In the late 1950s the 4th Hussars and the 8th Hussars amalgamated and became the Queens Royal Irish Hussars. This new regiment moved to Hohne in West Germany, as it was called then and was armoured up with Centurion and Conqueror tanks.

The LAD was set up with the regiment and lads came from all different postings to fill the ranks. Several schemes were done with international armies taking part in some cases. Also stints on the ranges at Hohne with Hussars firing the tanks gun whilst we REME guys carried out repairs on both guns and vehicles whichever broke down first. There were many incidents of guns misfiring and auxiliary engines packing in so all were kept busy. Through the hard work that was required the LAD and the Hussars lads set up good friendly relations with each other and it became an efficient working force capable of tackling any incident put before it.
On schemes it was an unwritten law that if a commander of a tank got bogged down and ‘Bluebell’ had to be called, a crate of the local beer was handed over for the REME lads involved to drink. You can imagine the mechanics and Recce’ Mechs were consuming considerable amounts of the amber liquid.

After a year at Hohne orders came through that the regiment was to be posted abroad for three years in the Middle and Far East and the regiment was dispatched to Tidworth in England in order to convert from tanks to armoured cars. REME and Hussars alike.

A group of Hussars and REME guys were sent out by plane on the advance party and the main party by boat on the 'SS Oxfordshire' about a month or so later to Aden and Sharjah. After a year there it was time to travel further afield. Again the troop ship ‘SS Oxfordshire’ was our home for the ten days it took to get to Penang in Malaya where, on arrival, the squadrons were split up with some going to Ipoh in Malaya and others to Singapore. During the tour of duty a rebellion was started by a man called Sukarno in Brunei and active service was declared to oust him. A squadron of Hussars and REME personnel were dispatched to help the fight against this tyrant. Squadrons were changed over whilst the original guys went on rest and recuperation. The two years in the Far East passed by quite quickly and it soon became time for us to return back to England ready for further posting orders.

Eventually after showing off our three year suntans to our girl friends, wives and families we were posted to Wolfenbuttell, West Germany and continued vigilance over the East German border near the Hartz Mountains. We were well into the 1960’s by now and the regiment settled in to the routine that was army life. We even had the pleasure of England winning the world cup in football whilst on scheme much to the dismay of the locals.

You can imagine by now the REME guys had set up very good friendships amongst each other and also with the Hussars guys. Demob time started to rear its lovely head near the later part of the 1960’s as the lads serving had their service just about completed. So one by one they left to other parts, some to Civilian Street, others to other postings.

Many years later a few REME guys visited another of the lads in Yorkshire after a thirty year gap or so, the friendship was rekindled and Roger Traves had an idea to set up an old comrade’s re-union. As a result of his organisational skills we have been meeting yearly with the 9th reunion taking place in Leicester in February 2006.

Sadly some of the guys have fallen by the wayside and are no longer with us but they are always remembered in our prayers. But we shall carry on meeting every year as long as our little legs last out.