Billy Hughes on Help for Heroes
Newsletter Title
Charity events are happening all over the UK in support of H4H. Ordinary folk doing sometimes ordinary things and some not so ordinary. It is impossible to put here all the events. Go to www.helpforheroes.org.uk In Dorset we have just held the Bournemouth Air Festival 1.5 million visitors and the money raised is all going to H4H. Events bring out other business to do things to raise money. For example one large Restaurant with space for 200 people has offered its events and food; 3 course meal which the owner will Sponsor. Watch this space. I will be planning an event soon
needed. Again we need to raise the money. They cost approx £6m - £7m per project so we need more activities, people please get your thinking caps on and raise as much as you can. However, H4H is struggling to identify a Volunteer Co-ordinator in the Dover area. I have mentioned this on the RGJA web site before. I know there is a large RGJ contingent down there. It doesn’t have to be a former RGJ. There are lots of other Regiments who served there, Paras, etc. It also doesn’t have to be ex-forces, just someone who can give their spare time freely.
Hopefully with entertainment for October/November (Gary Driscoll I’m getting in touch!) H4H has currently raised £26m in 22 months. Over £18m has been committed and spent. There is a resettlement and rehabilitation Centre in Edinburgh that has just been built and commissioned. It costs a great deal of money to build and operate but this will prevent many service men from taking the long journey to Headley Court with more separation from family and friends. It is planned to have other similar centres in the UK located where they are
“However, H4H is struggling to identify a Volunteer Coordinator in the Dover area. I have mentioned this on the RGJA web site before. I know there is a large RGJ contingent down there. It doesn’t have to be a former RGJ. There are lots of other Regiments who served there, Paras, etc. It also doesn’t have to be ex-forces, just someone who can give their spare time freely”. The full article will appear in Swift & Bold 2009. Ed
Billy Hughes
Mike Leavy and the Chapel of St John in the Peninsula need your support The Association of the Friends of the British Cemetery was founded to undertake the maintenance of the neglected British Cemetery in Elvas, Portugal. In 2000 the Portuguese Army, as part of the project to install memorials to all the regiments that fought in the battles of Albuera and Badajoz, funded a major restoration of the Cemetery, which is now an attractive and peaceful place. The Friends of the British Cemetery provide for a caretaker and the Cemetery is open to the public. The long-term aim is to produce a fund that will ensure the Cemetery’s maintenance and protection in the future. The Association is a UK registered charity, no.1109395.
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The British Cemetery at Elvas is one of the oldest British Military Cemeteries in existence. It holds only five known graves but two of these are the only marked graves of the thousands of British soldiers who fell at the battle of Albuera and another is the sole marked grave of the many thousands who fell in the three sieges of Badajoz. Throughout the history of Portugal, Elvas has been a key to its land defence. In 1811 it was the southern gateway to Spain, faced by Badajoz. In the north, Almeida facing Ciudad Rodrigo fulfilled the same role. Wellington was anxious to secure them both before advancing into Spain and chose to conduct the operations in the north himself, leaving
the Commander in Chief of the Portuguese army, in command of the southern operation. The British Cemetery occupies one of the bastions of the fortifications of Elvas and falls under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese Army. Until 1997 it was accessible only with difficulty. The Chapel of S. João da Corujeira, adjoining the British Cemetery, is the oldest chapel in Elvas and now in a state of disrepair. It was built in 1228 by the Knights Hospitallers on the taking of Elvas from the Moors. In 2005, after prolonged negotiations between the Friends of the British Cemetery and the Archdiocese of Évora, the Friends acquired the right of usage and the responsibility for the chapel’s restoration and maintenance.
“Mike Leavy, formerly RB and RGJ, is a Trustee of the Association of the Friends of the British Cemetery in Elvas. The Chapel of St John is undergoing restoration and will need a further £50,000 for completion in 2010. The Chapel and small cemetery are one of the few remaining monuments to our forebears who died in these battles. Please visit the web site at http://britishcemeteryelvas.org/cemetery.html and help if you can”.
Site of the only marked graves of the many British soldiers who died in the Peninsula War Battles of Albuera and Badajoz 1811-1912.
