246 GURKHA SIGNAL SQUADRON OC Maj M Barratt SSM WO2

246 GURKHA SIGNAL SQUADRON
OC
SSM
Maj M Barratt
WO2 (SSM) Suresh Gurung
Public Duties - by Sig Buddha Gurung
Every young boy back in Nepal has a dream and an aspiration
to become part of a tradition of being a ‘Gurkha.’ For 200
years, this dream has lived on and long may it live. Each
generation which has passed it down has shouldered the
weight and expectation of being the ‘Gurkha’ and throughout
history they have maintained their impressive reputation.
As a mark of 200 years of loyal Gurkha service to the crown,
today’s Gurkhas have been given the honour of serving in the
Queens Guard in London, an incredibly proud moment for all.
After a month of drill training in Bramcote and Folkestone we
were able to meet the high standard demanded of our
reputation, and although we found the training tedious and
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hard work, at the end of the day it was well worth the extra
effort as we were not just doing this to impress the thousands
of glaring eyes, but also to honour all those who have come
and gone through the ranks of The Brigade of Gurkhas.
The Queen’s Gurkha Signals contingency carried out the
Sig Buddha outside Buckingham Palace
public duties over the period 17 - 22 May 2015. The public
duties consisted of carrying out ceremonial parades at
Buckingham Palace and The Tower of London to relieve the
old guard unit, after which the actual guarding took place.
This whole process is termed as ‘Mounting of Guard’.
Similarly, the ‘Dismount of Guard’ is term used for old guard
unit who conducts the same ceremonial parade but the only
difference being is that they are relieved of their guard duties
for a period of 24 hours. We conducted both the mount and
dismount of guard three times in a space of a week.
Sig Ajay guarding the Tower of London
The week of public duties to commemorate 200 years of
service, to guard Her Majesty The Queen will always be a
highlight of our service and a memory we will always cherish.
The Public Duties Troop from 2 Signal Regiment
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The 2015 Marathon Des Sables – by Capt Tom Aldred
Introduction and Training:
On 5 April 2015 I crossed the start line of Leg 1 of the 30th
Marathon des Sables, a 250km ultra marathon across the
Moroccan Sahara desert. The race would comprise of 6
marathons in 6 days where I would carry all my kit and
equipment; the only items that were provided by the race
organisers was the water (which was rationed) and bedouinstyle tents where I would sleep at the end of each day.
Crossing the start line and then completing the race was the
culmination of 8 months training, which consisted of regular
cross country runs, circuit training (focussing on core stability)
and daily runs, with weight, of up to 20 miles. The most I ran
in one week was 80 miles. All the while I tested and adjusted
my kit ready for the challenge, dubbed ‘the toughest footrace
on earth’.
The Race Itself:
Days 1 - 3 of the MdS consisted of roughly the same format;
0600 reveille, prepare food, feet and sore muscles for day
ahead and assemble on the start line for 0800 depart. To the
strains of ACDC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ we then charge over the
line and begin each stage. Day 1 was a steady introduction to
the demands of desert running, Day 2 a series of summits of
steep jebel hills and Day 3 endless, energy sapping sand
dunes. Each day was about 35km and I finished each in
roughly 5 ½ hours.
surroundings and an event that I would wholeheartedly
recommend anyone trying. There was a strong military
contingent from the UK runners and our unique training
prepares members of the armed forces well for the conditions
of the race.
The energy sapping dunes provide a vivid backdrop to the race
Capt Aldred working through a flat plain, Day 4
Day 4 was the real test though; the ‘long day’, a monster
91km ultra marathon. Up to now I had suffered with a few
blisters and this day promised to test my limits. I attacked it
from the start and intended to get as many miles out of the
way before darkness fell with the promise of a rest day to
follow if I complete the distance in a good enough time.
Sixteen hours later I completed the leg; up and over jebels,
through dunes and across open, arid plains. It was a massive
relief to cross the line and I enjoyed the following rest day,
although it was a struggle not to eat all my rations to replace
the energy I had expended thus far. The race culminates with
a marathon stage to the final bivouac site. The terrain was
comfortable and the pace fast as we could all smell the end of
the race. The sense of relief and pride was palpable as one by
one we crossed the finish line and received our medals as well
as an appreciated can of beer from the race organisers.
