Page 22 - Flaming Cauldron – Issue 54

ACC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

Arnhem Platoon 40th Anniversary Reunion

On 11th September 1979 a group of total us who ended up doing a 100-metre abseil down
strangers were thrown together in Arnhem the tower. Partly due to peer pressure, partly, I am
Platoon, 3/79 intake at St Omer Barracks in By Oxfordmale – Own work sure to ongoing senility but mainly due to the fact
Aldershot. St Omer of course is no more and the that the event was raising funds for an army charity.
tower block which once was home to the aspiring We all bravely witnessed the act (from the safety
chefs of the ACC has long gone. The members of of solid ground) and watched as he very proudly
3/79, however, are very much alive and this year added another medal to his collection.
gathered at Hayling Island for a 40-year reunion. It was, in some ways, as if time had not passed.
Many hours were spent scouring Facebook and True, the hair was lighter and thinner and some
other online resources to locate the friends who of the lean, BFT beating physiques seemed to
had shared our early training experiences. After all, have taken a bit of a beating over the years, but
40 years is a long time and people had been dis- the personalities still shone through. Stories were
persed to locations in Thailand, America, Canada told, and memories triggered over a pint or seven
and even as far afield as Fareham! It was, there- at the bar. The capacity for alcohol and the ability
The Spinnaker, the scene
fore, a testament to the lasting friendships created of the 100-metre abseil by to tell a story without any regard for political cor-
during the two years of our apprenticeship training one of our group to raise rectness had not been diminished by the years. It
that as many as were contacted showed up. money for an army charity was so enjoyable just to sit, sometimes crying with
We ranged from a former Lance Corporal with laughter, at the stories which connected us all over
6 years’ service to a 28 year Major to a still serving the years. At the memories which may have been
Captain and the spectrum in-between. Some had altered by time and Apfelkorn and at the karaoke
pretty clean records with LS&GCs while appar- rendition of Sweet Caroline which was probably
ently ‘borrowing’ a taxi won the sweepstake for the funniest part of the whole weekend. We all
the most time served at ‘Her Majesty’s Pleasure’. spent a great time reliving the shared experiences
A mixed group indeed but a group which shared, and laughing at the times which, as we were liv-
some 40 years ago, 700 odd days of training, of ing them, we often found more challenging than
log runs and assault courses, of parades, bulling funny. Time has a way of adding perspective and,
boots and buffing floors and ensuring that any- looking back, we all saw the two years we spent in
thing that could be polished was duly polished to a training as some of the best times we’d ever spent.
high sheen. 700 days of Julienne and Brunoise, of Unfortunately, time has not been as kind to every-
baton carrots and egg beanos in K2. Some mem- one and we did raise a glass to those no longer with
ories will persist forever, whether we want them us and to those who we could not locate. They were
to or not! A generous donation from the ACC all missed and it is our hope that they read this
Association was received which helped offset some and reach out. Facebook Group is “Arnhem 3/79
Enjoying the Portsmouth
of the costs of the reunion and the group headed 40th reunion”. We are aiming to do it again in a few
sun at the Arnhem
to Portsmouth for an unforgettable trip to the Platoon 3/79 intake years when we all hit 60.
Spinnaker in Portsmouth. Unforgettable for one of 40th Anniversary Reunion Many thanks, Guy Barnett

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