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On Tuesday 15th February, Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell CB, CBE will be sworn in as the new Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Bailiwick at a special sitting of the Royal Court which will be held in St James.
Family and friends of Lieutenant General Cripwell will attend the Installation and he will be accompanied by military colleagues and representatives from units affiliated to the Bailiwick.
Following the ceremony, Lieutenant General Cripwell will lay two wreaths: the first at the RGLI memorial in the sunken garden and the second at the St Peter Port War Memorial at the top of Smith Street. A 15-gun salute will be fired from the Castle Cornet battery after the wreaths are laid.
This will all be preceded with a parade, marching from Government House to St James. The band and bugles of The Rifles will lead the march followed by a detachment from Guernsey Troop of the Jersey Field Squadron Royal Engineers, along with the Guernsey Standards and Service veterans. A flypast from a Poseidon MRA1 is expected from 201 (Guernsey’s Own) Squadron RAF, which will approach from the direction of Herm and fly up the Grange (east to west) over the parade, before turning to fly past Alderney afterwards.
Chief of Staff and ADC to the Lieutenant-Governor, Major Marco Ciotti, said:
“We are making final preparations here and very much looking forward to welcoming Lieutenant General and Mrs Cripwell, along with their son and daughter, to Government House for next week’s installation ceremony. They will also be hosting some family members and personal guests, including the General’s Military Assistant. Lieutenant Colonel Nigel Jordan-Barber is an Officer of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, who will accompany the General to St James for the ceremony.”
Wing Commander Adam Smolak, the Commanding Officer of 201 (Guernsey’s Own) Squadron, RAF; Lieutenant Commander Andy Davies, Senior Naval Officer HMS DARING, Guernsey’s affiliated Type 45 Destroyer; Lieutenant Colonel Karl Parfitt, Royal Engineers and Joint Regional Liaison Officer; Major Charlie Martell, CO of the Jersey Field Squadron will also be attending, with the parade being led by Lieutenant Commander Tim Slann, RNR.
Some of the island’s schools will be watching the parade, and representatives of various aspects of Bailiwick life will attend the ceremony and welcome the new Lieutenant-Governor.
The Lieutenant-Governor is the personal representative of the Sovereign within the Bailiwick. Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell was born in Northern Ireland and educated in Dublin. He was commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers in August 1982. Following a storied career, he was appointed Deputy Commander of Operation "Resolute Support", in Afghanistan, in 2017 prior to his current appointment as Deputy Commander Allied Land Command, the standing headquarters for NATO land forces, which is based in Izmir, in Turkey.
Timings:
• 1030 – the parade will march off from Government House, along Queen’s Road and down to St James.
• 1040 (approx.) – the Poseidon will perform its flypast.
• 1050 – The Band of The Rifles will play music at the St Peter Port war memorial.
• 1120 (approx.) – The Lieutenant-Governor will lay a wreath at the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry memorial, in the sunken garden.
• 1125 (approx.) - The Lieutenant-Governor will lay a wreath at the St Peter Port war memorial and a 15-gun salute will be fired from Castle Cornet.
THE ROLE
1. The Sovereign’s representative: The Lieutenant-Governor is the personal representative of the Sovereign within the Bailiwick. The first such representative, John, Count of Mortain (Later King John) was appointed in 1198. To date there have been a total of 126 appointments, of which five were shared. Two went on to be kings of England (King John and Edward I), one became Duke of York, one was jailed by the Bailiff and several held the appointment more than once. One was a lady (Lady Anne de Beauchamp) and one fell at Agincourt. There was no Sovereign’s representative during the interregnum that followed the English Civil War. The Bailiff was also the Sovereign’s representative throughout the German occupation (Sir Victor Carey). The Sovereign’s representative has been known by various titles: Lord of the Isles; Captain of the Isles; Warden; Governor (who appointed their own Lieutenant-Governors) and finally, since 1822, Lieutenant-Governor.
