Wednesday 09 February 2022
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.
