The Sandbag Times Issue No:33

The Veterans’ Magazine 

Issue 33 | August 2017 

Ypres – A Century On 

The Historical Tommy Atkins 

commemorates the Centenary 

A Journey’s End 

Brand New Show to tell the story from 

the trenches of Ypres 

SBT News Update 

All The Latest National & International News 

from the Armed Forces & Veterans World 

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| 2 www.sandbagtimes.co.uk

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Ypres: A Century On 

 

As the Centenary approaches 

the SBT commemorates 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


accommodated in one of the old reception 

blocks to enable WRAFs to relive their heady, 

enjoyable and nostalgic youthful days again 

and to attend buffets and events in the 

Sergeants Mess where various military 

entertainers performed. We were entertained 

over the two nights by, Sarah-Jane a 1940's 

tribute singer, who is a current member of the 

Royal Air Force and and the Sleaford Concert 

Band, some of whose members are veterans of 

the RAF and Army bands, 

Photo & Press extract 

courtesy of Grantham 

Journal. Content also kindly 

by Marie Kearney 

Photo: Tony Roberts 

 

 

In September 1958, the first Women's Royal Air 

Force (WRAF) trainees entered the gates of 

RAF Spitalgate, Grantham, to undertake 6 

weeks basic training to prepare them for their 

chosen RAF careers. On 30 June 1960 RAF 

Spitalgate was disbanded and reformed as the 

WRAF Depot on 1 July 1960. The last Passing 

Out Parade took place on 20 March 1974 

before the camp was handed over to the Army, 

now known as Prince William of Gloucester 

Barracks (PWGB). 

During that period, thousands of WRAFs 

completed their training and went onto a varied 

range of trade training courses throughout the 

UK, before being posted at home and abroad. 

Some WRAFs even returned to the the WRAF 

Depot at RAF Spitalgate as Officers and NCOs 

to train future WRAFs! 

On 6 - 8 July 2017 about 60 WRAF Veterans 

returned to RAF Spitalgate from as far afield as 

Holland, The Orkneys and all parts of the British 

Isles, to attend an ex WRAF reunion, as guests 

of Prince William of Gloucester Barracks. They 

have were given the opportunity to be 

This was the third reunion and by far the best 

attended. Those WRAF veterans who wore 

their uniforms are members of the Royal Air 

Force Association Women’s Royal Air Force 

Branch (RAFA WRAF), but for the purposes of 

this special RAF Spitalgate reunion, sported 

the WRAF Depot Blazer Badge on their uniform 

jackets instead. One of those attending the 

reunion was Moira Byers, who arrived at RAF 

Spitalgate in 1967. She was just 17 and came 

from the small island of Eday in the Orkneys, 

home to little more than 100 people. Moira 

said: “I find it quite unbelievable that I did this 

at such a young age. It’s incredible to come 

back and find I was part of all this. “I feel very 

proud to come back and be part of the WRAF.” 

Pauline Van Dyke travelled from Holland, 

where she has lived for 50 years. She was at 

the base in 1965. 

Reunion organiser Pauline said: “Post reunion, 

the feedback has been overwhelmingly 

positive, particularly for the 40 or so ladies who 

were fortunate enough to be accommodated 

on camp. This enhanced the trip down 

memory lane, as 12- bed space rooms and 

shared ablutions were a legend of almost five 

decades ago, but could have only been last 

week when we were there! “With no TV, radio 

or Wi-Fi, we were transported back to a time of 

camarardarie, conversation and 

communication, a welcome respite from 

bombardment of today’s multimeddia. 

“To a (wo)man, we would do it all again and 

join the WRAF. “The opportunity to tour the 

barracks and visit buildings that had not 

changed since our time there, and to be 

hosted at dinners within the Sergeants’ Mess, 

was an opportunity we could not afford to 

miss. 

“All of this was made possible by the 

Commanding Officer of Prince William of 

Gloucester Barracks and his men, who looked 

after us so well, and to whom we shall be 

eternally grateful. 

“The reunion period also afforded us the 

opportunity to visit RAF Coningsby’s Battle of 

Britain Memorial Flight Museum to see their 

historic aircraft, the Lancaster, Spitfire, 

Hurricane and Dakota.” In September 1958, 

the first Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) 

trainees entered the gates of RAF Spitalgate, 

Grantham, to undertake six weeks’ basic 

training to prepare them for their chosen RAF 


careers. On June 30, 1960, RAF Spitalgate was 

disbanded and reformed as the WRAF Depot 

on July 1, 1960. 

