Members of the Royal Bermuda Regiment [RBR] on Sunday [October 19] welcomed Her Royal Highness [HRH] the Duchess of Gloucester to Warwick Camp where she presented Operational Service Medals and assisted in the burial of a time capsule in celebration of the battalion’s 60th anniversary.
Soldiers and officers came together for a photograph with HRH, who is the RBR’s Colonel-in-Chief, before the medals were presented to eligible soldiers.
It was announced last year that His Majesty the King approved the award of the first Operational Service Medal [Bermuda] and that anyone who served from September 15, 1965 and meets qualifying criteria would be eligible.
Recognised operations generally required mobilisation of the RBR through an official embodiment order and were endorsed by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
Serving or former RBR soldiers and officers became eligible if they had, on embodiment orders from the Governor, completed 30 days accumulative operational service for disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, security or other emergency operations that required risk or rigour.
The operations may have been carried out in Bermuda or overseas.
Operational Service Medals have been presented first to serving soldiers and will later be available to former members of the Regiment who secured sufficient service.
Some soldiers received the medals at the Trooping of the Colours parade on Saturday, while the remainder of those eligible were presented them at Warwick Camp on Sunday afternoon by Her Royal Highness, His Excellency the Governor and RBR Commander-in-Chief Andrew Murdoch CMG, and the Regiment’s Honorary Colonel David Gibbons OBE, JP.
Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Simons, the RBR Commanding Officer, said: “It was a privilege and an honour to host Her Royal Highness at Warwick Camp on Sunday, where she joined us for a battalion photo, presented the remainder of our Operational Service Medals not presented on Saturday’s parade, and met the regiment family members in attendance.
“I particularly appreciated the time Her Royal Highness took to speak with the soldiers who received medals as well as their families.
“Our soldiers’ primary motivations for service are not acknowledgment or reward, but rather their sense of duty and pride in supporting our community. However, I know the medal recipients were extremely pleased to be recognised for their efforts, particularly as embodiments mean they are required to leave loved ones, often during challenging times.
“The visit of Her Royal Highness was not only a pleasure but also a testament to the hard work of our members.”
Corporal Chanara Smith-Rookes, 26, a soldier of almost nine years, was among the medal recipients and recalled being involved in operations over the course of the coronavirus pandemic.
She said: “I was embodied during Covid, when I worked on checkpoints and was stationed in St George’s. It’s an honour to be recognised for the service and work that we put in.
“It was a challenging time as the world was different, there were constantly evolving policies, our personal lives were affected. To be recognised for our contribution just shows that people really took notice.”
Meanwhile, Private Asiyah James, 30, a receptionist from Devonshire, was part of the team who served more than 300 members of the Regiment daily throughout the pandemic embodiment.
“I was in the cooks’ section during Covid,” she recalled. “It was nice to be part of it but it was chaotic. It was rewarding to see how everyone came together and got things done to help the island.
“It feels good now to be recognised and appreciated. It was a really nice day.”
Also at Warwick Camp, Her Royal Highness helped to bury a time capsule that contains notes and mementos from serving and former Regiment soldiers, to be unearthed by future members of the battalion.
At the spot, she unveiled a plaque that reads: “Buried here on 19 October, 2025, by HRH The Duchess of Gloucester to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Royal Bermuda Regiment. Within rest memorabilia and messages placed by past and present members and friends of the Regiment. To be opened on the 75th anniversary.”
