EDITORIAL
Summer … did you blink and miss it? I know I did! Mind you, wasn’t it quite hot that week that we had that fencing competition … you know, that week when we were stuck in that gym all day every day?
Hello again and welcome to this, the 4th edition of REPRISE for 2002. Due to a distinct lack of articles for inclusion in this issue, we’re concentrating mainly on the results of this year’s Inter Services. In fact, this edition is dominated by the Inter Services! But is the news good or bad? Read on to find out …

So what else? Well there’s the latest list of competitions for which we have travel authority, courtesy of our Match Sec. And that’s about it.

The One Hit competition was held in September but as I was unable to attend I haven’t seen the results yet. The Juniors, scheduled for 19 – 20 October were postponed until further notice due to circumstances beyond our control. NOTE: Provisionally the Juniors and the RAFFU AGM will now be held in Jan 03.

Surely some RAF fencers have been out in the big bad world? Surely someone out there has taken part in the odd competition here and there? Surely one of them will put pen to paper and send in something I can use?

My sincere thanks to Doug Renton Cooper for sending in an article; as this is an abridged issue though I will include it in the next edition.

INTER SERVICES 2002
This years Inter Services Fencing Championships were hosted by the Royal Air Force at RAF Cosford between 24 – 27 Jun 02. Sqn Ldr Ann Gibson, Chairman of RAF Fencing, inspired the team with words of encouragement before presenting RAF Brassards to 2 “New Blues”, Fg Off Dave Coombes and Plt Off Graeme Hart, both of RAF Leuchars, and both fencing in the Foil team. Further encouragement was given by the Vice Captain, Sqn Ldr Andy Alcock, before the match began. On the day of the Triangular, the RAF team was honoured to have the support of the President of the RAFFU, Gp Capt Nick Kurth.

Womens Event.
For the 8th consecutive year the Women’s Team proved that they were more than a match for the Army and Royal Navy. Fencing Sabre in the Women’s Team event, Sqn Ldr Ann Gibson and Cpl Debbie MacDonald easily beat the RN team 4-0 and the Army team 3-1 to convincingly take the weapon victory. In the Foil things also went the RAF’s way, as Flt Lt Lynette Calame and SAC Sharon Booth beat the Army 3-1. With the withdrawal of a RN fencer with an injury the RAF took victory against the RN 2-1, again taking the weapon win. The Epee event proved to be a different ball game with Sqn Ldr Carol Ackroyd and SAC Suzie Cowden having their work cut out for them. In the first match against the Army both ladies showed tremendous skill, however the match ended in a draw 2-2. After beating the Army, the RN were the team to beat but once again it was to prove frustratingly close as yet again the match finished in a 2-2 draw. With 3 points from a win and a draw the RN took the weapon victory over the RAF’s 2 points. With 4 match victories and 2 drawn matches, the ladies retained the title with 10 points over the Royal Navy’s 5 and the Army’s 3.

Mens Event.
Strong fencing, team spirit and bags of enthusiasm ensured that for the 7h consecutive year the RAF Men’s Team retained their Inter Service title. After last years close call expectations of another hard fought encounter were high. As the event got under way though no nerves were showing in the Foil team. With 2 “New Blues” in the team, Dave Coombes and Graeme Hart, with Cpl Phil McNulty acting as Weapon Captain, things got off to a dream start as they took apart a very experienced RN team 7-2, with both Dave and Graeme fencing beautifully. The match against another experienced Army team however was a different matter. Quickly taking a 4-1 lead in his first bout, Phil somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory to lose the bout 5-4.

