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Once again time for a newsletter.
On a sad note I have to report the passing of two old
friends.
On 1st June I was informed of the death of
John (Johnny) Haines. He collapsed following a heart attack
while on holiday in Menorca. He was 78 years old. His funeral
was held on 22nd June at St. Mary’s Church,
Winterbourne Gunner, Salisbury. In accordance with his wishes he
was buried with his wife. I sent the regimental flag for his
coffin and flowers on behalf of the Shiners. I was told by Tom
Knight the 10th was very well represented. It was a
small church and not everyone could get inside. John lived alone
and was looked after by his nephew, Mr David Aitkin who was very
pleased with the number of Shiners who attended the funeral.
On 4th July I was informed by Tom Knight of
the death of Mrs Marjorie Hedley, aged 84. Her funeral was held
at Kingsdown Crematorium, Swindon on 13th July.
Marjorie was the widow of Walter Hedley (known as Stinker) who
joined the 10th in 1934 as a bandboy with Norman
Wisdom. He was Squadron Sergeant Major in 1947 and left the
regiment in Aqaba to be commissioned. He retired as Major
Quarter Master in 1966. Marjorie and Walter were married in 1941
after France and before he went to the desert. I sent flowers on
behalf of the Shiners and some members of the 10th
attended.
That, I am pleased to say, is the last of the
obituaries.
A bit more info on Walter Hedley. He was
born in 1917,joined the Tenth in 1934 as a bandboy. Retired as a
Major QM in 1966. He would have been 90 this year. Served with
the Regiment in France, North Africa and Italy. Was my SSM when
I joined the Tenth in 1947. Could tell a good story,I think he
was funnier than Norman Wisdom, but then I've never met Sir
Norman. Walter was known in the Regiment as "Stinker", a great
character, all who served in the 1940's50's & 60's would know
him well. He married Marjorie in 1941, after France and before
the Regiment went off to the desert.
Tom
Knight
Scally Rally
 A couple of weeks ago I had an email from John
Etheridge. His son, Michael, is taking part in the Scally Rally
in September. It is a race for charity and Michael’s chosen
charity is St John’s Hospice on the Wirral, where his mother was
cared for after chemotherapy. If anyone would like to donate to
the charity I can give you John’s email address, it is
friartuck01@ntlworld.com The Scally Rally is a race for
cars which cost less than £100 (and we have all had a few of
those) and goes through Europe to the eastern coast of Italy. If
anyone wants any more information on the rally the web-site
address is
www.scallyrally.co.uk
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This is the
car that Mike is doing the Rally in, almost finished.
Mike wants to thank all who have donated and if you
haven’t, there is still time.
Bon Voyage Mike.
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Swindon Sunday lunch was very well attended again
this year. I apologise for not being there myself due to work
commitments. Swindon numbers seem to be going up and Stockport
numbers going down, but we are getting some new members
attending Stockport this year. It is an enjoyable weekend but we
all know Swindon is the geographical area for the 10th.
Wherever you attend it is a long journey so we cannot have it
both ways and all of us are not getting any younger.
I had a question asked a few weeks ago. What is the
origin of the colours on our regimental tie, stable belt and
flag? I must admit I do not know. Can anyone enlighten me? An
example is the Royal Tank Regiment colours, brown, red and
green. That as far as I know is “through mud and blood to the
green fields beyond”. Have our colours any similar meaning?
On another tack, does anyone know of any vehicles
which were mined in Aden? I personally know of one, it would be
about 1966 or early 67. This particular incident, as far as I
can recollect, was the first one. I was down at Bovington doing
a bit of argy-bargy in the trials wing on my tanks, I was in the
NAAFI one night and started talking to this gentleman who was in
the 10th, I knew him very well at the time but, for
the life of me I cannot remember his name. As far as I can
recollect I cannot say whether it was a Ferret, Saladin or
Saracen. He was badly injured that is why he was shipped back to
Bovvy, but the commander, or the troop leader was fatally
injured and I cannot remember their names. If anyone can
elaborate on this particular incident or any more I am sure Pete
Hill will appreciate your information.
Pete has also established a link to the Soldier
Magazine on our web-site and is going to publish the details of
our Stockport reunion on it as well as other sites.
There will be a photograph of Prince Charles
inspecting the Army Air Corps with our newsletter on our site.
The photograph was a presentation of medals for service in
Afghanistan. Your suggestions for a caption with the photo
will be appreciated and the best one will be awarded a
bottle of
something from the Shiners Club.
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Come Guys I
have only had six entries to date what's happened to
all those Red blooded Hussars I once knew have they all
faded away
Peter
30 Aug
2007
The Competition is for UK
Residents only members in other countries may
enter but no prizes will be sent abroad.
Peter |
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The Competition Top 6
Entries |
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1.
"Ok for a touch
and go" |
| 2.
"Can one touch one or
would one mind if one touched both" |
| 3.
"In my day you wore the life jacket over the uniform" |
| 4.
" One used to have a
chopper as a small boy and it was this big" |
| 5.
"Go
on!! My Kingdom for a grope, just one little grope". |
| 6. "Camillas
were this size at your age". |
On a mercenary note, back to Stockport. At the moment
we have only 40 names coming. To get on a par with Swindon we
need as many again, but there are still several of our regulars
not yet sent for tickets. We do not want our numbers at
Stockport slipping dangerously. We all know what that means.
Thanks to your generosity the Shiners Club funds are
reasonably healthy but we do need to keep it up. The Acton Court
is holding the price of the meal as last year which is very good
of them. People who are coming to Stockport need to book their
accommodation because there are other groups who have weekends
there. The date of the Stockport weekend is 20th
October. I hope to see many of you there. It will be nice to see
everyone again.
We are getting new members on a regular basis which
is a good thing for the Shiners Club. The more the merrier.
Looking forward to seeing you all again.
Regards
June,& Ron
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1715 -
1969