The last passing out parade took place on 

March 20, 1974, before the camp was handed 

over to the Army, and became Prince William of 

Gloucester Barracks. In that period, thousands 

of WRAFs completed their training and went on 

to a varied range of trade training courses 

throughout the UK, before being posted at 

home and abroad. Some WRAFs even returned 

to the the WRAF Depot at RAF Spitalgate as 

officers and non-commissioned officers to train 

future WRAFs. 

An ex WRAF Officer, who was stationed at RAF 

Spitalgate to assist with WRAF training, Flt Lt 

KT Elliot, also attended the reunion and she is 

currently writing a book on the history of RAF 

Spitalgate. 

The organisers of this years reunion were 

WRAF Veterans Pat Sparkes, Pauline Cantrell- 

Stephenson, Joan Geeson and Marie Kearney. 

Some of the WRAF Veterans continue to be 

involved in organisations such as the Royal Air 

Force Association WRAF Branch and the Royal 

British Legion, taking part in Armed and Allied 

Forces Parades and Wings Appeal events 

around the country to raise much needed funds 

to support service personnel. This year WRAF 

Veterans will take part in the Cenotaph Parade, 

Whitehall, the Rememberance Service at The 

Royal Albert Hall and the Ceremony of the Keys 

at The Tower of London. Even though they 

have long since completed their WRAF careers, 

they continue to be part of the service family! 

The Spital Gate Entertainers 

The WRAF Veterans were entertained by some wonderful 

music over their weekend, The SBT takes a peek. 

1940’s Tribute Vocalist – Sarah Jane 

The Sleaford Concert Band 

The Sleaford Concert Band was formed in 1998 by a selection 

of wind players (brass and woodwind) and will celebrate 

its 20 years anniversary in 2018. The Band is fortunate to 

have a number of ex-military musicians, members who have 

graduated from Music Colleges, Music Teachers, and those 

who have developed as a result of a long association with the 

Sleaford Concert Band. The standard of the band is good. 

Again, the band proved to be thoroughly entertaining and 

even caused a little dancing in the aisles, so we are lead to 

believe. 

You can find out more about the band by going to 

http://www.sleafordconcertband.info/bands. 

From Lincolnshire, Sarah Jane is a wonderful tribute singer 

from those golden days of song. She has a whole array of 

well known classics that inspired our troops back during the 

Second World War. We’ll Meet Again, White Cliffs of Dover, 

Dream a Little Dream and In The Mood are just a few of her 

amazing repetoire. 

Sarah Jane had the ladies from the WRAF singing their hearts 

out over the reunion, a perfect accompanyment to a wonderful 

weekend. 

To find out more about Sarah Jane, please visit her website at 

www.the1940svocalist.co.uk 


Well now, here's another absorbing and scintillating Sponsor’s update! 

Oooh, you all say, we’ve been waiting ages 

for that! I’m sure. Anyway, it’s been busy in 

the world of gardening, sports or how-thehell-did-that-happen-enduced 

back 

cracking, shoulder re-jigging and knee 

crunching as usual, interlaced with the odd 

afternoon off to go and soak up the sun 

because, come on, it’s the UK, and there's 

sun and you have to grab it whilst it's here! 

Anyhoo, I digress, Pablo has been working 

hard, (which is nothing new), for instance, 

he’s just had a very good meeting with a 

Combat Stress guy and was able to tell him 

he’d found a really comfortable, neutral and 

relaxing venue for future meetings in 

Worcester on Tuesday's and Thursday's 

plus Combat Stress can run courses from 

there. Therapy will be so much more 

beneficial for Veteran's in a non-forces, 

social club type environment – well done 

Pab’s....always thinking that guy, you can 

almost hear the cogs turning when he's 

near! 

The Sandbag Times is also now officially a 

limited company, with a registered number - 

we're all proper now! Things seem to be 

falling into place at the moment – it doesn't 

mean they will or that if they do the path 

won't be wobbly and skew off on dead 

ended tangents – they generally don't go 

right, (isn't that life though); but it's nice to 

dare to hope that things are actually gelling 

rather than ideas and expectations floating 

around like dust motes and drifting away. 