This seemed to have a bad psychological effect on the team and soon they found themselves out of the match. Graeme tried to rally the team, winning his first two bouts, but as more fights slipped away 5-4 it was just too much to ask for a recovery and the match was lost 6-3, giving the Army the weapon win. In the Sabre the RAF was to be on the winning side, Andy Cooke giving an excellent account of himself winning 5 of his 6 fights and only losing by 4-5 in the other. Fencing against the same Army team against whom they struggled last year, the RAF sabreurs took revenge as they won 6-3, and it was good to see Mark Gumley coming back to form after his injury worries last year. The RN team was again very strong, and once more it was time to take revenge after last year’s defeat, Dave Long picking up his game just when it was needed to take the decisive win to give the match to the RAF 5-4. With 2 points per team victory, as the Epeeists stepped onto the piste the standings were as follows: RAF 6 points, Army 4 points, RN 2 points. One match victory for the RAF could still result in a tie if the Army won both their matches, but if the RN won both their matches and the RAF also lost to the Army it could end up in a 3 way tie! After being dispatched by the Army 8-1 the RN were out of the running for the title, but they could still have been a thorn in the side of the RAF title hopes. George Liston and Andy Alcock were in no mood to play though, proceeding to give the RN team a display of excellent epee hits to wrist and arm. Pete McKenzie-Brown, in his last ever Inter Services, also fenced spectacularly, only dropping one fight as the RAF boys took the win 8-1. In a similar scenario to last years Triangular, it was all down to the last match between the Army and RAF: a win for the RAF would secure the title, a loss would result in a countback of victories. George and Andy rose to the challenge, displaying superior epee skills to win 5 bouts between them, taking the pressure off Pete as he lost 2 of his fights 4-5 and the other 3-5, giving the RAF the match 5-4 and the weapon win. With 5 match victories, with only the Foil match against the Army dropped, the RAF retained the title with 10 points to the Army’s 6 and the Royal Navy’s 2.

Master Swordsman.
After success in the Triangular hopes were high that Andy Alcock could take the Master Swordsman title and Sharon Booth could complete the double with the Master Swordswoman. Sharon proved her ability in all 3 weapons winning a bout at Foil, Epee and Sabre. Pitted against Jayne Perry of the Army and Sasha Brooks RN, her 3 wins equalled theirs, resulting in a 3 way barrage. With Foil selected as the weapon, Sharon convincingly beat Sasha 5-2, only to lose 5-4 to Jayne to give the title to the Army. Andy meanwhile was matched against the Army’s Ian Campbell and Adrian Olliver of the RN.

Again it was to be one step too far as Andy managed to take just one victory at Sabre, Ian losing only one bout at epee to take the title.

6 Man and 3 Man Team Events.
With some strong opposition, RAF Coltishall gained a 3rd place in the 6 Man Team Event. In the 6 Man Team Sabre some spirited fencing gave Amanda Freeman and Chris Murdoch 3 wins out of their 8 bouts while in the Epee Gary Brailsford and Kev Bayman did likewise. In the 3 Man Team event both RAF Coltishall and RAF Odiham fielded teams, but it was Odiham who led the way as Phil McNulty took victory in the Foil winning all 5 of his bouts. In the Sabre Plt Off Richard Price fenced brilliantly to win 4 of his 5 bouts, while Dave Long won 2 of his bouts at Epee. With 2 teams with identical indicators at both Sabre and Epee, a barrage was fenced at each weapon to determine a weapon winner. With HMS Heron taking the Epee win and 39 Eng Regt the Sabre, total victories and indicators were then calculated and it was heartbreaking for the Odiham fencers as they came 2nd by one hit.

Mens Sabre and Sabre Plate.
This was a good event for the RAF, with Wg Cdr George Liston taking the Sabre title after gaining a scratch entry into the competition, beating an on-form Flt Lt Andy Cooke 15-6. Sgt Mark Gumley demonstrated how far his recovery from injury had come by taking 3rd place. Also making the last 16 were Plt Off Graeme Hart in 5th at his first Inter Services, Cpl Phil McNulty in 10th, Plt Off Richard Price in 14th, Rauri Henderson-Begg in 15th and Sqn Ldr Andy Alcock in 16th. In the plate event the RAF also faired well, Cpl Dave Long running out as winner 15-12 over JT Gary Brailsford. Flt Lt Lames Griffiths came 3rd after narrowly missing out on the final as Dave put him out 15-13 and Cpl Rob Desforges managed a very creditable 8th.

