MINUTES OF THE 7TH ANNUAL GENERA

Military Survey (Geographic) Branch

Royal Engineers Association

1. The Chairman warmly welcomed those present and outlined the revised proceedings. The Commanders Brief would start proceedings followed by the first half of the AGM. After a short break the second half of the AGM would be preceded by a personal Ops. Brief from Sgt Ray Peace. (England’s progression in the World Cup quarterfinals would be available).

2. Col Attwater then gave a brief overview of current Geo Service life, and outlined the recent organisational changes and developments including the new collective name for all the Geo business units and organisations - the Intelligence Collection Group. The GEG acronym has been replaced by JAGO (Joint Aeronautical & Geospatial Organisation) and includes HQ plus 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic) plus No.1 AIDU, at RAF at Northolt.

3. The Chairman thanked Commander JAGO for his brief and for the use of the facilities at Hermitage. He requested the Comd to convey our appreciation to the staff for organising the static displays and briefings. The Chairman also gave special thanks to John Stamp who had stepped in and organised the whole day. The Chairman continued by explaining the role of the Branch, the aims of the AGM, i.e., to review last year plan next year ensuring that the Committee is satisfying members, finally emphasising the need for feedback from members.

4. The Acting Secretary, Rod Siggs, stated that 61 apologies had been received whose names appear on the AGM notice board. Ken Hall tendered an apology on behalf of Brian Beale. A revised list is attached.

5. It was proposed that the minutes of the 6^th Annual General Meeting are a true record of the events.

6. The Chairman gave an overview of activities covering 2005/06. In summary he said it had been a good year with growth in membership and stable finances, which allowed a donation. There had been some successful events, improved support to serving soldiers, a continuing excellent Branch newsletter and the successful launch of the Branch Web Site. He particularly emphasised that:

a. The 2006 AGM/Reunion event had to be scaled down due to JAGO’s operational commitments and the cancellation of their Families Day.

b. The Branch Standard is now available and has been paraded d at various REA events. The two Standard Bearers are Mike Payne and Jack Crompton.

c. The Branch President, the Civilian Liaison Member and their respective wives, together with our Welfare Member, attended the Veteran’s Parade and Church service at the RE Memorial Weekend held in November 2005.

d. The President is to present the Annual Award to L/Cpl Anderson on 27^th July 2006.

e. The reluctant closure of the Branch ‘100’ Club, aimed to provide a regular income to Geo Support Fund, was due to insufficient interest. Thanks to Stanley Osborne for conceiving the idea. However, the Geo Support Fund is financially healthy and help was given to Geo troops on deployment as well as their families at Hermitage and in Germany. The Branch is expecting to provide more support to troops on Operations and the Cpl’s Club. Funding of the Support Fund will now be by donations only.

f. There had been four editions of the Branch Newsletter which continues to be our most important and successful output, providing information, articles and updates to the membership. Thanks to Miles Henry, the Editor. The Chairman reminded the meeting that Branch rules dictate: ‘no subs –no newsletter’. He also encouraged members to contribute articles where possible.

g. The Branch Web site, an initiative of Albie Field, now our Web Master, was recently and successfully launched. Managed under Committee guidance, the Site is well patronised but will require constant support to maintain vibrancy.

h. The Committee continued to work on the Branch Strategy whose prime objectives are to serve the membership and ensure the continuing success of the Branch. Main initiatives this reporting year included the review of Branch TORs, communications, and strengthening links with JAGO.

i. The Branch Budget is constantly under scrutiny resulting in stable subscriptions, reduction in debtors, and subsidised events. Those over 70 (after 1935) are now required to continue subscribing unless unable, Standard Bearers travel can be reimbursed whilst the Geo Support fund remains separate. The Budget Annual balance is in the red in 2006 because of a donation of £1000 to the REA Benevolent Fund (as directed at the 2005 AGM), increased function expenditure and a more realistic, but constantly reviewed, budgetary approach.

j. The Committee continued working on the routine tasks of recruiting, managing finances, producing the newsletter, welfare and support, and event planning, meeting about every two months. The Chairman thanked Mick Perry: the immediate past events Coordinator, John Stamp for organising this year’s main event and Peter Wood for ‘care-taking’ the Secretarial post.

7. Sgt Ray Peace gave an overview of current regimental life and a personal insight of current operational tours. Members were amazed at just how varied the Op tours can be ranging across Northern Ireland, Falkland Islands, Balkans, Bahrain, Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems that Geo Soldiers are always on various levels of “standby” to deploy. Sgt Peace’s presentation received a warm, enthusiastic reception from the members.

8. The acting secretary gave the secretary’s report. In summary, the membership now stood at 413 making it possibly the largest Branch in the association. He also mentioned the sad passing of several ex-surveyors. A full copy of the report is attached.