Now I've edited a book for someone 

(incredibly time-consuming job for a rather 

smaller book than imagined), written what 

seems like hundreds of objection letters to 

the council for a situation that's affecting our 

tenants (including Pabs) very badly, I can 

get started on some poetry of my own and 

a short story about a veteran I was working 

on pre-helping someone out with their 

writing, no good deed goes unpunished 'tis 

true!! Hopefully common sense prevails 

and we get through the “problem” with the 

neighbouring property – will let you know 

about that once we find out the outcome. 

And so, I've left you with a thrilling 

mystery....and consequently none of you 

can wait for the next exciting instalment. 

Ahem...cough, cough..... 

Thinking of 

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Online reads since last issue 

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general had such a cracking weekend 

proves what we're capable of." 

Meet Matt Neal. Three times British Touring 

Car Champion and all-around nice guy. Matt 

takes a little time out from his busy schedule 

to bring us up to date with life of the 2017 

BTCC circuit. 

Matt looks back on his last race at 

Croft. 

“The weekend was a case of what might have 

been for me. Obviously qualifying jumbled 

the grid and then it was just bad luck in the 

first two races. In race one, Price ran into the 

back of me and broke my rear suspension. In 

the second race, I hit some fluid through the 

Esses while making my way through the pack 

and that did a huge amount of damage which 

blunted my pace. In the third race the little 

Civic Type R was awesome, it was hooked up 

from the start and I managed to carve my 

way through the pack to finish fifth and gain 

many much-needed points. I am looking 

forward to the summer break now and will 

come back fighting in the second half of the 

season with it all to play for.” 

Donnigton. 

“Obviously this weekend didn’t have the 

outcome we’d hoped for. Race one worked 

out well – I just got caught up in traffic a little 

bit too long to have a chance of going for the 

win – and then I was pleased with our race 

two performance on the harder-compound 

tyre. The rain unfortunately came too late 

from our point of view – we could have done 

with it a bit earlier in the day – and when it 

did arrive, it made things very tricky indeed 

for race three. The conditions were really 

treacherous at the first start; there was 

absolutely zero grip and I was far from the 

only one to go off, but rules are rules. Taking 

the positives away, the car was fabulous all 

day, it’s still very early championship-wise 

and I’ll be light again going to Thruxton, 

which has historically always been a Honda 

track – so onwards and upwards!” 

Thruxton 

"After the disappointment of Donington, we 

needed to bounce back and I’m really going 

to cherish this 60th win. The Civic Type R 

has always been amazing at Thruxton – we 

work hard on the aero, and this circuit is 

primarily high-speed corners. ‘Flash’ 

certainly made me work for pole, and to 

come away with a Halfords Yuasa Racing 

one-two and a Honda podium lockout on 

home soil in the first race was a dream – a 

fabulous result to reward all the guys and 

girls from the factory who came down to 

support us. I felt a bit wounded after race 

two, because that was another win in the 

Matts last few races. Positive thoughts!! 

Brands Hatch 

"Today gradually got better for me! What 

happened at the beginning of race one was 

just one of those things, caused by the 

difference in starting speed between the front 

and rear wheel-drive cars. We had a good 

recovery in race two, although the ultracompetitive 

nature of the BTCC means you're 

only ever going to make up so many places. 

The final race was then a strong way to finish 

the day; the Civic Type R felt great and really 

well-balanced on the soft tyres, but I lost a bit 

too much time coming through in the 

opening stages and just ran out of laps to be 

able to launch an attack on the podium. That 

was a shame because we definitely had the 

pace for it, but there's a long season ahead 

and the fact that 'Flash' and the team in 


ag – ‘Flash’ and I could really have made 

hay out there – but the car was magnificent in 

race three. The team said to me, ‘why don’t 

you drop back and see if you can go for 

fastest lap’, but I thought ‘stuff that’ and had 

a lot of fun. I just wanted to keep going at the 

end...” 