Capt Aldred at the start line of stage 2
Nepal Fund Raising Efforts – by Capt Tom Aldred
Afterthoughts:
On Sat 25 Apr and later on 12 May, Nepal was rocked by a
series of severe devastating earthquakes, causing over 8,800
deaths, multi-million pounds worth of damage and an entire
country in shock. The entire community in York was
desperate to help and 2 Signal Regiment immediately sprang
to action and set about raising as much as possible to aid the
stricken country, primarily through the designated charity, the
Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Donations came in
money and also in provisions; blankets, survival clothes and
shelters. The following articles and pictures demonstrate the
variety of some of fundraising efforts we have undertaken
since the earthquake and also to illustrate how 2 Signal
Regiment and the people of York have been so incredibly
generous. Thus far we have raised over £35,000 and this
figure would at least double when we take into account the
tonnes of materials we have received.
The MdS is a tough, challenging event set in spectacular
Jai 246 GSS!!! Jai QGS!!!
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St Oswald’s School – by Cpl Gopal Gurung
On a sunny Saturday members of 246 GSS deployed to St.
Oswald Primary School in York to set up various activities for
the school fair. We set up tents offering Nepalese food,
which was helpfully served by the Gurkha ladies and gratefully
consumed by those in attendance, and a small Bowman
detachment to give local children some experience of our
equipment and the opportunity to practice some voice
procedure – in some cases they put our Signallers to shame!
We also set up a mini Assault Course which proved to be very
popular and then came the culmination of the event: LCpl
Naresh had spent the week teaching the children drill and
then, to the bag-piping of Cpl Samir Rai, the children were
marched out in front of the assembled families who greeted
their performance with a warm round of applause. This was
followed by a Khukri Dance by members of the Squadron who
frightened and mesmerised in equal measure. By 1600hrs it
was time to call an end to what had been a superb day. The
principal was most gracious in his praise and the generosity
and the kindness of the people of York was demonstrated
again.
SSM Suresh pedalling hard
Earthquake Relief Charity at the Blacksmith Arms Pub
– by Sig Hom
LCpl Naresh proudly marching the children at St Oswalds School
The landlord of a local pub in Naburn, just outside York, Mr
John Keep and his family, offered to run a charity event and
auction to help raise money for the DEC. The event kicked off
at around 8 pm with a round of free complimentary snacks
which was followed by a presentation by Cpl Samir and Sig
Hom about the earthquake disaster and also about the
famous Gurkha Khukuri, 4 of which were later sold at auction.
The villagers were also treated to a performance of the QGS
Regimental pipes by Cpl Samir and also a series of raffle
draws throughout the evening. A collection of Nepalese
traditional items were auctioned to build up to the much
anticipated Khukuri auction, which sold for an unbelievable
£600 which contributed to the overall amount of £1200 raised
throughout the whole event. Again this event proved a
considerable success and thanks go to Mr Keep and his family
as well as the people of Naburn for their generosity.
Nepal Earthquake Charity Appeal – by SSgt Chamberlain
The Earthquake in Nepal came as a shock to us all. Having
served with Gurkhas on numerous occasions over the last two
decades, which has resulted in me having a deep seated
respect for them and their achievements, I felt compelled to
volunteer to assist in a charity event to raise awareness and
money to help the worst affected Nepalese communities.
The Gurkha Ladies serving up Nepalese food
Cycle Ride Covering the Distance to Nepal – by WO2 Suresh
Strensall Community led by Mrs Lynette Nelson who is also
the Army Welfare Service representative for the Strensall
area, organised a 24 hour “Cycle the Distance to Nepal”
during the weekend 23/25 May. In order to raise money, a
number of ‘willing’ participants, both civilian and military,
took shifts to cycle, a total distance of 4466 miles which was
successfully completed in under 24 hours. To raise morale of
those competing a BBQ was prepared for the families and
some entertainment for the children of the community. Just
over £2000 was raised in the day.
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York train station being treated to bag-pipes from 246 GSS
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Members of the Regiment paraded in Imphal Barracks,
received a pre-deployment brief and then deployed to four
separate locations within York city; York train station, the City
Centre, Tesco superstore and Designer outlet. This was also
the same day as the Tour de Yorkshire, so we were expecting
a busy day. I deployed with eight other members of the
Regiment (Ghurkha and British) to the Tesco Superstore at
Clifton Moor. The tone for the day was set immediately upon
arrival; as we alighted from the minibus and started off
loading the tables and presentation boards, a passing shopper
slipped a pristine £20 note into one of the charity buckets……
We hadn’t even started collecting yet! Once we had set up
the presentation boards and started talking to the public and
collecting money in earnest, it become readily apparent that
we going to have a good day!