Mens Foil and Foil Plate.
In the Foil the RAF again took top honours, with 7 RAF Fencers in the last 16. Graeme Hart, after defeating Ian Campbell of the Army 15-4 to book his place in the final, beat George Liston in a thrilling fight 15-9 to take the trophy on his first ever attempt. Also fencing well to make the last 16 were; Dave Long placed 6th, James Griffiths 7th, Gary Brailsford 12th, Ruari Henderson-Begg 14th and Phil McNulty 16th. Once again the RAF faired well in the plate event with the following results: Alcock 2nd, Price 8th, Cooke 9th, Desforges 13th and Whittaker 15th. Andy Alcock seemed to breeze his way through the field to reach the plate final against Woods of the Army. The final was a close fought match with neither fencer giving anything away but Andy narrowly lost out on the top spot 15-14.

Mens Epee and Epee Plate.
The Epee event was again good for the RAF fencers, with George Liston again taking the top spot after defeating Mark Needham of the RN 15-7 in the final. Showing some impressive fencing, Ruari Henderson-Begg almost made it to the final, only to find himself in the wrong side of the draw to meet George in the semi-final, where he lost 15-7 to finish 3rd. In addition to George and Ruari, the RAF also placed as follows: Alcock 5th, Hosking 9th, McNulty 10th, Desforges 11th and Brailsford 12th. Over in the plate James Griffiths was quietly making his way through the field until he met Graeme Hart in the semi-final, narrowly losing 15-14 to finish 3rd. Graeme meanwhile went on to beat Woods of the Army in a closely fought final 15-13 to take the top spot. Also placed in the plate were Bayman 10th and Whittaker 11th. George Liston’s win and Graeme Hart’s drop down to the plate competition meant he became the 2002 Men’s Champion-at-Arms with a staggering 10 point lead over Mark Needham of the RN, with Graeme Hart 3rd.

Womens Sabre.
The RAF were unfortunate in the Sabre with Ann Gibson and Sharon Booth both finding themselves in the same pool and fencing against an on-form Maggie Myers and Emma Douglas of the RN, resulting in seedings of 6th and 11th respectively. Cpl Lia Reid meanwhile had done extremely well to take the No.8 seeding. Unfortunately these seedings then meant that Ann faced Sharon to go through to the last 8 15-7, while Lia faced Cpl Lisa Taylor going through 15-13 only to then be knocked out by Sasha Brooks of the RN. As Ann them put out Emma 15-13 to secure her place in the semi-final she then found herself once again facing Maggie, this time taking the victory 15-11. The final between Ann and Sasha was well-fought, with both ladies showing tremendous skill, but it was to be Ann’s day as she pulled out a lead to take the title 15-10. The other RAF fencers finished as follows: Reid 7th, Freeman 8th, Taylor 10th and Booth 11th.

Womens Foil.
With the absence of Ann Gibson due to her return to work, the foil competition was thrown wide open, with Sharon Booth taking the No.2 seeding from Sonia Greakin of the Army. Unfortunately Sharon was to be the only RAF fencer making it through to the last 8 as she knocked out SAC Suzie Cowden 15-3, while Lisa Taylor and Lia Reid were knocked out by Jayne Perry, Army and Sasha Brooks, RN. Sailing comfortably into the semi-final by beating Di Osterberger 15-5, Sharon was then knocked out by an impressive Jayne to finish 3rd. Jayne was then beaten by Sonia in the all Army final 15-11. The other RAF ladies finished: Reid 12th, Makepeace =13th, Taylor =13th and Cowden 15th.

