MILITARY SERVICE RECORD & CIVILIAN CAREER

BONNER, Gordon Godfrey

Nov 1949

PERSONAL DETAILS

Date and place of birth: 27 May 1934, Handsworth, Birmingham, Warwickshire

Next of kin address: Guildford, Surrey

MILITARY SERVICE

Date and place of enlistment: 09 Sep 1949, Army Recruiting Office, Reading, Berkshire

Regimental Number: Restricted

G.S.C. Sep 1949 – 25 Jul 1952:

Company: ‘D’ transferred to 'B' ● Squad: 14 ● Trade: Fitter ● Rank: Apprentice Tradesman

Education: Army Certificate of Education Class 2 (Ref: Part 2 Order N^o 40 of 1950)

Trade Qualification: Fitter Class 3 (Ref: Part 2 Order N^o 62 of 1952)

R.E.M.E.

Posting: wef 01 Sep 1952 – Oct 1953: 2 Anti Aircraft Group Workshops REME, Dorchester, Oxfordshire (Ref: Part 2 Order N^o 64 of 1952)

Posting: Oct 1953 – Dec 1956: Command Workshops REME, Hong Kong

Promotion: Sergeant

Posting: Dec 1956: Permanent Staff, 4 Armament Battalion

Artificer Selection Board: passed; attended No. 26 Armament Artificer (Gun) Course

Promotion: Staff Sergeant

Posting: Apr 1959 – 1960: 34 Light Ad Regiment R.A.

Posting: 1960 – 1961: 34 Light Ad Regiment R.A., Penang, Malaya

Posting: 1961 – Feb 1962: Gun Club, Hong Kong

Note: During this period the trade of Artificer (Gun) became obsolete

Posting: Feb 1962 – Aug 1963: Gun Instructor, REME Training Centre, Far East Land Forces, Singapore

Trade Test: Vehicle Mechanic ‘B’ Class 1

Posting: Aug 1963 – Nov 1963: Battery Artificer, 58 EYRES Coy, 39 Missile Regiment R.A.

Artificer Selection Board: passed; attended No. 138 Artificer (Vehicle) Training Course, Bordon Camp, Hampshire

Promotion: Apr 1965 Warrant Officer Class 2 (AQMS)

Posting: Jul 1966 – Jan 1969: Permanent Staff Instructor REME, 103 Light Ad Regiment R.A. (TAVR), Liverpool, Lancashire

Promotion (accelerated): Jan 1969 Warrant Officer Class 1 (ASM)

Posting: Jan 1969 – Jun 1970: Warrant Officer i/c 3^rd Line Servicing, Royal Corps of Transport Unit, Advanced Base HQ, Grobbendonk, Belgium

Note: A very interesting job; we provided transport & recovery service between the Channel Ports and Joint HQ at Rhinedahlen, BAOR. One of the side jobs was that I carried 8 adult & 2 child coffins in my MT Stores as, on average, in the Ghent area we used to recover 6 to 8 bodies a year from the autobahn due to RTA; mainly caused by soldiers going home on leave to UK after a day’s work and falling asleep.

Posting: Jun 1970 – Nov 1973: 3^rd Carabineers (Cavalry Unit)

Note: 1971: The 3^rd Carabineers amalgamated with The Royal Scots Greys, redesignated Scots Dragoon Guards

Commissioned: Nov 1973

Personal Number: 496615

Discharge

Date & place: June 1984; retired in the rank Major

CIVILIAN CAREER

I served for 11 years with a Royal Signals Territorial Army Unit in my hometown of Leeds. I finally retired from the Ministry of Defence in June 1994 at age 60, having served a total of 45 years. I still was not finished as I worked as a Research Assistant in the Financial Industry for Greenwich Associates who were based in Connecticut, New York. I worked for them in UK and the Far East for 5 years, and finally called it a day in 1999 at age 65.

MARITAL & FAMILY STATUS

1957: Married Muriel ● Children: two sons and a daughter ● daughter married Andy JONES (ex-AAS Arborfield 75B/C); they have three children & live in Australia ● Grandchildren: ten

IN RETIREMENT

June 2002

Hobbies: Mountain walking, reading, classical music, & charity work

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