Fundraising at Tesco Superstore
Amongst the eager cohort of willing volunteers was a bag
piper who somehow managed to get roped into playing
musical scores on request……there were copious quantities
of, “Happy Birthday” requests! The Tesco management team
were very accommodating and gave us free reign in the
cafeteria; it, of course, would have been rude to decline this
kind hospitality! After only a short amount of time, I and the
rest of the team become truly humbled at the generosity
displayed by the members of the York city community.
Full fundraising contingent at Designer Outlet, York
In total, after eight hours, the team raised £6,500 with a total
amount raised by the Regiment of £32 000 for the day; an
amazing achievement and a testament to not only the efforts
of the soldiers but also to the community spirit as
demonstrated by the general public. It was a genuine honour
and privilege to work the weekend with my fellow soldiers
from 246 GSS.
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travelled to the North Island, and the remainder of us
travelled to the South Island led by Capt Prem Kaji Gurung (1
RGR).
The South Island contingent
On arrival at Christchurch we were hosted by the 2/1 Royal
New Zealand Infantry Regiment who would accommodate us
in Burnham Military Camp. The welcome Haka (traditional
dance) we received on the parade square was the scariest
demonstration I have ever seen by a group of people.
Burnham would be our home for the next 3 weeks and our
time here would include taking part in numerous parades and
ceremonies. A lot of our early days included visiting local
schools where we would meet the children and some of their
families. A lot of them had only heard stories about the
Gurkhas, but a few children’s grandfathers served with
Gurkhas during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, and hence
praised the Gurkhas very highly. We went on to share the
stories of our forefathers who had fought alongside their
forefathers and answer all of their queries. This gave the
team an immense sense of satisfaction. On other days we
were hosted by local social clubs for dinners or breakfasts.
On 25 April we were all invited to the ANZAC Day Dawn
service in Cramer square, Christchurch. Hosted by the local
RSA (Returned and Services Association), forces from all
services across New Zealand, including a tiny Gurkha
contingent and representatives from the Australian Army
took their places.
248 GURKHA SIGNAL SQUADRON
OC SSM
Maj S Smith
WO2 (SSM) L Rana
Exercise ANZAC REFLECT - by Cpl Santa Gurung
ANZAC Day is the national day of remembrance in Australia
and New Zealand that commemorates all Australians and New
Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts and
peacekeeping operations and the contribution and suffering
of all those who have served.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landings
in the First World War, and as part of Op REFLECT and the
200th Anniversary of Gurkha service to the Crown; the 1st
Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles were invited to celebrate the
centenary of Gallipoli in New Zealand. Fifty five personnel
from all across the Brigade of Gurkhas deployed to New
Zealand by military air transport, and on arrival divided into 2
groups; 35 personnel led by Maj Shields (OC B Coy 1 RGR)
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The Service
During this interesting trip, we were taken on a journey which
made us realise the importance of self sacrifice, courage and
mutual respect. We learnt from these cheerful and fun loving
people the importance of camaraderie. The time in New
Zealand might have flown by, but the memories and lessons
we learnt during this short time will remain with us for life.
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The Queen’s Gurkha Signals - Public Duties
This year, the Gurkhas have been serving the crown for 200
years, so this has been a special year full of celebrations,
events and parades. On this particular occasion, The Brigade
of Gurkhas had the honour of doing public duties throughout
the month of May. Each cap-badge of the Brigade of Gurkhas
was allocated a week for public duties which started on 4 May
2015 with The Royal Gurkha Rifles.
We were also the Tower QRF throughout the duty, ready to
respond to any potential threats at a moment’s notice.
The next morning we did The Opening Ceremony and posted
sentries from 0900hrs until 1300hrs. Then the new guard
took over the duty from us and we finished and left for
Pirbright. We rested and caught up on sleep until the next
day. We repeated this cycle, one day on and one day off,
throughout the week.
The Tower of London Contingent
The Tower of London was an exciting place to do public
duties as spectators were so close to you and watched so
closely while we were on sentry and during the ceremonies.
We also had the privilege of a guided tour of the Crown
Jewels while on guard.
Changing sentries
The Queen’s Gurkha Signals was allocated the third week of
May, starting from the 17th and ending on the 22nd May.
There were people from all three Squadrons (250 GSS, 248
GSS and 246 GSS) nominated for the public duties. They were
divided into three different contingents which were
Buckingham Palace, St James’ Palace and The Tower of
London contingents. We had been practising our drill
according to our roles since March.
