ROC Royal Review / Banner Presentation Parade 1991

Adult Staff The Staff Mess
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An amazing day…feels like only yesterday. And I look like a young(er) dork in the video (first time I’ve seen it in 20yrs).


(I’m the one with a large ‘Play’ arrow pointing at my gut, in the still-picture from Part2)

Two ex-comrades of mine helped post this on YouTube yesterday, what a bundle of memories it brings back.

The Duke was on excellent form that day, as was HM. A few of the Officers on parade were dual-comissioned VRT, the trick was to spot the CFMs. And there was also a tiny number of Observers on parade who proudly-wore a double mudguard on their jackets, that of the ROC ‘Seabournes’, who’d served on the Defensively-Equipped Merchant Ships during the D-Day landings (nothing improves your aircraft recognition skills like a potential inbound Messerschmitt). They were amazing guys, and an honour to meet after the parade.

So two Air Commodores-in-Chief, travelling together in the slowest, smoothest and coolest Range Rover I’ve ever seen. And that brand-new Banner, presented by Her Majesty was laid-up shortly after. It still hangs in the Rotunda at Cranwell, alongside all other air force formations that may be reactivated one day.

wilf_san

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Hi

just watched the royal review - brought back memories! I was a leading observer with no 23 group durham (crew 3) and I was there!! Will have to watch it again!! Thanks for loading it - I didn’t know it was filmed. Will let all my ROCA friends know.

Currently a warrant officer in durham/northumerland wing. :slight_smile:

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Good to meet you again (well, nearly, there were thousands of us down there that day, but I might have spoken to you on the lawn at Bentley Priory…or even at camp? You never know). If I remember correctly, we flew from Turnhouse to Northolt, then coaches to RAF Stanmore Park or Uxbridge. It was an extremely-memorable experience- but so were all of our times, back then, in the RAF’s most-forgotten Corps.

If you’re on Facebook, I can ask the Admins to give you access to the ex-ROC group, we’re now close to 500 members. I’ll guarantee you’ll know masses of people there, or maybe find a picture of yourself in uniform at camp. If interested, drop me a private message and I’ll ask them to add you.

Did you go directly from 23Gp into ATC? I was one of the ‘Remnants’, survived stand-down as a member of one of the Reporting Cells in S+NI, then as a transitional reservist I went RAuxAF for quite a while, before finally joining this mob.

Great to hear that you went from being a Leading to an AWO! I hope you wear your Spitfires/stars on your No1s (only joking… I was so tempted to, in the Auggies, and also when initially back in uniform as adult staff with Air Cadets).

There’s a few of us still about the place, now in the ATC, some of whom are even members here on ACC. If I’m ever asked by a Cadet, …when you were a Cadet, did you like flying/camp/parades?, I smile, and tell them that I enjoyed many of the same experiences, but I never benefitted from the easy life of a Cadet…I was an Obs, in my teenage years, which, although it wasn’t all hard work, it certainly wasn’t all just beer’n’skittles either, was it? We did alright in our poor old Corps, didn’t we? It was a lot more organised and provisioned than we thought at the time, looking back at it.

What did you do at Gp? PDP or even supervisor? GIS? Maybe TPOT?

Anyway, enough of this nostalgia, I’ll shut up now. All best, and long may the spirit of Firey Fred keep you in the ATC (a mere baby of a Corps, hatched in 1941…some of us can claim a history back to 1925… but not me personally, you understand!!)

wilf_san

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That is our current SSI opening the car door for HM Queen at 2.45 in part 1. I have sent her the link!

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I suspect this might be of interest to you ROC types if you haven’t already come across it!

Anything above 500KT makes quite a mess!!

http://www.nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Cheers
BTI

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Ouch, that’s not good, is it? Long may nukes be simulated rather than experienced. Interesting link, though. Will pass it on to other old Cold War warriors that are similarly interested in such things.

wilf_san

ps check out this

http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/latest-news/queen-s-edinburgh-nuclear-bunker-to-open-as-museum-1-2810424

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Man, long time out here. They opened up the bunker last weekend and gave out tickets for free. I went around. It’s incredibly unique.

They’re hoping to have the ops room redone by 2021. Or was it 2019?

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Glad you were able to visit the Edinburgh Barnton bunker- a number of friends and ex-comrades of mine have helped with the restoration efforts so far.

And good to hear of someone becoming acquainted (perhaps for the first time?) with the realms & responsibilities of the ROC. There is getting to be less and less of us as time goes by (of course) but especially those of us that’ve ended-up eventually serving in RAF Air Cadets in uniform 26 years after what was called “the end of the Cold War”.

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The ROC is actually of great interest to me, not least because of things you’ve written here.

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I actually belonged to both in late 1991.

12 years ROC 'service ’ and 27 years as a CI ……and still hanging in there .
A lot of the ROC stuff seems like yesterday. I do remember going to a Royal garden (tea) party at Bentley Priory in the 1980’s. Uniform dry cleaned and pressed and shoes endlessly polished.
I still have the ROC uniform and the manuals / Sop’s in the attic.

I believe the ‘new’ banner is now laid up in St Martins in the Fields church , London (along with a lot of other RAF banners).

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If the post at the top of this thread is correct it’s at Cranwell.

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I believe it was moved a year or two back.

The ROC association website has details somewhere.

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The ROC Banner has been taken-down from the Rotunda at RAF College Cranwell, and is currently laid-up at the RAF Church St Clement Danes.

As an Air Force formation, the ROC remains officially stood-down, not disbanded.

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The Corps Banner being passed over to the College Warrant Officer within the Rotunda (Oct 2015)

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Banner Escort Party, Gp Capt and the ROC Association on the steps of RAF College Cranwell, prior to the transport of the Banner to St. Clement Danes