Freedom of the Borough of Aldershot 1973

Information about the Freedom of the Borough of Aldershot Ceremony and the Parade by the Army Medical Services through the town in June 1973 with photographs of the Scroll and Casket


On the 27 June 1973 the QARANC, RAMC and RADC were given the Freedom of the Borough of Aldershot, the home of the British Army. The event was marked with a ceremony at the Aldershot Recreation Ground and a parade through the town.

The parade was led by the Royal Army Medical Corps Staff Band at 1030hours. They were directed by Major Hurst. They were followed into the Stadium by Regimental Sergeant Major Wyatt of the RAMC Training Centre and the parade commander Lt Col Tennuci who led five companies of:

Number 1 Company: Royal Army Medical Corps Training Centre.

Number 2 Company: 23 Para Field Ambulance.

Number 3 Company: Royal Army Dental Corps Training Centre.

Number 4 Company: The Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps members from the QARANC Training Centre (QATC), the Cambridge Military Hospital and the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital. The commander of the QA Company was Major Margaret Stephenson and the Regimental Sergeant Major was RSM WOI Hayes.

Number 5 Company: Apprentices led by Major Sear.

They were followed by four casket bearer guards who represented each Corps and The Casket Bearer, Lieutenant David Bench.

On the Dias were dignitaries which included the Director General Army Medical Services (DGAMS) Lt Gen Baird, the Mayor of Aldershot, Councillor James, Lady Baird, the Town Clerk Mrs James and the Colonel Commandants of each Corps.

A general salute was received and then the parade was reviewed by the DGAMS. The presentation of the Scroll bestowing the Freedom of Aldershot came next and the text was read out by the Town Clerk.



As you can see from the photograph above, kindly provided by Terry Hissey, it contains the badges of the three Corps and the Seal of the Borough. It is inscribed on vellum made from calfskin and was produced by Mr Derek Benney, a member of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators.





Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.






My PTSD assistance dog, Lynne, and I have written a book about how she helps me with my military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, and depression. I talk about my time in the QAs and the coping strategies I now use to be in my best health.

Along the way, I have had help from various military charities, such as Help for Heroes and The Not Forgotten Association and royalties from this book will go to them and other charities like Bravehound, who paired me with my four-legged best friend.

I talk openly about the death of my son by suicide and the help I got from psychotherapy and counselling and grief charities like The Compassionate Friends.

The author, Damien Lewis, said of Lynne:

"A powerful account of what one dog means to one man on his road to recovery. Both heart-warming and life-affirming. Bravo Chris and Lynne. Bravo Bravehound."

Download.

Buy the Paperback.



This beautiful QARANC Poppy Pin Badge is available from the Royal British Legion Poppy Shop.




For those searching military records, for information on a former nurse of the QAIMNS, QARANC, Royal Red Cross, VAD and other nursing organisations or other military Corps and Regiments, please try Genes Reunited where you can search for ancestors from military records, census, birth, marriages and death certificates as well as over 673 million family trees. At GenesReunited it is free to build your family tree online and is one of the quickest and easiest ways to discover your family history and accessing army service records.

More Information.




Another genealogy website which gives you access to military records and allows you to build a family tree is Find My Past which has a free trial.








During marches through Aldershot the Scroll would be contained in the special Casket pictured below which is engraved with all three Corps badges and the arms of Aldershot Borough. It was designed and made by Mr Gerald Benney Des. RCA who was a foremost silver designer.


Photo courtesy of Terry Hissey.

After the Scroll had been read out the Mayor talked about the work of the Army Medical Services in the area and why this high honour was being bestowed. During this he praised the work of the staff at the Cambridge Military Hospital and the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital. He also read out a telegram from Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother who was the Colonel in Chief of the RAMC and one from Princess Margaret the Colonel In Chief of the QA's.

The oath was then taken by Lt Gen Sir James Baird the Director General Army Medical Services (DGAMS) on behalf of the Army Medical Services (AMS) and he then signed the roll of Honorary Freeman and accepted the Scroll and Casket. His acceptance speech included the fact that this was the 75thanniversary of the RAMC.

The Casket Bearer, Lieutenant David Bench, and his guards moved forward and were presented with the Scroll from the Director General that conveyed the Freedom and this was placed in the silver Casket and trooped through the parade in slow time with the Casket Guard whilst the band played Greensleeves.

An Advance in Review Order was executed followed by a General Salute and then the National Anthem.

The Dignitaries then made their way to the Saluting Base by Princess Hall. The new Freemen and the band marched through to the town centre where they were warmly welcomed by spectators. The Casket Party mounted the Scroll and Casket on a land rover which was slowly driven in the centre of the parade.

The last tune to be played during the Freedom of Aldershot parade March Past was Grey and Scarlet (cited in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott).

The book Sub Cruce Candida: A Celebration of One Hundred Years of Army Nursing has a photo of the parade.

This was the first occasion that QA's had marched through Aldershot.

Following the parade there was a civic lunch at Princess Hall where the AMS gave gifts of a silver statuette of a First World War soldier carrying a wounded comrade on his back to the Borough of Aldershot, through the Mayor. The original having been at Millbank and was identical to one gifted to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother when she opened the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital in Woolwich. She had given permission for a copy being produced.

Sadly the civic honour lapsed a year later with the formation of the Borough of Rushmoor through the merger of the Boroughs of Aldershot and Farnborough. This was the first time such an honour was conferred upon the Corps. The Freedom can only be re-conferred by the successor authority, which it did eight years later in 1981 when the QAs were awarded the Freedom of Rushmoor.

The Casket and Scroll are on display at 22 Field Hospital.


Image courtesy of Terry Hissey.


If you would like to contribute any info, photographs or share your memories then please contact me.







Former Royal Air Force Regiment Gunner Jason Harper witnesses a foreign jet fly over his Aberdeenshire home. It is spilling a strange yellow smoke. Minutes later, his wife, Pippa, telephones him, shouting that she needs him. They then get cut off. He sets straight out, unprepared for the nightmare that unfolds during his journey. Everyone seems to want to kill him.

Along the way, he pairs up with fellow survivor Imogen. But she enjoys killing the living dead far too much. Will she kill Jason in her blood thirst? Or will she hinder his journey through this zombie filled dystopian landscape to find his pregnant wife?

The Fence is the first in this series of post-apocalyptic military survival thrillers from the torturous mind of former British army nurse, now horror and science fiction novel writer, C.G. Buswell.

Download Now.

Buy the Paperback.


If you would like to contribute to this page, suggest changes or inclusions to this website or would like to send me a photograph then please e-mail me.










Free Book.
The death of the Brotherhood will be avenged.
RAF gunner Jason Harper and a team of Special Air Service operators are enraged after the death of their brothers by a terrorist drone strike. They fly into south-eastern Yemen on a Black-op mission to gather intelligence and avenge the death of their comrades.
Can they infiltrate the Al-Queda insurgents' camp, stay undetected, and call down their own drone missile strike and get home safely?
Will they all survive to fight another day?
Operation Wrath is a free, fast-paced adventure prequel to the non-stop action The Fence series by military veteran author C.G. Buswell.
Download for free on any device and read today.





This website is not affiliated or endorsed by The Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) or the Ministry of Defence.