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Arms News Issue 21 Page 1
Welcome to an early issue Newsletter! We are sending out this issue earlier than normal to make everyone aware of our 60th Anniversary dinner in September of this year. We also wish to establish numbers attending so that we have plenty of time to plan for what will be a very special event. Make sure Saturday 6 September 2014 is in your diary!
Chris Dennis takes over as President from Eric
Stratford at the 2013 Annual Dinner More details inside
Your Committee President: Mr. C. Dennis
Vice President Mr. E. D. Stratford
Chairman: Mr. A. Briscoe
Vice-‐Chairman: Mr. N. Brown
Secretary: Mr. R. D. Cotter
INSIDE THIS ISSUE 60th Annual Reunion Your invitation to our annual dinner for a very special occasion
Dinner Survey Results The results of our survey of the membership on format and venues
Our New President Chris Dennis introduces himself to you and discusses our future
Proof House Visit A short report on the visit prior to the 2013 annual dinner
Secretary’s Notes An update from the Secretary
Glock General Service Pistol An article on the new British Army general service pistol, courtesy of our Vice Chairman, Nigel Brown
Obituaries Sadly we say a last farewell to some of our members
Statement of Accounts 2013 Our accounts as at 31st December 2013
Issue 21 The Newsletter of THE ARMOURERS’ ASSOCIATION 2014
Page 2 Arms News Issue 21
You are invited to attend this year’s reunion dinner: Date: Saturday 06 September 2014 AGM: 17:30hrs (Trafalgar Room -‐TBC) Dinner 18:30hrs for 19:00hrs (Bar opens at 17:30hrs) Venue: The Victory Services Club
The Trafalgar Room 63/69 Seymour Street LONDON W2 2HF
Cost: £40.00 per person
Menu ∗ ∗ ∗
Poached Chicken with Cream Cheese, Spinach & Sun Blushed Tomato ………
Highland Farm Beef, Chateau Potatoes, Baby Yorkshire & Guinness Gravy
……… Apple Pie with Cinnamon Ice Cream
&
Coffee/Tea/Mints
The meal also includes ½ bottle of house wine per person
Please note: Vegetarian alternatives are available; just let the secretary
know your requirements
∗ ∗ ∗
Reply forms for the dinner accompany your issue of the News Letter
60th ANNUAL REUNION
Arms News Issue 21 Page 3
Security Please be prepared to show VSC membership cards or prove identity at the door.
Dress Gentlemen: Lounge Suits/Jacket and Association tie (available from the Secretary).
Ladies: Appropriate to the occasion.
Guests Guests are limited to one per member.
LADIES ARE MOST WELCOME
Overnight Accommodation Accommodation is available at the Victory Services Club for VSC members and non-members attending functions. Those wishing to stay the night should contact the Club.
Reservations: Phone: 020 7723 4474; Fax: 020 7724 1134; or e-mail: [email protected]
Rooms start at £51.75 per night, for a single standard room including breakfast for VSC members. Non-members are welcome, when attending functions, but must pay at the time of booking.
Single Annual Membership is currently £20.00. Subsidised parking is also available.
Details are available at their web site: www.vsc.co.uk
Absent Friends If you are unable to attend the dinner but would like to pass on a message to your friends please inform the secretary when replying. If you are able to provide up-to-
date information for members who are out of touch with the Association please do so and pass on our contact details to them.
Assisted Attendance Thanks to the generosity of our members, the Association is able to offer assistance to any member who is unable to attend the reunion for financial reasons.
All requests are treated in the strictest confidence and assessed on the merits of the individual case.
Please write to, or phone the secretary if you feel we may be of help
Reply Form Numbers attending this year’s reunion MUST be finalised by FRIDAY 15th AUGUST 2014
Please ensure you avoid disappointment by returning your reply to the secretary as soon as possible. The MAXIMUM number we are able to accommodate is 90. Places will be allocated on a FIRST Come FIRST served basis; so don’t delay your reply.
The Reply Form is attached to the newsletter and in order to save on costs replies will not be acknowledged unless specifically requested.
