4 Fd Regt Old Boys Newsletter - June 2020 Edition

From Terry (Jungles) Hills on 20 April Hi Peter, Sad news about Jack Summers. Jack sure was one of a kind, they broke the mould when he was produced. I recall that the dentist in Singapore was going to charge him if he broke his teeth again. He was forever losing them out the back of trucks or down the gutters. I am sure the obituary will be an interesting read. RIP Jack. Terry Hills (Jungles) From Ben Burrow on 18 Apr Dear Peter. All the 106 Battery First Tour Veterans have dodged Covid-19 so far. John Godfrey still has after heart operation problems with his BP and reluctantly called an ambulance after a phone call with his GP. They took John to a Private Hospital in Hobart and did tests on his liver and kidney functions. These were done in the hospital and John returned home the same day. An increase in his BP tablets seems to have rectified the issue. John looks out on the outer end of the Derwent River and he witnessed a flurry of exits of Cruise ships. Now the Hobart market and the Richmond shops are all empty. Len Curd has sold his house and as a result will be leaving his volunteer job at the VV Museum at Phillip Island. Len is going to shift to Qld for a warmer climate after the border opens. Len is a font of knowledge about his RAA and gunnery career and will be missed around the L5 and M2A2 display. John Godfrey has asked his 15 year old neighbour to set up a 106 Battery Face Book site and they have downloaded many copies of the Turtle Times to the site. Les Winton is acting as the administrator. 106 Battery Vietnam 67/68, will get you on the site. It has about 15 106 Veterans communicating on the site and some Veteran’s family members, it is mainly for 106 Battery First Tour Veterans and families interest. It is amazing how odd people are attracted to the site, I think because the word Vietnam is in it. John started with a Turtle Times site but it was over-run with wild life Turtle people so we had to scrap that site. All good fun for us Luddites. Regards from Ben Burrow. FROM THE MASTER GUNNER ST JAMES’S PARK I am sure all members of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, serving and retired, and all members of our sister artillery regiments in Commonwealth countries, will join me in congratulating Her Majesty The Queen, our Captain General, on the occasion of Her 94 th birthday today. We wish Her and also His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh continuing good health as they isolate at Windsor Castle. Normally we would be proud to mark our Captain General’s birthday with gun salutes at a number of locations but Covid-19 means that is neither appropriate nor possible. However, we plan to share footage of previous salutes held on 21 st April as a mark of respect to Her Majesty. These gun salutes are certainly not the only events that we have been forced to cancel or delay as a result of the pandemic. The Royal Artillery Association Assembly, due to be held in Blackpool in mid May, has been provisionally rescheduled for October. I very much hope it will be able to occur, not least because firstly this is the centenary of the formation of both the Royal Artillery Association and the Royal Horse Artillery Association and secondly that these two important organisations have decided to merge in recognition of the fact that we are all Gunners. The Blackpool gathering will be the first ever combined Assembly. Please remember that the Association is there to support you and your family, particularly now with the pressures of the lockdown; if you know of a serving or retired member of our Regiment, or their dependants, who need help, do use our Regimental networks.