Meeting Point

The Regroup has now joined forces with the commando veterans association. This is to the benefit of all and gives us a louder voice nationally.

We now meet in he Walrus public house in Plymouth, still on the first Friday of every month. Please come along and get involved.

The up coming tribute night & auction yomp are the first events we will be holding. If anyone has any ideas or wish to contribute in anyway please contact me on the usual email:

More importantly it’s a good excuse to get out and have a few beers with your mates!!

Former commando Neil Randall is rolling back the years as he leads a fund-raising yomp across Dartmoor in aid of a special memorial to fallen servicemen from Plymouth’s 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

Neil,51, – who now works as Human Resources Manager at Securi-Guard in Estover - is being joined by colleague Dave Campbell,47, Operations Manager and around 18 other hardy souls on the arduous 30 mile walk this August.

The team will carry full backpacks on the two day sponsored trek, which will begin at Okehampton and end at the gates of the Royal Citadel, home to the regiment and where the Commando Gunner Memorial will be sited.

The fund raising appeal to build the memorial is being co-ordinated by Major Paul Greene, who Neil served with as a commando for ten years. They both joined as 16-year-old raw recruits at Lympstone in 1974 and went on to become firm friends.

“The regiment is keen to have a memorial that will be a focal point for people to pay tribute to those soldiers who gave their lives in service of their country,” said Neil.

“It was an appeal I simply had to support and we hope to raise as much money as possible to help pay for this monument. It has been a long time since I yomped across Dartmoor as a raw recruit so we have all started training now to make sure we are in good shape come August.”

A total of £30,000 has already been raised towards the £100,000 cost of the memorial. Built from Plymouth limestone and granite, it will feature the names of 14 soldiers killed on operations since the regiment was formed in 1962.

It is hoped that the memorial will be completed by the end of the summer and Major Greene is co-ordinating a whole host of fund raising events to help hit the target.

It is not the first time Neil has helped out his old services pal. Last April he recruited staff at Securi-Guard to contribute to a special Buddy Box appeal in which special parcels were filled with goodies and sent to servicemen on the front line in Afghanistan.

It was Securi-Guard chairman Bill Boyd who initially offered help to the regiment and his son, managing director Scott Boyd, pledged ten boxes from the firm. The company is a keen supporter of the services, particularly the Help for Heroes charity.

Other Securi-Guard staff also contributed scores of boxes of their own, donating items including toiletries, food stuffs, books, pens and writing paper -all co-ordinated by Neil.

To sponsor Neil and the rest of his team, email him at commandogunner@aol.com or telephone 07789371272

Are you in the Poole area? Why not pop along to the Blue boar and join the new regroup meeting in your back yard. As with other Regroups they will be held on the first Friday of the month, the inaugural one being on Friday 4th July 2008. WE need your support to make these meetings a success, so warn the misses off, or even better bring her along! A good night will be had by all!

If you area interested in organising a Regroup meeting in your area please get in touch. Surely there must be enough ex Regiment in the midlands or Manchester? How about you Arbroath guys arranging something. Once they are off the ground we can then start arranging visits etc.

Please pass on 79 Battery's sincere gratitude for the £55 that you donated to the Battery's memorial service at the San Ignacio memorial in Belize. Your money allowed us to buy a poppy wreath and, in true Commando style, buy a beer to toast those fallen. We conducted the service on our way to Baldy Beacon having just completed the basic jungle school in Gallon Jug. I had sent a small party ahead to clean and paint the memorial and I hope you agree that it looks as good as new. I managed to recruit the 1 RIFLES Padre to conduct the service and add a little decorum! The memorial is on a busy road and we had to block the traffic with our buses which certainly caused a stir amongst the locals!

Please find attached a sample of the photos taken on the day. When the CO and RSM visited they were taken to the memorial and took some photos from their own cameras. I will try and get a copy from Colonel Neil and forward those to you.

Thank you once again, the boys really appreciated your grant and the chance to conduct this service. Although they did not know the individuals named, the service of remembrance has a bonding effect and reassures them that we always remember.

