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| Prior to deployment
in Northern Ireland the Battalion went through an extensive training
programme at Sennelager. Here they practice VCP procedures. Lt Alan Kenway
(Later CO 1 DERR) in the foreground. |
Same location , different
team. (Left) Pte 'Fitz' Fitzgerald attempting to look as soldier like as he
possibly can (An up hill task) |
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| The Visit of Prince Charles to
the Battalion (Right) a young Rex Francis mumbling and dribbling. Saying
something like "The black thingy on the ground makes a lot of banging noises
when you squeeze the trigger, or at least that's what my book says" |
Pre northern Ireland training,
Sennelager. One of the regiments finest soldiers Cpl 'The Beast' Tony
Pinnell rests after a hard days labour. Many years later when challenged on
his sleeping prowess claimed he was only ever caught on camera once. |
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| Sorry Beast you were
saying......Captured once again in the prone position with some other
'Sleeping Beauty's' from B Company. Paddy Ryan appears to have found a well
padded pillow. |
A Posing Patrol on the border.
(L to R) Cpl Dave Fedricks (Later RSM), John Dobie, ? |
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| The Duke of
Edinburgh on his visit to the Battalion in Berlin meets one of the Company
Sergeant Majors, one CSM Raymond Povey. 'Ray ' as he was known to the lads
was beloved by the troops, he was renowned for his approachable, cuddly
nature. It has been said that when he retired he became 'Nice' can anyone
confirm this !!! |
Two members of
the Battalion pictured overlooking the Russian sector. (L to R)L/Cpl Mick Tucker
(Mick unfortunally died in a tragic accident a few years ago) L/Cpl 'Olly' Fennell
on retirement became the chairman of the Swindon Branch of the Regimental
Association |
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| Two Signallers on
a day out at the wall in Berlin. (Right) Cpl 'Flower' Fielding. |
Two brothers,
Drummers Cook, plus one other on a day out on the wall in Berlin. |
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| The Battalions
farewell to Berlin. The Regiments history was acted out by a number of
'Volunteers'. Here we see a depiction of the stand of the last 11 at the
Battle of Maiwand in 1880. The heroic figure in the centre is Geoff Hobbs who
was told there was a casting director for the film industry in the audience
....Sorry Geoff. (Geoff was the other half of the Hobbs dynasty, the other
half being Alan) |
Most years when
duties and operations allowed the Battalion celebrated the actions of the
Berkshire Regiment at the Battle of Tofrek in the Sudan 1885. This
celebration normally took the place of a sports/family day. Here we see one
such day in Berlin. CSM Ray Povey on one of his better days wheels Cpl
Baleimatuku in a fun race. |
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| These
two images will bring back memories of some titanic clashes in the Company
boxing tournaments. In this case the left image shows 'The Beast' in action
against Pte Rolfe of A Company and the right image shows our sleeping beauty
versus 'Bally' Balimatuku. The winners cup went to Bally with the Beast
eating canvas, although he now denies this and claimed he just got bored. |
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| This was the route
taken by 'The Berliner' each day. The Battalion had to provide an armed
guard for this train when duty battalion. |
'The Berliner'
familiar to those who had to carry out the guard duty. The duty was not a
bad one as the perk of the job was a first class meal. When the battalion
first took on this role, the guards were armed with the SLR until some
clumsy 'Farmersboy' put the barrel of his weapon through the window without
opening it. As a consequence the guards were trained to use the 9mm browning
pistol, which would have been very useful against the Russian Army. |
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| Recce Platoon,
Berlin. Lt Stone (Centre) with Paul Mehrlich and Mitch Mortimer in the front
row. |
Training at
Sennelager for Northern Ireland. Sgt John Venus (Later RSM) taking up a
position at the rear, peering into trouble (Glasses John) |
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| Tin City,
Sennelager used by the Battalion as a training ground prior to the
deployment to Northern Ireland. |
The same location
showing members of the Battalion perfecting their snatch squad techniques. |
