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| Autumn 2008 News |
| Monday, 17 November 2008 00:00 | |||
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Collection Success In September we once again completed a 2-day collection at a local ASDA store. We are extremely grateful to the store management for their kind support as well as to the customers. Over the Friday and Saturday, we collected £1,414. We certainly do appreciate our group of loyal and dedicated veteran members who donated their time to stand outside the store for an entire day each, from 10am to 5pm collecting. Sincere thanks to each and every one of you for your support.
Sunset Hill Cemetery Charitable Appeal As all members and friends will know, you recently received a unique story and pictures regarding a wonderful old cemetery in the United States. We decided to support Sunset Hill with a charitable appeal because of its unique collection of veterans’ graves dating back to the American Civil War, and the need for their refurbishment and the creation of a website with research facilities on the cemetery’s ancestry. To date, through the gracious donations from you – members and friends – we hope to be able to send a donation of around $500 to Sunset Hill on your behalf in the very near future. It is not too late. If you haven’t yet sent in a donation towards this most worthy and interesting cause, send your donation today to the AVFW and we can add it to what we’ve already received. Many thanks to you all!
Association President’s New Appointment Nominated by the AVFW, our President, Cllr. Terry Burton, was recently appointed onto the Board of the National Executive Committee of Community matters for a 3-year term. Community Matters is a national organisation that supports and represents all community associations, community halls and centres throughout the country. Cllr. Burton is the London area representative on the Board and recently attended the Annual General meeting and national conference in Leicestershire, where a display table with leaflets and information on the AVFW was provided. This event was followed by a 2-day meeting on a Friday and Saturday in October in Euston, London.
Christmas Dinner Reunion We are pleased to remind everyone that our annual Christmas Dinner/Reunion is set for Monday, December 15th. Further details on the event have be sent to everyone for your reservations, costs, and menu choices, so please return your confirmation as soon as you receive it in the mail. Thank you.
New Year’s Day Parade We are excited that once again we shall be taking part in the annual New Year’s Day parade through London. This is another opportunity to collect funds, so we shall be asking for volunteers to walk along the procession with our collection buckets supported by our veterans’ bus and military vehicle. We shall also be looking for 2 volunteers to carry the banner in front of our procession, so if you have any grandchildren or friends who would care to help and support us on New Year’s Day, do please let us know now. Thank you.
Obituary It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of a truly remarkable gentleman and a very dear friend and supporter, John Frost. John was in the 11th Armoured Division of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. At the age of 24, he was part of a highly mobile supply unit of about 70 men. He landed on Juno Beach on D+5 and was sent in as part of a small advance party to bring in urgently needed supplies. The Pioneer Corps together with German Prisoners of War had cut through the sand dunes to allow them to get their supplies inland. White ribbon markers paved a way for them through the minefields. Once inland, they dug into some fields and protected themselves and their supplies with camouflage netting, under which they had to wait until August. Once on the move, they eventually crossed the Seine, then into Belgium and finally into Antwerp where they were the first soldiers to liberate the city after the Germans had left. They were met and greeted jubilantly by the population. John was also part of the liberation forces of Belsen Concentration Camp. John is famous for John Frost Newspapers. He started collecting in 1930 with news of the R101 Airship Disaster and now has the largest private collection in the world. We recently learned that when John returned home from the war, his mother quickly asked him to do something with the four year’s worth of papers he had asked her to collect (thinking he would only be gone a few months). And so this nation loses another of its unsung heroes from WWII. A number of us attended his funeral in October and we will all miss John very much. We extend our deepest sympathy to his dear wife Annerose, sons Andrew and Peter, and all the Frost family. God bless you all.
65th Anniversary of D-Day At the time of writing we are still in the process of putting together the plans for next year’s last nationally organised pilgrimage to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Altogether, our annual pilgrimage costs in the region of £6,500. As yet, we do not know where we will find the money as many of our charitable benefactors no longer give financial assistance to veterans’ causes and especially overseas trips. This is all quite sad and, when it comes down to it, disrespectful. Nevertheless, it means a lot of hard work in the New Year in arranging public collections and getting members and friends to join in and support us at the collections we manage to arrange. So thank you in advance for your help. We are now drafting the list of those wanting to go to Normandy June 3rd – 8th 2009. If you have not let us know, please do so now.
Fred Field Honour In June this year, Fred Field received the medal of “The Order of Mercy” from Sir Robert Balchin at the Mansion House in the City of London, in the presence of the Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of London.
The League of Mercy was founded on 30th of March 1899 by Royal Charter of Queen Victoria. It was instigated by the Prince of Wales who became its first Grand President. Subsequently two further Princes of Wales (George V and Edward VIII) succeeded him in this office; finally HRH Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester took over. The object of the League was to establish a large body of voluntary workers who would assist with the maintenance of voluntary hospitals and 'otherwise relieve sickness and suffering'. When the 1948 National Health Act abolished these hospitals, the League was quietly wound up after performing its task extraordinarily well for nearly half a century. Central to the annual activities of the League was a notable ceremony at which about fifty people each received a medal known as the Order of Mercy. These were bestowed 'as a reward for personal services gratuitously rendered in connection with the purposes for which the League was established'. The League of Mercy was re-founded as a UK registered charity on 30th March 1999 exactly one hundred years to the day after its first establishment. Congratulations Fred, on receiving such a wonderful honour, and thank you for the many hours of work you do for those in need.
