We were blessed with a very hot sunny day and the air conditioning of the room in which we  held the AGM and the luncheon was more than welcome. Our Chairman John Croft gave his end of term address, having served for the extended period of 4 years. John has made a very significant contribution to the DSA, seeing us through a period of uncertainty and four changes of treasurer.

Our President, Major General Patrick Fagan, was pleased to acknowledge John Croft’s period as Chairman by presenting him with a pair of binoculars on behalf of the Council,
representing the membership.

Brigadier Peter Walker was inducted into the chairmanship by the outgoing chairman who wished Peter every success in taking the Association forward for the next two years. As you may know from the notices contained with the last issue of Ranger, Peter Walker has put forward his vision for the immediate future, which includes many innovations in the governance and profile of the DSA, which was unanimously endorsed by all those attending the AGM. We all wish Peter every success in his endeavours.

After the AGM our President Maj. Gen. Patrick Fagan presented our annual prizes.

The Royal Navy Prize went to Lieutenant Commander (Retd) Richard Read RN who was responsible for the in-service commissioning of the new Multibeam Echo Sounder Systems. Unfortunately Richard was unable to attend due to his other commitments. The Hydrographer of the Navy, Captain Ian Turner RN, will formally present the prize to him at a later date.

The Royal Artillery Prize went to WO2 Jason Cartwright RA. His nomination was for the
work which he had personally undertaken in introducing into service new survey
methodology for locating and positioning.

Our third prizewinner was Corporal Mark Lanwarne. His nomination was for the quite
exceptional work he had undertaken on his own initiative in developing a system applied to the collating and controlling Engineer Intelligence. This system has now been introduced into service. Corporal Lanwarne is so highly thought of by his Commanding Officer that special arrangements were made to fly him home from Iraq specifically for the presentation of his prize.

A special prize was awarded to the Royal Engineers (Geographic) Recruiting Team 2005 for their excellent work in more than doubling the annual intake to RE Geographic. Those sharing the prize were WO1 Rudd, SSgt. Crago, Sgt. Wiggins and LCpl. Miles.
After an excellent luncheon there was a guided tour of the Shuttleworth Collection conducted by three very knowledgeable guides. It would take up too much space to describe all that was on display, suffice it to say it is one of the best collections of vintage aircraft to be seen anywhere in the world, most of which are still in flying condition. Many said that they would return to Old Warden when there was one of their regular flying displays.

Report by David Wallis