GUERNSEY’S NEW LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR
2. Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell CB, CBE: Born in Northern Ireland and educated in Dublin, Richard Cripwell was commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers in August 1982. Following routine regimental and staff appointments, including operations in Northern Ireland, the Middle East and the Balkans, he commanded 26 Engineer Regiment, supporting 12 Mechanized Brigade and commanded the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Task Force in Kosovo, responsible for conducting operations relating to Persons Indicted for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia. His training appointments have been on the Fighting in Built-Up Areas Training Team at the School of Infantry, the Mozambique Training Team (based in Zimbabwe) and as a Company Commander at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. On the staff he has served in the Defence Intelligence Staff, in HQ Kosovo Force (Rear), as Military Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Equipment Capability) and as the Assistant Director for Information Operations in the Ministry of Defence. As a Brigadier he served in Baghdad as the Director Energy Operations in Multi-National Forces - Iraq, as Commander Engineers in the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood and in Kabul, where he was Director of the Strategic Transition and Assessment Group in HQ ISAF. Promoted to Major General, he was dual-rôled as the Commander British Forces in Cyprus and Administrator (Governor) of the Sovereign Base Areas, one of the United Kingdom's fourteen Overseas Territories. He then served as the British Defence Attaché in Washington and Head of the British Defence Staff in the United States. He was appointed Deputy Commander of Operation "Resolute Support", in Afghanistan, in 2017 prior to his current appointment as Deputy Commander Allied Land Command, the standing headquarters for NATO land forces, which is based in Izmir, in Turkey.
The General’s visiting Staff: The General will be escorted to the installation ceremony by Lieutenant Colonel Nigel Jordan-Barber, who grew up in Morocco, Nigeria and St Lucia, and was educated in the UK before joining the British Army. He was commissioned into the Royal Highland Fusiliers in 1996, and served with the 1st Battalion in Germany, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Cyprus and Scotland. On amalgamation of the Scottish Regiments he served with the 3rd Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland in Afghanistan and Scotland. Staff appointments have included Headquarters British Forces Cyprus; the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; Headquarters Multinational Division South East in Iraq; the Permanent Joint Headquarters; the United Nations Force Headquarters in Mali; NATO Allied Land Command in Turkey; and currently in NATO Joint Force Command Naples, in Italy. He is married to Betsie and they have two teenage children. Lieutenant Colonel Jordan-Barber will march with Lieutenant General Cripwell from Government House to St James to take part in the installation ceremony, during which he will carry the General’s Royal warrant.
VISITORS
3. Army support: Music for the parade and installation ceremony will be provided by the Band and Bugles of the Rifles, which is a military band serving as the regimental band for the Rifles: the sole rifle regiment and the largest in the British Army. It is the senior most of three bands in the regiment and is the only one that is part of the Regular Army. Uniquely, it employs bugles at its front, a tradition that goes back to the conflicts of the 18th century. Ten Buglers will perform during the Bailiff’s reception in the Royal Court, following the installation ceremony. The British Army will also be represented by a marching detachment of Guernsey Troop, the Jersey Field Squadron Royal Engineers (Militia).
4. RAF support: The RAF will be represented by a Boeing P8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft, which will conduct a flypast over the Grange as the Lieutenant-Governor Designate approaches St James for the installation ceremony.
• The Squadron: No. 1 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, was formed at Fort Grange, Gosport on 16 October 1914. The Squadron was re-designated No. 201 in 1918 with the formation of the Royal Air Force and is therefore the oldest maritime aircraft squadron in the world. 201 Squadron became affiliated with Guernsey in 1939 as part of a programme to link squadrons with different towns and cities around the UK to encourage support and recruitment for the RAF. The affiliation between Guernsey and 201 Squadron was thought to be the last one remaining from the programme and acknowledged by the Air Force Board. The Squadron has a long and distinguished history with Battle Honours from both the World Wars and having been directly engaged in all the most recent UK military operations. The Squadron was disbanded in 2011 following the withdrawal from service of the Nimrod Maritime Patrol Aircraft. Its Standard was laid up in Government House, Guernsey. The unit reformed on 7 August 2022 and reclaimed its Standard on 22 October 2022, which was handed over by the Bailiff of Guernsey Mr Richard McMahon.