BTCC Standings 2017 

Drivers’ Standings 

1. Gordon Shedden, 188 points 

2. Rob Collard, 177 

3, Colin Turkington, 176 

4. Ashley Sutton, 168 

5. Tom Ingram, 140 

6. Matt Neal, 135 

Manufacturers’ Standings 

1. BMW, 421 points 

2. Honda, 382 

3. Subaru, 337 

4. Vauxhall, 281 

5. MG, 201 

Teams’ Standings 

1. Team BMW, 344 points 

2. Halfords Yuasa Racing, 314 

3. Adrian Flux Subaru Racing, 213 

4. Speedworks Motorsport, 135 

5. BMW Pirtek Racing, 123 

The SBT on Matt Neal 

We are indeed fortunate that Matt has agreed 

to Patron the SBT considering his 

enormously busy racing schedule. Lucky for 

us, we managed to catch him during his 

summer break which gave him enough time 

to mull over what he was about to get himself 

into. 

In the same year, I hosted a Military Vehicle 

display at Goodwood Festival of Speed, 

showing off some of the technology we had 

back then on a purpose built cross-country 

course. 

Prior to that I won a place on the London to 

Mexico Rally in a BDA Escort, unfortunately, 

due to military commitments I was replaced. 

I taught evasive driving skills for drivers 

training to use civilianised military vehicles in 

Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles, 

so yes, all in all, Matt was my perfect choice. 

But my selfish reasons aside, the boys give 

so much pleasure to the lads away from 

home and provide a essential link back to 

normality. Matt, Flash, Jason, and the gang 

have never failed us. 

Matt tells me he has never served but he has 

supported the Parachute Regiment and other 

worthwhile military charities. 

So, Matt, suck it up!! you’re now one of us. 

Why Matt as a Patron? 

You only have to ask a serviceman away from 

home about BTCC and a handful of names 

will get picked from the air. Matt being one 

of them. Motor Racing is big business in the 

forces, not only do we spend hours watching 

it on a Sunday, we take part in our own 

activities. 

I, myself, was hugely into motor sport in my 

military days. apart from being a competitive 

motocross and enduro rider, I was also in a 

particular winning team in Roadmaster 2000. 

A three day endurance rally set up for all 

Armed Forces and Emergency Services. As 

the driver, I helped our two man team to win 

the Infantry Cup and came 6th overall. Out 

of 96 teams, including the Lex Army Rally 

team, the Police, AA, RAC, RAF, Royal Navy, 

plus many other cross country professional 

teams, I think we did bloody well. 


R C Sherriff 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Rory Fairbairn - Raleigh 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



You can win... 

All of us, at some point, has a personal battle, or something 

we strive to achieve or maybe a race we train for. whatever, it 

is always something we try with all of our might to achieve. 

This last two weeks has seen me win of of the hardest battles 

of my life. It’s true, I am still reeling from it but I was also 

reminded of a reflection I wrote some time ago called 

Winners and Losers. I hope you like it. 

It is true that failure and losing are essential parts of success 

and winning. I look with awe at our tennis ace, Andy Murray. 

It is not so long ago that we saw his disappointment at losing 

in the final of Wimbledon. Disappointment, frustration, 

exhaustion, I really felt for him. It seemed for years he could 

not quite get to the heights he wanted, no matter how he tried 

it just wasn't happening. Then all of a sudden, a year later, it 

all started to fall into place. Everything paid off and he lifted 

the first of two Wimbledon titles. Success was just beginning. 

He is now the World's No:1 and he has just about won everything 

going. But to get there he had to lose and fail over and 

over again, each time making himself a little more experienced 

and a little stronger. 

The essence of his success was the willingness to keep trying 

and that old virtue, patience. 

Contrary to popular belief, losing and failure are nothing more 

than processes to success and normally happen when you 

are not ready to win or succeed yet. The important thing here 

is to keep trying. This has been such a hard, personal battle 

for me. The amount of times I have almost given up over my 

own illness is unreal but every time I think that way, there is a 

very small part of me that pushes me on to keep trying and to 

keep living. I know in my heart that the little bit of me is starting 

to get bigger and bigger because I asked for God's help. I 

didn't get help straight away, I had to fail a few times more 

before I saw the road I needed to walk down to win. I haven't 

won yet but I feel my first title is just around the corner. Going 

back to Psalms, I found this: Psalm 37:23-24 “The Lord 

makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him though 

he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with 

his hand.” Again, a great bible verse that inspires us to go on. 

