REGIMENTAL
The 6 GR Table: Duncan Briggs, Michele Pettigrew, Bob Richardson Aitken, Flit Whitehead, Paul Pettigrew, Sophie Shoesmith, John Mackinlay, Ria Briggs, Anthony Vosper, and Rachel Mackinlay
GBA MEMORIAL SERVICE AND REUNION LUNCH
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8 June 2019
he GBA Reunion begins with a service in the Royal Memorial Chapel in Sandhurst. This Chapel has played a huge role in the lives of the Officer Cadets and their instructors but it has also played a role in this “Wife Of’s” life! We have had two family weddings in the Chapel, firstly in September 1967 my father, who was then Commander of Old College, married my beautiful stepmother, Christine De Jenner, the youngest sister-in-law of the Adjutant (Giles Allan, Irish Guards). Three years later in July 1970 John and I were married there. As we left the Chapel, George Mackenzie piped us out and Michael Whitehead and Tom Blackford formed a Guard of honour for us!
I digress. The Service this year was approximately the 29th (!) we have attended during our married life. To be honest my main reason for going is to see old friends throughout the Brigade. However, the service itself is also hugely important, especially when the Brigade is involved in war. It allows us to acknowledge the sacrifice many have made in the service of the Crown. The best years are when no names are read out. After the final blessing we all process outside the chapel towards the sound of a Gurkha piper playing beside the memorial to the fallen soldiers of the British Army. The Padre is joined by a Hindu Priest and a Buddhist Lama and Christian, Hindu and Buddhist
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