Exterminate!, Exterminate!

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A group of us met up with Des Fitzgerald last evening in McKennas, where many a story was exchanged, scandal re-visited and calumny perpetrated. Des was visiting from his home in Belgium and we got a reasonable group of old “Come-Raids” to show up for a few scoops. Des has been diagnosed with MS, but as we can see from the attached photo his FCA skills are put to good use as he can “iompraigh” his crutches, dó, trí…. Picture by Rossa Lyons taken beside the Bn plaque.
DesFitz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I posted this picture on Facebook and although a few old comrades were (just a little) taken aback when Des walked into McKenna’s on crutches, Kevin Phelan (who was away on holiday at the time) thought he would treat Des’s condition with the respect it deserves and posted this:

Dalek

Remember we should laugh at life … otherwise life might just laugh at us!

B Coy gathering 9th March 2014

Whereas the rest of Ireland had various Gatherings in 2013 B Coy decided to have theirs in 2014 – an extended gathering if you will. Some photos of the event supplied by Gav.

 

Christmas – mid 90s

Vet’s beret

I was talking to Kevin Connolly and Gerry Paley recently about taking a “Veteran’s Table” at the dinner next January and Kevin mentioned that veterans of most units always continue to wear their berets.

That got me thinking and now that the 21st is long gone and the 62nd is soon to follow, maybe we are free to use our old badges as we see fit. Why not start wearing a vets beret with the old Dwyer flash on. It would have the advantage of being easy to buy a black beret, sew on a piece of red material and re-use your shoulder flash which is probably on that old uniform that doesn’t fit you anymore. If I recall correctly we had to buy those flashes so they are ours to own. The cap badges are probably still current and so may give rise to “issues”.

Any thoughts?

Book review

I was talking to Gerry Paley recently and what do you know, but he got the same book for Christmas last year as I did. I am sure the same scenario was played out all over the 21 Bn area. “What will we get Dad, Uncle Gerry, Auntie Suzy for Christmas? Oh look a book about the FCA! Problem solved”. Sure enough on  Christmas morning I threw aside the socks, ties, ointments and settled in for a good read.

The following review is of course only my opinion and should not be taken as a recommendation or otherwise. Continue reading

Corporal Chernobyl

The Observer Corps was the Irish Army’s unit for mitigation and preparedness in the event of nuclear war, and Observer Corps training for FCA personnel was carried out during annual camp in Tralee in 1987. Like all matters military in the FCA some people took it very seriously indeed, and there was one particular participant that year who we felt deserved special recognition for his dedication.

Click continue for full story and photos

Continue reading

Mysterious injury


It’s amazing what one finds when trawling around the interweb. I found the above picture but with no explanation about how the injury to the man on the left may have occured. I can offer a number of alternative theories:

  1. He was appearing as an extra in a movie about the Battle of Agincourt
  2. He had an unfortunate accident with a bowling ball
  3. He was signalling a helicopter that 2 people needed evacuation.
  4. He was explaining the correct sequence of removing pins during a trip flare safety demonstration

Messy photos.

Caught short…

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