That is the view of James Postle, the captain of the National Rifle Association’s visiting CI team last year, writing in the latest edition of the NRA Journal.
In the same edition, sent out to all its members worldwide, David Colegate, the adjutant of last year’s NRA team, goes even further in praise of the island’s generous hospitality.
‘As the team adjutant, my responsibilities go well beyond ranges and rifle. That includes managing practicalities of restaurants and team dinners with our hosting islands.
‘Some of the most beautiful ranges I have ever visited also happen to sit within reach of some superb restaurants. It is part of the experience and it becomes part of the story people tell when they get home.’
When an NRA team first came over to Guernsey 91 years ago, in 1935, it was almost accorded the status of a royal visit.
The match itself at L’Ancresse (near the present Fort Le Marchant range) was attended by the Lt Governor, Major-General Sir Edward Broadbent, the Bailiff, (Sir) Victor Carey, and Major-General Sir Alan Hunter, representing Lord Cottesloe, the UK’s NRA chairman at the time.
Two gala dinners on successive evenings at the OGH were described in this newspaper as ‘sumptuous affairs’.
Three years later, however, the Weekly Press hailed the 1938 NRA visit as nothing short of a ‘red-letter weekend in the annals of Guernsey rifle-shooting’.
Although the Guernsey team was overjoyed to win its match against the NRA at L’Ancresse that year, that particular NRA visit was more memorable for the announcement of an unprecedented and charming gesture by a major Commonwealth rifle-shooting team.
The previous year at Bisley, 1937, Guernsey had shot magnificently in the international Kolapore match, with the likes of Freddie Cope, Edward Aubert, Les Hill, Captain Don Bisset and Keith Cunningham all in the team.
A second win of the much-coveted Kolapore Cup, a repetition of the island’s famous victory of 1898, was firmly in their sights.
Disappointingly, however, their efforts were not enough to beat a strong team from Australia, which happened to be making its first appearance at Bisley in a decade.
At a grandiose NRA dinner at the OGH in 1938, Colonel R W Randall, the GRC captain, stood up and read out a letter he had received from the previous year’s Australia commandant, Sir Charles Merret.
‘It may seem strange but our Kolapore victory [last year] brought a pang of regret in that we had deprived you of the honour. I am sending you a cup to remind the good people of Guernsey of the gallant attempt you made to win the match but only succeeded in winning the regard and esteem of your brethren in the Southern Seas.
‘The disposal of the cup is entirely in your hands and I am also sending you a small replica for each member of the Guernsey team. I hope that the emblem on the cup may serve to remind you of the goodwill offering from the largest island in the Empire, to one of the smallest, and though the oceans may divide us, we surely are British still throughout the wide, wide world.’
It was a truly heartfelt gesture and the superb silver Australia Cup remains the premier trophy today in the GRC’s annual prize meeting, awarded to the competitor with the highest score in the Grand Aggregate.
As today’s president of the Guernsey Rifle Club, Peter Jory, says, ‘The NRA visit has always been a proud highlight of our shooting year. Over the years, our NRA visitors have become lifelong friends.’
This year’s visiting NRA team having been shooting in Jersey and are due to start in Guernsey today.
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