The Parachute Regimental Association Aldershot Branch Newsletter 11/2014 Charity Number 1125551 Nov 2014 Monthly Meeting The next monthly meeting will take place in the Excelsior Club at 2000hrs on Friday 24th October. This is two weeks early due to the members attending the St Lawrence Jewry service on Friday 7th November and the Halloween Party in the Excelsior Club on Friday 31st October. The meeting after this will be the monthly meeting held on Friday 5th December 2014. Dave Hayward It is with Great sadness that we have to inform you of the death of Branch member Dave Hayward. Dave died at home on Sunday 12th October after suffering from asbestosis for many years. The funeral will be held in the Aldershot Crematorium and the wake will be in the Farnham Golf Club. We do not have any dates or timings at this time. Members will be informed as soon as we receive the information. Our thoughts and prayers go to Dave’s wife and family at this very sad time. Remembrance The Airborne Forces Memorial Service is held on the Friday before Remembrance Service in St Sunday at St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall. This year’s service will take place on Lawrence Jewry Friday 7th November. The service will start at 1130hrs. This event is open to the 7th November wider Regimental family and is not a ticket event. There will be a reception after the service at the Red Herring Pub, Wood Street where a light snack and refreshments will be provided. Members of the Aldershot Branch will be attending this year and will be leaving from Aldershot railway station at 9.30am. We will meet up with other members at Waterloo Station and travel via the Waterloo and City Underground to the Bank Station. This is a direct link with only three stops. Please arrive early to secure a seat in the church. If any member would like to join for the first time please contact the secretary if you require further information. Remembrance There will be a short service at the Aldershot Cenotaph in the Municipal Gardens in Sunday Grosvenor Road at 0930hrs on Sunday 9th November. The Aldershot Branch will be laying a wreath at the Cenotaph. If you are attending the Remembrance Service in the Royal Garrison Church please ensure that you are seated by 1000hrs for a 1045hrs start. As a reminder most seats will be occupied by 1015hrs so if you want a seat please arrive early. The wreath laying will take place after the service and the Aldershot Branch will be laying a wreath. The Garrison Sergeant Major will organise the March Past. Will the members who intend to March please form up after the marching troops. Vehicles displaying “Disabled Person” badges may deliver passengers to the Church door, then park on the Wellington Statue car park, space permitting. All other vehicles may be parked in Willems Avenue, next to the Tesco supermarket, or along one side of either Rushmoor Road or Bourley Road. Please note that Tesco have installed number plate recognition cameras and you are limited to a stay of three hours. The Garrison Sergeant Major WO1 Tom McCabe has very kindly invited all members of the Aldershot Branch to the Garrison Sergeants Mess in New Normandy Barracks after the service. A meal (payable on the day) at a cost of £6 approx will be provided. The total numbers attending the meal must be handed in prior to the day so if you would like to book a meal please notify the secretary so that he can inform the Garrison Sergeant’s Mess. Names must be handed in by Friday 31st October. Songs of Praise on Sunday 9th November will be shown live from the Royal Garrison Church, Aldershot at 1615hrs. Millers Over the last 6 years, Millers Restaurants have collected all year round to pay for Restaurants - serving personnel and veterans to have a free lunch and drink during Remembrance Remembrance week. The next meal will take place at The Anchor Pub in Lower Froyle on Meal Monday 10 November and the aim of this is to allow veterans and serving personnel to mingle. Millers have arranged this event through the Royal British Legion so, where possible, veterans who have helped fundraising events should receive preference for invitations. Associations are invited to send a representative - the address is The Anchor, Lower Froyle, Alton, Hants, GU34 4NA and attendees should arrive by 1145 hrs. If any member would like to attend can you inform me so that I can notify the Anchor Pub our numbers. Christmas Ball This years Christmas Ball will take place in Potters International Hotel on Saturday 13th December. Tickets are £30 per person. A choice of three meals is offered at the Christmas Ball. Please fill in the attached proforma, cut off the bottom section and return it to the secretary along with full payment. All cheques are to be made payable to “Aldershot Branch PRA”. Will members please note that payment must be given at the time of booking as payment and the list will be handed to the Banqueting Suite at Potters at the time of booking the meals. If you would like to sit on a table with other members please state this at the time of booking. We have also been given preferential rates for room bookings which are £55.00 for single and £77.00 for double. Please state at the time of booking the room that you are attending the Christmas Ball and ensure that you are offered these rates. It is always difficult trying to think of new prizes for the raffle, so if any member has a suggestion for a prize, please contact the secretary. If you have any problems or questions please ask. See pages 7 and 8 for further details. Arnhem 70th After parking their cars at St Omer Barracks the thirteen members of the Branch Commemoration departed in a minibus at 0430hrs on Friday 19th September and headed for Dover. Weekend We made very good time but as we neared Arnhem we got held up in traffic as it was going home time. As we still had to put up the tents in the campsite next to the river Rhine in Oosterbeek, this made us too late to attend the Service and Silent March from the John Frost Bridge to the Council Offices. We were up early on Saturday morning and headed to the main drop zone at Ginkelse Heath. Due to the large numbers of people expected to attend the police closed the main road from Arnhem to Ede, so all those driving had to go via Wageningen to Ede. Most of the people had to park a few miles away and walk in. We were fortunate in that Truus Lockhorn and Koos Meijerink who work for the Municipality of Renkum sent us a vehicle pass for the VIP car park at Ginkels Heath. They also arranged for Stuart McLaren, Dave Rashbrook, Gill Rashbrook and Julie Dinsey to be given press jackets which allowed them full access to all areas. This ensured that they were able to take some superb photos. We would like to thank Truus and Koos for their help and assistance. The weather was warm but the trees across the drop zone were covered in fog. The first drop was due in at 1000hrs but an announcement came over the tannoy informing us that the weather at the airport in Eindhoven was fogged off. This raised a few smiles amongst the Brits. The weather didn’t improve in the morning so they decided to proceed with the wreath laying ceremony. Over 50 British and 13 Polish veterans sat under shade in the stands as the service began. One of the veterans present was Private Steve Morgan, 89 who lives in the Cotswolds. He is thought to be the last soldier who left the bridge alive. During the battle he tried to save the Victoria Cross winner Lieutenant John Grayburn, 26 who was badly wounded, but he ordered him to leave and save himself. Steve said: “Coming back brings it all flooding back, it really does. “Lt Grayburn certainly deserved his VC, not for one incident but for so many. He knew he was dying. "He’d been wounded four times and was firing his pistol with his left hand because his right arm was in a sling.” Wreaths were then laid by the British and Polish veterans, the Dutch and many others. After the wreath laying, Lt Col Giles Tim MC, who is the C.O. of 4 Para, gave a moving speech without looking at any notes. He was followed by the Padre, Lt Col Jerry Sutton, who reminded everyone that a popular group wrote a song in 1965, which was 49 years ago. That song was called “Yesterday” and was written and recorded by the Beatles. The first words are “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away”, but the final verse is far more poignant to the veterans with us here today. Those words are “I believe in Yesterday”. He said to the crowd that the veterans sitting in front of them today still believe in yesterday. A huge round of applause rung out and filled the air. Due to the fog the parachuting did not start until 1500hrs. They were hoping to dispatch 1,200, but as they were unable to dispatch any in the morning this number was reduced to 500. I have been informed that to try and ensure that the Commemoration weekend will continue the jump into Arnhem has been designated a NATO Exercise.