DLOY (Lee Featherstone) Archive Photographs 1970s/80s

Introduction (Email from Lee, 14th January 2021)

Hi

Ex SSgt Lee Featherstone here.

I would like to donate my photo and negatives collection to the museum archives and to also offer some insight into the days immediately following the reforming of DLOY from its cadre days. As a 17 year old Army Cadet Sergeant I was invited up to Fulwood Barracks to train the newly recruited members. I was tasked to instruct a gaggle of hairy arse squaddies in how to erect the two man bivvy and how to cook compo rations. I also helped out at the Preston Guild when D Sqn put on a float depicting a hard soldiers life in the TA. This depicted a hard done to squaddie relaxing in a hammock slung between two trees and tons of sand on the back of a 4 tonner. This whilst being fanned by a bevvy of beautiful hula hula girls. I was co-driver in the cab and later married one of those girls (Ann Featherstone)

It was Sandy Thistlethwaite who then encouraged me to join DLOY which I eventually did in 1976. My wife subsequently joined RHQ in Clifton and was assigned to my Int section!!!

I spent a memorable 12 years in the regiment, staying with RHQ as it relocated to Chorley and serving as the Int and NBC Cell controller for TAOR Lancashire. One memorable event was the visit of Her Majesty to Altcar where my section was to demonstrate our computer collation system (a Sinclair Spectrum with micro drives) this was simulating the Police National Computer as we didn’t have access in peacetime. Later in the day as the Queen was going walkabout amongst the families, she spoke to my parents asking what their connection to the regiment was, my father pointed to me (taking photos amongst the press pack) and she said “oh yes, the computer man”.

During that same visit, between my clerk, Donna Hutchinson, flying in the helicopter and I, we shot 12 rolls of film. Which are all in my collection. In fact it was the regiment that asked me to learn photography for the Marble Tor 1980 trip. I went as PR Photographer accompanying a PR colonel who taught me how to develop and print in the darkroom borrowed from the Gib Int section.

Again, lots of pics of the lads and lasses during that and other trips there.

My days as RINCO were numbered as one incoming Colonel didn’t see the need for Int so I transferred to become the Signals SSgt after my sidekick SSgt Dave Abbott had left. I remember the Signals corporals were ace at radio ops and especially at predicting antenna theory and tropospheric skip. They managed to arrange a call on the prc 320 radios from the UK to Gibraltar and predicted a time that trop skip would work and it did even if it was just for a short time.

I remember chaperoning two reporters from Lancashire Life during one Gibraltar camp when they heard the lads referring to the Gibraltarians as Fraggles. When asked why, was told ‘cos they live on Fraggle rock.

Eventually, promotion at work meant a move to Staffordshire so I transferred to 81 Signals Squadron (The BT Squadron) of 21 Sigs Regt. Serving as a Terminal Equipment Tech as that was my BT experience, I served a further 12 years on Airfield support duties with deployments in exotic climes such as Cyprus, Germany, and three tours of the Falklands.

Once the COVID restrictions have ended, I would be able to attend a meeting to hand over my collection.

Kind regards

Lee

14th January 2021

An opening photograph...