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THE CENTENARY – AN IDEA WHICH WORKED
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The seeds of the phenomenally successful Centenary of the PT Branch were sown by General Sir Ian Gourlay during a visit to the Depot RM in 1970, when he studied the list of past leaders of the PT Branch inscribed on the display board in the entrance of the PT Wing. He remarked to Captain Ron Riddle RM, who was the current OCPTW, that 1971 would be the centenary of the branch and asked, ‘what were we going to do about it’. Ron then got posted!
Soon after this visit, I took over as OCPTW and was confronted by the Wing QMS, Ken Wilson, who informed me that I was going to organise the Centenary Celebrations of the PT Branch. It was from this moment that the wheels really started to turn and Ken and I hotfooted it to IPTRM at Portsmouth to seek permission to hold a major event at the Depot. Having got the IPTRM’s (Jeff Beadle) permission to go ahead at Deal, Ken and I drove back and considered various ideas. From the ideas produced during this car journey, I was able to draw up provisional plans, which I then revealed at a memorable staff meeting, at which other ideas were thrown into the pot and agreed. I then researched what dates were most likely to produce the best weather and considered the issue of how long was needed to produce a spectacular event, which would be memorable for all concerned. These two considerations produced the dates of the first weekend in October 1971 and the die was cast.
I was very fortunate to have at my disposal what was arguably the most multi-talented team of staff PTIs ever to serve at the PT Wing, with an extraordinarily enthusiastic and loyal QMS to drive them. Thus it is was relatively easy to delegate responsibility to named Senior NCOs for the various events, which would make up the programme, while I got on with editing and producing a souvenir brochure to mark what I wanted to be a unique occasion. For this I had to find the money, which I did by persuading a number of firms to pay some handsome fees for the privilege of advertising.
One of the other early tasks was advertising the event to PTIs throughout the UK and here I was helped by the local press (East Kent Mercury), who advised me how to get a letter into every regional publication in the country, which we did. Then we had to consider a really high profile VIP or Guest of Honour, and the choice was General Sir Campbell Hardy KCB CB DSO, who was the only PT qualified officer to make it to CGRM. We then firmed up on the programme, persuaded the Commandant of the School of Music (Colonel Frank Bristowe) to provide all the necessary facilities – including an RM Band – and ensure that we had the necessary priority for what we wanted.
The programme effectively started with the opening Friday evening in the Sergeants Mess, followed by Saturday’s events which included an ‘at home’ in the PT Wing, PT displays, a sports museum, water polo and judo matches, a PT convention, a football match between a PT Xl and Deal Town, and a display by the Corps of Drums at the start of the Grand Centenary Ball. The following day attracted a full house to the Thanksgiving Service, followed by a Centenary Photograph and the final buffet lunches in the various messes. Other components of the event were the Souvenir Brochure, a Grand Draw and the production of a Centenary Tie. It was a very full and exhausting programme, which went without a hitch and proved both a memorable and an emotional occasion for over 400 club swingers and their partners.
For me, as the OCPTW at the time and the officer who had to shoulder the responsibility, the event was made by the old PTI whose well-lined face was wet with tears as he spoke to me after the Thanksgiving Service. He said: ‘Sir, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the most wonderful weekend of my life’. He, like so many others, was just happy to have had the opportunity to have a reunion with so many old friends and comrades. His were not the only tears shed during that weekend. I was pleased to tell him that the real star of the PT Centenary was QMS Ken Wilson, without whose enthusiasm and drive the event would never have been produced on such a scale and with such imagination. He and his excellent team had successfully put the ideas into practice on the ground, with humour, a sense of fun and with great efficiency. They had converted the seeds sown by General Gourlay into a PT Centenary Tree, of which we could all be very proud.
Simon Cook
Postscript – PT Re-Union Club
One consequence of the Centenary was that Ken Wilson persuaded me that we should have some sort of annual event, and so the PT Re-Union Club was born, with Major Alan Downton appointed as the first President. Ken Wilson, Tommy Lenham and I were then nominated as the Vice Presidents. Tommy because he was an acknowledged icon of the Branch and Ken and I because we were the prime organisers of the Centenary. We issued initial membership cards, with Ken having membership card number 1 and with me taking the No 2 slot. I still have my membership card. The early events were modest: a simple supper in the Sergeants Mess at Deal, before the events moved to CTCRM for an annual PT Re-Union. The first Club Secretary was the extraordinarily efficient QMS Pat Maxwell (who sadly died in 1994). A Deal Branch of the Re-Union Club continued with an annual supper at Deal after the move of the main event to CTCRM and continues to do so (Secretary Ron Hubble – Pat Maxwell’s brother-in-law), but sadly no longer at the redundant Depot RM.
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