Womens Epee.
With the Inter Service Champion at Arms title still in the mix, Maggie Myers, Jayne Perry and Sasha Brooks were the ones to watch in the Epee with Sharon’s defeat in the Sabre to Ann proving costly. After again making it through as the only RAF fencer in the last 8, Sharon was then dispatched 15-12 by Hale of the RN 15-12. All eyes were on Sasha Brooks in her quarter-final match against Gemma Wollaston, RN but it was the less experienced fencer who went through 10-9 as the clock ran down, effectively dashing Sasha’s chances for the Champion at Arms title. As Jayne Perry lost to Maggie Myers 15-14 in a titanic semi-final the calculators came out; if Maggie came 2nd then it would be a tie between her and Jayne. With the Champion at Arms title in sight though Maggie lifted her game to edge ahead of Gemma to take the Epee title and 2002 Champion at Arms title. Jayne was only one point behind her. In the Epee RAF Fencers were placed: Booth 6th, Cowden 9th, Taylor 13th.

Conclusion.
As hosts for the Inter Services this year it was pleasing to see that not only could we carry out our duties and look after the other Services we could also fence well and come out on top. I would like to thank every fencer who attended for his or her hard work and dedication to the sport throughout the year, without which we would not do so well. Once again team spirit, camaraderie and enthusiasm ensured that both trophies remained with the RAF. Next year the Army will host the Championships and we will aim to keep our Inter Service titles, but we cannot rest on our laurels. Although we successfully defended our titles again, both the Army and Royal Navy are fielding stronger and stronger teams; they are hungry for our trophies! To do this effectively we will need to start preparing ourselves now by training hard and entering as many civilian and military competitions as possible. Now to the thanks. On behalf of all RAF Fencers, a huge thank you has to go to FS Ashley Newing. Her utter dedication to the RAFFU ensured that every detail of planning and organisation for the Inter Services was so meticulously carried out that even though she couldn’t make the event, nothing went wrong. Also thanks must go to Cpl Dave Long, for tidying up all the little pieces of administration which always pop up so seamlessly, and Jnr Tech Gary Brailsford and Cpl Rob Desforges for providing excellent armoury services and for fixing just about anything that ever gets broken. On a personal note I’d like to thank Sqn Ldrs Ann Gibson and Andy Alcock for seeing me through all the teething troubles of running my first Triangular. I’m also going to thank myself; for proving that it is possible to run a competition for an entire week without losing too much hair and only a little sanity! Realising that we next have to host the event in 2005 I’m already writing that resignation letter for 2004. Finally, take some time off, enjoy a rest, and then get back out there on the civilian circuit. We might need you for the team next year and practice makes perfect.

Men’s Sabre Team
Flt Lt Andy Cooke RAF Brampton

Sgt Mark Gumley RAF Coningsby

Cpl Dave Long RAF Odiham

RAF v RN W 5 - 4

RAF v Army W 6 - 3

RN v Army W 5 - 4 Weapon Victory – RAF

Men’s Epee Team
Wg Cdr George Liston RAF High Wycombe

Sqn Ldr Andy Alcock Cranfield University

Flt Lt Pete McKenzie-Brown RAF Leconfield

RAF v RN W 8 - 1

RAF v Army W 5 - 4

RN v Army L 1 - 8 Weapon Victory – RAF

Women’s Foil Team
Flt Lt Lynnette Bolton RAF Lyneham

SAC Sharon Booth RAF Brize Norton

RAF v RN W 3 - 1

RAF v Army W 2 - 1

RN v Army L 0 - 4 Weapon Victory – RAF
Men’s Foil Team
Fg Off Dave Coombes* RAF Leuchars

Plt Off Graeme Hart* RAF Leuchars

Cpl Phil McNulty RAF Oakhanger
RAF v RN W 7 - 2

RAF v Army L 6 - 3

RN v Army L 4 – 5 Weapon Victory – Army

Women’s Sabre Team
Sqn Ldr Ann Gibson HQSTC

Cpl Debbie MacDonald RAF Marham

RAF v RN W 4 - 0

RAF v Army W 3 - 1

RN v Army W 4 - 0 Weapon Victory – RAF

Women’s Epee Team
Sqn Ldr Carol Ackroyd RAF St Mawgan

SAC Suzie Cowden RAF Aldergrove

RAF v RN D 2 - 2

RAF v Army D 2 - 2

RN v Army W 3 - 1 Weapon Victory – RN

* RAF Colours Awarded at the Inter Services Fencing Championship 2002.

