On the South Coast originally was the Bournemouth Branch which after many years had run its course eventually leading to branch closure. Three of the members who were left, Marjorie, Pat and Dot decided to explore the possibility of forming a new branch. We contacted everyone we know in the area and this contact list was boosted by the enthusiasm of the late Pauline Nowak who seemed to be in contact with everyone! Consequently a “tester” meeting and fish and chips lunch was held at the Lobster Pot besides the Portland Bill lighthouse. We were delighted to welcome 17 ex QA’s including Mary Gardiner and Eveline Duff both well into their 90’s.
At the lunch everyone agreed that it was worth going forward with our plan. The name of the new branch was obvious as we were sitting right on the Jurassic Coast. Pat immediately christened us the Old Fossils!! Pauline came back straight away with Dynamic Dinosaurs. Boosted by this success we applied to RHQ to open a new branch. The inaugural meeting took place on 21st January 2012 at the Red Lion Salisbury. As this was the first new branch in a very long time the then Director Colonel Peter Childerley joined us for lunch.
Our philosophy has always been “you join an association not just a branch” and to that end we have welcomed members from branches across the UK to our various events. We have also welcomed partners and friends to join us on our jollies.
Since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic the branch has enthusiastically embraced a new kind of drinks party thanks to Zoom, [ we previously thought that this was the first line of a children’s nursery rhyme.] On Saturday evenings we have been enthralled by the variety of adventures that some of our Dynamic Dinosaurs have undertaken. This has led to our perceived need for a Branch BLOG. Few of us keep diaries these days and experiences since the end of WW2 are likely to go unrecorded. This is your platform fellow association members, to record all those seemingly ordinary events during your service, which civilians could not comprehend as “an ordinary day.” We look forward to reading your stories.
Lt Col [Retd] Marjorie Bandy RRC Branch Chairman Served 1975 – 2003
Major [Retd] Pat McKay ARRC Branch Secretary Served 1976 - 1996
Fantastic introduction. Really sets the tone and I'm excited about the blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea 👍
ReplyDeleteA great start to our new blog and looking forward to the weekly ones to come.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see this grow and QA's join in to contribute their expeiences. This is living history in the making. There is such a wealth of stories to be told by ALL QA's ( the 3R's).
ReplyDelete