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| 1st
Bn Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment |
| Exercise
'OLIVE GROVE' Sardinia |
| 'Charlie
Company' to Sardinia |
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On the 14th January 1965
‘C’ Company 1st Bn DERR set sail from Grand Harbour, Malta
in three Royal Navy Minesweepers bound for Sardinia to join Battalion
H.Q., HQ Company, together with ‘B’ Company 1st Bn ROYAL
SUSSEX REGIMENT for two weeks training. The reason for this deployment was
the limited facilities available in Malta and North Africa.. For the Sea
journey the Company were divided on board HMS WALKERTON, HMS
STUBBINGTON and HMS SHAVINGTON .
The navy delivered the Company to San
Antioco, an hours drive from the Battalions base camp at Cape Teulada.
All aspects of training live firing
and otherwise were practice including an Inter – platoon field firing
competition where C Company swept the board by capturing the first three
places. 2/Lt DALY and his 10 platoon were first, 9plt second, and 11 plt
third. As they were competing against the Royal Sussex it was agreed to be
a satisfying achievement for the company. The Battalion trained hard in
Sardinia enduring dreadful weather conditions.
They returned to Malta on L.S.T. Charles
Macleod and L.S.T. Empire Gull.
On their return to Malta they began
preparations for the move to Minden, West Germany and the new challenge of
Mechanized Infantry Warfare (No Walking !!!)
The following images should bring
back a few memories, comfortable and otherwise for those who went to
Sardinia for the 'Holiday' |
| MEMORIES
OF 'OLIVE GROVE' |
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| 'Farmersboys'
talking to 'Farmersboys'
Cpl W WAGSTAFF, of Swindon and Pte P
WITHERS of Wootton Bassett have a chat to some Sardinian Shepherds, who in
their down time particularly at night 'Re-role' as bandits |
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| Pte
W CUMMINGS , and Pte D WEBB both from Swindon find out the taste of
Sardinian artichokes. The two local farmers were preparing them for market
near Giba, in the south of the Island. |
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| 120mm
MOBAT anti tank gun crewed by Cpl HILL from Swindon and Pte T (The Beast)
PINNELL from Stratton St Margaret, live firing on the Teulada Range,
Sardinia. Evidence that the 'Beast' had soldiered once. |
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| The
Company advance |
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| L/Cpl
K CHAMBERS (Left) and Pte B SMITH both from Swindon emerge from the smoke
of a Phosphorus grenade, during a platoon attack. |
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| The
Mortar section in action live firing on the ranges in Sardinia. Their
first steps in going deaf. They all now attend reunions with hands cupped
to their ears saying 'Speak up I can't hear you' |
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| Members
of 'C' Company 1st Bn DERR pose before going on patrol. Can anybody name
these wilting flowers |
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| Drummer
Dave REASON from Bishopstone and Cpl Eric MILLARD having a quick brew
during section training in Sardinia .
Cpl MILLARD (Talking from the corner
of his mouth) " Look well Ard laddie, I could get R.S.M. after this
exposure" |
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| Cpl
PRICE |
Drummer
BAKER |
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| Winners
of the Inter Platoon Field Firing Competition in Sardinia, 10 Platoon with
2/Lt T.M. A DALY, Sgt THORNTON, and O.C. 'C' Company (On board LST 'Empire
Gull' returning to Malta) |
| COMMANDING
OFFICERS DE-BRIEF |
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Lt Col F.H.B. BOSHELL, commanding
officer of the 1st Bn Duke of Edinburgh's Royal
Regiment, described by the soldiers as a 'Good bloke' and others as
'Colonel Frankie' said of the Sardinian venture....... |
| "In
Malta, because its so small and built up, there are very few training
areas where you can deploy more than one Company, so training has to be stereotyped.
The desert where most battalion training is done, is also much of a muchness,
so we are delighted to be able to come to Sardinia.
I wouldn't say the weather has mucked things up, but up
till Wednesday conditions were pretty unpleasant. Except for that, its
been jolly good. We can't fire heavy weapons in Malta, and if the soldiers
go out on an exercise they like to pop off at something and they can do
that here"
Of the Battalion he says "The supreme advantage of
the Regular Army is that you can build up a much more cohesive force. In
Cyprus, pretty well ideal training under active conditions proved that the
Battalion are in a really good state, and all sorts of people were
impressed with the results.
Morale generally is jolly high. Quite honestly I would
not expect to have a better Battalion than I have at the moment." |
| Acknowledgments |
| The Web team would like to thank Ron
SIMPSON for his assistance in putting this page together. Further
information about this time in the Battalions history are covered in the
Regimental history 'Cold War Warriors' on sale at the Regimental Museum. |
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