Well, it’s better late than never (apparently) and after months of waiting for something to appear on my desk from the Army (our gracious hosts for the Inter Services this year at Aldershot) I finally decided to give up and try writing something myself! (And people wonder why I want to give up this job?). Anyway, on with the report.

Triangular Match

In the Ladies Triangular Match, the shock news that Ann Gibson was injured dealt a huge blow to morale, but with Debbie MacDonald and Amanda Freeman taking up the sabre and winning the weapon, hopes were high that the ladies could overcome the odds to retain the trophy. Alas it was not to be as the Army went on to win both the foil and the epee, wrestling the Ladies Inter Service title away from the RAF after an 8 year run.

Over in the Men’s Triangular, things were also not going to plan with the Navy taking the weapon win in the sabre, and the RAF narrowly taking the epee victory on indicators. The foil team were also struggling, trailing in their first match against the RN 40 – 32; an impossible position to recover from, with only 3 minutes fencing remaining.

Or so you would think!

In one of the greatest displays of fencing prowess, staying cool under pressure, and being such an awfully nice chap, Rauri Henderson-Begg achieved the impossible and not only pulled back the deficit, but secured the win for the RAF. As the RN then went on to beat the Army, the Men’s Inter Service title lay in the balance: the RAF foilists had to beat the Army (and do it with a significant points margin) in order to retain the title. Buoyed by the sterling efforts of Rauri though, both James Griffiths and Phil McNulty stepped up a gear to convincingly beat the Army team, securing both the weapon victory and the Inter Service title for the 8th consecutive year.

Master Swordsman/Swordswoman

With Ann Gibson out of action, it fell on Lisa Taylor’s shoulders to fence for the honour of the RAF, but she was to find the going tough as an on-form Jayne Perry swept her way to the title.

In the men’s event, Keith Bowers of the RN won all his sabre and foil bouts, but lost his epee matches. Phil McNulty found himself needing to beat the Army’s Charles Stoner in the epee to force a barrage with Bowers, but the hard fought Triangular matches earlier were to prove just too taxing as he lost his final bout, giving Bowers the title by 4 victories to 3.

Individuals

Sabre

The Men’s event got off to a controversial start, when it became apparent as the poules went on that the initial seedings from the individual Services Championships had NOT been used. Unfortunately this had a huge effect on the rankings, with RAF No.2 Phil McNulty finding himself down in the bottom half of the draw. A hard match against No.10 seed Mark Needham in the first round of DE then saw him drop into the Plate competition, losing narrowly 15-14. (To his credit, Phil did then back up his vociferous complaints about the seeding rounds by going on to comfortably win the Plate!)

Rauri Henderson-Begg took out No.4 seed Rob Desforge 15-14 to move into the last 8, only to then lose out 15-13 to Lewis of the RN. Mark Gumley comfortably went past Mark Needham 15-8, then meeting the Army’s Ian Challans. A comfortable victory again then set up a final against top RN sabreur Keith Bowers, but it was to prove one step too much as Bowers took the win and the Inter Service Men’s Sabre title.

In the Ladies Sabre, the absence of Ann Gibson due to injury opened the event up, with 14 women competing. In their first Inter Services, Kat Jolly, Sarah Chambers and Brigitte Morgan all performed extremely well, unfortunately falling to their more experienced opponents. Not so for Amanda Freeman! Taking victory after victory, Amanda moved steadily through the field, eventually setting up a final against Jayne Perry of the Army. In an extremely close match, it was to be the first timer from the RAF who eventually prevailed, taking the Inter Service Ladies Sabre title.

Six Man Inter Unit Team

With only one unit able to field a six man team, the victory went by default to the RAF High Wycombe team of George Liston, Sarah Chambers, Lynette Calame, Phil McNulty, Kat Jolly and Brigitte Morgan.

Foil

The next day brought the Foil, and this time the pre-seedings were used, however this time it was to be poor fencing that dropped RAF No.1 Phil McNulty down the rankings to 16! Fencing extremely well though, James Griffiths found himself ranked No.1, with George Liston No.2, Rauri Henderson-Begg No.4 and Dave Long No.10, giving the RAF 5 of the last 16 fencers.

Unfortunately, the first DE match pitched No.16 against No.1, and Phil finally started to fence well, knocking out James 15-12. Rauri and George also made it past their first round opponents, whilst Dave narrowly lost to Jones of the Army 15-14. It was to be a tale of two points in the next round, as Phil lost 15-14 to Kimbley of the RN, and then minutes later Rauri lost by another point 15-14 to Challans of the Army. George on the other hand comfortably took out his opponent 15-4, setting up a final against Challans. In a fight which he controlled from the start, George took the victory 15-9 to take the Inter Service Men’s Foil title.

