Sixth Sense Newspaper Online

New procedures and documentation for returning vehicles to the United Kingdom.

With effect from April 13, HM Revenue and Customs are introducing new procedures and documentation through the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for vehicles returning to the UK.

The consequence for BFG personnel will not be great except that:

Personnel should get their vehicles DVLA registered immediately on landing in the UK.

Soldiers, do you have the right qualifications to get promoted?

By April 1, 2014, soldiers must have these qualifications to be selected for promotion:

Promotion to Cpl – Level 1 in Literacy and Numeracy, GCSE Grades D-G or equivalent qualifications.

Promotion to Sgt, CSgt or WO – Level 2 in Literacy and Numeracy, GCSE Grades A-C or equivalent qualifications.

Application for LE Commissioning – Level 2 in Literacy and Numeracy, GCSE Grades A-C or equivalent qualifications.

As part of the Government’s Budget, on March 20, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body (AFPRB) recommendation to increase X-Factor by 0.5 per cent will be implemented with effect from May 1, 2013.

Service personnel should receive the increase in their May pay.

The 2013 AFPRB report was published on March 14. The Government accepted the recommendations in full, except for the recommendation to increase X-Factor by 0.5 per cent where consideration was deferred.

The extra costs of this recommendation will be met from within the Defence budget.

Veteran Reservist nurse and grandmother of five Maj Marie Semple, of 204 Field Hospital, is considering retirement from front line duties at the age of 55 upon finishing her third tour.

The experienced sister of wards from Ballymena in Northern Ireland joined in 2003 at the age of 43 without telling her husband Ian, and was immediately mobilised to deploy to Iraq. When Maj Semple’s granddaughter saw her with a rifle for the first time she asked if ‘Granny is shooting bad people?’

Marie went on to say: “I was managing a nursing home and I wanted a challenge but thought I was too old.” Since Iraq she has deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 and again in 2013.

Seven-year-old Arwen Thomas and six-year-old Morgan Thomas sent in the winning ‘mumism’ for the Mother’s Day competition held in Sixth Sense earlier this month.

Arwen and Morgan’s mum, Esther Thomas, who is a teacher at Bishopspark School in Paderborn, exclaimed happily: “Wow, we’ve won!” after reading that she had scooped the surprise pamper hamper kindly sponsored from NAAFI.

RED haired with boyish good looks, barely 21 and already capable of great things. Ed Sheeran is touring Germany this summer and as well as appearing at a number of open air events, will be presenting his own shows.

The lad from Suffolk who lives in London is the maker of the moving The A Team, and other sensational tracks such as: You Need Me, I Don’t Need You, Lego House and Drunk. Simple but gorgeous songs that stand midway between pop, folk and sometimes hip hop.

Between 2005 and 2011 he independently released two albums and five EPs and performed live a multitude of times; 321 gigs in 2009 alone. He had read about an interview with James Morrison that the latter had performed 200 times in one year; he wanted to do better.

IF YOU happen to find yourself in Stratford-upon-Avon and spot a young woman walking down the street in 1940s vintage clothing, with her red hair in victory rolls, it just might be Kitten von Mew.

The 32-year-old works as a 1940s pin-up model, turning up at Second World War nostalgia events around the country, but loves the clothes of the bygone era so much that she wears them in everyday life too.

“I quite simply feel I was born in the wrong time,” she says. “I love to walk around wearing vintage fashions. People once used to take great pride in their appearance and 1940s clothing was very structured and showed a woman’s figure off the best.”

The pin-up beauty adds: “We are now a throw away society, but from the 1930s to 1950s, clothes were made to last.”

Kitten, who also works as a creative writer for a gift company, has huge respect for the models, singers and actresses who entertained British troops during the last world war.

A Royal Engineer who lost both legs in an explosion in Afghanistan is hoping to be selected to row for Team GB in the London 2012 Paralympics.

Recovering in Headley Court from an improvised explosive device blast in Helmand, the London Paralympics must have been far from Capt Nick Beighton’s mind when it was mooted that he take part just 15 months ago.

However, a classic rowers’ build made him a natural candidate for UK Sport’s talent identification programme.

AIRMAN Andy MacMahon claimed yet another world record last weekend when he ran the fastest ever time for a marathon while wearing a gas mask.

The LCpl’s respirator dash at the 32nd London Marathon now takes his tally to an impressive four world records, including running the fastest marathon in full military kit.

A RAF Regiment gunner managed to rope his Dad in at the last minute when he ran the Rome Marathon in aid of the RAF Association.

