Did you know about our Hon Col being 'Mentioned in Despatches'?

In 1965, Col Paul Long OBE, our Suffolk ACF Honorary Colonel from 2004, was 'gazetted' ie his name was published in the London Gazette for being 'Mentioned in Despatches'.

If you see him in dress uniform you will see on his Aden medal ribbon some oak leaves, signifying his distinguished conduct on a patrol with his platoon in that then-troubled area, in which he was wounded.

Ask him about it!

Did You Know About 'The Shoes' ?
Years ago, a now-Senior Suffolk ACF chappie, as a Boy Soldier, had to borrow a pair of shoes in order to visit the local County Town so he could purchase a pair for himself !
Ask the County Commandant, Col Paul Denny, to name the culprit.

Did you hear about a CEO and Deputy Commandant 'Camping it up'?
They were driving to Camp and it was foggy. The journey was slow and lunch beckoned so they stopped on a gently sloping patch of grass. Luckily, the Mess Silver was aboard so advantage was taken of it, candelabra as well as cutlery and wine glasses. When the fog cleared they (the late Maj Tim Chatting and the late Lt Col Reg Cousins) found they were parked on a roundabout!
It wasn't Suffolk ACF but the County ACF just to the north!

THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD 'SOLDIER'
The word 'soldier' arises from the 13th Century Old French word 'soudier' from 'saude' (army).

THE PUCKLE GUN
In 1718 a man named Puckle produced a gun on a tripod which had 7 or sometimes 9 barrels, either cylindrical for use against Christians or square to shoot square bullets against Turks.

THESE ARMY RANKS AND APPOINTMENTS IN 1875
Regimental Corporal Major; Farrier and Carriage Smith Major; Collar Maker Major; Wheeler Major; Staff Sergeant of Pensioners; Second Corporal and Sergeant Photographer. (A new one, for Suffolk ACF in 2004, was 'Mess Pipe Major' ! Probably most appropriate for the scruffiest officer in County HQ - once described by his Chief of Staff in Bosnia as 'often somewhat dishevelled'. And that was on a good day !)

THE 1689 COURTS MARTIAL AMENDMENT
When the first Mutiny Act was passed in 1689 a rider was added that no Court Martial should pass a sentence of death except between 8 am and 1 pm ? In those days of heavy drinking it was probably considered that the Court would not be in a fit state to decide on such a sentence after lunch!

BRANDING DESERTERS (ie with a hot iron !)
Until 1871 deserters and men discharged with a bad character were branded with a 'D' for deserter and 'BC' for bad character, 2" below and 1" in rear of the left nipple? (In these days of metrication we'd better say 5.08 and 2.54 cm !)

REGIMENTAL NUMBERS
The custom of giving a soldier a Regimental number was introduced in 1829. In 1873 Brigade numbers were introduced and in 1881 they moved back again to Regimental numbers. In 1920 the system of Army numbers was adopted and personal numbers for officers in 1929.

THE MAXIM GUN
In 1888 the Maxim gun was introduced into the Army. It was mounted on a carriage weighing 4 cwts with wheels 4' 8" in diameter. (In metric measure that is 203.20 kg and 142.24 cm.) In 1867 the Ordnance Committee tried out a new portable cannon by strapping it broadside on the back of a horse tied to a post. The fuse was lit, the horse turned round to ascertain what the noise was about, the committee watching fell flat on the ground, the cannon went off and the shot went over Woolwich and fell in the dockyard.
The poor horse was found dazed, lying flat and low on its stomach. The committee reported unanimously against any further trial.

19TH CENTURY SOLDIERS' RATIONS
In 1813 a soldier's ration was 1 lb of bread and 3 lb meat for which he paid 6d a day (You work it out in 'New Money' !) Two meals were served but in 1840 a third was added for which the soldier again paid. In 1873 a free ration of bread and meat was made.

Did you know about a Senior SACF chappie wanting to parachute ?
Years ago, a young Regular Army 2Lt decided he fancied parachuting.
Appearing before the Adjutant, Richard Wilson (later Major, Trg Maj 6 R Anglian and made MBE in 2005), he explained he'd been advised at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, by the Regimental rep Dick Gerrard Wright (later General) that he could apply for a transfer to the Parachute Regt and requested an interview with the CO.
Richard went in to advise the CO of the request. The response is not fit to print here!
However, the Adjt reminded the CO that he still needed to see the subaltern.
It was agreed.
Appearing before the CO, who'd been on the beach on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944, the young 2Lt explained his desire.
The CO's response was clear: 'If you want to jump then transfer to the PARAS!'
Said Subaltern declined. He later commanded a Bn, retiring as a Col.
However, at Rollestone Camp 05 he was seen, with the Webmaster, exiting a perfectly sound aircraft mit 'Annual Heating Allowance' chit!
The former 2Lt and his CO were at the Suffolk ACF Garden Party Jun 05 !