In the Ladies Foil, the success of the previous day was unfortunately not to be found for the RAF ladies as one by one they fell by the wayside. With only two RAF ladies achieving a top 8 ranking after the seeding rounds, Lia Reid and Amanda Freeman, it was then disheartening to see Amanda lose out to Hale of the RN in the first round DE 15-3. With a 15-12 victory over Woolaston of the RN though, Lia kept the RAF hopes alive into the last 8, where she unfortunately met a very much on-form Jayne Perry, losing 15-7. Jayne then went on to beat Maggie Myers (RN) 15-9 in the final to take the title.

Making up somewhat for her disappointment at being knocked out, Lisa Taylor did go on to win the Plate competition.

Three Man Inter Unit Team

The defending title holders from last year, the RN team from HMS Ark Royal found themselves up against teams from RAF High Wycombe, RAF Benson and HAC (Army). In the epee. George Liston did as expected, winning all 3 of his bouts to give High Wycombe a good start.

In the sabre, Kat Jolly from High Wycombe also fenced extremely well in her first ever Inter Services, taking one victory, but Keith Bowers continued his impressive display of sabre fencing picking up 3 wins for Ark Royal.

The foil was an extremely tight affair, with the RN, High Wycombe and Benson all doing well. A narrow win by Phil McNulty over James Griffiths was then offset by a narrow loss to Mark Needham. As the final match began, if James could beat Mark, all three teams would be tied on 6 victories, but unfortunately it just slipped away, giving the Ark Royal team victory, with High Wycombe second and Benson third.

Epee

The final day of competition brought the epee, and in the men’s event Andy Alcock and George Liston headed up the RAF places at the top of the rankings, 3rd and 4th respectively after the seeding round. Unfortunately, Andy was then to meet a focused and determined Rauri Henderson-Begg in the last 16, and it was to be Rauri who went through with a 15-10 victory.

Other RAF fencers also fared badly, with Graham Orme, Rob Desforge and Skippy Hosking all failing to make it into the last 8, so it was on George and Rauri’s shoulders as the last RAF representatives.

In a highly exciting match, George went past the Army’s Charles Stoner to book a semi-final against Adrian Olliver of the Navy, which George then won 15-13. Rauri meanwhile comfortably moved into the last 4, only to lose out to Baker of the Navy 15-7.

The final was an intensely hard fought match, with both George and his opponent trading hit for hit, until right at the end when Baker managed to eke out a two point lead, giving him the Inter Service Epee title.

The ladies event saw only one RAF fencer, Lisa Taylor, make it into the last 8. Fencing beautifully, she then made her way past Sacha Brooks of the Navy with a 15-13 victory to set up a semi-final against Lee of the Army. In another close fight though, it was to be the Army fencer who went through 15-13. The final between Lee and Rahman, also Army, went as predicted, with the injury to her ankle Rahman was carrying eventually taking its toll, giving Lee the victory and the Inter Service title 15-10.

After his victory in the foil, and second place in the epee, the Men’s Champion at Arms title went to George Liston, while the ladies title went to Lee of the Army after her epee win and two 3rd places.

Inter Service Triangular

Men's
Position	Foil	Epee	Sabre
1.	RAF: Flt Lt Henderson-Begg, Flt Lt Griffiths & Sgt McNulty.	RAF: Wg Cdr Liston, Sqn Ldr Alcock & SAC Hosking.	RN: Lt Cdr Barton, Lt Cdr Lewis & S/Lt Bowers.
Overall Winners	RAF
Ladies
Position	Foil	Epee	Sabre
1.	Army: SSgt Greaken & LCpl Perry.	Army: Capt McLellan & OCdt Dolden.	RAF: Fg Off Freeman & Cpl McDonald.
Overall Winners	Army