INTER SERVICE FENCING – INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Master Swordsman 1. Campbell Army 2. Olliver RN 3. Alcock RAF	Master Swordswoman 1. Perry Army 2. Booth RAF 3. Brooks RN
6 Man Team Event 1. HCMR 14 Pts (Beech, Mackenzie, Quickfall, Woods, West) 2. HMS Sultan 7 Pts (Osterberger, Douglas, Wollaston, McGillan) 3. RAF Coltishall 6 Pts (Brailsford, Murdoch, Makepeace, Bayman, Freeman) 3 Man Team Event 1. HMS Heron 11 Pts (+19 indicators) (Piggford, Needham, Lewis) 2. RAF Odiham 11 Pts (+18 indicators) (McNulty, Long, Price) 3. 39 Eng Regt 10 Pts (Wilson, Ross, Baldwin) 4. HQ 1 (UK) Div 8 Pts (Campbell, Powell, McQueen) 5. 4 Assault Sqn RM 4 Pts (Lane, Jefferies, Collins) 6. RAF Coltishall 1 Pt (Makepeace, Brailsford, Bayman) Back to Inter Service menu
Men’s Sabre 1. Liston RAF 2. Cooke RAF 3=. Baldwin Army 3=. Gumley RAF 5. Hart RAF 6. Aitken Army 7. Woods Army 8. Lewis RN 9. Williams Army 10. McNulty RAF 11. Roberts Army 12. Needham RN 13. Campbell Army 14. Price RAF 15. Henderson-Begg RAF 16. Alcock RAF	Men’s Sabre Plate 1. Long RAF 2. Brailsford RAF 3=. Griffiths RAF 3=. Quickfall Army 5. Kimbley RN 6. Collins RN 7. Waite Army 8. Desforges RAF 9. West Army 10. Piggford RN 11. Kirchel Army 12. Flynn Army 13. Lane RN 14. Napier-Holford Army 15. Wilson Army 16. Beech Army	Men’s Foil 1. Hart RAF 2. Liston RAF 3=. Campbell Army 3=. Needham RN 5. Challans Army 6. Long RAF 7. Griffiths RAF 8. Williams Army 9. Roberts Army 10. Kimbley RN 11. Jones Army 12. Brailsford RAF 13. Sutherland Army 14. Henderson-Begg RAF 15. Lewis RN 16. McNulty RAF	Men’s Foil Plate 1. Woods Army 2. Alcock RAF 3=. Lane RN 3=. Hamilton Army 5. Powell Army 6. Piggford RN 7. Waite Army 8. Price RAF 9. Cooke RAF 10. Kirchel Army 11. Beech Army 12. Quickfall Army 13. Desforges RAF 14. Collins RN 15. Whittaker RAF 16. Jefferies RN
Men’s Epee 1. Liston RAF 2. Needham RN 3= Hale RN 3=. Henderson-Begg RAF 5. Alcock RAF 6. Williams Army 7. Waite Army 8. Ross Army 9. Hosking RAF 10. McNulty RAF 11. Desforges RAF 12. Brailsford RAF 13. Roberts Army 14. Lewis RN 15. Hamilton Army 16. Flynn Army	Men’s Epee Plate 1. Hart RAF 2. Woods Army 3=. Piggford RN 3=. Griffiths RAF 5. Powell Army 6. Clark RN 7. Jefferies RN 8. Beech Army 9. Collins RN 10. Bayman RAF 11. Whittaker RAF 12. Lane RN 13. McQueen Army 14. Bruce RN 15. Campbell Army 16. Kimbley RN	Women’s Sabre 1. Gibson RAF 2. Brooks RN 3=. Myers RN 3=. Perry Army 5. Douglas RN 6. McGillen RN 7. Reid RAF 8. Freeman RAF 9. Osterberger RN 10. Taylor RAF 11. Booth RAF 12. Wollaston RN 13. McLellan Army 14. Earl Army	Women’s Epee 1. Myers RN 2. Wollaston RN 3=. Hale RN 3=. Perry Army 5. McGillen RN 6. Booth RAF 7. Brooks RN 8. Earl Army 9. Cowden RAF 10. Greakin Army 11. King RN 12. McLellan Army 13. Taylor RAF
Women’s Foil 1. Greakin Army 2. Perry Army 3=. Booth RAF 3=. Myers RN 5. Brooks RN 6. Hale RN 7. King RN 8. Osterberger RN 9. McGillen RN 10. McLellan Army 11. Earl Army 12. Reid RAF 13=. Makepeace RAF 13=. Taylor RAF 15. Cowden RAF	Men’s Champion at Arms 1. Liston RAF 23 Pts 2. Needham RN 13 Pts Women’s Champion at Arms 1. Myers RN 20 Pts 2. Perry Army 19 Pts

