After a five year break from the sport, The KRH returned to St Moritz, Switzerland to take part in The Cresta Run. The two week exercise consists of a training week for Lt Pryor and Tpr Mcgarrigan followed by the Army Championship the week after where Lt Lynch-Staunton and LCpl Samuels will join them. For those unfamiliar with The Cresta Run, it is similar to a bobsleigh track that you would expect to see at the Winter Olympics, except the run is carved out of natural ice. The course has been going since 1884 and, slightly worryingly, you can actually crash out of the smooth groove into the snow and ice on each side.
The week began in heavy snow, not the best conditions for going fast down the track, but for Lt Pryor and Tpr McGarrigan it was the last thing on their mind as they attended the day's beginners course. In fact, such was the amount of snow on the run the beginners, who are told to 'go slow', finishing times were over 100 seconds. This was much to the displeasure of the Club Secretary who was sure to let you, and everyone else, know over the tannoy. Until riders are more experienced they have to ride the track from Junction Hut. This is just over halfway up and means that riders must safely navigate only 7 turns before the finish line. The most difficult of which is the infamous Shuttlecock Corner. If a rider is going too fast or has a bad line going into Shuttlecock he will be sent out of the track and into the snow. Tpr McGarrigan has had first hand experience of this on a number of occasions this week! As the week progressed, both Lt Pryor and Tpr McGarrigan's times were steadily decreasing. Lt Pryor managed a 51.86 sec and Tpr Mcgarrigan a best of 57.73 sec which should put them in good stead for next week's Army Championship, specifically the Novice Cup. Stay tuned to hear how The Regiment fares at the Army Championships on January 21st.
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While many of you may have been reading that there was distinct lack of snowfall in the Alps before Christmas, the KRH Nordic Ski Team were preparing themselves in the depths of Norway. Now they are enjoying the good New Year snow that has come just in time for the competitions. This week they are competing at "Divisionals", but last week they raced in Hochfilzen, Austria in the Royal Armoured Corps Competition. Here is the report and some choice photographs from the Team Captain From the Royal Armoured Corps Competition prize giving last night, we came away with 12 medals and a trophy: In the classic race, the KRH won a team Bronze owing to the efforts of Lt OVC, 2Lt Selfe, LCpl Morell and Tpr Cheveau. While Tpr Dowse won a Gold for Top Junior Novice Category, Lt OVC was awarded Gold individually. In the Biathlon Relay, the KRH bagged themselves another Bronze but this time with Lt OVC, 2Lt Selfe, LCpl Padee and Tpr Cheveau. Tpr Dowse again excelled himself with Gold for the Best Junior, and Gold for the Best Junior Novice. This secured him the trophy for Best Overall Junior in the Competition.
All in all, good results! Let's hope for the same from Divisional. Hussar! The plains and forests of Eastern Europe are becoming familiar training grounds to the King's Royal Hussars as a second Lead Armoured Battlegroup deploys there in two years. This time it was the turn of the Senior Squadron to test their abilities in cooperating with and reassuring NATO allies.
The LABG at the time was headed up by 1 YORKS and included C Sqn, KRH, as the heavy armour capability. After a lengthy deployment that included a sea crossing and numerous railheads, the BG conducted integration exercises and demonstrations with their Polish, German, US and Canadian counterparts. These exercises and demonstrations proved yet again the ability to work with allies, as well as the rapid projection of force elements from the UK. The interoperability of an Armoured Infantry (AI) Brigade (Bde) is one of it's biggest attributes, and this exercise showed that a BG from 12 (AI) Bde could operate on a expeditionary mission. The exercise was the culmination of the Sqn’s busy year at readiness which has seen the Senior Sqn working hard to hone their ability to operate within the 1 YORKS BG after an initial training year. That training year culminated in the deployment to BATUS in Summer 2014. This final exercise allowed C Sqn’s troops to take part in everything from conventional armoured battle runs to dismounted tunnel clearances and was a test of every single man within the Sqn. C Sqn are now looking forward to an action-packed 2016.
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AuthorKRH Association and serving members of the regiment. Archives
June 2020
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