Trooper Percy Enstone 11H has been honoured by Evesham Town Council by having a road named after him. The roads on a new housing estate in Hampton, Evesham have been named in honour of fallen WW1 Soldiers of the area.  The idea originated from an Evesham Town Council meeting and has involved Mr Peter Stewart (RAF Retired), who is one of the two Sergeant at Arms (Mace Bearers) for Evesham.

​Trooper Percy Enstone, 18587, 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars, died on May 24, 1915, Aged 24. He is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.

​On 5th June 1915 the Evesham Journal & Four Shires Advertiser had the following entry:

HAMPTON MAN KILLED
We regret to record the death of Trooper Percy Enstone, son of Frank Enstone, parish clerk of Hampton, who has been killed in action. The news of his death was conveyed to Trooper Enstone's fiancée, Miss Ewins, of Briar-close, Evesham, by Sergt. King of his troop who found Miss Ewins's address among his dead companion's belongings.
Trooper Enstone who was a very finely built man, stood six feet one inch in height and was well made in proportion. While living in Hampton, he was a member of the church choir and also a bell-ringer. He was a keen football player and for a time was captain of Evesham Wanderers' club. He served for sixteen months in the Birmingham police force, of which his brother Frank is still a member. In September last Trooper Enstone enlisted in the 11th Hussars and left for France in October. He was wounded on November 16 in the eye and was an inmate of a Paris Hospital for five weeks, returning to duty about Christmas. He was shot and killed by a German sniper on White Monday (May 24) and was buried with all reverence in a small wood near the firing line.
Sergt. King, in communicating the sad news to Miss Ewins, speaks in the highest terms of he way Trooper Enstone carried out his duties and states that he was in every way the true type of a British soldier. His death has caused much grief to his comrades with whom he was very popular.
A muffled peal was rung on the church bells at Hampton on Sunday evening and feeling reference was made to Trooper Enstone's death by the Rev. C.F. Thomas, who is acting as locum tenens for the new
Vicar.

Percy was one of six children born to Frank & Mary Jane Enstone (née Preston) who were married in 1889. Frank was a Market Gardener from Cleeve Prior and Mary Jane was from Badsey. Frank died in 1947, Aged 81 and Mary Jane died in 1928, Aged 54. They are buried in Hampton Churchyard as are two of their children Mary Grace, who died in 1921, Aged 23, and Clara Jane, who died in 1943, Aged 47.

When ​I was injured during a Regimental rugby match at Hudson Horse in  2010,  I dislocated my shoulder, severely damaging nerves. Due to the type of dislocation and my labrum being damage I have had to have my shoulder repeatedly stabilised with pins four times since and I have had my Bicep Tendons removed. After that I had to have nerve surgery to my Bracial Plexus in an attempt to relieve pain and increase blood flow. All in all, I now only have 30% function in my right arm.

During rehab I then damaged my lower spine when a damaged price of gym equipment was broken and crushed me. This had lead to be being unable to elevate my left and I have considerable nerve damage.

When I attended Tedworth House (Help for Heroes) Recovery Centre I attended various courses and tried many different sports to see what was still possible despite my injury. It was during one these sessions that I was introduced to archery by one of the instructors and specifically how to use the bow using a mouth release tab. It took me a fair while to get used to it, but I was hooked by the challenge and precision and was soon firing arrows into the gold target centre from 15 metres range.

​I felt my confidence shoot up straight away. Best of all I was beating other wounded soldiers who had the ability to fire with bow hands. Nothing more exciting than winning!

From there I carried on training and I was informed about the Invictus Games and it sounded like I could try and beat the best. I was worried about entering because I haven't been injured on a tour, but after speaking to a member of the Invictus Foundation they informed me it's not about injuries from tours but about recovery and service. Whether it's mental or physical, everyone can compete if they can get through the entry competitions. 

I was thrilled, so I decided to enter into Archery.

I attended many archery training camps and the Invcitus Trials in Bath University where 28 novice personnel competed to make it to the team. Out of the 28 I was the only one to fire from a mouth release and it Was the first time I had fired outside as well so I was extremely nervous! To my relief I fired an astonishing round and came 3rd. 

