Brief - EX MARBLE TOR 1980
The following brief to the composite 'C' Squadron was delivered by Major Ferguson at Leek camp in April 1980 as we prepared for this overseas exercise.
Briefing to ‘C’ Squadron on Gibraltar.
Full 'C' Squadron Nominal Roll
SQUADRON PERSONALITIES
Major RA Ferguson C Sqn. Ldr. And Exercise Commander
Lt. Lovell Sqn. 2i/c + Admin Officer
WOII Steward SSM
RQMS Steven SQMS
S Sgt Woodcock 14/20 H Sqn PSI. Also Watermanship/Swimming
Sgt Richardson Sqn Chief Clerk
Sgt Lane Sqn Con Rate Sgt Ranges and weapon trg.
Sgt Mclellan RAMC Medical
Cpl Featherstone Int/Photo and PR
Cpl Wheeler Sigs NCO
Cpl Smith MT NCO
Cpl Brown RAPC Last but not least-deals with pay.
Sqn is organised into 4 Troops of 25 men each plus SHQ. Total 129
Tps under command of Mr Mort/ Sgt Norburn. Mr Evans/ Sgt Heald. Mr Walker/ Sgt Burgess Mr Tustin/ Sgt Kershaw.
The Sqn will form part of the second Battalion the Light Inf. Taking the place of their ‘D’ Company who will be training in England.
The Regt. Is formed from the former Somerset Light Inf and the former Kings Own Yorkshire Light Inf. therefore many of them come from Bath and the West Country and from Yorkshire. They have been in Gibraltar since the autumn of last year and will do a full tour and then will come to Weeton camp, which is on our patch.
GIBRALTAR ITSELF
The Rock of Gibraltar is just that. It sticks out from the bottom of Spain and controls the way into the Mediterranean with Morocco just opposite. The Rock is about 5000 meters long and about 1000 meters wide. Point out Spanish border-Rock-Knife Edge-Camp. There are 30 miles of tunnels.
Population is about 30,000 including 2,500 service personnel. Main business is the naval dockyard and tourism and pubs. No industry except somebody sticks bits of rock on jewellery and there is also a small pottery.
Because the border is closed everything has to be brought in by sea or air and is therefore not cheap. Drinks are about UK prices. Taxi back from town to Barracks is about 80p- cheaper before midnight but is in fact an easy walk.
The People consist of a mixture of races but mostly part Spanish. Very pro British but it is a very small community and it is very important that we behave ourselves. Bad news travels very fast. In particular dress is important both when in military uniform and in civilian clothes. You must look well turned. You are representatives of England/Lancashire/The Yeomanry.
The police look like the ordinary English policemen wearing exactly the same uniform. It is important to realise that under the uniform they may not be the same as our policemen and may not have the same sense of humour. If you get locked up this will cause a big problem as the law can be slow and not even Mr Mort (a barrister) will be able to get you out in a hurry. There are also 6 Redcaps and the Navy police on the Rock.
There can be up to 5000 sailors let loose on the Rock during a naval visit.
GUARDS
Our main job out there is to do the Border guard. This consists of 3 sangers- one at each end of the wire by the beach and one on the roof of a building in the centre. In addition during daylight hours there is a ceremonial sentry on duty. The Union Jack is put up each morning and taken down each night. The guard commander and troop sgt. salute during the Spanish ceremonies on the other side of the border.
The guard is a troop task and in addition will have to provide men for the Farringdon OP which overlooks Spain from high on the Rock.
The ceremonial sentry will wear no.6 dress and they will be selected before we go out. Plenty of tourists will be watching you so it essential that you look smart in particular at sentry changing times. Each troop will spend 2 days on guard in one spell with a further spell of one day.
REMAINDER OF TRAINING
There will be an inter troop competition running throughout the exercise. Time will be spent on the ranges available firing the SMG and hopefully the pistol. Also there will be a certain amount of normal troop tactics based on Buffadero village- a ruined village with dilapidated houses etc. for urban patrols.
The army watermanship training centre will be available for our use in the afternoons. WOII Woodcock will be coordinating this training . Available will be Offshore sailing (4 novices at a time)- dinghy sailing (10 dinghies)- canoeing (9 people at a time)-water skiing (2 instructors and 6 to 9 people) and the joint services sub-aqua club.