Did you know about Bashas and a Lt Col ?
A while ago the SACF Webmaster was invited by a Scaly (aka Royal Signals) TA colleague (now the Senior Deputy Comdt of the ACF north of the Isle of Wight) to attend a lunch in Winchester to celebrate his 40 years of soldiering. In the interests of good Inter-Regiment relations he shall remain anonymous!
Mind you, we go back a long way - into the last Century! In 1996 in Bosnia it was us two who held the fate of the Peacekeeping Efforts of NATO in our hands.
His bash was actually a celebration of 40 years of avoiding sleeping under a basha so I suggested he might break the habit of a lifetime and spend part of a night out under the stars in a maggot .
('Maggot is an apt term. Mike - oops - and I spent 6 months in Bosnia from the freezing winter through to the hot summer of 1996 with no dry-cleaning facility for our sleeping-bags. I suspect they were burned when we were de-mobilised!)
I said: '0001-0002 hrs would suffice and a parchment certificate would be produced in honour of that momentous event if independent corroboration was forthcoming.'
The response was swift.
'My dear chap - come on!
I've never slept under a, what do you gravel crunchers call it, a basha, in my life, nor for that matter have I ever been over an assault course, although I have to admit being a little weeny bit worried at Catterick when we passed that Assault Course on the way to the Rifle range when we were being mobilised for Bosnia in 1995.
Mind you, the Watchkeepers did occasionally try to erect a 180 pounder (? ie big) tent in the old days and that had to be seen to be believed.
The smell inside from trampled wild garlic was something else. I do seem to recall sleeping once in a little tent as a cadet.
Now pigsties, barns, haylofts, farm trailers, Land Rovers, garages, even garages in barracks, church halls, pub halls, even a room with a still in it.
What a record - beat that then!'
So, the SACF Webmaster thinks the score is:

Played 5; Scaly 3, Raybould 1, Drawn 1
Scaly - 1 - (Nights Out Under a Basha - Total nil)
Scaly - 1 - (Hops Over an Assault Course - Total nil)
Scaly - 1 - (Most telephone calls out in a 12 hour shift - 1177)
Raybould - 1 (Most blueys in a tour - Total 1085)

Drawn - 1 (Oldest Pair of Wkprs on one Desk in the Balkans - Total Age 107 years)

Did you hear about the Car Journey ?
Long ago, a General, in full dress uniform, was returning to East Anglia from the Midlands after an inspection. On the dual carriageway at around midnight, in the depths of winter, the General requested a ‘comfort stop’. After an interval, the rear door was heard to close so the ADC said to the driver: ‘Carry on.’
After a mile or so the ADC addressed the General. There was no response so the ADC repeated his observation. There was still no response. Turning around to see if the General was asleep, the ADC was aghast to see an empty rear seat! ‘Cpl, best speed to the next junction and head back to Nottingham.’
After several miles, now well past midnight, a roundabout was negotiated and the staff car, breaking all speed limits, hurtled north. On the far side of the dual carriageway the ADC spotted a figure in dark clothing. After quite a few more miles a roundabout was reached and they sped, once again south. Finally, the shivering General was helped into the staff car.
Good one Mike!

Did you hear about the postcard ?
Years ago a soldier serving with an East Anglian Regt went AWOL and stowed away on the MV Orsova. Arriving in Perth, Australia, he was arrested.
From the nick he sent his CO a postcard, inscribed:
‘Wish you were here!’

Did you hear about Kilroy?
There was one person who led or participated in every combat, training or occupation operation since WW2. He could always be depended on. GI's began to consider him the ‘Super GI’, the one who always got there first or who was always there when they left. Somehow, this simple graffiti captured the imagination of GI's everywhere they went. The scribbled cartoon face and words showed up everywhere - worldwide.
This legend started with James J Kilroy, a shipyard inspector during WW2. He chalked the words on bulkheads to show that he had been there and had inspected the riveting in the newly constructed ship. To the troops in those ships, however, it was a complete mystery and all they knew for sure was that he had ‘been there first’. As a joke, they began placing the graffiti wherever they (the US forces) landed or went, claiming it was already there when they arrived. Kilroy became the US Super-GI who always got there first, wherever GI's went. It became a challenge to place the logo in the most unlikely places. It is said to be atop Mt Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the underside of the Arch de Triomphe and scrawled in the dust on the moon. An outhouse was built for the exclusive use of Truman, Stalin and Churchill for the Potsdam conference. The first person to use it was Stalin. He emerged and asked his aide (in Russian): ‘Who is Kilroy?’
The site at:
www.kilroywashere.org/001-Pages/01-0KilroyLegends.html
quotes that the cartoon has been seen recently in Iraq!
At www.wordorigins.org/wordork.htm
The New York Times, 24 Dec 1946, credited James J Kilroy of Quincy, Massachusetts with starting the craze. Kilroy was an inspector at the Bethlehem Steel shipyard in that city, and used a yellow crayon to write ‘Kilroy was here’ on items that he had inspected. The graffiti became a common sight around the shipyard, and was imitated by many of the other 14 000 shipyard workers when they were drafted and sent around the world.

Did you hear about Mr Chad?
The cartoon usually associated with Kilroy has quite a different origin. It is originally British, named Mr Chad, and apparently predates the Kilroy phrase by a few years. It commonly appeared with the phrase ‘Wot, no ------?’ underneath, with the blank filled in with whatever happened to be in short supply at the time (eg: Wot, no spam?). Sometime during WW2 Chad and Kilroy met and in the spirit of Allied unity, merged, with the British drawing appearing over the American phrase. The OED lists Chad's origin as ‘obscure’, but it may have been created by George Edward Chatterton, a cartoonist in civilian life who spent WW2 in the RAF.

Did you hear about German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder at the swearing-in of new army recruits?
He said: 'Our soldiers put into practice what we have learned from history: to take responsibility for human rights.'

Did you know about The WARNING of a dangerous virus called 'CADETS' ? from Lt Col Mike Vokes TD, Sen Dep Comdt Hants & IoW ACF
There is a dangerous virus being passed electronically, orally and by hand.
This virus is called Casual And Daily Events Trauma Syndrome (CADETS).
If you receive CADETS from any of our instructors, the Major or anyone else via any means DO NOT TOUCH ! This virus will wipe out your private life completely.
If you should come into contact with CADETS take 2 good friends to the nearest pub. Purchase the antidote known as Best-Equivalent-Extractor-Remedy (BEER).
Take the antidote repeatedly until CADETS has been completely eliminated from your system.
Forward this warning to 5 friends. If you do not have 5 friends you have already been infected and CADETS is controlling your life.