DATES FOR THE DIARY
The following are competitions, either Service or Civilian, for which travel authority has been granted. All personnel wishing to participate in any event are to inform the Match Sec, Sgt Mark Gumley, prior to the competition on 95721 x7482.
Should the Match Sec not be informed, then personnel are technically not on duty and will not be covered by the RAF should anything go awry, nor can they claim duty mileage. Where possible, notification should be given to the Match Sec at least 2 weeks prior to the event. On completion of the event results are to be passed to the Match Sec for onward notification to the Sports Board.

Leicester City Open Leicester 19 Oct

RAF Autumn Series Cosford Oct TBC

Wellesbourne Team Trophy High Wycombe Nov TBC

Tyneside Darlington 2 Nov

Welsh Open Cardiff 9 Nov

Hereford & Worcester Open Hereford 30 Nov

Scottish Open Stirling 11 Jan

Aldershot Open (MF/ME) Aldershot 18 Jan

Corble Cup London 25 Jan

Slough Open Slough 1 Feb

Surrey Challenge Richmond TBC Feb

RAF Cmd Champs Cosford TBC Feb

Merseyside Open Liverpool 22 Feb

Hampshire Open Hamps 22 Feb

Clara Rayner Memorial Nottingham 1 Mar

RAF Invitational Quad TBC TBC

RAF Invitational Quad TBC TBC

Editor’s Note: Remember that every year the John Warburn Memorial Trophy is awarded to the RAF fencer who achieves the best results at competitions throughout the year …Service and civilian. Therefore it is in your best interests not only to compete in as many competitions as you can, but also to notify your results to the Match Sec. Good luck out there!

In addition, if you can think of any other events that RAF fencers regularly go to have a word with Mark and we’ll see if we can get approval for them too.

FENCING HISTORY
That rather nice Navy chap, Dicky Barton, has asked me to let you all know about a project that he has been undertaling with John McGrath (an ex RN fencer who some of the older fencers may remember - he also quite regularly has articles appear in The Sword). They have been working on the history of Navy Fencing. The intention is to get this published as a series of booklets so that the information is properly preserved. The first of these has now been published and looks at Naval Cutlass Exercise. It has lots of illustrations and should be of interest to anyone with any interest in the origins of our sport. We are selling them at a price of £3.50, all proceeds going to RN Fencing. (nothing for us poor authors). Anyone interested in purchasing a copy can contact Dicky through the Committee.

GOSSIP CORNER
As I said in my Editorial, very little stuff for this magazine came through, but one bit of news was forthcoming (thanks Ashley, as always the fount of all knowledge!). Congratulations to Sharon Booth who is now undertaking IOT at Cranwell on her way to becoming an Admin Sec Officer.

FINAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Now have you spotted what I spotted? Due to increased workload etc I haven’t been to any Civvy Comps, so this edition was very short, because I didn’t have any match reports to write. But I’m sure there are people out there who HAVE been out on the civvy circuit … so how about some reports in future? With the coming arrival of a new baby in my family, you can’t rely on me for content any longer!!!