We had to wait for about a month now to find out whether we had made it to the team and we were due to be informed by email. I was so anxious on the day and my anxiety was compounded by the fact that my email didn't come through until the very last minute! It was definitely worth the wait and I was told that I was to be part of the team going to Toronto in September! There was a catch, however, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone until the unveiling at the Tower of London. So, after telling my wife, I had to keep very very quiet, despite my feeling to shout that I had made it and tell everyone I knew.

At the unveiling of the team at the Tower of London I was nervous as the media surrounded us, but it lead to one of the proudest moments of my life; being on TV as a UK Invictus games athlete and my daughter got to watch me. 

​The course took place over 4 days and saw participants schooled in theory, confined water and finally open water dives.  Based in Dhekelia Garrison, the expedition was extremely well placed to conduct their final dive on the Zenobia wreck; a 178m RO-RO ferry sat on her portside in 42m of water off the coast of Larnanca, recently identified by The Times as one of the top 10 wreck diving sites in the world.  This allowed certification of all members of the trip as PADI Open Water divers which serves as a fantastic springboard to further qualifications in the future. 

​Aside from diving, Capt Gornall’s recent posting to Cyrpus allowed him to play tour guide and show the expedition members (what were in his head) interesting places in the evenings and at the weekend.  This allowed the trip to become one with the local culture through the medium of food in the Troodos Mountains, explore Nicosia as the only remaining divided capital city in the world and also meet with Brig Nick Orr as the resident Hawk and Chief of Staff, British Forces Cyprus. 
Ex CRIMSON DIVER was a truly excellent week away and ignited a passion within all members of the trip to pursue diving at the next possible opportunity.  Following the success of Ex UNDERWATER HAWK last year there is now a growing body of keen divers within the Regiment which will only serve to fuel an interest in AT and encourage further trips.

In September 1944 one of the most daring operations of WWII was launched with the intention of opening a corridor into the heart of Germany and breaking the will of the German Army. Op MARKET GARDEN was a two part operation that would see the Allies land troops in consecutive drops from the air while a force on the ground were to drive hard to link up with the paratroopers.
 
The battlefield study in Holland followed a successful study of Monte Cassino and the battles that raged in the mountains of Italy in 2015 and began in a similar light with a coach ride from Aliwal Barracks. Aimed at the same target audience of officers, senior NCOs and crew commanders, the party this time included soldiers and officers of regiments and battalions that would be working with us in the following training year.
 
We crossed the Channel in good time, and with thoughts of the lorry blockade quickly behind us, we arrived in a Dutch Airborne base that was to be our home for the week. The next day the battlefield study was introduced by the Commanding Officer and we began in the site where XXX Corps massed in preparation for their advance up the single road that linked all three key towns that would become the airborne missions. During the stands it became abundantly clear that the task of driving a whole corps up a single road was gargantuan, and fraught with risk, and we discussed the loss of life that some of the fighting caused as the German Army ambushed the leading Sherman tanks.

​On Wednesday the day similarly focused on the efforts made by XXX Corps to keep pushing north, over key bridges such as the one over the Waal River, Nijmegen. Made famous by the film, the bridge was taken by a heroic action after Sgt Robinson lead a breakout over to the far bank while the Germans failed to blow the bridge. In the blazing sunshine the personnel on the study went to the man-made island (that didn’t exist in 1944) to discuss the crossing by 82nd Airborne in boats that offered no protection from enemy fire and subsequently produce a plan of how they might fight the battle to take Oosterhout.
 