Return the forms to:
The Secretary The Armourers’ Association 12 Tanker Hill Rainham Kent ME8 9EX Tel: 01634 371738
The IT savvy amongst you may simply return the reply form via email to the following address:
Page 4 Arms News Issue 21
Annual General Meeting There will be an AGM in the Trafalgar Room commencing at 17:30hrs. If you have a specific item for the agenda please let any one of the committee know.
Annual Dinner The Annual Dinner will take the normal format as for previous years and will be attended by our Guest of Honour – Brig (Retired) Paul Cort, Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers. All members attending will receive an engraved commemorative wine glass. To help reduce the cost of this more formal dinner the £55.00 per person cost is being subsidised by the Association.
After the annual dinner in September, a survey was posted on the web site to enable members to have their say in the location of the annual dinner, as well as gauging the attendance for the 60th dinner in Sept 2014. The results are disappointing, of 252 emails sent out only 47 responses have been received, that’s 19% of those polled. Those of you without email addresses will find a survey form in your envelope; your contribution to the debate is welcome. So, the main results so far: Q1. Will you attend the 60th reunion dinner? No response – 4.3% No – 14.9% Yes – 80.9% Q2. Do you normally attend dinners?
No – 42.6% Yes – 57.4% Q3. If no, for what reason? No response – 53.2% Cost – 4.3% Location – 17.0% Cost & Location – 6.4% Location & Other – 2.1% Other – 17.1% Q4. What is your preferred location? Liverpool – 5.5% Leeds – 5.5% Nottingham – 5.5% Birmingham – 10.9% Other – 16.4% London – 56.4% The “other” suggestions each received one nomination only
As you are all aware Eric, after many years service to the Association has stood down and taken up his new office as Vice President, he
will no doubt keep a careful eye on us and give us the benefit of his accumulated wisdom on all things “Armourer”. For those of you who may not know me a short introduction; I joined as an apprentice in September 1965 at AAS Carlisle; a fairly bland 3 years saw me pass out in 1968 still an A/T. The normal run of postings saw me in Cyprus, U.K. and BAOR, including 3 trips to N.I. I was lucky enough to be chosen to be the reserve Armourer for the UK Contingent of the NATO Small Arms
Our New President Dinner Survey
Arms News Issue 21 Page 5
Tests. Ken Langley was whisked off to Canada to conduct the cold weather trials and I got 6 months working with Roger Traves at the German School of Infantry in Bavaria. A posting to Bordon, as Dougie Smale’s dogsbody, allowed time for a detachment to the newly formed 2 Field Workshops and a cruise at HM expense to the Falklands just as the conflict finished. What should have been a final posting to the Ghurkha Depot in Hong Kong resulted in the offer of 2 years limited continuance and a posting to RMA Sandhurst. 1990 saw my first visit to the Armourers’ dinner, and I have managed to attend every one since then. 1992, the Russians had packed up and gone home and Dennis was no longer needed. “Civy” Street loomed large and a job as the Armourer for West Mercia police in Worcester was applied for and obtained, I’m still there with about 18 months to go! At this time I held my hand up and was voted into the office of secretary of the Association, 15 years later I handed over to Bob Cotter. The joy of the Association, to me, is the sense of continuity that comes with membership. My first Association tie cost 10 shillings (50P) and was sold to me by Major Marshall Chetwynd, who was the Command Weapons Advisor for London District and a regular visitor to the Guards Depot where I was struggling as a L/Cpl. At my first dinner I spoke to the President, one Marshall Chetwynd, who treated me as an equal and made me very welcome. I enjoy that aspect of the Association; we are all equal irrespective of rank attained or length of service. We are amongst the small number of military occupations that are almost invariably represented at any conflict that our Forces are engaged in.
