Praise for the “complex and sophisticated role” played by the 4Military Intelligence Battalion in Afghanistan came from Marlborough’s Mayor, Edwina Fogg, at the town council’s civic dinner on Friday.
It was the fourth occasion in honour of the soldiers in the official adopted vital military unit, many of whom have just returned from their crucial role in Afghanistan.
Welcoming them, the Mayor recalled: “Most of you will be aware that, in 2008, Colonel Ben Kyte contacted us to see if we would be interested in forming a link with 4MIB.”
“We were thrilled and honoured to have been thus chosen and the relationship was affirmed when, in 2011, Freedom of Entry into Marlborough was bestowed on the Battalion.”
“Wiltshire has, of course, always had a very close connection with the military. At Bulford Camp yesterday, a full force gale sweeping over the parade ground made an anecdote from the First World War come alive for me.”
“In 1914-15 some 32,000 Canadians, many of them Newfies, trained on Salisbury Plain. There was much disruption by floods and gales so that tents were continually being blown down.”
“The Canadians left for France in February 1915 and many of them reported back that conditions in the trenches were not nearly as bad as they had experienced in Wiltshire.”
“Imagine me then, my tricorn hat refusing to stay put, my hair in total disarray, making me the least tidy person at the parade, presenting, with Colonel Nick Baker, company medals. The weather though, failed to dampen spirits or spoil an occasion which saw the soldiers receive their just recognition of a tour in Afghanistan, in which 4MI played such a significant part.”
“Major Simon Puxley, an honoured guest this evening, introduced me to the soldiers and outlined each individual’s task in recent operations. This gave me a huge insight into the complex and sophisticated role played by the Battalion and why intelligence units are so crucial to contemporary military strategy.
“There were many proud families on the parade ground. One of them, the mother of a young soldier, approached me afterwards to thank me and to say how the families valued the support from the town.”
“The relationship between Marlborough and 4MI continues to flourish, as witnessed by the huge numbers who came to the Remembrance Day Parade, long may it continue.”
Including the military guests, more than 100 people attended the town hall civic dinner, which raised £700 for the Wiltshire branch of the Royal British Legion.
It was also a presentation occasion, Mike Fogg, brother-in-law of the Mayor, presenting a litre ceramic Nelson ship’s decanter of Pusser’s rum to Major Puxley for the Officer’s mess.
It was one of two similar presentations to other members of M4 plus the presentation of a bottle of ABV, Blue Label Pusser’s rum to Dennis Compton for the Wiltshire branch of the Royal British Legion.
Pusser’s rum is the former daily issue of the Royal Navy, which was terminated, on theJuly 31, 1970, known to the Navy, as Black Tot day.
On board ship, stores are controlled by the purser, but over the years, generations of Jack Tars, corrupted this to Pusser, hence, Pusser’s rum.
To compensate the sailors’ for the loss of their daily tot, the Admiralty set up a new charity, the Royal Navy Sailors Fund, otherwise known, as the Tot Fund, to provide amenities, for serving personnel.
Then, in 1979, the Admiralty approved the re-blending of Pusser’s rum, for sale to the public and in appreciation, a substantial donation on world wide sales, accrues to the Sailors’ Fund.
To date the Pusser’s Rum annual donations have exceeded £1 million.
“It is hoped that both the Officers’ mess and the Warrant Officers & Sergeants mess, will open their Nelson decanters, on an appropriate occasion and that the decanters will then be replenished, annually, in perpetuity,” Mike Fogg told Marlborough News Online.
“Many brands of dark rum, present a naval or sea faring image, but only Pusser’s Rum, can claim to be the original and genuine rum of the Royal Navy.”