The final full day began with a change of focus from the actions of XXX Corps to the key landing sites of the airborne campaign – the MARKET part of the Operation. We began in the peaceful fields that in 1944 were the jump zones of the British Airborne troops. Before the main bridge at Arnhem the stand was aimed at the concept that has become so poignant in a modern army’s thinking – synchronization. The study walked the area of the north bank of the Nederrijin where the Parachute Regiment suffered heavy casualties in their attempts to link up with those who had secured the bridge. There were two forces split with no radio communications and a half an hour delay on one half meant the attack was not quite as well executed as it could have been. On the way through the town those on the tour were shown how hard it must have been to fight forward as the German guns cut the bodies of men in half as they came into sight, the fog lifted and the German forces in front of them could halt their advance through the streets. The final stop for the day was the north side of the bridge that those troops never managed to link up with and the infamous last radio transmission was sent; “Out of ammo, God save the King.” 

​Our final day on the Continent began at the hotel, which was initially General Model and the German Army Officers’ Mess before being taken into Allied hands and used as HQ for the battle. As we reached the last moments of the British influence on the fight, we finished the tour with a service in the Arnhem Oosterbeek Cemetery. Led by Padre Archibald, KRH and Padre Jepson-Biddle, the service took the format of a traditional British Army service of remembrance, except during the two minutes all of the personnel were asked to read a name of those in the Cemetery, which was a fitting reminder that those who fell had sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the future.
 
Everybody congregated back on the coach to make the return journey to the UK on the Friday afternoon and as the bus pulled up at Aliwal Barracks everybody dispersed with the feeling that they had learnt something new and rewarding on the study. 

​Ex PADDLING HAWK was a KRH canoe expedition and to get to the BWCAW, Capt Churton (C Sqn), Lt Hatchley (A Sqn), Sgt Oakes (C Sqn), Cpl Feeney (A Sqn), LCpl Burns (B Sqn) and LCpl Leech (B Sqn), along with their instructor – Cpl Bell (C Sqn LAD) - crossed the Atlantic in the early hours of 21 August 2016. Arriving in Chicago in the late afternoon we picked up the hire car and began our epic road trip all the way to Minnesota. Our first stop was Duluth where we were promised a sighting of a giant rubber duck, but after arriving late we went straight to bed, postponing the hunt until the morning. When we got going again we drove down to the Harbour to be told that the duck had been deflated the day before. With our first disappointment behind us we drove along the shore road of Lake Superior up to a small town called Grand Marais for lunch before moving straight up to Hungry Jack Outfitters (HJO).
 
HJO was run by Dave and Nancy Seaton, a lovely couple who were somewhat surprised about how excited the boys were about a wifi code.  HJO was set right on the southeastern bank of Hungry Jack Lake. We were based in two bunkhouses and after taking them over and having a swim we went out for supper nearby, excited to begin canoeing the day after.
 
The sun was shining as three canoes with two people in each launched off the jetty into the lake to learn the fundamentals of canoeing and, for LCpls Burns and Leech, the fundamentals of capsizing. Cpl Bell was in his own canoe, something he would later come to regret, and began his instruction. In the afternoon we went to the other side of the lake and everyone was looking like they had canoed lots before. Owing to the birthdays of three of us landing within two days of each other we took the opportunity of the evening to head down to Grand Marais and sample the local nightlife. After supper in the Gun Flint Tavern we asked the waitress where to go next. She suggested we go to either the Raven Tavern or the Raven’s Nest. As it turned out, both were within the same building – the Tavern being a bar just in another room and the Nest being upstairs. Despite this summing up the tiny town, everyone made the best of it and promoted the British in the best light, despite the ram skulls.
 
Another day of paddling came after our breakfast in the sun, this time through Hungry Jack Lake to the north. We went all the way up to the Canadian-USA border, to a route called steps. It gave us our first experience of carrying canoes in what would become a very regular occurrence – the portage. The method of placing the boats upside down onto your head is unique but in the end not quite as hard work as the trek that Nancy suggested to the top of the viewing point. It was worth the walk with its views into Canada, but much more worthwhile coming down for a swim in the waterfalls nearby. 

