Maybe someone has been watching...

Originally Posted by One_of_the_strange

I remember her, I think she set some kind of record for number of MTDs done in her last year with us.

Does time in custody count?

Originally Posted by cpunk

This predates my arrival in the mighty Corps but stinks of bullshit. Opinions?

How Thatcher's election win launched secret war on CND - Home News - UK - The Independent

Reminds me of a story I once read about the activities of the shadowy Hounslow-based 'MI90' in - I think - the News of the World...

If its in the Independent it must be true. Far be it from me to suggest that a high-rolling Intelligence Corps reservist of old has fallen on hard times and been generously paid by a lazy hack for another spurious, and unverifiable "Military Intelligence" story.

Perhaps there is a Lazy Hack around ( who has woken too early, by mistake) who might care to comment before the bar opens.

There is closely-aligned, retrospective reportage here : Fictional Int Corps character -- advice sought

Not only 20 Sy Coy from St Johns Wood, but also an elite band of Senior and Junior NCOs based in the Keep in Hounslow (long before 99 was born) I can now reveal that when we weren't trying to shag the Lesbos in the Bruno Club, some of us actually mingled with the crowd, taking photos with our Pentaxs' !

I even attracted the attention of a Group from CND who asked me my name so they could send me the literature I so eagerly craved. What was my name I hear you ask - why twas Gaylord - and my address was coincidentally my Sgt Majors home address in Tonbridge at the time ! - I admit it, it still brings a tear to my eye when I think of Bonzo refusing to take an active part in case he was compromised.

Originally Posted by One_of_the_strange

I was at school when this was supposed to be going on, but when I did pitch up a decade or so later it was made very clear to me that the (V) side of the house did not go anywhere near NI. Given the serious nature of the threat back then I can't believe that they ever did. We forget just how much of a Cold War ghetto the INT & Sy Gp (V) used to be. Hell, in those days you'd have been lucky to find anyone with the vetting to even be allowed to read about ongoing ops !

You forget of course that part of 23 Sy Coy (V) were pretty close to Northern Ireland if Belfast is near Northern Ireland - that is when they weren't trying to smuggle poteen on their annual camp in Emblem, Belgium !

Originally Posted by HIGHLANDER_SPY

You forget of course that part of 23 Sy Coy (V) were pretty close to Northern Ireland if Belfast is near Northern Ireland - that is when they weren't trying to smuggle poteen on their annual camp in Emblem, Belgium !

There's always a pedant .... I was referring to working on ops rather than location. As you well know, so I'm not too sure why I bothered to reply. But I did. So there.

Originally Posted by One_of_the_strange

There's always a pedant .... I was referring to working on ops rather than location. As you well know, so I'm not too sure why I bothered to reply. But I did. So there.

I take your point but surely members of the Int Corps TA were as much at risk, if not more, than their regular counterparts, many of whom seldom, if ever, strayed from the relatively safe environments of Thiepval, Ebrington and (after my time) Mahon Road. These fine fellows from the TA, of whom I had the very real pleasure of meeting on a number of occasions, both across the water and in Belgium, shared the same risks as their UDR counterparts on a daily basis through their work in the wider community, without the benefits of the latter (personal protection weapons etc). That was the point I was trying to get across !

The terrorists did not differentiate between Regular Army, UDR and TA, or for that matter Pakistani and Bangladeshi Chogey Wallahs, and a number of TA soldiers from other units, plus a Chogey Wallah were murdered during the troubles. The latter being accused of being a spy !

Originally Posted by HIGHLANDER_SPY

I take your point but surely members of the Int Corps TA were as much at risk, if not more, than their regular counterparts, many of whom seldom, if ever, strayed from the relatively safe environments of Thiepval, Ebrington and (after my time) Mahon Road. These fine fellows from the TA, of whom I had the very real pleasure of meeting on a number of occasions, both across the water and in Belgium, shared the same risks as their UDR counterparts on a daily basis through their work in the wider community, without the benefits of the latter (personal protection weapons etc). That was the point I was trying to get across !

The terrorists did not differentiate between Regular Army, UDR and TA, or for that matter Pakistani and Bangladeshi Chogey Wallahs, and a number of TA soldiers from other units, plus a Chogey Wallah were murdered during the troubles. The latter being accused of being a spy !

Hate to contradict, but a fair few did have PPWs, and there are a few interesting stories relating to those.
The green vehicle moves to train at Ballykinler, etc. however were classed as operational moves. SLRs' live rds in the mag etc.

Originally Posted by subrosa

Hate to contradict, but a fair few did have PPWs, and there are a few interesting stories relating to those.
The green vehicle moves to train at Ballykinler, etc. however were classed as operational moves. SLRs' live rds in the mag etc.

Granted, but as you say, only a few of those (who worked at Stormont or were otherwise employed in high risk jobs) enjoyed that privilege whereas the majority did not. Also, unlike the UDR, TA personnel in Northern Ireland did not qualify for the GSM.

In their NATO role, with their colleagues from Edinburgh, however, they were responsible for Port Security at the Dutch and Belgian ports in the Comm Z, and certainly their knowledge and professionalism during Annual Camp was never in doubt. I assisted in some of their training each year when I was in Emblem and was impressed by their commitment - certainly thankful that they could relieve the pressure on 4 Sy Coy.

Later on during the first Gulf War in 1990-1991, we were thankful for Int & Sy Gp (V) assistance in 5 Sy Coy both at Bremerhaven and Emden during the outloading and recovery phases of Op Granby. And let us not forget that both during the Falklands conflict and First Gulf War, Corps TA personnel were involved in various roles assisting the Regulars because we didn't have a Central Pool of reserves for the task and were were much smaller in numbers than today I guess.

Incidentally, the assertion previously that 20 Sy Coy (V) was involved in operations against CND (and TOM) in 1979/1980 is just a fantasy. I believe the Section involved has already been identified. I know, because I was there as they say and our specific tasking (from HQ London District through 9 Sy Coy) was to try and identify any service involvement during the marches.

What a LOB!

Ex Trg Maj