Lyricist and Novelist Paulo Coelho once wrote “Defeat is for 

the valiant. Only they will know the honour of losing and the 

joy of winning. I am not here to tell you that defeat is a part of 

life: we all know that. Only the defeated know Love. Because 

it is in the realm of love that we fight our first battles – and 

generally lose. I am here to tell you that there are people who 

have never been defeated. They are the ones who never 

fought. They managed to avoid scars, humiliations, feelings of 

helplessness, as well as those moments when even warriors 

doubt the existence of God.’’ 

No matter how many times you have failed or lost, you are 

not a loser or failure. You just haven't won or succeeded yet. 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that in a race all the 

runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way 

as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games 

goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not 

last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 

Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do 

not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my 

body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to 

others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 

God bless, stay safe and have faith in all you do. 

Until next month, Px 


To all of our Armed Forces 

& Veterans Breakfast Clubs 

Pablo and the Sandbag Times team 

have kindly given me a page to speak to 

you all on a monthly basis. Here I will 

try to inform you all of events, news, 

updates etc., so you can filter them 

down to your own members. Although 

the SBT has supported us for the past 

two years, and has become our official 

publication, I feel we may be missing a 

trick here. So this month I should like to 

briefly talk about my visions for the 

AF&VBC’s. 

Firstly, since starting the Breakfast 

Clubs, I have come to realise how 

important they are to so many veterans... 

Richard Massey, our National 

Organiser, and I simply seek to ‘spread 

the word’ about the Breakfast Clubs, 

and support them. We are not seeking 

any reward or recognition, we make no 

money, or benefit personally in any other 

way, save that we know for a fact that 

there are veterans alive today, who simply 

would not have been, had it not 

been for the Breakfast Clubs … and I do 

know that, for a fact… this above all else 

is the motivation, and all the reward I 

need to carry on!! For this reason, as 

far as the current format is concerned, 

nothing can or should be changed. 

Long ago I realised the ‘informal’ nature 

of our Breakfast Clubs is the crown 

jewel; the ‘Squadron bar/mess room’ 

atmosphere that allows veterans to feel 

like they have ‘returned to the tribe’. 

As far as the meetings are concerned, it 

simply MUST stay as it is; veterans and 

service personnel meeting up for a brew 

and breakfast… they can turn up if they 

want to, do not have to send 'apologies' 

if they don't, no subs to pay, no one is 

being shamed into donating to, or helping 

any charity, and they are not bombarded 

with information, advice and literature. 

For the ‘admins’ or ‘Group 

Leaders’, they must also remain simple 

to run too. There would be no incentive 

for them to take up the challenge of 

being an admin if it were labour intensive 

or time consuming, and they are 

veterans too. 

In the future I'd like to see new leavers 

getting the details of their nearest 

Breakfast Club in their resettlement 

packages, so they can draw on the 

experience of those that have already 

left service. 

I feel leaving service should be more like 

being 'posted' back to civv 

ie street... "your new unit is the South 

Hertfordshire Veterans Breakfast Club"... 

to cushion the blow of their transition 

into civilian life, and thereby ending the 

isolation that many veterans are so 

deeply affected by. I think service personnel, 

who are near to the end of their 

service, should be encouraged to attend 

their local Breakfast Club, to allow them 

to begin to tap in to the depth of experience 

available to them, and allow them 

to become familiar with this resource. 

Breakfast Clubs offer support agencies a 

unique opportunity to access veterans’ 

en-masse! Setting up agencies and 

services, and expecting veterans to 

come to them, has always been normal 

practice, but when you train and condition 

individuals to persevere under all 

circumstances, and to succeed, it 

makes it from a psychological perspective, 

very difficult for many of them to 

admit they need, or accept help. 

Although many clubs already have veterans 

attending who are also reps for their 

local VWS, DMWS, RBL & SSAFA, but 

I’d like this to be policy; reps regularly 

attending Breakfast clubs, becoming 

familiar the members, so that when a 

veteran does walk through the door with 

a problem, they have a recognisable, 

friendly face to turn to; a member, and a 

'mate' that they don't feel too proud to 

talk to. Because the creation and attendance 

of Breakfast Clubs is increasing 

daily, I believe that veterans’ charities 

and agencies should come to the breakfast 

clubs, not the other way around, 

because increasingly, the Breakfast 

Clubs ARE the veterans. For this support 

of the Breakfast Clubs to happen, 

they have to have ‘substance’ behind 

them; some structure. This is both obvious 

and unavoidable. We actually do 

have much of this in place, but we do 

have to ensure it does not impact on the 

nature of the clubs, and the informality 

of the meetings. It should not cause a 

workload for the Group Leaders, for the 

reasons previously stated. 