I have included a picture of a very wet gun position to prove it isn't all quaffing ale!

Hi Randy
As promised even if a little late a Report from Regroup Spain. The meeting Started @ 1930hrs after ordering several Granda cerveza ( large beers ) and the following items were discussed:

1/ How to make people aware of the Regroup

2/ How to advertise the frequency & location of the the meetings

3/ How to monitor Membership

Plus a few dits (storeys) in between. You will be pleased to hear that since I sent in to the guest book about us trying to get something started I have had two emails from guys out here who are going to pass on our details to other guys that they know so hopefully we will start to grow even quicker than I thought we would. The meeting closed @ 2130hrs after a few more Granda cerveza and we walked gracefully (stumbled) down the road to take part in the quiz at the local Pool Bar, which we won under the name of Regroup Spain (more free advertisement ). I took some photos on the evening however I can't locate the lead I need to down load them so I will send them on later. Say holla (Hello) to all for us
Regards
Jerry
*footnote* Let me know if you would be interested in reports from the Plymouth Regroup meetings if there is an interest I'll write a short report on our first Friday meetings.

Jerry Josee has set up Commando Gunner Regroup meeting in Spain! They will also be meeting on the first Friday of the month. The inaugural meeting will be on Friday 7th March & the first Friday of every month after that at a real Spanish watering hole called The Royal Oak!

Direction to the venue:- The Royal Oak is situated between the villa Costa 1 and Blue Lagoon urbanizations which is on the main road between campamoar and san miguel which is fifteen minutes south of torrevieja. It can be reached by traveling along ether the AP7 motorway or the M332 Coast Road from alicante Airport or the AP7 motorway from Murcia (san javier ) airport to Alicante coming off at the campmoar off ramp. I know it sounds complicated but it is actually very straight forward. Randy if you could display my contact email address then people can contact me for any further directions thanks a lot and take care
Regards
Jerry wesley8993@hotmail.co.uk

Royal Oak Orihuela, Costa Balnca, not far from Alacant. If you are in this area on holiday etc at any time, they will be glad to see you and offer you a Bueno Spanish evening.

A meeting was held at the Fisherman's Arms on Plymouth Barbican on Friday 10th June 2005. This initial meeting was attended by four like minded people looking to start a semi formal monthly meeting for ex and serving members of 29 Commando Regiment RA. The aim of this meeting was to fill a void left by the Commando Gunner Association (not to replace it) and to try to obtain answers to questions frequently asked by members of the CGA on this website.

We have decided to hold a social meeting in the Fisherman's on the first Friday of every month. All are welcome and we look forward to seeing you there. We would like to thank the Michael & Tracey the landlord & lady for allowing us to use the Fisherman's Arms free of charge and for agreeing to promote the meetings.

We urge as many of you as possible to turn up at the Fisherman's on the 1st Friday of each month to input your ideas and give us as much support as you can. If you cannot attend but have questions, ideas, input or information you would like to share please contact us on the usual email address: commandogunner@aol.com

We would also like to know how you feel about these meetings, good idea or not and would you be interested in setting up a Commando Gunner Regroup social evening/meeting in your area?

At the October 2006 meeting of the Plymouth Commando Gunner Regroup we discussed the possibility of becoming affiliated to the Commando Veterans Association. This we talked about at length, all the members present agreed this is probably the best way forward for our small group. Please follow this link to the Commando Veterans Association web site: commando veterans If you find this interesting, please do fill in the application form and join them.

We will keep in close contact with the Regiment but we cannot see a way forward with the CGA as is stands at present. How can we expect to go forward with an association that only meets for an hour once every two years?

Please let me reiterate we are in no way trying to undermine or replace the CGA This is a Plymouth meeting of the Commando Gunner Regroup and nothing to do with the CGA. If the CGA does manage to get its act together we will happily assist them in anyway we can, but until then we are trying to do the best for ex & serving members.