Balkans. Mentioned in Despatches in 1983 and commended for gallantry in 1990, he was made MBE in 1992 and elevated to OBE in 1996 for service in Bosnia. Leaving the Army in 1999, Patrick was the Defence correspondent for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme which took him to the Balkans and East Timor. Moving from there to be the prospective parliamentary candidate for Newark in 2000, he worked as a freelance journalist - principally for The Daily Telegraph.
In 2001, Patrick took the Labour-held seat of Newark converting a Labour majority of 3000 to a Conservative majority of just over 4000. Whilst not unique, this was a pretty remarkable achievement on a day when Conservative victories were few and far between. Following the tragedy of 11th September 2001, Patrick served on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee and then moved into the Tory Defence Team where he acted as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Defence Secretary during the second Gulf War. He held the unique front bench post of Shadow Minister for Homeland Security between June 2003 and March 2007. This job was designed to underline the Government’s incoherent approach to the preparation of this country for a terrorist attack. At home in Newark and Retford, Patrick is faced with the difficulties of a constituency which has depended, in the past, on agriculture and manufacturing. With both sectors in decline, it is crucial that the area reconfigures its industry towards the service sector. This is the challenge for Newark and Retford and Patrick looks forward to continuing to assist his constituents with this transition.
Col Bob Stewart DSO
awarded the DSO. His last international appointment was as Chief of Policy at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium and he left the Army in 1996. For three years, he was Senior Consultant for Public Affairs at Hill & Knowlton (UK) Ltd. In 1998, he became Managing Director of WorldSpace (UK) Ltd with responsibility for establishing satellite broadcasting worldwide. For the past eight years, he has been a freelance writer, broadcaster and lecturer. He has been involved in politics, in one way or another, for a long time, having met and/or briefed every prime minister since Ted Heath in the early 1970’s. In the Army, all his staff posts were either in the Ministry of Defence or at NATO headquarters where day-to-day life was highly political. After the Army, he was a political consultant dealing with Westminster for three years. He has spoken five times at various Conservative Party conferences - including opening the main Defence debate.
National Chairman The Royal British Legion
We are pleased to note that John Farmer, late The Sherwood Foresters, has been elected National Chairman of The Royal British Legion. Born in Derby, John left school at 16 to work in the mining industry. He enlisted in the 1st Battalion in 1958 and served in Malaya, Singapore and Northern Ireland; he left the Army in 1965. Further details of his career can be found in the Spring 2010 issue of Legion Extra.
Royal British Legion
Maj John Varley, late WFR, was elected President of the Corsham Branch of The Royal British Legion on 11th November 2009.
29th Luncheon Club (South)
Bob comes from a Service background. His mother was a Special Operations Executive operative and his father was a Signaller in RAF Bomber Command during WWII. They met and married in Germany and his father became a regular RAF officer in peacetime. He spent his early childhood with them at RAF stations in the UK and Middle East before being sent away to boarding school. Red/green colour blind he was not able to follow his father into the RAF’s Flying Branch so joined the Army. After RMA Sandhurst, he became an infantry officer and joined The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment. In 1974, the Army selected him to go to the University of Wales as an in-service degree officer where he took a First. In total, he completed over three years on operational tours in Northern Ireland. In 1992/3, he was British United Nations Commander in Bosnia, as a result of which, he was
92 October 2010
The 29th Luncheon club meets on Sunday 7th November 2010 at the White Hart Hotel, Salisbury, to commemorate Gheluvelt Day. Please email Peter Holmes at ph4380@
hotmail.com for details.
Worcestershire Regiment Cap Badge
The post-1923 Worcestershire Regiment cap badge is now on sale at £10 each including post & packing from The Worcestershire Regiment Museum, Dancox House TA Centre, Pheasant Street, Worcester WR1 1EE. Please make your cheque payable to “The Worcestershire Regiment Museum”.
ABF The Soldiers’ Charity
The following message has been received from Maj Gen Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter KCVO OBE DL Chief Executive of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity:
“We are very concerned at the growing need of soldiers, former soldiers and their families. We are seeing a 30% increase of new cases and many of them are related to a much younger age group. We also know that conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will lead to a bow wave of demand in the next
ten years. Affordability has constrained our giving more to other ex-service charities. All this is against a backcloth of a declining economic situation where it is becoming clear that charities will have to take a greater share of the benevolence load. This is why we have set ourselves an ambitious target of increasing our annual fundraising from £7 million per year currently to £14 million annually by 2015.
As part of our revised strategy, we are changing our brand. The new brand, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, will be a springboard for continued success and growth. To continue to be the principal soldiers’ charity, we must evolve. We must move with the times and begin responding even more purposefully to the growing needs of our soldiers, supporters and volunteers. Our vision is to continue to be the leading charity in our field and be foremost in the minds of soldiers should they ever need help. Quite simply, we have to grow and become more visible in order to meet an increasing need. It is a new beginning and a very exciting one. I urge you to join us with this challenge.
Please visit
www.soldierscharity.org to find out more about the many ABF The Soldiers’ Charity events. We are a truly national charity with a multi-regional focus and we offer many opportunities for you to volunteer and participate in in your local area. Everything you do to help ABF The Soldiers’ Charity makes a difference, no matter how small. Finally, a sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us in the past, supports us now and to those who will support us in the future: your support is invaluable.”
ABF The Soldiers’ Charity is very important to us as a Regiment as we derive a great deal of benefit from it but please also remember that charity begins at home – your regimental charities need your support as well.
WFR – Regimental Oil Painting
It is proposed to commission an oil painting in memory of Captain Sean Dolan who was killed in action whilst deployed on Op Herrick 6. He served in 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment for 20 years before being commissioned into the Regiment. A larger than life character who was Mentioned in Dispatches and who was instrumental in the development and mentoring of so many, his death was a huge blow to the Regiment.
Sean was the last Officer to be killed prior to the formation of The Mercian Regiment and he is the only Regimental Officer killed in action since the Korean War; it is felt that his memory should be reflected by a permanent fixture within the Officers’ Mess. Those wishing to donate towards this worthwhile project are asked to contact Capt Doug Hallam on
ajhallam880@yahoo.co.uk for
The Mercian Eagle
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