We have made headway with the logo, 

which is now in place; copyrighted and 

Trademarked. 

We need to encourage a 'corporate 

identity' across all the clubs, so that 

wherever a veteran, serviceman/woman, 

or new leaver finds him/herself, the 

Breakfast Club 'brand', is recognisable. 

The logo has been legally identified, and 

protected, and acts as a landmark for 

potential members, so we should value 

it, and protect it from trademark/copyright 

infringement. 

I have been reliably informed that Pablo 

has just discovered the wrath of 

Copyright Infringement to his annoyance. 

Happily though, the media and 

journalist licence he has in place protected 

the magazine from what could 

have been a very nasty situation. 

I personally would like to see all the 

Breakfast Clubs referred to firstly by their 

geographical location (e.g. ‘Fife’), then 

‘Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast 

Clubs’ (or ‘AFVBC’) post nominally, 

which is a term that is ‘all-encompassing’ 

for both serving personnel and veterans. 

More from me next month, take care all, 

Dereck. 


Veterans Breakfast Clubs 

Armed Forces & 

Veterans breakfast Clubs 

www.afvbc.co.uk 

Website 

The VBC Website has now been revamped/redesigned and is now live. There 

are several new features including a Post Code search facility that brings up the 

five nearest Breakfast Clubs to your Post Code, and we now have a News feature 

and links to the current issues of the Sandbag Times and much more. To make 

it easier for people to get to it, funds have been made available to allow the 

acquisition of more domain names. 

The new address is www.afvbc.co.uk and the old address is pointed 

at the new site. 

The main alteration is that the email addresses have changed from: 

Support@VeteransBreakfastClubs.co.uk 

to 

Support@AFVBC.co.uk 


Wrexham VBC 

15 at Wrexham on Saturday 

plus 2 newbies from the 

navy type thing, also some 

family freebie seeking, ie 

having their breakfast 

bought 

Southampton VBC 

38 vets and family from as far as 

Havant, Portsmouth, Southsea, 

Basingstoke, Andover and Blackfield 

saw our 2nd birthday in today. Even 

took time for a train ride lol 

Castleford AFVBC 

Quiet day at Castleford 

today but still got 31 

having a good time in 

good company. 


Veterans Breakfast Clubs 

North Lincs VBC 

Well yet another fantastic 

Breakfast club with 34 

frends/members. Good 

conversations and lots 

of banter. Pictures 

attached but o only put 

on good pictures (John 

Terry) but I am sure I 

will get my own back. 

Edinburgh VBC 

18 on parade in 

Edinburgh this 

morning!! 

Northampton & Duston VBC 

The hosts of our venue are handing the 

Pub over on Monday to another manager, 

so we the Northampton & Duston BC gave 

them a little something as a thank you & 

leaving present. We will be sorry to see 

them go, the breakfast costs will not 

change as a result of them leaving. 

They were also kind enough to give us the 

same priced breakfast even though it was 

not our usual BC morning before hand. 



www.sandbagtimes.co.uk 25| 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPONSORED BY: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operation Blue Halo 

Richard Joyce

SBT Radio Needs YOU... 

A fast few months have passed and SBT Radio is firmly 

situated within the pages of it’s magazine host. 

Unfortunately Jim cannot be with us for this issue so I’ve 

(Pabs) stepped up to the crease to do the SBT Radio 

Batting. 

First and foremost, the Radio Station is there as a place 

for everybody to hangout. The page comes with it’s own 

social media platform, chatroom and messaging facility. 

Ok, it’s not facebook but we see that as a plus. A place 

where you can escape in some friendly surroundings 

and just shoot the breeze with your own music requests. 

Just pop in and say hello when Jim and the gang are on 

air (Check the schedule for details). You will always be 

welcome. 