The opportunity to speak to members of the Association that have been involved in those conflicts is one that is probably not available in any other area. I hope that during my time as President we will continue to offer our membership this sense of continuity. However you are all aware that as the size of the Armed Forces continues to shrink so does the size of the pool from which we draw our members, that coupled with the ever increasing cost of holding an annual function means that numbers attending the dinner continue to dwindle. This is not a new trend; during my time as secretary we saw numbers fall from about 100 members at each dinner down into the 60s. Now, if you will permit me, a small gripe. Please make every effort to keep Bob up to date with your current address be it your home or e-‐mail address and even if you are unable to join us at our annual dinner and can’t contribute anything to the newsletter or web site, just by acknowledging receipt of the newsletter helps to keep our records up to date. If you want we can update your former colleagues and fellow members on where you are and what you’re up to. Remember that amongst the achievements of the Association are at least two occasions where we have been able to reunite old friends after a gap of over 60 years. So what does the future hold for us? The future format and location of the annual reunion has long been a hotly debated topic. The decision for this year’s 60th reunion was to stay where we are, the VSC. It was felt that to move to a new location would have meant a lot of work and risk in that we would be testing a new venue at a function where we hope to show off a little and perhaps raise our profile. This is not to say that we won’t
Page 6 Arms News Issue 21
ever move, but as has been pointed out in the newsletter the largest single group of Association members live in the South East and it is from this area that the majority of those attending the dinners are drawn. If we are to move to the Midlands or further North, somebody has got to do the ground work, finding a suitable location, finding out costs, availability of accommodation, transport links etc. etc. Perhaps we should consider regional reps that can look into these matters for us. I am wholeheartedly in favour of trying other locations and, if they prove to be successful, moving the dinner around the country to allow greater access to all, irrespective of where they live. Remember this is YOUR ASSOCIATION if you have ideas on how to improve it let your committee know and we can put it on the agenda for the AGM. As you would expect at any meeting of those involved in the weapons trades there is never any shortage of strongly held, and voiced, opinions. I hope over the years to come I will be able to meet many of you and you can put your point of view to me personally, in that gentle way Armourers at the bar are known for! Best wishes to you all. Email: [email protected]
Chris Dennis
Scribe: Mike Homard
Coinciding with the Annual Armourers’ Association
dinner in London, I decided to attend the London Proof House visit prior to going to the dinner. I arrived outside the Proof House in Commercial road, approximately ½ an hour before the start of the visit. Some of you may be aware that the current Proof Master is Richard Mabbitt, like us a former Corps member and fellow Armourer. It has been about 13 years since I last visited this prestigious establishment and after a pleasant introduction to Richard and his staff I was conducted around the various rooms and workshops to see what huge improvements have been implemented by Richard. The cleanliness and appearance of an efficient well-‐run establishment were self-‐evident. Personally, I noticed a great deal had been done to this venue to bring it up to date, particularly the proofing chambers and the introduction of improved paperwork trails and a computer tracking and certificate generating system. We chatted for about half an hour before other Association Members began to arrive and sign in. Richard and team were at pains to include everyone on the visit, to see the facilities available and gave talks on the various aspects of daily proof house life, the running of the establishment, liaison between various Government departments and agencies involved in the proofing and control of firearms. The visit was accompanied by cups of tea, coffee and a splendid array of biscuits to enjoy, which was very well received by all too! At the conclusion of the tour, Richard and the team surprised us all by bringing out some champagne. This was naturally consumed without complaint from anyone!
London Proof House
Arms News Issue 21 Page 7
I have to say. I look forward to visiting again later this year for trade related matters. On behalf of the Association, I would like to extend a big Thank You to Richard & his team for the faultless attention and consideration, hosting this visit. Well-‐done Richard, thank you, from me personally as well.
Mike Homard
2013 has gone by very swiftly and come September this year I will have been your Secretary for 5 years, doesn’t time fly when you’re enjoying
yourself!
Membership Our membership has again increased over the year and we now have 368 active members compared to 357 last year. This is despite the fact that we have sadly lost 13 of our members during the past year and also lost contact with several others due to postal address and email address problems.
Association Accounts A copy of the balance sheet for the period 1st January to 31st December 2013 is on the last page. Please indicate your acceptance, or otherwise, of these figures in the space provided on the reply form.
