Where to make a start after missing the previous issue deadline and with so much
happening in my immediate problem? As I write I have over one hundred and fifty
letters on my desk at home to deal with all of which have arrived during the
past four months or so. Last December we commenced a newspaper advertising
campaign around the UK which has brought in another two hundred and fifty new
names to add to our lists and many of these new men have still to hear from me.
Their details are extracted from their letters or application forms immediately
at the time they are received and included in my database but with many other
projects with which I am involved and extensive gardening jobs to carry out both
at home and in a voluntary capacity my time during summer is much more limited.
Problems with our photocopy machine and computer have not helped although these
have now been resolved. The good news is that our total of names now listed
stands at 3,284 and growing but I must qualify this total by explaining that
this number includes names either to be or being searched for and deceased
members (after agreement with next of kin) appropriately endorsed.
Many men when making contact for the first time state how they would love to
trace their former pals and I am happy to include whatever information they can
provide and add the name to my lists and search through my computer. A breakdown
of how numbers are made up as an example is as follows:-
Singapore including all posts and attachments and Nee Soon 687 names … Devizes
including training centre and RPO REME 398 … Egypt including Fayid 208 …
Piddlehinton (Dorchester) 123 etc etc etc.
11th Annual Reunion Dinner 2006 Park Inn West Bromwich
Numbers are building up well for this always excellent occasion which has
improved with time and there are still some seats available. The Dinner is open
to all ex RAPC men although previous attendances show that numbers are made up
of over ninety per cent ex National Servicemen. Anyone who has not previously
attended will find an amazing comradeship and whether or not you meet up with a
former pal you will not be left out in isolation … do give it a try.
One of our regular supporters is the often discussed ‘very last’ National
Serviceman Richard Vaughan a likeable and approachable Chartered Accountant and
Jim Thorpe who was the Town Mayor at Devizes when we unveiled the Stone. I am
still searching for an after Dinner speaker preferably an ex RAPC man and I will
appreciate offers from anyone who can keep the diners interested and amused for
up to thirty minutes … tel 01904 448575. Due to not having a subscription or
joining fee we do not have a fund and are therefore unable to offer a fee for
this service.
CPO York i/c Cpl DewsnapÏ Forty years or so ago Sid and Dennis were well known landlords who ran the
Hammerton Hotel near York in flamboyant style and I had met them at this time.
They sold up and moved from the UK to live in Tangier where they ran a Hotel.
Twenty years or so ago they returned to York and searched for a suitable Hotel
or property to convert to such use and found one in Bootham … the former CPO …
which they named the Churchill Hotel. In 2004 I read a full page article in my
local newspaper regarding Dennis Dewsnap who was conducting a book signing at
the Churchill Hotel in Bootham relating to his life with his friend Sid who had
died and this would take place on a Sunday from 12.00 noon with a free bar until
2.30 pm. The article mentioned that Sid had served his National Service with the
Royal Army Pay Corps at Munchengladbach. How could I miss this? … but as events
happened I had been asked to play tennis for one of our mens teams at York
Tennis Club who were desperately short of numbers due to holidays … and I had
agreed.
These matches are played on Sunday mornings finishing at around 12.30 ish with
the practice that
the home team afterwards entertain the visitors for drinks and refreshments in
their clubhouse or at their local pub. This match was to be played at a village
ten miles from York but coincidentally only two miles from my village … but
could I make it to the Hotel in York before the free bar closed? Realising that
there would be many people at this event who I have known but not seen for many
years I hurried home after the tennis to shower and arrived at the Hotel at 2.20
pm when a voice shouted ‘no need to rush Hudson the free bar is extended until
4.00pm’. It was a lovely summers day and I bought a copy of the book entitled
‘What’s sex got to do with it’ signed by Dennis and including his army number
23435763 followed up a few days later by a generous donation in the post for our
RAPCOB group. If you are staying in York at any time I can recommend the
Churchill Hotel which is a steady ten minutes walk to Bootham bar and York
Minster. RAPC historical photographic record
Ten years ago I learned of the fact that the widow of the man who operated at
Kennett studios in Reading and who took all official photographs at Devizes had
all of the negatives of every photograph ever taken from 1948 to 1961 and was
prepared to hand them over to any Corps man interested to go to collect them.
I made contact and agreed to travel to collect them … how could I refuse such an
offer? These have now been in my possession since but there is one big snag … I
have thousands of 2 inch square negatives with no reference numbers or dates and
whilst they are nearly kept in brown envelopes etc there is no way to identify
the period to which they relate. These photographs include all Platoon
photographs … passing out parades … instructional photographs … presentations of
trophies … sports teams including rugby, soccer, swimming, boxing, cricket etc
etc etc
Johnny Raymond came to my house from Doncaster a few years ago and spent from
100.00 am to 4.00 pm searching through them using a magnifying glass but to no
avail. I would be interested to learn from anyone of how I can get suitable size
copies printed of everything and in these days of computers and computerised
equipment if it may be possible to get a company such as Kodak to suggest how
this could be done an offer to do it bearing in mind our lack of finance but I
am reluctant to let these out of my possession until I am confident a job can be
done. Anyone with connections or ideas?