I also want to say that Jim is hunting for new talent to 

bring to the station. Presenting radio shows isn’t that 

difficult and can even be taught to the those who fear 

PC’s the most. Jim does want to get the station up and 

runningto a point where there is always something 

happening. All you need is a PC, a microphone and a 

big love for music and veterans. If you have all of that 

and fancy giving it a go then contact Jim on his email: 

jim@sandbagtimes.com. Do make sure you check out 

the schedule on the radio page to ensure you can get a 

spot that fits around your life. 

Since the last magazine, Jim appeared at the New Inn, 

here in Worcester on the weekend of Armed Forces Day 

to present shows for veterans in the community. After a 

few teething issues getting the sound sorted out, he was 

up and running and soon entertaining the masses. I 

have to say he was very well recieved showing just how 

versatile Jim and SBT Radio really are. He does need to 

sack the sound engineer though, he was useless. 

I am very pleased to say though, that the weekend saw 

the team raising close to £1,000 for the Chennai Six. We 

auctioned off three paintings, two gratefully supplied by 

Black Halo Designs and a beautiful print by Jacqueline 

Hurley. Each of them going for around £150 each. 

Thank you so much to all who donated and spent 

money. We have another booked in for the 

Remembrance weekend, watch out for more details. 

Finally, remember to pop in and sign up for your free 

account at the website and feel free to use all of the 

facilities there. See you all next month. 


Senior Aircraftman Kinikki 

Griffiths, R.A.F. Regiment 

16th July 2010 

On this day in 2010, Senior 

Aircraftman Kinikki "Griff" Griffiths, 

from the RAF Regiment, died in 

Afghanistan. He was serving as 

part of the Camp Bastion Force 

Protection Wing, and had been 

conducting a patrol when it was 

noticed that the Jackal patrol 

vehicle had developed a fuel leak 

- SAC Griffiths was underneath 

the vehicle attempting repairs 

when it rolled on to him due to 

faulty brakes. 

Read More Here 

Captain John Young, 

321 EOD Unit, Royal Army 

Ordnance Corps 


On this day in 1972, Captain 

John Young, 321 Explosive 

Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit, 

Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 

was killed in Northern Ireland. 

An IRA bomb had been left in a 

milk-churn at Silverbridge near 

Forkhill, Co. Armagh. It exploded 

as Captain Young approached, 

causing him massive fatal 

injuries. 

Read more here 

Private Richard Barton, 

C Company, 2nd Battalion The 

Parachute Regiment 

14 July 1971 

On this day in 1971, Private 

Richard Andrew Barton, 

C (Patrol) Company, 2nd 

Battalion The Parachute 

Regiment, was shot dead in the 

Andersonstown area of Belfast. 

He had been driving a Land 

Rover during a night patrol when 

three gunmen opened fire from 

where they were hidden in a 

garden at Killeen Park. 

Read More Here 

Lieutenant (Acting Captain) 

Robert Bowness Gibson, 

2nd Battalion, the Bedfordshire 

Regiment 


On this day in 1916, Lieutenant 

(Acting Captain) Robert Bowness 

Gibson, 2nd Battalion, 

Bedfordshire Regiment, was 

killed in action at Trones Wood 

on the Somme. Three men from 

his platoon risked their lives to 

retrieve his body for burial - most 

of his men had been killed by 

machine gun fire upon entering 

the wood, and he himself had 

been shot through the head, 

dying instantly. 

Read more here 


The War Poppy Collection 

By Jacqueline Hurley 




The Veterans’ Magazine 

The War Poppy Collection 

Jacqueline Hurley talks to the SBT 

about her stunning works of art 

100 Years of Vera 

SPONSORED BY: 

 

As Dame Vera Lynn celebrates 

her 100th Birthday we look back 

at her incredible story 

Osteopath 

The SBT News 

This week’s latest national 

and international news 

from the world of Veterans 

and Armed Forces 

 

 

 

 

 

Issue 29 | March 2017 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPONSORED BY: 

 

Osteopath 

www.sandbagtimes.co.uk 

SPONSORED BY: 

Ken Brooks 

Osteopath 

 

SPONSORED BY: 

 

Osteopath 

 

 

 

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Sandbag Times and have it 

delivered to your email 

every Thursday 

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The Sandbag Times Issue No:33

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