ITEM 9 – TREASURER’s REPORT

9. The Treasurer presented the 2005 accounts, giving a brief overview of the healthy position of the Branch’s financial state with a net working capital of £6,614.00. He outlined future commitments and mentioned the lack of returns concerning the membership subscriptions for the over 70s. The Chairman proposed that the statement of account, of which a copy is attached, be accepted. Auditor’s Report, Accounts and Budget are attached.

Afternote 1: Following the report acceptance, it was requested that, at future AGMs, the statement of account be projected on screen for all members to see, prior to the proposition of acceptance. Chairman agreed. ACTION: MG, CD.

Afternote 2: John Stevens stated that he had made a return for his membership payments to continue, but no payment had actually been made from his bank account. The Treasurer agreed to review all received returns and ensure payments are collected. ACTION: MG.

ITEM 10 – APPOINTMENT OF AUDITORS

10. The Chairman thanked the Treasurer for an excellent audit report that was similarly endorsed by HQ REA. He also thanked the Treasurer and Peter Wood for addressing the debtor’s list and to Tony Keeley for undertaking the audit single-handed again. The Chairman asked for a proposition that Tony Keeley and Tony Jefferies be re-appointed as auditors for 2007.

ITEM 11 – EVENTS FOR 2007

11. The Chairman introduced the subject by stating that, as in previous years between the major reunions, a single event was planned for next year. This would be the AGM at Hermitage, probably in September. However the Branch does require an Events Co-ordinator. The Chairman requested comments:

a. David Taylor commented that we must seriously address ways to improve attendance at the 2007 AGM, suggesting that combining events with JAGO may not be appropriate due to their operational commitments.

b. Roy Wood presented the opposite view that combining events with JAGO maximised interest and the use of the facilities. He stated that the committee should not be too disappointed at the attendance as there were other examples proffered from the floor of poor attendances at various organisations’ AGMs.

ITEM 12 – BRANCH TERMS OF REFERENCE (TORs)

12. The Chairman stated that the Branch’s TORs should be reviewed annually and approval sought at the AGM. As this had not been done since the Branch was founded, a major revision had been carried out which he outlined to the membership and requested approval of these revised TORs.

13. Taking over the meeting the President, Alex Matthews, stated that without an active, robust committee it was impossible to run our own Branch. Many previous and current committee members had far exceeded their tenure that should be expected from volunteers.

a. The President announced that Chris Dorman had agreed to continue as Chairman. Accordingly, the President requested a proposition that Chris be re-elected:

b. The President had been assured that the Treasurer was happy to continue in post and therefore requested a proposition that Mike Gowlett be re-elected:

c. The current Secretary had far exceeded his term. The President again requested any nominations for the post of Secretary. Various comments, including the location and the duties, were made from the floor. Nominations not forthcoming, the President requested that a proposition be made for the re-election of Peter Wood to continue until Christmas:

d. The President explained that additionally the Branch needed an Events Co-ordinator as John Stamp had only stood in for this AGM. He urged all members to seriously consider these committee positions, or our Branch would not be able to continue.

14. The Chairman informed the members of the actions taken in response to those raised at the 6^th AGM of 2005 namely:

• Para 12d – Members are invited to Committee Meetings which are published on Web.

• Para 12e –Past editions of the Branch Newsletter are published on Branch Web Site.

Roy Wood commented that, although it was very convenient to hold committee meetings at Hermitage, it might be possibly to hold some committee meetings further north. The Chairman said he would personally welcome such a move if the majority of the committee endorsed it. ACTION: CD

15. The Chairman outlined the way forward for the Branch by emphasising that the Committee would maintain the momentum achieved last year, mentioned in his earlier report, by keeping the business simple and therefore manageable. The Chairman concluded with a personal plea to the membership to communicate with the Committee on any aspect of the Branch and to offer themselves for Committee activities, in particular the posts of Secretary and Events Co-ordinator. ACTION: All.

16. Any Other Business: Brian Houldershaw mentioned the award of the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal, which is being awarded by the Malaysian Govt. to members of the Commonwealth forces who served in the country between 31 August 1957 and 12 August 1966. He requested that we advertise this in the Newsletter and inform others of the National Malaysia and Borneo Association. The Chairman agreed this but Phil Webster believed that the REA had already published this information. ACTION: MH

Afternote: At page 635 in the July edition of the Sapper magazine there were full details for information.

17. Although a specific date had not been decided it was agreed that it should be held in September 2007. ACTION: Committee

18. The President thanked the Chairman and the Committee for their continuing hard work, and he paid special tribute to Miles Henry for his continuing efforts with the Newsletter and John Stamp for stepping in at short notice as Event Co-ordinator. He thanked Col Attwater for the use of the facilities and both he and Sgt Peace for their respective briefs, which we all found very absorbing, informative and interesting. He concluded by thanking all members that had attended and were due to attend for the evening function and requested that members give thought to volunteering for the vacant committee posts.