‘Bill’ Bailey (7665244) Hugh ‘Bill’ Bailey was 90 this year and a card was posted on behalf of our
group to Bill. Bill was one of seven brothers and joined the Army in 1940 and
last year at his invitation I drove to Cambridge and had an enjoyable lunch with
Bill whose special interest is philately and I have continued to send him
postage stamps from time to time from our overseas ‘members’.
RAPC Regimental Association AGM and Dinner 2006
This year I managed to be present at the above mentioned occasion at the Victory
Services Club after missing the previous year and what a good occasion this
always proves to be. The AGM was
attended by thirty seven members this year including yours truly which our
Secretary said was the best attendance for some years and it was good to see our
local London area RAPCOB men giving their support in good numbers. I understand
that nearly one hundred and fifty men attended the Dinner afterwards
RAPCOB Newcastle upon Tyne quarterly lunches These events are now well established and go from strength to strength and
at the March lunch forty four men were present boosted by the new ‘members’
drawn in from our advertising campaign in the area. Edward Russell, ‘our man’ in
the area, runs this group with great enthusiasm and efficiency and will always
be pleased to welcome any visitors to the lunches which are held in a Private
Members Club in very comfortable surroundings o the fourth floor of the building
with large windows to three elevations offering panoramic views of central
Newcastle with St James Park seemingly only a stones throw away.
Hull group lunches ‘Our man’ John Booth runs these events with equal efficiency at more regular
two monthly intervals when up to twenty men may be present and meetings are held
at the Black Prince pub at Cottingham near Hull and John also would always
welcome any visitors to the area to join in and enjoy the camaraderie among
those present.
Devizes Reunion 2006 A group of Devizes based men arranged their second Reunion since two years
ago and generously invited me to attend. This was very much for training staff
and HQ people many of whom I now know well and with close to one hundred people
present including wives this was a very enjoyable and successful occasion. Once
again many of our RAPCOB ‘members’ attended having travelled from as far as
Newcastle upon Tyne and London and Bradford to meet up with pals they had not
seen for very many years and I am hopeful that this may be repeated in another
two years and everyone will again be capable of being present.
The last farewell Can this really be the very last time our Secretary Ewan Simmonds will be
carrying out his duties in
seeing the production of this well received newsletter/magazine distributed. On
behalf of myself and our RAPCOB membership may I wish Ewan and Robbie Bright a
happy and long retirement and thank them for all of their efforts and assistance
in recent years and should you on your travels get to York please make contact …
very best regards to you both.
RAPCOB – HULL REGION (Humberside Branch) John H Booth Our regular bi-monthly meetings have taken place. In December we had a
special Christmas Lunch when 17 members attended plus 5 of their wives whom we
were pleased to welcome for the seasonal gathering. Normality returned for our
snack lunches in February and April with 17 and 15 members respectively
attending. Sandwiched in between our meetings we made a visit to RAPCOB
Newcastle Branch on 2 Mar. Myself, Ron Moffatt, Ron Tottem, Keith White, Rex
Broxham and our RAPCOB founder, John Hudson,made the journey for a most
enjoyable day. Our
thanks to Edward Russell and colleagues for their hospitality. We were able to
return the compliment when Edward came to the Hull meeting on the 13th April. It
is hoped we can further the ‘twinning’ of the Branch visits by visiting
Newcastle again later in the year. You can contact John Booth on 01482 667984
RAPCOB – TYNE & WEAR Edward Russell
The lunch on 02 Mar created an almost record attendance of 41, including 4
members of Hull RAPCOB who made a special trip. Following a recent intensive
campaign by letters to newspapers, RAPCOB has attracted no fewer than 250 new
members nationwide. Most of these will also have joined the Association, so I
expect that has had a good start to the year.
Of these new members, 9 from the North East came to the March lunch and we look
forward to them being regular attendees. In the area of “isn’t it a small world”
one of the new members, Ray Brownson, had shared a billet, while in the forces,
with one of our longer serving members, Frank Bewley, and they have not met up
since then. The “small world” bit is that the billet was a bungalow in Meerut,
India, and the date was 1944.
In the Jan 06 issue of ‘P & B’ there was a photo of some men at RPO Newcastle
taken in 59. Two Tyne & Wear members, Jim Kennedy and L/Cpl Alan Clements, were
on the top row of the photo. I don’t expect the next lunch to come up with such
unusual news, but you never know! A few of our members have received their
Veterans Badge. The badge is available by telephoning the Veterans Agency on
0800 169 2277 and is free to anyone who was in the forces up to 31 Dec 59.
We extend out usual invitation to any ex-RAPC men in the Newcastle area to
attend our next lunches on 7 Sep and 7 Dec 06. Please phone Ed Russell on 0191
4276016.
![[Company Logo Image]](../images/all/logo.gif){kind=logo}
