Page 15 - Flaming Cauldron – Issue 61

ACC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

RSTU SQUAD (43rd Intake)

September 1971 to December 1973 Reunion Dinner held at the

Corinium Hotel, Cirencester on Saturday 10th June 2023 by Gary Hughes

It was a warm sunny day in September
1971 when 48 brave young men turned
up at St Omer Barracks to begin our
2 year apprenticeship in the ACC. We
only lost 3 lads during training. The
remainder of us passed out in December
1973 to join the “Mans Army”.
Fast forward 50 years to the Union
Jack Club in London where we held
our first Reunion meet up. 18 of us met
and reminisced about the bad old days.
Last year we met in York on a sweltering
weekend, this time with ladies present. A
total of 24 for that weekend. This year’s
Reunion was held at the Corinium Hotel
in Cirencester on another sweltering
weekend, something in common here?
A heavy downpour just before ser-
vice couldn’t dampen the spirits of the
33 attendees. We’re going from strength
to strength. After pre dinner drinks of
sherry and Bucks Fizz we sat down to
a 5-course dinner with the addition of
wine and port with the cheese.
The hotel gave us a choice of 3 starters,
5 main courses and 3 desserts. We could
all choose our own menu. They even pro-
duced soup for 2 guests who didn’t like
the starters. Another lady in our party
was served a gluten free menu. Terrific
stuff from a very customer friendly hotel.
As expected the food and service
were excellent. After a few thank you’s
and a couple of toasts we retired to the
bar and beer garden until after midnight.
I couldn’t recommend this hotel and
location enough. A family run business
with comfortable rooms, plenty of ons-
ite parking and the dining room was
ideal for our size of party. I would also
like to thank Eric Lewis for approach-
ing the Association on our behalf to
obtain a grant. Every little helps us poor
pensioners.
Need to start planning next years
Reunion now somewhere ‘oop’ north.

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