Initially Cpl Chris Richards, who is based at JHQ Rheindahlen, planned for himself and two other RAF Regiment Gunners - Sgt Kev Butterworth and FS Jon Tointon - to run the marathon, but due to an imminent deployment, Jon had to pull out and it left them down to two.

IT WAS triumph for B Company at this year’s 3 MERCIAN Inter-Company Boxing finals, held in Fallingbostel recently.

The final consisted of nine bouts of remarkably high standard boxing between the coys, covering all weight categories.

1 Medical Regiment receive Afghan operational medals.

COMBAT medics from 1 Medical Regiment have been presented with their operational medals after returning from a demanding tour in Afghanistan.

1 Med Regt deployed to Afghanistan on Op Herrick 15 for six months in support of 20th Armoured Brigade. Their focus was ensuring that all military units had sufficient medical cover and to provide support to the brigade’s main mission – to help prepare the Afghan forces to take over the security of their own country.

Soldiers from 24 Regt RLC bake their way to raising funds for charity.

The Collosal cake sale took place at Catterick Barracks in Bielefeld on Friday, March 30, in aid of Help for heroes and FAB.

SSgt Lesley Bodycomb and Cpl Rachel Tovagone from 24 Reg RLC aimed to raise cash while happily eating cake!

“Other charity events include challenging bike rides and huge runs, so we thought we would do something a bit easier and very enjoyable,” said SSgt Lesley Bodycomb.

Lt Col (Retd) John Walker has recently been commended for his dedication, professionalism and commitment to our community. The award was presented by Col Peter Gosney on behalf of Garrison Commander Brig Ewen McLay on March 22.

Lt Col (Retd) John Walker  has held the appointment of Housing and Community Support Officer at Herford Station since 2004.

During this time he has demonstrated an extraordinarily high commitment to duty and has consistently delivered an outstanding level of service to the community

German, Dutch and British firemen took part in a major exercise in Javelin Barracks in order to improve the cooperation between the nations.

The horror scenario is luckily only an exercise: A car with two passengers crashes into a storehouse containing chemicals. The substances react, explode and flying sparks set a close by hangar on fire.

The hangar itself is no longer in use but one of the rooms next to it is being refurbished and the workmen are inside and in the other room a youth group is holding a meeting.

Health Visitor Ann Richardson has retired, having completed 13 years of service with SSAFA Forces Help.

Ann began working as a general nurse in 1970 in Portsmouth and undertook her Health Visitor training in Plymouth in 1988. In the late 90s she saw that SSAFA were recruiting for Osnabrück and as she spoke a little German and was looking for a change, decided to apply.

The children from Sir John Mogg School in Detmold – from the three-year-olds to 11-year-olds – dressed up in sports kit or something red to walk the extra mile to raise money for Sports Relief.

Wearing their Sports Relief sweatbands they set off in the beautiful sunshine to walk around the airfield at the back of the school. Cakes were on sale at the end of the walk and a grand total of €446 was raised.

Vintage car enthusiasts won’t want to miss the annual La Strada event which is taking place on Bielefeld’s Altstadt on the weekend of May 4–6.

The classic car show, now in its 14th year, is part of a celebration of the motor car, with dozens of new models on display around the city’s pedestrian areas.

La Strada runs from 9am to 6pm on both days. Sample the great food on offer and enjoy the great music while walking among the gleaming visions on four wheels.

Army siblings from Hereford are currently serving together in a specialist unit, the Brigade Reconnaissance Force in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Cpl Alan Cheshire, 24, of the Light Dragoons and his sister Rebecca (Becky) Gwynne, 22, of the Royal Military Police are currently conducting joint operations in Helmand province. Cpl Cheshire is deployed as a section commander while Cpl Gwynne is carrying out a number of duties in support of her brother’s operations. Becky said: “I’m gathering evidence, making sure evidence is handled properly, ensuring all females are searched and dealing with any detainees on the ground.”

Becky has been deployed in Helmand for the last six months and has conducted numerous operations to disrupt the Afghan insurgency. As well as being a trained military policewoman, she also puts a female face to the mission, which reaps great results with the Afghan female population.

A couple who recently lived in BFG are enjoying great success with their thriving bespoke children’s clothing and original pottery business.

When Julie and Pete Shields left Germany, they were determined to put down roots after years on the move with the military, finally settling in Goxhill. The couple, who have two children, decided to open up a shop selling children’s pottery designed by Julie after discovering a market niche. They named their shop in Barton-Upon-Humber after Julie’s favourite shape – Dimpled Heart.

