General Information

On Sunday the 7th September some of our members joined other veterans from such organisations as the Aylesbury RBL,  Royal Green Jackets Association, Conservative club and the Ex Service Club for a coach trip to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire organised by yours truly,

Although the weather forecast didn't look good and more rain was threatened, we only had a sharp shower on arrival and the rest of the day was fine with sunny spells. The only one to get wet in the initial shower was our coach driver Mark Lewis (serves him right  for being an ex Snow Drop). Seriously though many thanks to Mark who arranged and drove the coach for us providing his driving services free of charge.

The day started off with the daily memorial service which takes place in the small chapel on site which features the last post,  and two minutes silent etc. We took two standards with us, the RNA standard was paraded by Shipmate Tom Spurrier and the RBL Standard by myself,

We then set out in our own small groups to visit the many memorials on site. Unfortunately the area beyond the main memorial, which is dedicated to all those who have lost their lives in action since the end of the second world war was out of bounds due to flooding, but apart from this there was plenty to see and everybody seemed to enjoy the day.

When we got back to Aylesbury a buffet was laid on at the Ex Service Club, and also a raffle was held with Terry Burrows winning the first prize of a bottle of whisky. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the William Harding Trust in Aylesbury who sponsored the trip, and thank all those who came with us and made the day a success, We also managed to raise £180.00 which will be split between the Royal British Legion Poppy appeal via the RBL Motorcycle branch , and the Branch funds of the Aylesbury  RBL

Topsy Turner

Branch Webmaster