North East Branch

Welcome once again to the North East Branch of the RGJ Association and its entry to the July 2014 issue of the e-zine. Our next meeting will take place on Friday 4th July 2014, British Legion, Stockton Road, Sunderland.

Our year commenced with the unanimous election of the Committee and at the beginning of the meeting our Chairman outlined the Branch’s activities for the coming year. From this meeting a motion was put forward and carried that we support the RGJ Museum Battle of Waterloo Bicentenary 2015 Appeal. Consequently we made a donation of £500 to this project. The Annual Branch Chairmen/Branch Secretaries meeting was held in Winchester on 25 April 2014, Brigadier Prideaux was representing the North East Branch. I am certain many of the Branches and their members will attend the WW1 Anniversaries as well as the 70th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings, especially as our Regiment has very important and poignant memories of these events.

In May, some members went on a six day trip to Flanders Fields. It was an excellent trip and we covered many of the WW1 Cemeteries etc .Our Chairman has the details of this tour and I am certain he will provide the details of cost should anyone from other Branches wishes to go later in the year. It is well worth while. E-Zine 2014 Trench Complex Vimy Ridge

Ian Longworth, John Toolin, Roy Trower and Tommy Suggitt at Pegasus Bridge - 6th June As this article is being written before these events have taken place, a more detailed account will be given, in the next issue of ezine and Swift and Bold. This year, June is such a busy month for our members. We have numerous events taking place, both nationally and locally. On a local level for the North East, Armed Forces weekend has a busy schedule and we had a great turn out this year. This massive event was held the weekend of 27th till the 29th June at the Recreation Ground, Roker sea front, Sunderland.

On a further local note, during this month, a statue was unveiled at Seaham Harbour entitled “Tommy”. This is a fantastic sculpture. However, it is only going to be a temporary one unless £85,000 can be raised to ensure it becomes a permanent feature and we are all aware of how important such a statue is to those that made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. Show your support. https://www.justgiving.com/Mission1101/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fundraisingpage&utm_content=Mission1101&utm_campaign=pfp-share