The business started with children’s pottery – cups, bowls and plates – and has just branched out into decorative jugs and bowls designed to appeal to adults. The ceramics are designed by Julie, who also stocks items from other select makers. “It was always in my business plan to have some pottery, but when I went to look for some at the trade shows it was all Peter Rabbit, Winnie The Pooh and the like,” said Julie.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao officially opened the Hannover Messe, the world’s biggest industry and trade fair, on Sunday evening.

China is this year’s guest of honour at the gigantic annual week-long trade fair, which brings together 5,000 manufacturing and technology companies from 69 countries in the northern German city from April 23-27. As many as 500 companies are from China alone.

The motto of this year’s Hannover Messe is Green Intelligence with the focus on environmentally sustainable innovations and technologies.

A record 163 bearded beauties from the US, France, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands took part in the International German Beard Championships, held in Baden-Württemberg last weekend.

The jury judged competitors’ facial hair in 18 categories, including Kaiser empire moustache, freestyle whiskers, musketeer chin beard and natural beard with styled moustache.

Highest scores were given to local man Jens Müller from Pforz-heim for his ‘trendy beard’ and Lutz Giese from Berlin for his Chinese chin beard. Both were awarded 49.5 points out of a possible 50.

The popular Yummy Mummy Buggy Workout sessions have returned to Bergen-Hohne Garrison.

The popular outdoor fitness  classes are a fantastic way to get out in the fresh air with your buggy while getting some exercise at the same time.

Instructors, Tammi Lummes and Beth Grigg, are great motivators, encouraging and guiding participants through the sessions which you can take at your own pace.

A FORMER gunner has a written a heartbreaking story of love, adventure and bitter revenge.

By Conscience Bound, Vince ‘Jack’ Frost’s first novel, is partly based on his experiences on the island of Malta as a child, when his father was posted there during the Aden (Yemen) crisis.

“I had an extremely difficult childhood as an English child in post-war Malta around which the semi-fictional story is woven,” said Vince, who served in Dortmund with both 22 and 16 air defence regiment RA as a Rapier air defence gunner, from 1979 to 1995.

The book, which is available as a digital download costing only £1.01, contains many references to his time in BAOR as a soldier and many readers will remember with fondness and relate to the references which cover the Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, Cyprus and cold war soldiering in general.

“By Conscience Bound sprints internationally and breathlessly through time and memory before inevitably hurtling to its spectacular and brutal climax”, says its author.

The story starts in Malta in 1975. Sean Toothe, an emaciated kid, holds onto his dying mother's hand as she exhorts him to look after his five-year old brother after she's gone. The kid's 14 years old and with his mother gone, he's under the "care" of his brutal step-father.

ARMY photographers have an important job in communicating and recording military activity. But they are very much soldiers first.

The appetite of the media in reporting world events is stronger than it has ever been, with online newspapers, 24-hour TV and social media available at our fingertips. But without images these stories have much less impact and are arguably less credible.

Take the death of former Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi. It was the photos of his body, sent across the globe within minutes of his death, which confirmed his demise.

This is why photography within the Armed Forces is of such paramount importance, it is to help communicate UK's Defence messages to the masses.

A BFG couple are lucky to be alive after their car was involved in a horrific motorway crash with an apparently suicidal driver at the start of their Easter break.

LCpl Lee Skelton and his wife Naomi were travelling through northern France on their way to two wedding’s in England when they collided head-on with a car being driven on the wrong side of the road.

Miraculously, they survived the impact, suffering whiplash, bruises and shock – but according to the French police, had the Skeltons been going 20kmph faster, the crash would have been fatal.

WITHIN a short space of time, a new artist catapulted to the top of the music world, and since then continues to be the brightest star shining at the summit of the entertainment business.

With her electro-dance-pop anthems and flamboyant performances, Lady Gaga is the newly crowned queen of pop and she will be making two stops in Germany on her latest tour, which starts in Seoul, South Korea on April 27. Tickets will go like grease lightning so don’t hesitate.

Born in New York’s east Side as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga burst onto the music scene in 2008 after she released her first album, The Fame.

On a recent visit to Dempsey Barracks, home of 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, Col Johnny Sernberg took time to award a select number of individuals with a Commander’s Coin for their work on the Rear Operations Groups (ROG). The coin is awarded on behalf of Commander 20 Brigade in recognition of work over and above that expected of an individual, be they civilian or military.

