our cover story is the exercising of the Freedom of Newbury by 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic). RE Geo has had personnel deployed on operations continuously since Operation GRANBY was launched in 1990 to counter Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. Throughout the intervening years troops have come and gone to Iraq, the Balkans and Afghanistan with little awareness in Newbury that the local unit was so heavily involved in the headline grabbing events overseas. As deployments were often in relatively small numbers as distinct from complete formed units there was never a ‘homecoming’ parade. The Freedom Parade on the 3rd of July was therefore a chance for the people of Newbury to say thank you to the Regiment and ……did they do it well! The soldiers marched impeccably and the crowds cheered enthusiastically - a day to remember and one that cemented even further the link between town and barracks. This issue also reached a milestone – it is number 20 and the last in volume 2. This volume started when I took over as editor and Dave Johnson took on the design and desktop publishing. The reasons behind the change in format and scope that were initiated with this volume are explained elsewhere in this issue. Ten years and twenty editions on and it is time for a change of editor to bring fresh ideas to Ranger and so volume 3 will be edited by Peter Walker who will hand over the chairmanship to Nick Rigby at the next AGM. However, it is not all change as Dave will be staying on albeit he, Peter and the Council are going to review the design to see if any changes are necessary – it is now ten years old and might benefit from a facelift. It is now time for me to thank the many people, especially all those who have written articles and the companies who have sponsored and advertised with us, who have helped make Ranger a success. Special thanks goes to Dave who has not only designed and put together every issue but has had to spend countless hours on the telephone whilst I ask him to move odd commas and correct stray apostrophes – with never a word of complaint! Some authors have put pen to paper, or rather figures to keyboard, above and beyond the call of duty; Tony Keeley, John Knight, Mike Nolan, Jonathon Shears, David Wallis, Robert Dobbie and Peter Walker particularly spring to mind but there are a number of others to which I give grateful thanks for coming back a second time or even a third time. And so, for the last time, enjoy a good read. Alan