MINUTES OF THE RGJRA MANAGEMENT BOARD
Held at Peninsula Barracks Winchester on 16th November 2007
Attendance
| Maj Gen Jamie Balfour | President |
| Brig Hugh Willing | Chairman Officers Dining Club |
| Lt Col John Poole-Warren | Chairman RGJRA Branches |
| Lt Gen Christopher Wallace | Chairman RGJ Museum KRRC Rep |
| Maj Gen Charles Vyvyan | Chairman GJ Club |
| Mrs Liz Vyvyan | Chairman RGJ Ladies Guild |
| Lt Col Maurice Coulon | RGJ TA/Cadets |
| Capt Bill Shipton | RGJ Executive Board (IT) |
| Col George Smythe | Chairman RGJ Memorial/London Branch |
| Lt Col George Elliott | 43rd/52nd Rep |
| Maj Ken Gray | RB Rep |
| Representatives RGJRA Branches | |
| Lt Col Jan-Dirk von Merveldt | Secretary/Asst Regt Sec Rifles London |
Apologies: Brig David Homer, Patrick Mitford-Slade.
1. Introduction. Maj Gen Jamie Balfour welcomed all attending, in particular representatives from the former Regiments and RGJRA branches. These are all invited to attend meetings twice a year to ensure best passage of information and that all Green Jackets felt part of the RGJRA family. He also welcomed Brigadier Hugh Willing as the new Chairman of the Officers Dining Club.
2. Financial Update.
a. A quick update on the transfer of RGJ funds to the Rifles was given, with a planned transfer date of 1 Feb 2008. £1m of this would be in a reserved fund managed by The Rifles, with the income and 1% of capital drawdown annually as part of a Total Return investment policy available for RGJRA use.
b. A draft budget was presented, but will need to be amended. The priority for 2008 was the RGJ Memorial Dedication for which additional funding would be required.
c. An update was given on the £50k given by the RAS to H4H, and this sum will be matched by The Rifles.
3. Website Update.
a. Bill Shipton gave an update and a written sitrep was available from Kevin Stevens, the Internet Branch webmaster. Work is ongoing to rationalise all the RGJ web sites and to develop a new RGJRA data base which would link into RHQ Rifles. The old data base had also to be extracted from Kelston.
b. Lt Gen Christopher Wallace explained that the RGJ Museum website needed to be developed and that he was going to talk to both RHQ Rifles and the Internet Branch website team as part of his identifying the way ahead
4. RGJ Matters.
a. RGJRA Branches. 7 out of 21 branches were represented; there remains a huge variety in membership and activity levels. There was a clear need for better communication to members, and a newsletter had to be considered. It was clarified that The Rifles London Office was the focal point for RGJ matters and that a RGJRA 2009 Diary would be produced.
b. RGJ Museum. An update was given by Lt Gen Christopher Wallace on possible developments involving the possible closure of the LI Museum, the likelihood of a Rifles museum, the transfer of the 43rd/52nd collection to the Museum, and the programme to digital record all the archive items to transfer to the Hants Records Office by end 2009. He made it clear that Winchester was not the long term home of The Rifles, that the RGJ Museum was likely to have continue to be freestanding for another 5-10 years, and that costs would increase. Its future would depend on decisions taken by the Rifles Council.
c. RGJ Ladies Guild. Its future would depend on the current review of Rifles Benevolence being conducted by Brig Richard Smith, but the current high level of care and financial support to the current RGJ widows continued.
d. GJ Club. The Club would disband on 31st December, but some outstanding items involving transfer of property and the St Cross ground remained.
e. Former Regts. The representatives of the 43rd/52nd, 60th and RB, all gave a short update of their activities. Lt Col George Elliott explained that all 43rd/52nd organisations had now folded, with a RGJRA sub committee called ORACLE remaining to look after their interests.
f. RGJ Account. Due to be launched at Davies Street on 29th Nov, Rifles Direct would take over sales thereafter. The price confirmed as £35 by post, £29.50 from the Museum.
g. RGJ Memorial. Col George Smythe gave an update. The Dedication service would take place on 11 May for which a separate committee chaired by Maj Gen Balfour would be responsible.
h. Normandy Memorial. An update was given on Brig Christopher Dunphie`s plan for a RGJ memorial at Pegasus Bridge to commemorate all the former RGJ regt actions in Normandy 1944. A sponsor was prepared to help and a briefing for him at the museum would be arranged, but additional funds would be required.
i. The Bugle. The need for a future RGJ newsletter would depend on how successful the Bugle would be in covering RGJRA news and events, so more RGJRA and Museum contributions were necessary for the next edition, and were due 2 Feb 08. j. R Coy 3RGJ 1972. A reunion was planned at Davies Street on 11 July 2008.
5. RHQ Rifles Update.
Regt Sec RHQ Rifles gave an update, and clarified that all members of the formers regts were entitled to wear the Rifles tie. He also briefed that the Rifles Heritage Committee were producing two publications for July 2008 on the “Origins of The Rifles” and “The Rifles and the Volunteers”.
6. Future RGJ Events
29 Nov RGJ Book Launch
14 Feb KRRC Davies Street Band Concert
24 Apr Offrs Dining Club Annual Dinner
11 May RGJ Memorial Dedication
12 Jul RGJRA Annual Reunion Winchester
7. AOB. • Memorials.
The need for financial support to maintain memorials was discussed and Maj Gen Balfour would take up with RHQ Rifles. The potential issue of how to fund the future windows at RMAS was also discussed, but a wide public appeal and other Regtl involvement was likely.
Property.
A sitrep was also given on the RGJ Property check, and that responsibility for this was now passed to COs 2, 4 and 7 Rifles.
8. Date Next Meeting.
Friday 11th April 2008 at RHQ Rifles Winchester.
