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CONNAUGHT CLUB UPDATE
On the 19th September, a team of Connaught Club members and friends came together for a sponsored bike ride to raise funds for The Royal British Legion and The Wiltshire Barn Project. Team member, W. Bro Gregory Brennan, takes up the story….
I
n the early hours of 19th of September, we all assembled
outside UGLE. We had set ourselves an arduous task, hoping to commemorate the centenary of the Great War and raise money for two Forces charities. Our aim was to cycle 190km from UGLE to the Menin Gate in Belgium in less than 36 hours. We began early, hoping to miss the London traffic and shorten the distance between ourselves and Dover. We got as far as Sidcup before a coffee was needed, knowing that the next few hours would be spent navigating the undulating South Downs. There having been an impressive storm the night before, the roads and lanes were strewn with detritus, causing us an unhelpful 11 punctures! However, fuelled by good spirits, nuts, raisins and horrible tasting energy bars, we arrived in Dover after a very long day. Unfortunately during day one, having to swerve a throttle-happy driver, one cyclist crashed with a nasty cut which we had to bandage. Upon reaching Dover it became
clear that the cut was going to need stitches, so whilst the rest of the
party refuelled and slept, two of our number sat patiently in the local A&E until the early hours of the morning. Although they hadn’t enjoyed the rest like others, their stoicism shone through and we all boarded the ferry for Dunkirk the next morning. From there we had a race on our hands. Although it glad that we didn’t have to contend with hills like the day before, we still had to cover the 60km journey in just a few hours so that we would reach the Menin Gate in time for the ceremony. Thankfully we did it with a little time to spare, completing our task in a little less than 35 hours. After arriving in Ypres, we made
our way to the magnificent Menin Gate. The ceremony we witnessed there was a humbling one. Although none of us were ignorant of the losses that occurred during the great war, to see even a small fraction of them represented in stone was quite hard hitting. We spent some time exploring the Gate, reading the names represented and then wrote a short message in the Book of Remembrance. The next day we
visited the Flanders Fields Museum, a sharp reminder of the futility of war, serving to underline the sacrifices made and that we will always remember them. As of the beginning of December,
the Ypres Cycle ride has raised £3,000 for the Royal British Legion and The Wiltshire Barn Project. Should anyone wish to donate to The Connaught Club’s Ypres cycle effort they can do so via
www.justgiving.com/Lewis- Clement or sending a cheque to Lewis Clement at The Connaught Club c/o MetGL, PO Box 29055, London, WC2B 5UN
WINTER 2014
The Operation Ypres Team. 31
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