOs of that era died in January of this year. My older brother was one of the Pl Sjts The other Sjts were Dave Fairhurst and Tom Smith, Tom went on to become RSM 1RGJ and finally Major Tom MBE There is the makings of a song title there somewhere I think .

They were happy days and I can still recite the definition of Lead as well!

50 years later and life has gone full circle, after leaving the army I first drove buses then was manager of a bus garage before doing time in HMP Bullingdon – as a prison officer. On retiring from that early at 60yrs old following an accident outside of work I set out to relax and enjoy retirement. After three years and now recovered I was bored, so I returned to retail. I now work in retirement a few days a week for Argos in Abingdon and strangely enough quite enjoy it but do find that the young people I work with talk in a strange language where sick means good, sick to me always meant the end product of a good night out in Celle/Cyprus/Hong Kong etc. Apparently, something can also be bear or bare, I have no idea what that means!

Colonel in Chief and an earlier Rifles connection

In her first ‘virtual’ address to The Rifles, as their new Colonel-inChief, The Duchess of Cornwall made mention of her father, Maj Bruce Shand 12th Lancers, who had escaped from Spangenberg Castle, a German POW camp, together with Lt Edward Rose of The Rifle Brigade, an antecedent regiment of The Rifles.

The Duchess of Cornwall meet war veteran Edward Rose on a visit to the Norman Hardie Winery in Southern Ontario, during a tour of Canada with the Prince of Wales in July 2017. while the Duchess told him their unexpected connection showed it was a ‘small world’.

Edward Rose’s story is as follows: Rose and Shand met while escaping from Spangenberg as part of a 25-strong group, who had taken their chances while being marched out of the castle while the guard’s attention lapsed. The group, led by the Germanspeaking Terence Prittie, a fellow Rifle Brigade Officer journalist and author, spent a week in a barn, fending off locals to live on When Edward Rose was introduced foraged food and eventually being to the Duchess of Cornwall rescued after spotting American he revealed an extraordinary tanks advancing in the distance. connection, telling her he had escaped from a WWII POW camp with the help of her father. Rose, who had been captured in France said he and Maj Shand had not been close while in the camp but escaped with mutual friends Lt Edward Rose, The Rifle Brigade Lt Rose, then just 20, had embarked on a daring and were bound by the extraordinary experience of escape from Spangenberg POW camp along with escape. Maj Bruce Shand, whom he described as handy’ in a tight spot. ‘very “He was just a very nice guy,” Rose said of him. “Very handy.” Rose was introduced to the Duchess who said she was only sorry her late father was not there to be reunited, or to learn about their meeting. The Prince of Wales, noticing his distinctive dress, said “When I read that the Prince of Wales was engaged to someone named Shand, I wondered if there was a connection.” it was “nice to see the green blazer” of the Rifles, Shand, for his part, had been captured near Marsa Matruh, North Africa, in 1942, treated for wounds in hospital before being taken to an officers’ POW camp in Germany. He had served with the 12th Lancers, awarded the Military Cross in 1940 and again in 1942, and died in 2006.

“We were treated perfectly well,” said Rose of the prison camp. “The food was pretty awful, but we got parcels from Canada which saved our lives.” Rose, a retired stockbroker who emigrated to Canada after marrying a Canadian girl, said: “I went in after D-Day in 1944 and was a prisoner for about six months.”

Edward Rose died on 13 Sept 2019 in Canada where he was living near his daughter.

From RGJ to Police

by Mike Copp

After leaving the Regt in September 1977 I was lucky enough to join Hampshire Constabulary. After training in Kent I returned to Portsmouth where I was a beat cop for 10yrs, also becoming a firearms officer. The instructor then was Gerry Robb who many will remember, sadly no longer with us ex-RB was also on the team and we looked after many high powered people. In 1987 I applied for the dog section and was very lucky to be selected there were probably 70, 80 applicants for the one job. The German shepherd I received was extremely sharp and 12 months old, however he was very mature and would probably had he not become a police dog been put down. We had many adventures and suffice to say the more heavily armed a criminal was the more pain was going to be inflicted by ‘Kimba’. One night we were called to Portsmouth City where a man was running amock with a large knife he was chasing police officers who in those days only had a wooden truncheon – no CS Spray or metal ASP.

On our arrival the man suddenly appeared about 250m in front of us waving this large knife he was wearing a large greatcoat and appeared to have on his feet a pair of high leg boots he was also a big bloke. On seeing us he stopped and I could see he was having second thoughts, he had had his fun but it wasn’t funny any more and the police officer in me knew he was going to give up. However the Greenjacket in me decided he wasn’t getting off lightly after terrorising my colleagues so before he had the chance I shouted the normal challenge and sent Kimba who went off like an Exocet missile.

I almost felt sorry for the bloke he could see the dog coming but couldn’t do anything about it in the seconds before the dog arrived he threw the knife away and sat down just as Kimba piled in and began biting chunks out of his greatcoat. His bravado disappeared and he was then arrested, blubbering like a baby. For those of you who think I was reckless in sending the dog I can assure you he was more than capable of looking after himself, however, my second dog a few years later was much softer and I would never use him in that manner. Kimba would have made a good Greenjacket. A lot of dog training is about what you are likely to come across and sometimes one wonders if what you are doing will be of use. One of these is property search where the dog searches for Articles and then indicates them.

Shortly after the last job in Portsmouth we were called to a burglary in the village of Denmead. We were just up the road and as we neared the scene I saw three youths running across a field. I jumped out of the van with the dog and shouted for them to standstill. They were about 150 meters away. Two stood still and one ran into the next field, he also came back when I threatened to send the dog but before he did I saw him bend down. All three were arrested and taken away. I then told Kimba to ‘search’ where the lad had bent down. I sent him off and he tracked the route the lad had taken. Suddenly I saw him ‘knock’ a cowpat (the field was full of them). I kept my eye on that particular one and on joining Kimba I looked down but could see nothing. I kicked the cowpat and lo and behold out popped a Rolex watch. I was so chuffed and it showed me that the training worked. The rest of the jewellery was recovered as I had seen the other two drop it into a nearby stream – all in all a cracking result.

Mick Copp. Ex 2RGJ and police officer 1316.

Where are you now?

March/April 1972 training section