​The third day at HJO was the day we were to disappear into the BWCAW proper. We loaded the vehicle and headed down to the entry point at Cross Bay. Up until that point everyone had been asking every local they met whether they would see a bear or not. The definitive answer was certainly not, but lo and behold on the route down to the water, a black bear cub was spotted, exciting everyone. We unloaded all the equipment, including the 50kg+ bag of food for 5 days and launched off into a small lake that we had to meander around to the portage. This small lake – portage – small lake – portage routine was followed until we found our way into our large lake that was to be the location for camp one. We arrived on the lakeside, and after setting up our tents and hammocks we cooked a supper of chicken and mash on the open fire. A couple of boats went out at dusk to see whether there was ay wildlife and after seeing a few beavers and a moose they came back in and everyone went to bed quite happily tired. 

Launching off our campsite the next morning one could be forgiven for thinking that Sgt Oakes and Cpl Feeney, boat 2, were off to Ibiza, but as it was due to be another scorcher it was appropriate enough. We pushed off and paddled some larger lakes throughout the day on our journey to the Frost River. Along the way we stopped at a lovely lunch location and Cpl Bell tried to catch some fish in what he had been told was “lake trout central”. Another blank, we headed off for the afternoon arriving in another series of smaller lakes punctuated by beaver damns which create two issues – the first is dragging boats over them or around them, and the second is stepping in leeches which clamp onto flip-flop clad feet immensely quickly in the stationary water. We arrived in the second camp to be greeted with a long drop of unique beauty and we soon had the fire going again for another great supper. While there wasn’t as much wildlife this time, owing probably to the wind carrying our noise and smell across the lake, a few of us still went for a paddle and Sgt Oakes almost capsized both him and Cpl Feeney as a beaver came a little too close.

​Our next morning was covered by fog, which soon lifted, and we paddled down a couple of lakes that slowly got narrower until we found ourselves in the lily pad covered, meandering Frost River. The river wound its way through a large part of our route and we found it quite testing as the shallow water and weeds coupled with more beaver damns lead to slow progress. As one member of the Exped so eloquently put “it was like paddling through your Grandma’s living room!” We happily paddled with high banks around us and apart from a brief split callsign on a very long portage route we had a very successful day and found ourselves again in a huge lake. Just in time for our camp as we needed some lake water to purify for drinking. We landed this time in a glorious area with a huge flat rock that become our main campsite while we slept in the woods nearby. We got the fire going and as it was Saturday night we had our steak supper with glorious American hash browns, a real treat.
 
The final full day of paddling would land us very close to our take out destination and we began the day through some winding lakes with two huge portages. Thankfully the absence of the chicken, bratwurst and steak had lightened the food bag by a significant amount but it didn’t stop a couple of people “throwing” a flip-flop or two on the route. We paddled through a part of the BWCAW that had been stripped two years before by a wild fire and now looked incredibly green with stark bare trees above. The sun was beating down as we made our final passage towards our camp. Dave, our outfitter, had circled one on the map that turned out to have no trees useful to our hammocks and so after we paddled a little further on we found by far the best camp of out trip. Atop a huge rocky outcrop at about 8 meters high, we ate our final supper and watched the sun set surrounded by a huge storm in the distance. It was beautiful but unfortunately it only took about 4 hours for the storm to reach us. We laid in our hammocks swinging in the wind listening to the thunder while those in tents floated on their roll matts as the water piled down the rock. Nobody was too distraught as we packed and drank coffee in the damp the next morning. We were soon “on the road” for the last time and the weather thankfully cleared as we balanced on long planks which were the flooring for two of the final portages.
We met Dave and after being bussed back to HJO; de-kitting and showering we got underway for our journey south. Our final destination was to be Chicago but after a map recce we decided a stop in Madison and Wisconsin which was essential. We were proved correct as the previous birthday boys got themselves some bottomless pints, which could be easily distributed amongst the rest of the party. Despite our relatively questionable accommodation, everyone was in one place when we left in the morning and we took the drive to Chicago. Our arrival in the big city gave way to an evening of deep pan pizza, a few drinks, some Irish and Rocky and then our final day in country consisted of watching the Cubs play baseball.
 
We soon found ourselves scouring the nearby suburbs for gas before returning our hire car. It was after that we finally got onto our aircraft, but the delays began, leading to us spending 9 hours in Dusseldorf where we were meant to connect to another flight; finally we touched down in Blighty which was a relief to everyone 23 hours after starting their journey, but everyone agreed it had been well worth the effort of the travelling. 

