North West Branch

Dear Fellow Rifl emen

The past 9 months here at the NW Branch has seen a massive transition.

Should you not have already heard that our Chairman, since the early 1990’s, Gareth Dixon died after a short illness in Fazakerly Hospital Liverpool on 2nd November 2014. The branch and the RGJ family will miss him a great deal.

His funeral was held at Anfi eld Crematorium where approximately 300 people from all over the country attended. The service was relayed outside as not everybody was able to get into the crematorium.

His sister sends this message to all his friends and acquaintances:

To all the friends of Gareth Dixon

I would like to thank all of Gareth’s friends in the Green Jacket family and beyond for not only a wonderful send off for him but also for raising a total of £510 for Help 4 Hero’s. He would be proud of you all.

Ruth Dixon

The Remembrance Parade in Liverpool was held on 9th November 2014. About 50 people attend the parade.

After the parade we then formed up at the rear in St John's Gardens where we laid a wreath at our NI Memorial Stone. After the laying of the wreath we lined up for a photo shoot then we made our way to a local watering hole for a few light refreshments.

The branch AGM was held on 23rd January 2015 at the Thistle Hotel Liverpool. 24 members attended. A copy of the minutes has been posted on the NW Branch Website.

The main issue was to elect a new committee following the death of Gareth and Ray resigning from his post as secretary due to work commitments 5 days prior to Gareths death. The committee elect is as follows

President: Brigadier David Innes. Chairman: Tom Fairclough Assistant Chairman: Jimmy Matthews. Secretary: Mark Lydiat. Treasurer: Ray Gerrard. Rifl es Liaison Offi cer: WO2 Dave Crossley. Entertainments/Social Events Sub Committee: Tom Fairclough Steve Donoghue Arthur Toleman so that the new committee were guided through the processes of the association. When Gareth died Ray agreed to become treasurer of the branch and with his experience in the running of the branch to liaise with the rest of the committee and pass on this knowledge.

Following our appeal for donations to provided Peter Uden a permanent memorial, I can now announce that due to generous donations from members of the North West Branch, some members of other branches and even from abroad, we managed to raise all the funds necessary to provide Peter with a memorial stone.

The balance was made up by an anonymous benefactor who we all extend our most sincere gratitude. I also must mention that without the generosity of the J C Langford and Sons, Monumental Masons in Fareham, who reduced the cost of the memorial by a signifi cant amount, this project would have taken a lot longer to complete. A special thanks go to Ken Newman who authorised the

reduced cost and to Kelly who made all the arrangements and liaised with Ray Gerrard, who felt obliged to fi nish Gareth Dixon’s fi nal legacy.

Joyce, Peters widow, would like to thank everybody involved with this project and the North West Branch would like to thank all those people who donated. Again the generosity of the Royal Green Jackets has once again shone through. Our Entertainments committee has arranged our Summer Ball which is to be held this year at the Atlantic Thistle Hotel Liverpool on Saturday 20th June 2015. A detailed account of the evening will be produced in the next E-zine.

We are expecting a good turnout for the Northern Ireland memorial day usually held on fathers day and also armed forces day on 27th June 2015.

(To be conƟ nued on next page)

Members of the North West Branch on Veterans day 2014.