The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment 1958 - 2007 Quiz

Answer: Minden

Minden is a small town situated on the River Weser. Osnabruck is a city in Northern Germany, not too far from Minden and where the Battalion was posted in the late 1960s and again in the late 1970s. Bielefeld and Paderborn are both garrison towns within the same area.

Answer: Active Edge

Active Edge was an exercise carried out at irregular intervals by the Garrison Commander to test a unit's preparedness for war. The entire Battalion would be called back to barracks by whatever means possible (which usually involved the RMP and German Civil Police), and all married soldiers would be collected and bought into barracks on organised transport.

The Unit would parade on the Battalion Square with all their vehicles, rationed and fuelled up for a period of 5 days and carrying their full complement of ammunition.

This all had to happen within two hours. On occasion the unit would be ordered to deploy to its pre-designated positions and dig in and on other occasions the unit would be stood down whilst still in barracks. ReForGer was the name given to a series of NATO wide exercises that tested the American response to a 'Hot War' in Europe and stands for Re(inforcement of)For(ces to) Ger(many)... Placid Edge and Reaction State are inventions of my own.

Answer: Colchester (Camulodunum)

Colchester claims to be, and is generally accepted as, the oldest town in Britain. It was sacked and destroyed in AD61 by the tribes of Eastern England led by the Queen Boudicca (Boadicea). St Albans is a town in Hertfordshire, Dorchester is a town in Dorset and Exeter is a city in Devon. All have extensive archaeology dating from the Romano-British period.

Answer: Presentation of New Colours to the Battalion

The presentation of new Colours takes place every 20 years or thereabouts. The new Colours are presented to the Battalion during a parade in which a Drumhead Service takes place. This act consecrates the Colours. The old Colours are then laid up forever in a place of great importance to the Regiment.

A new Commanding Officer takes charge of an infantry unit around every 2 years or so, a new Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment is appointed by HM The Queen and this post is frequently held for life! There are a number of Regiments that have (historically) kept a mascot, but they are now few and far between.

Answer: The SA80/LSW

The SA80 Rifle and the LSW (Light Support Weapon) have been in service with the British Army for a number of years now and was field tested by selected members of the Devon and Dorsets between 1981 and 1982. The GPMG (SF) was (and still is) the standard machine gun mounted on a heavy tripod and used by the British Army in the Sustained Fire (SF) role.

The CETME/G3 rifle are not in general use by the British Army, the CETME is a post war Spanish design of which the German Heckler & Koch G3 rifle is a development.

The Browning 9mm Automatic pistol has been used by the British Army for decades.

Answer: As a Residential Battalion

Infantry Battalions, as a general rule, undertook tours in Ulster as either a Residential (2 Year) Battalion or as a Roulement (6 month) Battalion. Life in Ulster with a residential unit was still very busy and just as dangerous as it often was for the Roulement Battalions. Saying this however, the scope for relaxation was far, far greater and the Battalion took full advantage of the marvellous sporting facilities in the area. Soldiers often spent extended periods away from their barracks and families, where they provided support and additional manpower to the Roulement Battalions.

The Devon and Dorsets were posted to Ballykinler in County Down where, as the song says, "The Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea". Beautiful!

Answer: Sarah Sands

Whilst travelling by ship to reinforce the troops fighting in India during the Indian Mutiny, the 54th Regiment of Foot (who later became the 2nd Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment) found themselves at sea on a burning ship - The SS Sarah Sands. The ship was hundreds of miles from either Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Mauritius and was carrying two magazines full of gunpowder.

After evacuating the women, children and young drummer boys, members of the 54th fought the fire, removed the gunpowder from one of the two magazines and jettisoned it overboard.

However, the fire reached the powder in the other magazine and the resulting explosion severely damaged the ship. The Regimental Colours were also saved from the fire to cheers from the soldiers aboard.

After 24 hours the fire was out but the ship's navigation equipment had been lost, leaving nothing more than a map and compass to steer the ship by. After a further 11 days of sailing the SS Sarah Sands reached Port Louis, Mauritius, to a hero's welcome.

The Officers of the Devon and Dorsets celebrate Sarah Sands with an Evening Ball in the Officers Mess, the Warrant Officers and Sergeants celebrate with a dinner in their Mess, and the soldiers celebrate with a nice long forced march with full equipment...(Although to be fair everyone takes part in the forced march!)

Answer: Rudolf Hess

Rudolf Hess (26th April 1894 - 17 August 1987) was a prominent Nazi and was Adolf Hitler's deputy when, in 1941, he flew to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the British. Unfortunately, (for Hess) he was promptly arrested and spent the rest of the war as a captive. After being tried at Nuremburg after the Second World War had ended, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and held at Spandau Prison, Berlin, until his death in 1987. Guard at Spandau was provided by all four of the occupying powers (British, French, American and Soviet) in rotation. Spandau prison was demolished quickly after Hess' death to prevent the site from becoming a shrine to Nazism.

Josef Goebbels committed suicide on 1 May 1945 along with his wife. Heinrich Himmler was captured trying to escape from Germany and went on to commit suicide whilst awaiting trial for war crimes. Albert Speer was Minister for Armaments and War Production, he was tried at Nuremburg and imprisoned until his release in 1966. Speer died in London on September 1st 1981.

Answer: Exeter Cathedral, Devon

The old Colours of the Devon and Dorsets are laid up in Exeter Cathedral and can be viewed there. They are well worth a visit if you are ever in the City! There are other stands of Regimental Colours at Sherborne Abbey in Dorset.

Answer: The Rifles

So a chapter ends in the history of the Devon and Dorsets. Since amalgamation those soldiers serving in the Rifles who hail from both Devon and Dorset have served with some distinction all over the world and particularly as allies in the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. And long may they continue to do so!