Whose Name We Share

104 The Death of Queen Elizabeth II The world was shocked at the news of the passing of our Captain General Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II. To receive this news out field was even more harrowing. She served as queen for 70 years and with her loss came the accession of her son, King Charles III as King and Captain General of the RAA. “Initially I was taken back by the news of the queen passing.” GPO Lieutenant Pieterse said. “I don’t consider myself a monarchist however the queen meant a lot to me as an ADF Member.” The 103 rd Battery fired a mission in honour of her passing and to welcome the accession of King Charles III. Alpha gun, led by BDR John Daly, had fired the mission. “As a detachment we were not aware it would be billed as such.” BDR Daly said. The detachment had walked into it thinking it was just another fire mission in support of RMC. “When we realised it would be the first rounds fired for the King we were all pretty stoked.” No 10. LBDR Charlie Vera added. BDR Daly insisted that the Queen’s passing was a sombre and respectful occasion. It significance to the Corps as a whole was certainly not lost on the detachment, even if the reason for the mission wasn’t necessarily revealed until after the fact. Lt. Pieterse summarises it best: “Coming to the realisation that we would be the first battery to fire in honour of the Queen and soon to be King was very exciting. Being able to give our Captain-General a proper send- off brought some much needed morale to what was an otherwise sombre occasion.”