On 13 May, the three Squadrons centralised in Bramcote, 30
Signal Regiment, for a final rehearsal and preparation for the
public duties. We made sure that all our drill and uniform
were up to the highest standard before we travelled to
Pirbright Training Camp on 16 May, where we had booked our
accommodation for the week. We would be commuting to
London each day from Pirbright.
The Tower of London - by Sig Pradip
On 17 May, we all left for Wellington Barracks in London, at
around 5 o’clock in the morning. Everyone was excited on
their first day of public duties and so was I. Unlike the other
two contingents, we did not have to perform the mounting
and dismounting ceremony at Buckingham Palace. We stayed
at Wellington Barracks until noon and then got a minibus to
The Tower of London to take over sentries at 1300hrs. We
had to guard three different sentry posts at the Tower until
half five in the afternoon. Throughout the day we also had
three different ceremonies to perform; The Opening
Ceremony at 0845hrs, The Ceremony for the Word at 1445
and The Ceremony of the Keys (Closing Ceremony) at 2145.
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The week flew by quickly as we were so busy with a number
of guests from the Regiment, including many families. The
22nd of May was our last day of duty, and after packing we
returned to Bramcote with many happy memories and stories
to tell. All in all, it was a proud week for the Queen’s Gurkha
Signals.
Buckingham Palace Contingent - by Sig Dhabindra
It was an honour for me to be nominated and granted the
opportunity to be a member of the Queen’s Guard at
Buckingham Palace.
On 17 May we marched down from Wellington Barracks to
Buckingham Palace to mount guard. After the handover and
changing of the guards, we took our positons at the sentries
in front of the Palace. During the presence of Her Majesty,
four of us had to guard the Palace, whereas just two of us did
the Queen’s guard sentry duty while she was not in residence.
Upon leaving Wellington Barracks, the detachment is known
as the ‘New Guard’ and, after taking over from the then ‘Old
Guard’ the detachment becomes the ‘Queen’s Guard’, our
guard commander NCO Cpl Bipendra allocated
accommodation for us to stay at Buckingham Palace as the
Queen’s Guard. The accommodation was a 14 man room, but
worth it to stay in the Palace. There was also a kitchen on site
so we could cook.
After that we sorted our personal admin and performed our
duties according to the shift roster. The formal shift of the
Queen’s guard duty starts from 1200 midday until 2200 at
night, and for the remaining hours we were on QRF. We did 2
hours of sentry duty followed by couple of hours rest, while
maintaining a QRF. While on QRF, we had a very short ‘notice
to move’ so we stayed in uniform, even when not on QRF the
THE WIRE, AUGUST 2015
remaining soldiers were still on a short ‘notice to move’.
Every time we went on guard duty, we were fully briefed by
the duty NCO about the future arrivals and departures of the
royals and other VIPs so that we could ensure the correct
compliments were given. The guardroom was manned by a
duty NCO at all times.
The next day, at 1107, we lined up ready to dismount. After
handing over to the Welsh Guards we marched to Wellington
Barracks and returned to Pirbright for our day off to catch up
on some sleep.
The Officers of the Queen’s Guard
St. James’ Palace - by Sig Sagun
The St James’ Palace detachment moved to Buckingham
Palace to mount guard alongside the Buckingham Palace
detachment. However, after becoming the ‘Queen’s Guard’
the Buckingham palace detachment stay in place, and the St
James’ Palace detachment march to St James’ Palace to begin
their duty. After arriving there, the guard commander
produces a duty roster so everyone knows when they will be
required to man the sentry positions. According to the
orders, there are two sentries at a time, but when the Queen
is present the sentries are doubled and four sentries are
required. Besides the sentries, the remaining manpower
provides two QRF ready to deploy at short notice. The sentry
is normally manned from 0800hrs until 1930hrs.
The next day we paraded on St James’ Palace forecourt ready
to be inspected by the Captain of the Guard, then waited for
the ensign to ‘fall in’, ready to make our way back to
Buckingham Palace forecourt. We left behind our sentries to
be later replaced by the new guard, which happens during the
ceremony on Buckingham Palace.
After the sentries are replaced they join us on the forecourt at
Buckingham Palace. Having handed over duty to the
oncoming Welsh Guards, we became known as the ‘Old
Guard’. We returned to Wellington Barracks and boarded the
coaches to Pirbright, ready to rest and repeat the cycle in 24
hours.
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