Dinner Night by phil_sandford

Dinner Night

Way back when, in 2002, I covered the post of Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) at my Unit, the Joint Services Signals Unit located at RAF Digby. RAF Digby had a Station Warrant Officer (SWO) and he didn’t like there being an RSM so I was called the Unit Warrant Officer (UWO) to keep the peace. Either way, I was ‘boots n haircuts’ inside the wire, he was ‘boots n haircuts’ outside the wire.

It led, somehow, to me being invited by the Corps to attend the RSMs Convention, held that year in London and then a dinner night at the Dorchester Hotel. After we’d eaten, as the hotel was expensive and boring, around 8 of us caught a couple of London Cabs and went to Stringfellows night club, where Peter Stringfellow hosted us, gratis, all night (but that’s another story)

I’m back row, right in the centre.

Thanks for dropping by.
Great photo…Wonderful memories…
January 21st, 2025  
What a memory…you must have been proud! Did you go to Stringfellows in your uniform? 😳
January 21st, 2025  
@happypat We did. We got out of the taxis about 30m from the nightclub and walked toward the back of the queue; in the full Mess Dress including boots and spurs (Signals fell out of the Cavalry, so in that garb we wore spurs) with medals clinking. The guys on the door pulled us to the front of the queue, took us in and Peter Stringfellow himself came over, cleared a booth for us and said “everything is on the house gentlemen.” We got back to our hotel around 7am (my train home was at 10am)
January 21st, 2025  
Quite a prestigious event & the Dorchester - a posh venue!
January 21st, 2025  
Nice
January 22nd, 2025  
Oh I love this narrative. That must have been why you were in Berlin.
January 22nd, 2025  
@illinilass Yes. We were in Berlin January 1986 to January 1990 when I was in the Army.
January 22nd, 2025  
@phil_sandford Wow, top stuff! Love that Stringfellow showed a bit of patriotic respect too. Proud of him.
January 26th, 2025  
@casablanca It was at the height of our involvement in Iraq and we were soon to go into Afghanistan so the military was in the news.
January 26th, 2025  
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