Tanya Cartwright, whose husband Cpl Glen Cartwright is deployed in Afghanistan with B Sqn QDG, was awarded a coin for her tireless commitment while working as the regimental typist.
Tanya often works over her regulated hours without notice if the workload requires it. She also regularly helps out at QDG welfare events giving up her free time in doing so. Tanya said: “I never expected to receive anything for my extra work, I merely do what I believe to be the right thing and I hope what I do helps out.”

Members of 3 CS Bn REME returned from Afghanistan to a very warm welcome at Barker Barracks in Paderborn, even if they had no family awaiting them.

Some of the families from the battalion look after the Singletons as if they are their own and attend all the homecomings to make sure everyone has someone pleased to see them return after the long tours.

For four talented Arts Awards students the journey to success is almost completed. But will they meet the criteria for Arts Award gold and silver?

Beth Davies, Callum Kelly, Anja Samy will hopefully qualify as Arts Awards gold students and Daniel Collins will gain a silver success when their work is examined on April 21.

All are students at Windsor School which is an Artsmark Gold school and carries Enquiry School Creative Partnerships Status.

Hameln Station’s main gym played host to 28 Engineer Regiment’s Inter-Squadron boxing night with eight gripping bouts of talented boxing on display.

With current regimental deployments to Canada, Kenya and Afghanistan, it was left to 42 Fd Sqn and 65 Fd Sp Sqn to form the red corner and 64 HQ and Sp Sqn joined REME Workshops to form the blue corner.

The recent 2012 Inter-Services Ski and Snowboard Championships (ISSSC) saw the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team (CSDST) put a difficult season behind them to deliver a confident performance.

Both the more experienced and newer members of the team, who braved the sub-zero conditions in Meribel, France were able to make significant progress.

This is the fourth year Armed Forces Day will take place. It’s an opportunity to boost public support and appreciation of all those who serve and have served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, veterans and cadets.

The City of Plymouth, with its historic and distinguished links to the military, has been chosen to host the Armed Forces Day national event this year, this will be complemented by a variety of community-led events in towns and cities across the UK.

In addition to Armed Forces Day, defence has a major part to play in the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

SSAFA Forces Help has announced a new award to celebrate the important role of fund-raisers within the charity.  

The Ian Sloss Award is named in memory of a community fundraiser from Burton-on-Trent who died while taking part in a triathlon for SSAFA in 2010.

Ian Sloss, a 64-year-old retired Air Commodore, collapsed during the swimming leg of the event held in London on August 7, 2010 and died in hospital two days later.  A normally fit man, it was the third triathlon Ian had taken part in.

A WILTSHIRE doll-maker has been swamped with orders after creating a toy soldier for her sister in Germany.

Andria Thomas has been working overtime to keep up with demand since word spread in military circles of her handmade customised dolls dubbed Soldier Sam.

She sparked the craze by sending the ‘Armyfied’ rag doll to Detmold, where her sister Jackie lives with ex-Service husband Harry.

“Their son Kieran – my nephew – has just passed out of the Army Technical College in Winchester and so I created a soldier doll in his image as a present to the family,” said Andria, 46.

“Suddenly, I got loads of her friends in Germany wanting their own of their husband or son. It’s really taken off and I am up most of the night doing them.”

THE Belgian festival Rock Werchter is a long standing annual and highly rated event in the open air season.

The four day concert will be held this year over the period June 28 to July 1 in a small, centrally located village about 30km north east of Brussels.

It is rated as one of the top four events of its kind in Europe and has secured multiple awards in the past decade.

Classic Rock at its best just around the corner from Rheindahlen. Four of the leading protagonists of the genre will perform in one open air event; Bad Company featuring Paul Rodgers, Blue Öyster Cult, Roger Chapman and Bachman & Turner.

A whopping €2,019.20 was raised at a Community Pub Night held recently at the Rheindahlen Rooms in JHQ.

The SSAFA committee felt that there was a gap in the social calendar in Rheindahlen and decided that it was a great opportunity to do a bit of fund-raising and provide a good night’s entertainment for the community at the same time.

The evening included a general knowledge quiz and darts and there was the chance to win some cash with the money tree and a raffle. A marvellous curry was laid on and there was entertainment from Tony T’s Disco and local band, Half Cut.  

A highlight of this summer’s open air festival season is the N-Joy Star Show sponsored by a popular radio station. This year the event in June will be headlined by top international artists Pitbull and Taio Cruz, and a special guest yet to be announced. The show will also feature top German band Frida Gold.

Few performers are able to bridge the gap between music genres with such skill as Pitbull. He combines rap, reggae, Latin pop, electro-disco and R&B into his music.