Association Website Our address: www.ukarmourers.org.uk
We are now receiving more than 1,000 hits per month on the site and it is doing its job of making people aware of whom we are and what we do. However, we still need your input to make it a success.
Association Email Address Apply for your own unique Association email address “yourname”@ukarmourers.org.uk
The uptake has been slow so far, but there are plenty available for all.
Association Shop The shop can be found on our website and sells Association memorabilia such as Ties, Plaques, Mugs, Glasses and Badges. The dinner reply form has details if you wish to order anything.
Bob Cotter
The MoD announced that after a trial for a new service pistol consisting of 7 contenders they have chosen the Glock 17 Gen 4 to replace the Browning Hi-‐Power, which has seen 45 years of service. The MoD has awarded a £9m
Secretary’s Notes
L131A1 General Service Pistol
Page 8 Arms News Issue 21
contract with Viking Arms Ltd of Harrogate to provide more than 25,000 new Glock pistols and Radar 1957 holsters from Italy. The GLOCK G17 L131A1 Gen 4 pistol is a double action semi-‐automatic pistol manufactured from steel and polymer. It is a lightweight pistol that combines safety, ease of operation and proven durability. There are two pistol variants, which are: • The L131A1 standard version. • The L132A1 training version. The pistol fires from a mechanically locked breech; the automatic action of the mechanism is achieved within a short recoil length. Common features of both weapons are as follows: • A holding open device is
incorporated which retains the slide to the rear in the open position when the last round from the magazine has been fired. This facility makes reloading easy and fast.
• The box type magazine is fitted into the butt of the pistol. The capacity of the magazine is 17 rounds.
• The sighting system consists of a blade front sight and a square notched rear sight, both having a white mark to assist aiming. Zeroing is carried out by either lateral adjustment of the rear sight or the fitting of a different height rear sight.
• To enhance safety and handling, the pistols are fitted with a Safe Action® trigger system with three internal safety mechanisms that are automatically engaged and work sequentially off the movement of the trigger. The pistol is not fitted with an externally applied safety catch.
This system allows the trigger mechanism to reset with only a
limited forward movement of the trigger. It is not necessary to completely release the trigger in order to fire subsequent shots.
L132A1 Training Pistol
The GLOCK G17T L132A1 Gen 4 Marker Round Training System (MRTS) semi-‐automatic pistol is a weapon training system. The pistol has a number of safety features and is instantly recognisable as a training pistol due to its predominantly blue colour. The L132A1 utilises many of the same component parts as the L131A1 with the following exceptions: • The L132A1 slide has been
engineered from polymer and steel components making the assembly much lighter than the L131A1 slide. It will only accept SimunitionTM.or Force on ForceTM marker training ammunition and is not compatible with the L131A1.
• The dual recoil spring assembly has been designed specifically for use with SimunitionTM or Force on ForceTM marker training ammunition and is therefore not compatible with the L131A1.
• The barrel of the L132A1 has been designed such that the marker
Arms News Issue 21 Page 9
training ammunition is chambered at a different angle to the L131A1. The barrel is not compatible with the L131A1.
• The L132A1 firing pin has been designed specifically to work with the L132A1 only.
• The extractor has been designed specifically for marker training ammunition and is not compatible with the L131A1.
• The frame is coloured blue and engineered from polymer and steel components. It will only function with L132A1 slide, barrel and recoil spring assembly.
• The locking block has been designed to work only with the L132A1.
• The magazine floor plate is coloured blue.
• The slide lock is engineered to only function with the L132A1.
Like the L131A1, the L132A1 features interchangeable back straps to vary the circumference of the frame. These are blue in colour and are not to be used with the L131A1. The Universal Cleaning Kit is compatible with the L131A1 and L132A1 however bronze wire brushes may only be used for cleaning the barrel bore of the L132A1 training pistol and nothing else.
RADAR holster system
The holster system has been designed for the L131A1/L132A1 General Service Pistol and is a key element of the overall R9GSP safety system as there is no integral safety catch fitted to the L131A1/L132A1 General Service Pistol. The holster system consists of three main parts, which are: Holster (Level 2 or Level 3). Leg Support. Lanyard.
