Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

GREAREAT BRITRITAINRIFLETEAMTO THE WESTINDIESby Steven ThomasCaptainVice-CaptainAdjutantShooters24Martin TownsendJohn Carmichael SMNigel PennGary AlexanderPeter BarryPaul CharltonDavid DysonHugh KilpatrickMick PlaceKelvin RamseySarah RennieSally Roots QMIrene RowleyJim ScobieSteven Thomas SMPeter ThompsonAndrew TompsonDick WinneyWednesday 24 April - GuyanaThe Captain heaved a sigh of relief as our BWIA Tristar(clean and tidy but old enough to have been mentionedin the Domesday Book) heaved itself into the sky atHeathrow. The months of planning were finally overand 15 hours later, after stops in Antigua and Trinidad,a tired party emerged through Customs at Cheddi JaganInternational Airport, Guyana. The usual rifleformalities were completed and the team was welcomedby Claude Dugid, Ransford Goodluck and MahindraPersaud of the Guyana National Rifle Association.A convoy of vehicles awaited, accompanied by theGuyana Police Force and a military escort armed withAK-47s and machine pistols, and clad in Kevlar vests.There followed a brisk, and thankfully uneventful, 40-minute drive to Georgetown.Thursday 25 AprilThe Cara Lodge Hotel, an elegant 19 th century clapboardbuilding, was a charming setting, a rather grandvariation on the Bisley club house theme set in a colourfultropical garden and staffed by Guyanese with dazzlingsmiles. No rest for the team though, as a day of rifleassembly, zeroing and range familiarisation was on theagenda.Timehri Range is 40 minutes inland from Georgetownand the coast, with good firing points back to 1,000 yards,and our military escort was there with the rifles to meetus. In the unaccustomed heat and humidity the Adjutantset the pace with a scorching 50 at 300 yards, before alunch break to cool in the breeze under a shelter to shieldthe tropical sun. Kelvin Ramsey, in his capacity as teamdoc, presented a brief (and essential) instruction on thetopic of body fluids and how to manage them. Once theconversation about the colours of team members’ urinehad exhausted itself, the shooting resumed at 900 yards.After the Captain had exercised his prerogative ofshooting at 900 yards with his 300 yards elevation, theVice Captain salvaged the reputation of the team officialswith a cracking 49, with Kelvin achieving the same score.Conditions proved to be perfect for shooting, with a hotfickle fishtail punishing any lapse of concentration.The journey back to Georgetown took us past the CityHall, a riot of gothic towers and wrought ironadornment, and St George’s Cathedral, one of theworld’s largest timber buildings. Flame trees and streetmarkets completed a colourful spectacle.That evening the team were guests at the HighCommissioner’s residence for a reception to celebratethe birthday and Golden Jubilee of HM the Queen. Wewere introduced to Ryan Sampson, Denise Carryl andHanif Mohammed of the GNRA as well as the HighCommissioner, the President of the country and otherdistinguished guests. David Dyson exercised his uniquebrand of diplomacy with inflammatory observationsregarding recent indifferent cricketing performances byour host country, a discussion brought to an earlyconclusion by the steel band rendition of various nationalanthems and well-known Frank Sinatra numbers. Thesteamy garden atmosphere, alive with the sounds of thecrickets, provided a rare opportunity to experience whatlife might have been like in the hey-day of the Queen’sDominions. Later in the evening, after the retirement oflesser mortals to bed, it is reported that Kelvin providedproof “that white men can’t dance”.Friday 26 AprilOn our only rest day in Guyana, the Captain organisedan airborne sight seeing tour of places of interest within150 miles of Georgetown. Before boarding the smallaircraft, all members of the team were required to mountthe scales. David Dyson’s reading on the dial causedconsternation amongst the ground staff, remedied bythe introduction of a second aircraft to spread the load.Soon we were off for a relaxed lunch at Baganara Island,a small resort on an island on the Essequito River. Afterlunch we were again airborne, heading for the KaieteurFalls, a stupendous and remote 820 feet high waterfallclaimed to be five times the height of Niagara. It is setin totally unspoilt country, unapproachable except bylight aircraft, which ensures that it remains virtuallyunknown.Saturday 27 AprilOn the first day of the GNRA meeting, conditionsproved, if anything, more challenging than those of thepractice day. Shot in fierce heat around midday, the600 yards competition in particular provided a testingwind flicking between 3 minutes left and 1 right.Kelvin Ramsey narrowly counted out Paul Charlton forthe day’s aggregate, both scoring 146.14 at 300, 600 and900 yards. The host country filled third and fourth placeswith Richard Field scoring 145.15 and RansfordGoodluck 145.13.