In Peace and War by Robin Rhoderick-Jones

Author:Robin Rhoderick-Jones [Rhoderick-Jones, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Special Forces, Europe, Great Britain, General, Wars & Conflicts (Other)
ISBN: 9781526746962
Google: fk8IEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2019-07-30T03:26:07+00:00

The repetitive grind of BAOR soldiering was, as always, alleviated by almost annual visits from the Colonel-in-Chief, by sport, and by the music provided by the excellent band, which in 1976 was the only band in the Army to be awarded the coveted A Grading by the Royal Military School of Music. Three years earlier, the Irish Hussars emulated the Queen’s Own Hussars by producing a notable spectacular in the form of a Son et Lumière commemorating the charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade at Balaklava, with music composed by Bandmaster Peter Smith and words by Major Robin Rhoderick-Jones, performed outdoors for the regiment and many invited guests. So successful was this foray into theatricals that it was repeated in a special programme produced world-wide by the British Forces Broadcasting Service. There were successes in sport, too: the football team won the Cavalry Cup in 1975 and 1977, and the polo team were regular runners-up in the Inter-Regimental. Skiing was popular, and a team of four won the Daily Telegraph’s Exercise Parashot competition, consisting of parachute drops, navigation, patrol exercises, speed marching, ambush drills, first aid and shooting phases, against all-comers, including four teams from the Parachute Regiment. The subalterns found that there was a thriving social life to be found in the Westphalian countryside: parties could be found in more than one grand Schloss and young ladies could be pursued – sometimes with success. An unfortunate surprise confronted one young man when the girl he had danced with enthusiastically later led him to her bed. He could hardly believe his luck, until he discovered that ‘she’ was actually a ‘he’. He compounded this horrifying revelation by incautiously relating the incident to a couple of his friends, who naturally passed it on with notable embellishments so that within twenty-four hours the whole regiment knew.

In 1975 the honorary colonelcy of the regiment passed from General Shan Hackett to Major General John Strawson, but not before the addition of a Pipes and Drums band, the brainchild of Lieutenant Colonel Brian O’Rorke and equipped largely through the generosity of Lord St Oswald who, as Rowland Winn, had served in the 8th Hussars. The Pipes and Drums were a valuable addition and often joined with the regimental band for concerts, parades and recordings. Prince Philip continued to visit regularly and on one such occasion a telephone call was received during dinner by the German police, warning them that a bomb had been placed in the officers’ mess of the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars. The commanding officer suggested that they might therefore evacuate the building while it was searched. The Colonel-in-Chief demurred, but was eventually persuaded and, accompanied by a number of relieved officers and staff, allowed himself to be led out on to the lawn. That call was, of course, a hoax, but an unexpected telephone message in July 1974 proved, however, to be no such thing. Two aircraft, one containing the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Kenny, had left for BATUS training in

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