TRUCIAL OMAN SCOUTS
ASSOCIATION
CHRISTMAS 2009
CAMEL: ‘NO, YOU’VE NOT BEEN CHEWING TOO MUCH
QAT, OLD CHAP. SAY HELLO TO SANDY CLAUS!’
Gentlemen,
More than twenty years have passed since the
first few members of what was to become the Trucial Oman
Scouts Association, met together at the Victory Services Club
in London. The association grew rapidly, and we were soon
having annual re-unions of 100 plus members at venues such
as The Connaught Rooms, The Inns of Court, The Tower of
London and Guys Tower. Although we are now sadly
depleted in numbers, we are still extanct and not yet extinct!
In the spirit of remembrance, here are the known names of
those members that have died; there may be others. Apart
from the obvious case I have not used ranks or honours for
fear of errors or omissions.
Col. Stewart Carter. MC OBE. Ron Seabrook; Mick
Munn; Frank Fletcher; Russell Todd; Alan Wilks; Tony
Smith; Dave Birtles; Gordon Nunns; Rod Roden; Dave Swift;
Ralph Parkinson; Dave Jeffrey; Dave Denness; Arthur
Nicholls; Ted Lee; John Essom
Those ex TOS known to live abroad, include, Doug
Abbot; Brian Jones; Allan Wells, Ralph McKee; Dave
Hobson; Alan England; Peter Langford
Those known to me to be too ill or infirm to take an
active part in the association are; Ron Growns; Harry Davies;
Mike Lynn; Dave Youell; Charlie Brown; Mervyn Pritchard;
Michael Weldon. And here are just a few of those that I no
longer hear from, their fate is unknown to me:
Bert Baverstock; George ‘Ben’ Gunn; John Tarrant;
Terry Goodall; Charlie Sewell; Fred Coleman; Gordon Hurst;
John Gallichan; Mick Cheesley; George Pertoldi; Ken Hall;
Alex Henderson, Don Alderton; Dennis Shiels. C’est la vie.
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I haven’t the space for the entire article, but here is an
extract from a feature in ‘Oman Digest’, sent to me by ‘Tug’
Wilson.
‘The UAE's national rail will have its first train service
by the end of 2013 or early 2014, Chairman of the Union
Railway Company Hussain Al Nowais, announced here on
Monday. The 1,100 km-long rail network, to be constructed
at an estimated cost of Dh30 billion, will also be part of the
wider GCC railway project and will connect the UAE with
neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Oman, apart from creating a
link between the emirates. It will connect the UAE to Sohar
in Oman through Al Ain. The railway will also connect the
UAE with Saudi Arabia through the Ghuweifat border and in
turn to the greater GCC and MENA regions. Union Railway
will thus offer two routes that provide alternative access to the
Indian Ocean, Al Nowais said in his keynote address at
MEED?s Middle East Rail Projects Conference.
The network will be for diesel trains carrying both
cargo and passengers, though the focus will be on freight.
Speed of the freight movement on the track will be 80-120
kilometres per hour while the passenger trains will be running
at a speed of 160-200 kilometres per hour.’
Well, we had a really splendid Remembrance Sunday
Parade and lunch. We took the serious bit seriously and
revelled in the rest. I am not a ‘rules and regulations’ man,
they are anathema to me, but I will try to ensure that, next
year, we all wear our shemaghs in the same manner. A dozen
members, all wearing shemaghs to their own taste, makes us
look a little untidy to say the least! George Hendley kept us
splendidly in step during the march past.
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An AGM was convened during the course of our lunch
at The Civil Service Club. I am none too comfortable in the
face of such formality, but it was proposed and seconded that I
continue as Chairman of the association. I proposed a vote of
thanks for our Treasurer, Phil Yorke, who has taken such good
care of our funds. It was proposed and seconded that Phil
continues with the work! Phil then very kindly proposed a
vote of thanks for my contribution. I joked about ingratitude,
but in actual fact I do get more than enough ‘Thankyou’
emails, letters and telephone calls from individuals. The
Treasurer also requested that all payments to him be made by
cheque, or in the case of subs, by standing order, if possible.