​A (xHx) Sqn have just returned from a range package conducted at Lydd and Hythe ranges, where they spent the week learning and revising a variety of dismounted close combat skills. The Squadron was split down into sections of eight and carried out a live-fire training progression that culminated in a full section attack.
​
While there was a grenade range, the highlight for most was the house clearance on the final day. Everyone had their rifle converted to fire ‘simunition’, which is similar to paint ball. While the officers acted as enemy each section took their turn to attack the position. The fighting was at close-quarters and fast-paced, and left many sporting healthy bruises to show off on the beach over summer leave.

2Lt Kula-Przezwanski and LCpl Shaw (RTR) began to provide expert instruction as we departed our Torfhaus lodge for day one. As everyone thought they were getting used to the idea of being on two wheels and hurtling down dirt tracks, Tpr Dade's bike went one way and he the other, leaving him with an early taste of Bavarian mud. The group contained bikers from across the experience spectrum and you didn't need to see them ride to know who fell as the number of squeaky-clean, expensive-looking trainers became covered dirt and water as legs hit the floor. 

The week progressed as planned with the routes become slightly more demanding yet nevertheless enjoyable. The Bavarian countryside was the perfect place and as the skill level so did the metres above sea level.

Trails End Camp is situated in the Rockies to the west of Canada and provides any exercising, temporary and permanent BATUS troops the chance to try their hand at something apart from warcraft. In the summer the options for the week are horse trekking with cowboys and girls, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, canoeing or alpine mountaineering.

This year, between Ex PRAIRIE STORMS, a number of KRH soldiers disappeared deep into British Columbia to tackle the Kootenay River. After arriving in Trails End in the rain and receiving all the kit required to keep anyone from freezing in the glacial waters, a few of the participants were wondering what they had signed up for. 

The next day the team met their two instructors; Brian Unruh and Justin Farquhar. As they discussed the fundamentals of canoeing it quickly became apparent that SSgt Young's vision of calmly paddling in the sunshine on a flat lake with or without a beer and fishing rod was crumbling away. We moved down to a calm stretch of the Bow River to begin our training. The sun had come out and as we were taught each stroke we would need the pairs began to work together in their boats and after a few 360 turns and close capsizes everyone started to get used to the concept of a canoe and how it moves in the water.

At the end of the afternoon came the dreaded "self rescue" lesson and we moved into a deeper moving part of the dam controlled river. Each boat had to paddle over and against all that is natural tip themselves into the river before performing the correct procedure for getting themselves to shore. 

The second day bought with it some more training, this time further upstream in the Bow River where the water runs fast through a man made rapid course before a natural fast flow. We practiced team rescue on land which includes throwing lines to save any people in the water. We then clambered into the boats and practiced the mysterious skill of a ferry angle before heading downstream for about 10km.

Our third day signalled the first of our Expedition and we packed our tents, clothing, spare paddles, fresh water and the kitchen sink into barrels that we then strapped into our boats. After a few hours driving we crossed the state line into BC and soon we were at our put in site. We paddled around three hours with only one or two capsizes to our first stunning wild campsite. 

With a fire lit everyone enjoyed steak and sausages cooked over the hot coals, thus ignoring the silver bags we had packed that morning. The weather was immensely changeable and the huge mountains surrounding us would swirl the cloud and the rain would break before bright burning sunshine. 

The second day provided a bit of a soaking for every boat except one as everyone was challenged to navigate some seriously technical rapid sections of the river. Most started to get used to narrow margin for error which can mean complete disaster in the huge waves or being spun around by the infamous eddy monsters. We camped again that night and the rain clouds began to clear fully leaving just a covering to block the sun. 

​Not only did the participants of the canoe trip gain welcomed knowledge on wilderness camping and travel to a truly special place, they also all achieved their O2F which in conjunction with a kayak foundation will allow them to begin climbing the canoe instructor levels if they wish to do so in the future. ​