• The Aircraft: Boeing’s Poseidon MRA1 (P-8A) is a multi-role maritime patrol aircraft, equipped with sensors and weapons systems for anti-submarine warfare, as well as surveillance and search and rescue missions. The Poseidon’s comprehensive mission system features an APY-10 radar with modes for high-resolution mapping, an acoustic sensor system, including passive and multi-static sonobuoys, electro-optical/IR turret and electronic support measures (ESM). This equipment delivers comprehensive search and tracking capability, while the aircraft’s weapons system includes torpedoes for engaging sub-surface targets.
• ‘Guernsey’s Reply’: The RAF marked Guernsey’s 76th Liberation Day by announcing that its sixth Poseidon MRA1 (P-8A) would be known as ‘Guernsey’s Reply’. See: Newest British P-8 Poseidon named ‘Guernsey’s Reply’ (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)
5. Other Military guests: The following will also be present at the installation ceremony:
• Brigadier Jock Fraser MBE, ADC: late Royal Marines, who is Naval Regional Commander Wales and Western England based at HMS FLYING FOX, Bristol.
• Lieutenant Colonel Andy McLannahan MBE: The Princess of Wales‘s Royal Regiment (PWRR). The PWRR is the Bailiwick‘s local Infantry regiment, which recruits from London, the South East of England and the Channel Islands. It was formed on 9 September 1992 by the amalgamation of The Queen’s Regiment and The Royal Hampshire Regiment and holds the earliest battle honour in the British Army (Tangier 1662-80).
• Wing Commander Adam Smolak RAF: Commanding Offier 201 (Guernsey‘s Own) Squadron RAF, based at RAF Lossiemouth.
• Lieutenant Commander Andy Davies RN: Senior Naval Officer (SNO) HMS DARING, Guernsey‘s affiliated Type 45 Destroyer
• Lieutenant Colonel Karl Parfitt RE: Joint Regional Liaison Officer (Wessex South)
• Major Charlie Martell RE: Officer Commanding Jersey Field Squadron Royal Engineers (Militia)
• Captain Dirk Nuesink RE: Jersey Field Squadron Royal Engineers (Militia) 6.
Other guests include:
• Ms Jo Farrar OBE: Second Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice & HM Prison and Probation Service Chief Exec
• Ms Elaine Cobb: Head of Crown Dependencies section, the Ministry of Justice
• Mr William Tate: President of the States of Alderney
• Mrs Gabrielle Tate: wife of the President of the States of Alderney
• Major Christopher Beaumont: Seigneur of Sark; also, a retired Royal Engineer Officer
OTHER INFORMATION
7. The Parade: The parade will form up at Government House, where it will be joined by the Lieutenant-Governor designate and his two Staff Officers. It will then march to St James along The Queen’s Road and down the Grange, in the following order:
• The Band and Bugles of the Rifles
• The Union and Guernsey flags, carried by Lieutenant-Governor’s Cadets
• The Lieutenant-Governor designate, accompanied by his MA
• Parade Commander, Lieutenant Commander Tim Slann RNR
• Detachment of Guernsey Troop, The Jersey Field Squadron Royal Engineers (Militia)
• Guernsey Standards
• Guernsey Veterans
8. The last time a Royal Engineer lived in Government House: Prior to Lieutenant General Cripwell, the last Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey to have served as a Royal Engineer was Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame VC, KCB, CB, DSO, who arrived in Guernsey following the Occupation. Born in 1888, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest award for gallantry, at the First Battle of Ypres in 1914. He single-handedly held off an enemy advance for 45 minutes using improvised hand grenades made from jam tins, which he had personally developed, and rescued all the wounded who could be moved. Between the wars he won an Olympic Gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics, becoming the only person to have been awarded both the VC and Olympic gold. He got himself posted to India, in search of adventure, of which he found plenty. He trekked to Tibet as the military representative of the first British Mission to Lhasa and, while hunting in India, was badly mauled by a tiger. Two nurses tossed a coin to see who would nurse him. The winner, Nurse Harriet Alberta Drew, went on to become Lady Neame. During WWII, General Neame served as Commander-in-Chief of Cyrenaica, now eastern coastal Libya, which fell to Rommel in 1941. Neame was captured and imprisoned in Italy, where he wrote his autobiography and organised many PoW escapes, before escaping himself in 1943. The Neames arrived in Guernsey in August 1945 with their two children and their Governess. They were unable to