Individual Events

Master Swordsman	S/Lt Bowers - RN
Master Swordswoman	LCpl Perry - Army
Men’s
Men’s Champion at Arms	Wg Cdr Liston – RAF
Position	Foil	Epee	Sabre
1.	Wg Cdr Liston – RAF	Capt Baker – RN	S/Lt Bowers – RN
2.	2Lt Challans – Army	Wg Cdr Liston – RAF	Sgt Gumley – RAF
3.	S/Lt Bowers – RN	Flt Lt Henderson-Begg – RAF	2Lt Challans – Army
4.	WO2 Kimberley – RN	Lt Cdr Olliver – RN	Lt Cdr Lewis – RN
5.	Flt Lt Henderson-Begg – RAF	LAEM Needham – RN	Sqn Ldr Alcock – RAF
6.	Capt Jones – Army	Maj Stoner – Army	Wg Cdr Liston – RAF
7.	Lt Cdr Olliver – RN	LCpl MacKenzie – Army	Flt Lt Henderson-Begg – RAF
8.	Sgt McNulty – RAF	LCoH Woods – Army	LCoH Woods – Army
9.	Flt Lt Griffiths – RAF	Sqn Ldr Alcock – RAF	Cpl Long – RAF
10.	Maj Stoner – Army	OCdt Orme – RAF	WO2 Kimberley – RN
11.	Col Sutherland – Army	Cpl Byrne – Army	Flt Lt Cook – RAF
12.	Cpl Long – RAF	Lt Cdr Clark – RN	LAEM Needham – RN
13.	LCpl MacKenzie – Army	WO2 Kimberley – RN	Flt Lt Griffiths – RAF
14.	LAEM Needham – RN	SAC Hosking – RAF	Lt Russell – RN
15.	Lt Cdr Lewis – RN	Cpl Deforges – RAF	Jnr Tech Finnegan – RAF
16.	Lt Russell – RN	Pte Weedon – Army	Cpl Deforges – RAF
17.	Cpl Lane – RN	Sgt McNulty – RAF	Cpl Collins – RAF
18.	LCpl Napier-Holford – Army	LCpl Wilford – Army	Maj Stoner – Army
19.	LCoH Woods – Army	LCpl Napier-Holford – Army	Sgt Kirby – Army
20.	Pte Weedon – Army	S/Lt Bowers – RN	Sgt Taylor – Army
21.	Sgt Nunns – Army	Flt Lt Griffiths – RAF	Pte Weedon – Army
22.	Sqn Ldr Alcock – RAF	Sgt Nunns – Army	Sgt Nunns – Army
23.	Cpl Wittaker – RAF	2Lt Unwin – Army	LCpl Napier-Holford – Army
24.	Sgt Lakin – Army	Sgt Taylor – Army	SAC Garton – RAF
25.	WO2 Taylor – Army	Jnr Tech Finnegan – RAF	Sgt McNulty – RAF
26.	SAC Honeywood – RAF	Lt Cdr Lewis – RN	Capt Roberts – Army
27.	Jnr Tech Finnegan – RAF	Cpl Wittaker – RAF	Capt West – Army
28.	SAC Garton – RAF	SAC Garton – RAF	Cpl Byrne – Army
29.	LCpl Wilford – Army	Cpl Lane – RN	Cpl Wittaker – RAF
30.	Cpl Byrne – Army	Sgt Kirby – Army	Cpl Lane – RN
31.	Spare	SAC Honeywood – RAF	Col Stanton – Army
32.	Spare	WO2 Taylor – Army	WO2 Taylor – Army
33.	Spare	OCdt Goodman – Army	SAC Honeywood – RAF
34.	Spare	Sgt Flynn – Army	LCpl Wilford – Army
35.	Spare	Sgt Gumley – RAF	Sgt Flynn – Army
36.	Spare	Spare	Spare
Winners of the Plate Competition	Pte Weedon – Army	Flt Lt Griffiths – RAF	Sgt McNulty – RAF

Ladies
Ladies Champion at Arms	OCdt Lee – Army
Position	Foil	Epee	Sabre
1.	LCpl Perry – Army	OCdt Lee – Army	Fg Off Freeman – RAF
2.	Lt Cdr Myers – RN	OCdt Rahman – Army	LCpl Perry – Army
3.	OCdt Lee – Army	Cpl Taylor – RAF	OCdt Lee – Army
4.	OCdt Rahman – Army	MEM Wollaston – RN	OCdt Rahman – Army
5.	SSgt Greaken – Army	Lt Brooks – RN	Lt Cdr Myers – RN
6.	LCpl Earl – Army	LCpl Perry – Army	S/Lt Hale – RN
7.	Cpl Reid – RAF	LCpl Earl – Army	Cpl Taylor – RAF
8.	S/Lt Hale – RN	LCpl Barnes – Army	Cpl Reid – RAF
9.	Fg Off Freeman – RAF	Lt Cdr Myers – RN	MEM Wollaston – RN
10.	MEM Wollaston – RN	S/Lt Hale – RN	LCpl Earl – Army
11.	SAC Jolly – RAF	OCdt Dolden – Army	SAC Jolly – RAF
12.	Cpl Taylor – RAF	Flt Lt Chambers – RAF	Flt Lt Chambers – RAF
13.	SAC Morgan – RAF	Fg Off Freeman – RAF	SAC Morgan – RAF
14.	Spare	SAC Jolly – RAF	LCpl Barnes – Army
15.	Spare	Cpl Reid – RAF	Spare
16.	Spare	SAC Morgan – RAF	Spare
17.	Spare	SSgt Greaken – Army	Spare
Winners of the Plate Competition	Cpl Taylor – RAF	Lt Cdr Myers – RN	Spare

Team Events

Inter Unit 6 Man Team
1.	RAF High Wycombe:
NB. Victory by default; only team entered.
Inter Unit 3 Man Team
1.	HMS Ark Royal: Lt Russell, S/Lt Bowers & LAEM Needham.
2.	RAF High Wycombe: Wg Cdr Liston, Sgt McNulty & SAC Jolly.
3.	RAF Benson: Flt Lt Griffiths, Jnr Tech Finnigan & SAC Garton.