Some payment may be necessary towards the cost of running this equipment. You must be able to swim to participate, a simple test, swim 50 yards. Bring suitable clothes, should be good fun.
OTHER SPORTS
Gibraltar is very keen on sports with a high level of activity. The sports areas have nautex surfaces so no studs but bring sports gear and training shoes. Also available Clay pigeon shooting (Sgt Burgess) archery, football, hockey, athletics, swimming, tennis, squash, table tennis, volleyball and badminton.
ACCOMMODATION
Lathbury barracks which are 12 years old costing £860,000. Most people will be in rooms of 4 with excellent facilities. The cha whalers in each block seem to do a brisker trade than the NAAFI. There is a Corporals club.
CLOTHING & PERSONAL EQUIPMENT
The weight of your kitbag, suitcase and overnight bag is not to exceed 66 lbs in total. You will get a list of what is to be brought by way of military equipment. Thanks to good work by the RQMS we hope to issue you all with lightweight combat dress.
SECURITY OF WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
You are responsible for looking after your weapon and equipment. You must make your own arrangements for insurance of personal belongings etc. Remember to bring your own padlock for your room locker.
HEALTH
To survive in Gibraltar in June you will need to be fit and to avoid sunburn. Make sure you get your teeth seen to before you go as dental facilities are limited.
MONEY
Gibraltar currency and sterling are equal and interchangeable so no need to worry about taking any Gib currency with you. I would recommend you to exchange any Gib currency you may have on you to sterling before returning.
PAY
Two pay parades will be held one in each week as is normal at camp.
SOCIAL
I hope many of you will make friends with members of the Gibraltar Regt., the TA Regt on the Rock. They are part gunner and part infantry. Time has been allowed in the training programme for each troop to have its own smoker as is customary. Those who wish to go to Morocco on the middle Sunday may do so but you will need a passport. It is not necessary to have a passport if you wish to stay on the Rock.
CUSTOMS DUTY
Do not try to import articles in excess of your duty free limits without paying the duty. The penalties are severe. On no account is the squadron freight to be used to conceal articles through customs as this can result in equipment being impounded apart from anything else. The RQMS will be watching this.
MOVEMENT OUT AND BACK
We will fly out by two RAF Hercules dressed in civilian clothes. We hope to be able to fly from Manchester Airport and be able to report to Drill Halls on Saturday 7th June travel to the airport and fly to Gibraltar. Do not make any party arrangements for the Friday night as it may be when we get the final movement order the plan will have to change. The flight takes about 4 hours.
The flight back will be on Saturday 21st June. On landing we will travel from the airport to RHQ to hand back clothing and equipment and from there to your drill halls. No families are to meet us at the airport.
We will arrange a system whereby families can ring for information about flight arrivals in case we are delayed. Details will be contained in a letter each of you will receive.
THIS WEEKEND
We have tried today to get through as much as possible of the preparation work. Tonight we are going out on a squadron exercise to get us used to working together. Tomorrow we have a busy day ahead of us with TAB jabs from the Regimental Surgeon and more arms and foot drill. Visiting tomorrow will be the CO and the new GOC North West District General Michael Hicks. This will be General Hicks’ first visit to the Regiment whilst we are training. I am sure that you will greet him in the traditional Yeomanry manner of a cheerful smile and respect. He will arrive at 10.00 at the guardroom and stay until about 3pm. He will be visiting all, aspects of training including the Carl Gustav teams.
COMMUNICATIONS
If you have any problems or you are worried about anything in the first instance go to your troop sgt. or troop leader. If they can’t sort it out they will know who to go to so that you can get an answer.
Once we are out in Gibraltar there will be a daily ‘O’ Group and orders will be published daily. As squadron orders will be the most effective means of communicating with everyone you must get into the habit of reading them.
I hope that by now you feel that you belong to ‘C’ Squadron and that by the end of the weekend you will feel confident that you can handle the job we have been given and know better the people that you will be working with.
I am quite determined that we get a good post exercise report from both 2LI and Fortress HQ and that they will be sorry to see us go. To achieve this aim we need the help of everybody. One careless slip from a bad soldier could make life difficult for all of us. Remember that when you are on Border Guard you will have 40 rounds of ammunition in your magazine. We can only afford to take good soldiers. Anybody not meeting our requirements I am afraid will have to be replaced.