Coventry
by Peter Jones The Coventry Branch started life as a Branch of The Worcestershire Regiment Association and is still going strong even though under the umbrella of The Mercian regiment Association. The Branch was formed in March 1949 by Peter Jones upon his release from service. Now in its 61st year, Peter has been the Standard Bearer for 51 years and President for the past 10 and, on 9th October at the AGM, he became one of six members of WFRA to receive the Merit Award for his service to the Association. Peter is also Secretary of the Coventry Ex-Servicemen’s Standard Bearers’ Association whose membership can count on the service of 18 standard bearers; throughout the year, the members attend parades and, sadly, funerals in Warwickshire and the surrounding area.
Coventry Branch often receives invitations from the Veterans Club of the Warwickshire County Regiment to join them at their social events and many a friendship has been made here. Earlier in 2010, the branch members made a donation of £50 from branch funds to support the Help the Heroes Charity. The Branch meet regularly at the Nursery Tavern in Coventry, run by Harry Minten, a former Sherwood Forester, and are looking forward to Christmas Dinner that will be attended by members and their ladies.
This year, members attended the annual service at Whitley Common, Coventry, an important event in the town’s calendar; it is held in memory of six young soldiers who were killed whilst defusing an unexploded bomb in 1940. Also, they attended a special service of remembrance to commemorate the lives of local servicemen killed whilst serving in Afghanistan.
The nearby town of Bedworth hosts the annual Armistice Day Service and a large contingent of ex-service personnel and branch standards take part in the parade; in the past, this was organised by Frank Parsons but, following his retirement, Jim Nicholson - formerly Parachute Regiment member - has taken over. The Branch also attended the Armistice Parade held at the War Memorial Park, Coventry.
Derby
by Alan Derbyshire The Derby Branch send their congratulations and best wishes to Lt Col Keith Seddon on his appointment to the post of Assistant Regimental Secretary at Foresters House, Nottingham.
Branch members were told of the sad news of the passing of Henry Scott, in late January. Henry was one of our last surviving Branch members who had served with the Regiment during World War 2. He was well liked and respected and members of the Branch together with the Branch Standard attended his final parade which took place at Surbiton, Surrey. We record also the passing of Mrs Joyce Bowmer, wife of Maj Ken Bowmer. Nine members of the Branch attended her funeral and we extend our deepest condolences to Maj Bowmer.
Derby Branch has had a successful year. A three day campaign was launched in Burton-on- Trent by a small group of ex-servicemen to raise funds for Forces’ charities and comfort boxes for troops serving in Afghanistan. Members involved were Ron Harper and his wife, Joyce, Jean Yeomans and Peter Sherriff and, from the Derby Branch, George Godfrey and Dave Dakin. Due to their efforts and the generosity of the public, the magnificent sum of £2,440 was raised and an additional donation of £100 was received from the Edgehill Football Club. The
money was divided between Headley Court and Selly Oak (£500 each) with the remaining £1540 being donated to the 2nd Battalion’s Soldiers’ Fund. 250 comfort boxes were made up and, with the aid of the Branch members, despatched to the 2nd Battalion. The Branch had previously sent 80 parcels to the Battalion, the contents of which were obtained by Keith Ford from a generous Ripley shopkeeper. The proceeds from our annual coffee morning event enabled us to donate £100 to Troop Aid added to which was an individual donation of £40 from Bill Daykin and his son. The Mayor of Derby, Councillor Sean Marshall, visited the event and spent a considerable amount of time talking to visitors.
With the closure of the Sherwood Foresters Public House, our Crich buffet lunch was held at the Rolls Royce Club, the venue where our meetings are held. We had an excellent buffet which was enjoyed by all members. Our friends from across the Pond in the USA, The Sherwood Foresters Re-Enactment Group, have kindly sponsored a flower tub at Crich and they have also sent a donation to the Crich Memorial Tower Fund bringing the total donations from them to over £500. In the weeks before the Crich Pilgrimage weekend, Roy Crump and Dennis Brown gave up much of their time to assist at Crich helping the Warden in preparing the site; it was much appreciated and they did a great job. As a gesture of thanks for his hard work and dedication to the Association, we invited Andy McDougall from RHQ as a guest to our Annual Dinner. For the second year, Tony Cooper excelled himself in organising the Dinner and we cannot thank him enough for taking on board this very time-consuming task. Although Tony is soon due to move home and go up North, he says that, whenever possible, he will attend meetings and will continue to organise the Dinner. The raffle was an outstanding success with Dennis Brown seemingly finding a new vocation as an Auctioneer. Ronnie Smith did us proud with the Silver, presenting it highly polished. We thank Darren Crump for again producing Derby Branch place mats.
Over the past year, we have welcomed into the Branch the following new members: Paul Derbyshire, Cliff Ammat, Leighton Fuller, Mark Brocklesby, Dave Phillips, Ken Wilkinson, Trevor Henchcliffe, Bill Daykin, Dave Dakin, Mick Mason, Steve Dobb, Victor Harrison, Peter Wood, Richard Coles and Michael Mead. Unfortunately, because of his impending move to North Wales, we will be losing Ron Fletcher. We thank Ron for his support and wish both him and his wife, Jacqueline, all the very best for the future. The Branch Committee would like to thank all members and their ladies for yet another year of excellent support; without them, there would be no Branch.
Peter Jones 144 October 2010
From top to bottom: The ladies at the Derby Branch WFRA Dinner December 2009 The Gentlemen at the Derby Branch WFRA Dinner December 2009 Paul Derbyshire, Ronnie Smith, Dave Licence, Brian Smith, Alan Derbyshire, and Andy McDougall at the Derby Branch WFRA Annual Dinner
The Derby Branch welcomes new members and meets on the first Friday of the month at the Rolls Royce Club, Osmaston Road, Derby. The meeting starts at 1945hrs. Any reader who wishes to learn more is asked to contact Alan Derbyshire or Ronnie Smith via RHQ Foresters House.
The Mercian Eagle
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