Annual Reunion and Christmas Dinner

Our annual get together this year was held at the Comfort Hotel in Enfield, Middlesex. Along with members present were family, friends and special guests including the Deputy Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Richard Cornelius and his wife Alison the Deputy Mayoress.

After our customary prayer and act of remembrance to fallen comrades, the ensemble commenced with the traditional toasts to her Majesty the Queen and others.

A delightful three course dinner was then served, for which there were many compliments. This was followed by a fabulous cabaret where once again we were delighted to be entertained by ‘Sing-a-Long Bobby’ who was with us last year and had travelled all the way from Christchurch in Dorset to be with us. Bobby, as usual, entertained us well with songs from the World War II era through to the 50’s-60’s plus songs from the shows.

The evening was concluded with our usual complimentary raffle which was the biggest ever. We were extremely grateful to the many, many prizes that had been donated by many people. So here’s to next December’s reunion. Happy New Year everyone!

Carol Service in Honour of Our Troops

On Saturday 15 December Jim Wilkinson and Jane Bamber braved the freezing cold to show support to troops at a special Christmas Carol service held in the picturesque grounds of Forty Hall.

The Leader of Enfield Council, Cllr Rye said: “It was a magnificent response from so many residents who turned out on such a cold night to show support to those troops who have been prepared to put their lives on the line, in order to defend our freedom”.

“We want this to be a celebration of the fact that this country is lucky to have so many brave men and women who are prepared to put their lives on the line, in order to defend our freedom”.

“It’s especially poignant at this time of the year when so many of their comrades are spending Christmas away from their loved ones and families. “

“It was a wonderful night and it was so good to see a whole cross section of the community turn out, from Second World War veterans to young families with their children. The whole night made me proud to be British and from Enfield.”

Jim, as a Second World War veteran, was warmly welcomed by the hosts and introduced to the Mayor of Enfield, Cllr Don Delman.

Soldiers from various regiments with local links, including troops from the B Company, the Coldstream, Scots and Welsh Guards, The London Regiment (TA), (which continues the 

traditions of The Middlesex Regiment), and their families, were joined by members of the Royal Artillery band. Some troops at the carol service had taken time out of special leave after seeing active service in Afghanistan and Iraq. They came from all over London, including Lewisham, Edgware, Stanmore and Wellington Barracks in central London.

Jeremy Clarkson and his wife Francis, who are founders and Patrons of Help for Heroes Campaign said: “We are proud and delighted to support this event in aid of Help for Heroes and are thrilled that the organisers have chosen such a worthy cause.

New Year’s Day Parade

Bright and early on Tuesday 1 January 2008, a small group of young, enthusiastic children, their parents and one Veteran, John Frost – who was quite the part, wearing all his polished medals – set off to take part in the Annual New Year’s Day Parade in London.

We all travelled in our association minibus to Westminster in good time to enjoy the excitement building to fever pitch as some of the participants made the last minute finishing touches to their decorative floats in time for the Parade. The crowds were out in force as the Parade commenced along Whitehall, around Trafalgar Square, up Regents Street and along part of Piccadilly.

All of us taking part joined the long procession with our collection buckets, and we were delighted to see such support for the Association for Veterans of Foreign Wars. We had a thoroughly enjoyable day and would encourage anyone interested in taking part in a colourful and exciting day to let us know in time for next year’s parade on 1 January 2009. By way of thanks for participating in this memorable day all participants were presented with a special New Year’s Day medal.

Vietnam War Mia Identified

It was announced by the United States Department of Defence that the remains of a United States Air Force pilot, missing in action from the Vietnam War had been identified and was returned to his family for burial with full military honours. He was Major John L. Carroll, US Air Force of Decatur, Georgia. He was buried on 13 November 2007, at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

On 7 November 1972, Major Carroll was flying a Forward Air Controller mission over X Langkhoang Province, in Laos, when his O-1G Bird Dog aircraft was hit by enemy ground fire and forced to land.

Once on the ground, he radioed the search - and - rescue (SAR) helicopter on his intent to stay in the aircraft. Two SAR helicopters attempted to rescue him, but intense enemy fire forced them to depart the area.

A second pick up was attempted later, but the pilot of that helicopter could see that Major Carroll had been fatally wounded.

The recovery of Major Carroll’s body was unsuccessful due to nearby enemy forces that opened fire on any rescue attempt.

In 1993, a joint US/ Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR) team, led by the joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), investigated the incident and surveyed the crash site. During that site survey, the team found small fragments of aircraft wreckage. Between 1996 and 2007, joint US/LPDR/ Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, led by JPAC conducted several interviews with local people concerning the incident. One witness provided the team with identification items which belonged to Major Carroll. In another interview, a former Officer of the Peoples Army of North Vietnam turned over some of Major Carroll’s personal effects and told the team that local residents had indeed buried the body of Major Carroll. Another witness was also able to later lead the team to the site of his grave. In 2007, a joint team excavated the burial site and found his remains.

Welcome New Members

We are delighted to welcome first:

Albert Coad. Albert is a spritely 93 year old who achieved the rank of Sergeant Major 

with the “Iron Fist” Rifle Brigade. Among his many medals Albert was decorated with the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) in 1941 after saving two riflemen, a woman and a lieutenant from a minefield in the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia by using a small hand cart to go into the minefield three times.

Welcome Albert, you are true old soldier whom we are deeply honoured to have as a member.

Secondly, we welcome also Robert Clark, Robert served in the 8^th Army from 1939 to 1943 and was in North Africa and Greece. We are proud to have one of Monty’s men with us. Welcome Robert.

Funny Signs & Stories

In the vestry of a church: Will the last person to leave please see that the perpetual light is extinguished.

In a cemetery: Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.

Paid in Full

A woman was getting swamped with calls from strangers. The reason? A billing service had launched an 0800 number that was identical to hers.

When she called to complain, she was told to get a new number.

“I’ve had mine for twenty years,” she pleaded. “Couldn’t you change yours?”

The company refused, so she said, “Fine. From now on, I’m going to tell everyone who calls that their bill is paid in full.” The company got a new number the next day.

Scrimping and saving

After years of scrimping and saving, a husband told his wife the good news: “Love, we’ve finally saved enough money to buy what we started saving for in 1999.”

“You mean a brand-new Mercedes?” she asked eagerly.

“No,” said the husband, “a 1999 Mercedes.”

Would you be scared?

An American teacher was trying to get his seventh-grade history class to understand how the Indians must have felt when they first encountered the Spanish explorers.

“How would you feel,” he asked, “if someone showed up on your doorstep who looked very different, spoke a strange language and wore unusual clothes? Wouldn’t you be a bit scared?”

“No,” one boy answered, “I’d just figure it was my sister’s date.”

Normandy 2008

We are pleased to announce that from current early negotiations that that we shall be undertaking our annual pilgrimage to Normandy from 3-8 June this year. We are especially pleased that the school our President is currently talking to has some of the pupils who sadly missed out on the trip 3 years ago and were deeply disappointed. We are please that these 4 youngsters have been put on a priority list to hopefully go with us this year.

Welcome Jane

We would like to introduce our new office manager Jane who started with us in November 2007. Jane used to be Civic Events Officer in the Mayor’s office so is used to organising events, fund raising, giving office support and much more.

Jane is working with us part time and if you phone the office she can usually be found there on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays between the hours of 9.30am -3pm. Welcome Jane.