Our annual pilgrimage to Winchester for Veterans Day this year (Saturday 12th July 2014) will be well supported. I would like to remind members of the Branch that on September 20th, the Northern Ireland (N.I.) veterans association will be holding an anniversary parade for all N.I. veterans at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. We attended, as an association, for the inaugural event. So far approximately 20 of our members are going to attend this year’s parade. I have placed on our Branch web page and Facebook page details of accommodation (both hotel and B&Bs) within the local area and these details also include a local campsite should anyone wish to camp in case local hotels are full. Photographs of the future events will follow in the next issue of the e-zine. In November, our Branch main event will be Remembrance Weekend, with many people arriving on Friday 7th and staying over until Monday 10th November. The venue for the main event on Saturday 8th November has not yet been confirmed but will be next month and the relevant information will be posted on our web page. The advance party usually congregate at the Queen Vic Hotel on Friday and the Post Parade Lunch on the Sunday will be held at The Best Western Roker Hotel. Details of some available accommodation are on our web page/facebook page but please book early to avoid disappointment for both event tickets and hotels. Entry to the function is by ticket only purchased in advance. No tickets can be bought on the night or at the door. Looking forward to seeing you all at Winchester! Malcolm Donnison North East Branch Editor
A PILGRIMAGE TO THE FRONT LINES Major General Sir Michael Carleton-Smith CBE,DL. As the ferry enters the port at Calais, one sees at the end of the pier on the starboard side, a lone stone cross. Each May a party from the Royal Green Jackets attend a service there to remember their brother riflemen in the Queen Victoria’s Rifles, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade who fought and died there to defend Calais and prevent the German panzer divisions disrupting the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in 1940. Penny and I are regular attenders and meet up with about eight French Colour bearers, the Mayor of Calais, the British Consul, buglers, this year 7 Rifles’ Padre and the Vicar of Bow, with two of her churchwardens and her riflemen parishioners, some loyal French and about sixty mostly retired members from the three former regiments. It is a moving and memorable occasion.
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E-Zine 2014
