2BN marks mascot wreath laying ceremony

Apremdo (W/R), Dec 23, GNA - Officers and men of the Second Battalion Infantry Brigade (2BN) of the Ghana Army on Friday held a parade at the Myohaung Barracks at Apremdo to mark the battalion's annual Mascot wreath laying day.

Thirty-seven men took part in the parade under the command of Second Lieutenant Paul Oboubi.

The yearly event for the Mascot, a spotless white ram, is supposed to bring good fortune to the unit always.

The adoption of a spotless white ram as the unit's mascot dates back to March 1957 when the country achieved independence.

The unit was part of the independence parade and due to its smart and impressive turn out, Governor Sir Charles Noble Arden Clarke who reviewed the parade, presented the unit with a white ram as its mascot. The mascot, Corporal Charles as it was named, died on December 16 1962, the same day that the donor, Sir Charles Noble Arden Clarke, the last Governor of the Gold Coast, died in the United Kingdom. It was buried without any ceremony because the unit was on peacekeeping mission in the then Congo, now Democratic Republic of Congo. However, successors to corporal Charles were buried with full military honours.

The present mascot, Staff Sergeant Charles VI, was promoted to the rank of WO II by the then Army Commander Lt-Gen Joseph Henry Smith in October 1998.

WO I Alhaji Ahmed Abdulai and Rev Fr Lieutenant Ian Adjetey Adjei, Imam and Chaplain respectively of the battalion said exaltations. Two minutes' silence was observed in memory of former Mascots amid the sounding of the last post.

Major Albert Dawohoso, Acting Commander, 2BN and Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) John Boamah and Mrs Lucy Dehar, Magajia of 2BN laid wreaths.