1977
1st Bn The Royal Green Jackets
Bisley
No survey of the year would be complete without a look at achievements in the sporting field and at some personalities. While the Battalion was at Belfast the Bisley Team was busy training and competing in England. Under Capt. Hugh Babington-Smith the team were runners-up at SEDSAM as they progressed to Bisley. There they did well to finish eleventh in the Major Units Championship, an improvement of four places over 1976. The placing might have been higher but for a poor result in the SMG Match caused by stopages. Individually there was a notable success when Cpl Finn won the Whitehead, defeating the year’s Queen’s Medallist. It takes time to build a winning Bisley Team. At present we take pride in being the top Light Division Battalion, but know we will have our work cut out to qualify in Hong Kong against strong Gurkha competition.
2nd Bn The Royal Green Jackets
The Battalion Shooting Team was moved back to England to train with the Light Division shooting concentration.
3rd Bn The Royal Green Jackets
Due to other commitments no shooting competition was entered into.
4th (Volunteer) Battalion
In September we held our own Battalion Rifle Meeting, the first time for several years, and families were also invited to come along. ‘C’ Company walked off with a number of prizes, including that of Champion Company.
The Rifle Depot
In the military field, the highlight of the year was the Depot’s success at Bisley.
SEDSAM
| Minor Units Championship | Winners |
| Junior Minor Units Cup | Winners |
And many more Trophies.
Rifle Depot Team, Junior Soldiers – Baker Section Minor Unit Champions, Junior Minor Unit Champions.
Lieut. Nick Spencer, Cpls Tyson and Gibbon with the spoils of Bisley
(extracted from 1977 Chronicle – LIGHT DIVISON SHOOTING – Captain H. Babington-Smith)
Regular Army shooting produced some notable successes for the Regiment this year, although there were a number of ‘also-rans’. Two District qualifying meet winners, Sgt Andrews and C/Sgt Notley, five individual prizes at Bisley and one at the N.R.A. Bisley, and several team successes, including the Methuen for the second year running (and the third time in four years). The actual list of good shots is long indeed, and only some of the more glittering results are listed below.
What the Regiment can achieve when it does concentrate its expertise, was shown by winning the Methuen again, and by the success of the GreenJacket Team in the NRA. match. Entered for the NRA Service Unit Championship, and they won three of the seven shoots that make up the Championship, coming second by one point. The whole team was then selected to shoot for the Army, which won the Inter-Service shoot with a record score.
Success marks the failure: If the GreenJackets are to continue to call themselves a Rifle Regiment, then it should be asked, are the results worthy of a professional Rifle Regiment? The success, as can be seen by looking at the list below, are the fruits of the efforts of a very few. If there were more good individuals, there might not be many more prizewinners, but there would be more team successes, which really means more good shots in the Battalions, a higher standard of shooting in those Battalions, giving a more effective operational capability. The chicken and the egg syndrome of the shooting world is that the egg is the expertise, and that the amount of successful hatching depends on the broodiness of the Battalions.
Get clucking, Colonel.
Prizewinners
| KRRC Cup (entries 63) | 11th 1RGJ |
| 34th 2RGJ |
| The Henry Whitehead Cup | Cpl Finn | 1RGJ |
| The Association Cup | Rfn Frape | 1RGJ |
| The Army Hundred Cup | CSgt Notley | Rifle Depot |
| Minor Units Championship | Rifle Depot | |
| Minor Units Rifle & SMG Cup | Rifle Depot | |
| The Methuen Cup | Winners | The Light Division |
| The REME Cup (Highest Army Team) | Winners | The Light Division |
| Prince of Wales' Cup (Highest Inf Team) | Winners | The Light Division |
Team Captain – Lieut The Hon. P.R. Nall-Cain, Firers: Capt H. Babington-Smith, W02 V Brooks, C/Sgt A Notley, Sgt M Dorey, Cpl Jones (LI), Rfn Frape
NRA Meeting
RGJ Team
| The Mappin Trophy | Winners | |
| The Hythe Trophy | Winners | |
| The Canada Cup | Winners | |
| The Greenjacket Cup | 2nd | WO2 Brooks |
Service Rifle Individual Champion
| Winner | WO2 Brooks |
Individuals in the Army Hundred
| C/Sgt Notley | Capt Babington-Smith |
| Cpl Finn | W02 Brooks |
| W02 Young | Sgt Dorey |
| Sgt Andrews | Rfn Frape |
| Sgt Crook | Cpl Gibbon |
| Lt Spencer (LI) |
The Oxfordshire Royal Greenjafckets Bn ACF
Two teams of the Battalion attended the Inter-Service Cadet Rifle Meeting at Bisley. Although not winning any cups, they nevertheless gave a good account of themselves, one team coming third in the Frankfort Shield and Cadet Cpl Rigby qualified in the Cadet Hundred.
The Buckinghamshire Cadet Battalion
The Royal Green Jackets
On the competitive side we took part in the first South East District Cadet Rifle Meeting. We put in three Cadet and one Adult team against strong CF and ACF competition
ACF Team Events
| 1 | First Place |
| 2 | Second placings |
| 1 | Third Place |
Individual Events
| Under Sixteen's Rifle | LCpl Kinsey tied for 1st Place |