move in straight away as the house was in such a poor condition after its occupation by German Officers, but General Neame was said to have accepted this with good grace. There was much work to do but the new Lieutenant-Governor was not alone: he was joined by the new Bailiff, Ambrose Sherwill, a WW1 veteran awarded a MC, who had been HM Procureur before the occupation, becoming head of the Controlling Committee. The relationship between Neame and Sherwill was not always warm, and they sometimes disagreed, but they were a great partnership and worked very effectively together to restore the Bailiwick. They faced a huge task: removal of the detritus of occupation; repatriation of evacuees, deportees and demobbed Military personnel; repair of infrastructure; restoration of Guernsey’s economy and the clearance of 76,000 mines. Neame was clearly a man of some energy. Despite the already fearsome workload, he became a father again at the age of 60 – to twin boys, who both went on to become Army Officers and still maintain contact with Government House to this day. In 2014 the Neame family presented portraits of Sir Philip and Lady Neame to Government House, where they hang in the dining room. When his time came to leave Guernsey after eight years in 1953, Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Neame VC had put the Island well on the road to recovery. His one regret was that he had not managed to revive the Royal Guernsey Militia, which he had wanted to reform as a Commando unit based in Fort George.
9. Wreath laying: Immediately following the installation ceremony, Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell will lay two wreaths. The first will at the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry memorial in the sunken garden will be a wreath of white lilies (for Guernsey) surrounded by green foliage: the traditional colour of the Light Infantry. Last Post will be sounded by Buglers of The Rifles, who trace their lineage to the Light Infantry (which included the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry). The second will be a wreath of Spring flowers laid at the St Peter Port War Memorial at the top of Smith Street. The Parade Commander will dip Standards for a Royal salute. A 15-gun salute will be fired from the Saluting Battery of Castle Cornet, by Guernsey Veterans. The Lieutenant-Governor will be assisted at both ceremonies by his Cadets, who are supported by Guernsey veteran WO2 Mark Lainé (late Royal Engineers).
10. Musical score: The Band and Bugles of the Rifles will perform a selection of music during the march from Government House to St James, and afterwards, which will include the following:
• Wings, the Regimental March of the Royal Engineers, in which the General originally served. It is a combination of two tunes, scored by Bandmaster Newstead of the Royal Engineers Band. The tune was officially recognised in 1902.
• Cambrai, by Alan West: a Guernsey veteran who served as a Military Musician in the Band of the Royal Marines. This Quick March takes its name from the village in France that was the location of the first battle of in which the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry fought. Alan West has used the original theme from the bugle march Chanson de Roland which, itself, was taken from a Norman marching song composed by the Marquis de Paulmy. This was said to have been sung by the invading Norman army at the Battle of Hastings. Chanson de Roland was adopted by the RGLI as its regimental quick march. Alan was provided with a piano transcription of the piece from a 1916 press cutting but this only offered the first theme. To this the bugle fanfare was added to provide authenticity and re-create the spirit of the original. Further themes were added to create a full march. The piece was first performed at a Guernsey Concert Brass & Chorus event in St James on Saturday 09 July 2016, entitled The Norman Ten Hundred. Alan then provided the music score to the Band of The Queen’s Division for its visit to Guernsey for Liberation Day. The band went on to perform the piece at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party, where the tune was recognised by several Islanders who were present at the event.
11. The General’s hat: Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell wears the traditional bicorne (2-cornered, or cocked) hat, with a white swan-feather plume. Uniquely, the General’s hat features an original WW1 Royal Guernsey Light Infantry brass tunic button in recognition of his appointment as the Sovereign’s personal representative in the Bailiwick.