The holster can also be mounted on a cross MOLLE panel or belt mounted utilising an “S” loop belt adaptor. There are 3 levels of retention built into the holster system that a user can choose between depending upon the mission profile. • Level 1 Retention – Pistol and
lanyard only, i.e. un-‐holstered. • Level 2 Retention – Pistol in the
holster locked in position by the Safe and Index mechanism.
• Level 3 Retention – Pistol in the holster locked in position by the Safe and Thumb mechanism in combination with the Safe and Index mechanism.
Page 10 Arms News Issue 21
The Rotating Disc Connection (RDC) allows the angle of the carried pistol to be adapted to the needs of the user whether mounted to a leg support or a cross MOLLE panel. Article Courtesy of Nigel Brown – Vice Chairman A more in depth look at the Glock Pistol can be found on our web site http://www.ukarmourers.org.uk Sadly we must say our last farewell to the following Armourers who have passed on since the last edition of the News Letter. Sam Perry (Hilsea 1934) Who passed away 30 July 2013 Donald Sidaway (Gosport 1956) Who passed away 10th August after a long illness. Robert Burns (Arborfield 56A) Who passed away 6th June 2013 Lt Col Charles Mackinder (Hilsea 39A) Who passed away 07 April 2013 Maj George Benfield (Arborfield 1941) 2013 News Letter returned unopened Cecil Bennett (Hilsea 1936) 2013 News Letter returned unopened Bill Brown (Hilsea 1940) Who passed away 13 May 2013 Jack Hughes (Gosport 1954) Who passed away January 2013 Ron Jordan (Melton Mobray 1942) Who passed away 10 March 2013 Derek Stokoe (Arborfield 1941) Who passed away 28 September 2013
John Houghton (Arborfield 56B) Who passed away 29 Oct 2013 after a long battle with cancer Phil Kitchen (Arborfield 46B) Who passed away October 2013 Ian Rayner (PMC 51B) Who passed away 6th September 2013 We have also been informed that Frank Perry (SEME 1960), an in-‐patient at the Royal Chelsea Hospital is seriously ill. If anyone can provide more details, please let the Secretary or any of the committee know. A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.
Winston Churchill
Obituaries
Quote of the day
Arms News Issue 21 Page 11
INCOME EXPENDITURE
Reunion Income 1,190.00£ Reunion VSC 2013 1,871.00£ Donations 2,831.19£ Reunion VSC 2014 300.00£ Raffle 270.00£ Printing 185.00£ Interest 2013 1.12£ Cfn Subscription 24.00£ Interest 2012 0.28£ 1 Postage 125.19£ Post & Packing 30.70£ Other Expenses 4.00£ 2Sale of Ties Old Type) 36.00£ Gifts & Flowers 115.65£ 3Sale of Ties (New Type) 42.50£ Total Expenditure 2,624.84£ “ “ Lapel Badge 4.00£ “ “ Tie-Tac 7.50£ “ “ Assoc. Plaque 21.00£ “ “ Glassware 7.50£ “ “ Pewter Tankard 20.00£
Total Income 4,461.79£
Cash @ Bank (B/F 2012) 3,150.56£ SUB-TOTAL: 7,612.35£ Less Expenditure 2,624.84£
Total 4,987.51£
ASSETSCash @ BankCurrent Account 3,010.11£ Deposit Account 1,977.40£
Total 4,987.51£
STOCK QtyTies Old 22 198.00£ Ties New 46 391.00£ Lapel Badges 88 176.00£ Tie-Tacs 18 45.00£ Plaques 1 21.00£ Glass Tankard 6 90.00£ Whiskey Tumbler 3 22.50£ Pewter Tankard 5 100.00£ Sub-Total 1,043.50£
President's Badge 600.00£
TOTAL ASSETS 6,631.01£
Notes1 Interest not shown last year as statement not received until Mar 20132 Charge for represented cheque3 Gifts for outgoing President & Wife
The Armourers Association Accounts01 January - 31 December 2013
