ID & Discount Card A Special Rifleman

Frankie Brooks joined The Rifle Brigade at the age of 21 in 1931 he served both in India and Malta. He was in 1RB for The Defence of Calais and was captured by the Germans on 26 May 1940 becoming a POW until 18 April 1945 a period of captivity of some 4 years and 328 days. I had been in touch with him prior to and after this years trip to Calais, which though he still does a bit of bell ringing in his local church, he considered the trip at the age of 99 would be too much for him. The purpose of this article is to tell those who are not aware that he was 100 years old on 14 June and that along with HM the Queen if you did send him a card and mentioned you were in the Regiment or your connection to it thank you for showing him that the Regiment has not forgotten all that he and his chums did in 1940. Incidentally his father was killed at Ypres in 1915 when Francis was 5 years old. Shirley joined me in attending the Birthday Party of Frankie Brooks (Frankie for he had told me off for calling him Francis!) at the Village Hall in Washington. It was a splendid occasion attended by over 100 people and we all delighted in eating a hog roast with all the trimmings and copious amounts of wine, great great grandchildren were plentiful and all obviously knew their ‘grandpa’ very well. Frankie was as lucid as any Rifleman you could wish to meet, just as smart in his regimental blazer adorned by the RB blazer badge, he was using a black and green walking stick and the gold band at the top inscribed Rifle Brigade 1940. With the usual wit he said to me “I suppose I had better behave myself today” and he did. The church bells which he helped to toll in the morning rang throughout the afternoon in his honour. What has taken him and his family aback is the amount of cards he has received from members of The Rifle Brigade and their families, he has asked me to thank every one-so thank you and well done one and all. I did telephone to wish him on all our behalf a Happy Birthday, he told me he was waiting for Meridian Television who were coming to interview him and the postman with his Queen’s Birthday card, his family were with him. See the attached picture of Ivy Cottage where Frankie lives, which incidentally has no central heating or damp course and a garden too big to describe, and a photograph of Frankie and me taken at his party. Ron Cassidy Frankie`s home, Ivy Cottage. No central heating and certainly no double glazing! If you did send him a card and mentioned you were in the Regiment or your connection to it thank you for showing him that the Regiment has not forgotten all that he and his chums did in 1940. Frankie Brooks & Ron Cassidy at Frankie`s Birthday party

Help for Heroes Ch

arity DVD - Heroes - Th e Greatest M ovies

Heroes - The Greatest Movies Ever! Retailing at £9.99, every penny of profit from each copy sold (an average of £7.50 per copy) will go to the Help For Heroes charity. The DVD features countless excerpts from such memorable movies as ‘The Longest Day’, ‘633 Squadron’, ‘The Great Escape’, ‘Bridge On The River Kwai’, ‘The Battle Of Britain’ and many more movies that have honoured the courage and heroism of the men and women of the armed forces throughout the years. Giants of the film industry and independents alike have all allowed clips from their respected movies to be included free of charge. In fact, everyone involved from start to finish has waived their fees and reduced costs so that as much money as possible from the DVD sales goes direct to the charity. Help For Heroes makes a real difference to the lives of our wounded war veterans, both mentally and physically. All the money raised from the DVD will go towards building new Army Recovery Centres (ARC). ARCs provide care for seriously wounded or longterm sick soldiers, once they have left hospital. ARCs offer both mental and physical support. Not all soldiers have families that can provide the level of supervision and care needed to help someone who has a long term, serious injury. In addition, if through injury a soldier can’t return to the army, ARCs offer some support in looking at retraining options for a new career. “Help for Heroes was launched in October 2007 to provide direct, practical support to our wounded. The charity is non-political and while it recognizes that we are helpless to prevent war, we can help to improve the lives of those wounded in them. We welcome this terrific fund raising initiative and encourage anyone who wants to do their bit’ for our Servicemen and women to buy the DVD and help our modern heroes by watching the deeds of our past heroes.” Bryn Parry, CEO Help for Heroes. Heroes - The Greatest War Movies Ever! will be released on DVD (£9.99) by Revolver Entertainment on 25th January 2010. Retailing at £9.99, every penny of profit from each copy sold (an average of £7.50 per copy) will go to the Help For Heroes charity.