Merchant Navy Annual Service and Wreath Laying Once again this year our president was honoured to be invited to the annual Merchant Navy Service on Tower Hill in London. As always he was able to bring a guest and this year was accompanied by D-Day veteran Jim Smith, and later in the day they met up with Lady Alma Kent. Following a reception in trinity House, they watched the march-past to the music of the Royal Marines, followed by the annual service and wreath laying. The day concluded with speeches and a lunch on board HMS President on the River Thames. The picture shows our President, Cllr. Burton and Lady Alma with Commodore Sir John Ellson and his entourage from the Polish International Brigade. As always, your association was well represented.
Meeting/Event Centre Donation
Following the loss of Veterans Hall in Southgate in August, we are delighted to say that our President, on behalf of the Association, has been offered the free use of a church hall in Finchley for any future use such as our AGM in January and Veterans Day in June next year. This is a truly wonderful offer and we thank our benefactor most sincerely for his extreme kindness and thoughtfulness in recognising the need of our veterans.
War Memorial Dedication On Sunday, November 2nd, the Association attended the re-installation and dedication of an old war memorial in St. James’ Church, New Barnet, Hertfordshire. This lovely wooden memorial, engraved with seven names each highlighted by gold lettering, was originally situated in the offices of the former East Barnet Urban District Council offices. It honours seven employees who lost their lives in WWII. Following the council selling off the old property in the ‘90s, the memorial was placed in safe keeping pending finding a new appropriate home. Our President, after innumerable phone calls and meetings and with the help of the diocese and church elders, secured the new home of St. James’ church. The service was attended by the Mayor of Barnet, Cllr. John Marshall and representative on the Greater London Authority Cllr. Brian Coleman, the Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Barnet, Martin Russell, as well as your President and veterans. And so, those who gave their lives are still remembered, honoured, and not forgotten.
Remembrance Sunday It was a fresh breezy Sunday morning, but at least it stayed dry here in London. This year being the 90th anniversary of the end of WWI, it was certainly a spectacular turnout. There were literally thousands of veterans in attendance in Whitehall; the four lines from the Cenotaph stretched back towards Trafalgar Square. Seven-year-old Sarah took part for the very first time and had her photo taken numerous times by the veterans on parade as she stood there proudly in her uniform and sky blue UN beret, holding the poppy wreath she would hand in at the Cenotaph as we marched past. She also had the honour of wearing posthumously the medals of one “Sapper Lawrence Burton,” Royal Engineers, who was declared missing in action in Greece. His body was never found as they ran down the beach into the sea in a mass evacuation on April 24th 1941. It is always charming to see the joyous camaraderie between veterans of all ages as they meet up at this emotional yet joyous reunion where we remember and honour the many thousands who have given their lives in conflicts throughout the world. It all seems to be over too quick at about 2 hours, and as the thousands then depart home we can only personally reflect on remembrance and await the next Remembrance Sunday in 2009. So until then comrades, “At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them!”
Armistice Day - 11th November 2008 What a spectacular day it was, cold with a brisk breeze, but the sun shone throughout. There we were once again, in Whitehall for Armistice Day. This year it was packed with people, the bands of the Royal Marines, the Grenadier Guards and the Royal Air Force, a choir, and endless lines of the 3 services: Army, Navy, and Air Force.
It was the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I, and gracing the ceremony were the last three survivors of “The War to End All Wars;” Henry Allingham (left) of the Royal Flying Corps, aged 112; the last “Tommy” Harry Patch (centre), aged 110; and William Stone (right) of the Royal Navy, aged 108. They arrived to lay their final personal wreaths to the thousands of comrades who lost their lives. It really was an emotional and moving event on this 90th anniversary.
We were joined this year by a group of pupils from Northside School in Finchley, dressed smartly in their blue school uniforms. They dutifully laid their crosses at the Cenotaph – each cross marked with their own personal messages of thanks – and bowed their heads in honour. We then escorted the pupils over to the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey, where they enjoyed seeing and learning all the various plots containing the thousands of remembrance crosses throughout the field. Well done Northside School. You can be proud of yourselves and we hope it was an experience you will not forget.
New Member –Welcome! We are delighted to welcome a new member, Terry Palmer. Terry served in the RFN – The Rifle Brigade – and spent time in Kenya and Malaya during 1955 – 1957. Some members may know Terry. First, he is a close neighbour to our departed colleague John Frost, so they knew each other well. Secondly, those in the North London area may know Terry from Barnet Market, where he was a stall-holder for some years. Welcome to the Association Terry. We hope you will enjoy the camaraderie of being a member of the AVFW.
Upcoming Events December 4th – School presentation, Saffron Green Primary School, Borehamwood January 1st 2009 - New Years' Day Parade through London
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