The account details are:
HSBC Bank Plc, 27, New Conduit Street, The
Vancouver Centre, Kings Lynn. PE30 1DJ.
Phil Yorke’s address is, 26, Spencer’s Road, South
Wootton, Kings Lynn. PE30 3DW. Tel. 01553 672367
A toast was drunk to absent friends, in particular to
Tony and Angelika Ford, who intended to come over from
Germany in order to be with us but had to cancel at the last
minute because Angelika’s health deteriorated (At the time of
writing she is about to have a very serious operation) and
Tony developed bronchitis. Others remembered, who would
have liked to have been with us, were ‘Lt. Col. HW ‘Geordie’
Dee, Roger Davies, Harry Davies, Dave Orme Honorary
President, Peter Clayton. The last named sends greetings to
you all from Abu Dhabi, where he is collecting information
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for an official history of the latter days of The Trucial Oman
Scouts.
We drank a toast to the two ladies present
As a gesture of thanks to the members present, for not
only making extraordinary efforts to attend events but also for
always paying their subs, year on year, I decided that the cost
of the wine should come out of our account.
Members and their wives attending were:
Mike Morgan (Manchester), Bobby Cameron (Greenock)
Mike and Jean Carn (Holland) Sid Falla (Dorset) Phil Yorke
(Kings Lynn) George Hendley (Gosport) Bruce and Eileen
Norman (East Bergholt) Gordon Lovell (Milton Keynes)
George Charlett (Bushey) John Overs (Taplow) ‘Tug’ Wilson
(Leighton Buzzard) Alan Harney, Lou Lyddon (both from
London) Myself (Rochester) As can be seen, most of those
attending a 9.30 Sunday morning parade on Horseguards,
made great efforts to be there, and succeeded, despite the
vagaries of getting about in this country.
Over the years, several books, mainly autobiographical,
have been written about the Trucial States and Oman. A
particularly good one is, ‘Warlords of Oman’ by PS Allfree
Published by Robert Hale, the ISBN is:
`
978 0 7090 8600 0
If you can track a copy down, Ronald Codrai’s brilliant
photographic record of life in the old Trucial States, ‘THE
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SEVEN SHEIKHDOMS’, will bring everything flooding
back.
I have been known to make derogatory remarks about
modern soldiering. No more. Here are two, sincerely meant,
verses from my poem:
‘British soldier’
Praise today’s British soldier!
Say I, who once bulled my boots ‘til they shone,
And felt the rough edge of a CSM’s tongue,
For calling my rifle, ‘A gun’.
I no longer envy their ‘camo’ gear.
It may look a whole lot easier to bear
Than the itchy BD of yesteryear,
And those gaiter-ed, khaki trousers I wore.
Whatever their garb, they’re engaged in a war,
Fighting and dying as ever before
Praise today’s British soldier!
I’ve given up bragging and boasting
That, throughout my long, overseas posting
I never had any free ‘phone calls home.
An unanswered phone leaves one just as alone,
As not getting a letter from Jenny or Joan.
My protective instincts are also on trial,
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For the feminine gender’s now in durance vile;
Going down in the dust in their own bloody gore,
Fighting and dying as never before.
Events during 2010 might include an invitation to the
annual Rag Lunch at the Army and Navy Club, probably in
March.
A get together at Mike Morgan’s house, or elsewhere in
the Manchester area in July.
Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph on November 14th.
Probably limited, by the RBL, to twelve members on the
actual parade, but we have room for several more at our get
together afterwards.
Here is the big question: DO YOU WANT ME TO
ARRANGE A MAJOR REUNION, AS IN DAYS OF OLD,
EITHER IN THE LONDON AREA, OR ELSEWHERE?
I am open to any suggestions – no, not that one. I am no
longer agile enough!
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Association members on Horseguards
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A very merry Christmas to you and yours, and health and
happiness in 2010
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