New Members
Jo Hook writes:
We welcome the following new members into the Guild:
·
Dan Mills from Powys Wales joins. His interests
are Roman, Saxon, Viking, Norman, Byzantium, Crusades, US Civil War, WW1, WW2
Arnhem Berlin Falklands
·
Mark Spearman from Bishop Steignton joins. His
interests are World War 2 and Cold War
Operation Market Garden -
Veterans Trip
Tonie and Valmai Holt write:
We have received this message from our good friend Frans
Ammerlaan of Arnhem who does so much to keep the flame of memory alive and to
look after the gallant, dwindling band of Market-Garden Vets.
Again Hans Wiggers, Ray Waller (R.B.L. Holland), and myself
have been asked to help organise a veterans London taxi trip to the Netherlands
3 – 6th May 2014. The number of veterans (including some Arnhem and WWII) will
be about 150 – 160 in 80 London cabbies. This time it is open to 'all'
veterans, that means that if you have been serving in the British armed forces
you can come. The 4 May is the national remembrance day and the 5 May is the
national liberation day of the Netherlands. There will be involvement in the
Liberation day at Wageningen where the national military parade takes place
every year. On a smaller scale for those who wish can go to one of the national
or local remembrance ceremonies ( 20.00 hrs. national 2 min silence )
Programme is still under construction but will be +/- :
2 May - Leave London to the night ferry at Harwich
3 May - Arrival early morning Hook of Holland – trip to
Overloon, Dutch National War and Resistance museum – lunch and visit there –
trip to check inn hotel Arnhem
4 May – Short trip to Arnhem to go on a river rhine cruise
and visit ( passing under ! ) the bridges at Arnhem ( the one to far ) and
Nijmegen and if time Dutch / Germany border.
party will be back at Arnhem around 19.00 hrs. then a local
remembrance service for those who wish.
5 May – By coach from Arnhem hotel to Wageningen to take
part / or see national liberation day there.
6 May - return to Hook of Holland – ferry with service on
sea. – back Harwich – London.
The whole trip is free to veterans and will include full
accommodation at the Arnhem Papendal sports Hotel, (breakfast,lunches and
dinner)
The money has been collected by veterans themselves with the
help of the London Taxi Benevolent Fund who organise this trip.
The only thing for the veteran to do is to come to London,
details follow later.
So if you know a 'veteran' who would like to come on this
trip please let me know, maybe yourself if you served?
Regards Frans Ammerlaan, treasurer of the Market Garden
Foundation Arnhem
Address: Susterenhof no. 15 6845 DC Arnhem the Netherlands
tel : 0031263812923 mob.: 0031622203573 E.mail frans@marketgarden.com
Ypres Tornado
Chris Lock writes:
On the 25th January a small tornado struck Ypres causing a
significant amount of damage. For full details and pictures see - http://gbg-international.blogspot.co.uk/
Riding the Old Front Line
John Greenacre writes:
In August this year a small band of determined men and women
will be cycling the length of the Western Front to commemorate the Centenary of
the outbreak of the First World War. Several Guild members are taking part in
‘Riding the Old Front Line’; John Greenacre, Ian Coyne, Richard Burgess, Jo
Hook, Rob Webb and Keith Dolan are all cycling and Sean Cripps is heading up
the support crew.
The event will take place between 2nd and 10th August 2014.
The cycle ride will be covering 475 miles from Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast
to Pfetterhouse on the Franco-Swiss border over the course of 7 days, with a
rest day at Verdun in the middle. The ride ends by going over the Vosges
Mountains.
‘Riding the Old Front Line’ will be raising money for two
charities, The Lord Kitchener Memorial Holiday Centre in Lowestoft and
Gardening Leave an organisation that helps ex-servicemen cope with mental
trauma through gardening. There is a MyDonate page for the event currently
linked to the Kitchener charity but all donations will be split between the two
charities. https://mydonate.bt.com/events/oldfrontline/112390
Lady Emma Kitchener and her husband, Lord Fellowes of West
Stafford (Julian Fellowes of Downton fame) are patrons of the event. We have
received great sponsorship from Anglia Tours Ltd, who are paying for our
cycling kit, University Campus Suffolk which is providing a vehicle for the
support crew and New Adventure Travel who are transporting us to the start
point and picking us up from Pfetterhouse to bring us home. Guild member Frank
Toogood produced our excellent logo.
You can follow the progress of the event and our training
via our:
Website - http://oldfrontline.angliatours.co.uk/
Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/oldfrontline
Twitter - https://twitter.com/OldFrontLine
Although we have a full complement of cyclists we still need
two or three people to join our support crew. This is a great chance to see the
entire Western Front and those areas that not many of us visit very often and
contribute to some worthwhile money raising. Anyone wishing to join our support
crew must be free for the entire event 2-10 Aug 14 and be willing and able to
drive on the continent. Vehicles have been sourced but anyone volunteering
should be aware that all team members are paying for food and accommodation
during the event and making a contribution towards fuel costs. If you are
interested please contact John Greenacre – john_greenacre@hotmail.com , Ian
Coyne – Ian.Coyne@angliatours.co.uk
or Sean Cripps – Sean.Cripps@angliatours.co.uk
asap.
The Battle of Bouvines 27
July 1214 and the Magna Carta
Frank Baldwin writes:
Professor John France
A lecture and sandwich lunch 12.30-2.00pm Tuesday 18
February 2014
Hosted by The Fusiliers Museum London in the Officer's Mess
of The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers HM Tower of London
The battle of Bouvines is probably the most important battle
that people have never heard of. This battle which took place outside Lille in
Flanders, ended the 12 year war between England and the Holy Roman Empire, and
France. The relatively unknown battle had far reaching results for the history
of France and England. It was this battle which led King John to negotiate with
the Barons and sign the Magna Carta.
Professor John France teaches War Studies at Swansea
University. He works on the history of warfare and crusading and has written
several books and many articles on the subject of the warfare of the era.
Our hosts will be the Fusiliers Museum and the event includes a sandwich lunch,
a glass of wine and the opportunity to network in the exclusive surroundings of
the Fusiliers mess in HM Tower of London.
Booking via this Just Giving Page http://www.justgiving.com/Bouvines1214
IGBG London Lunch Friday
March 21st
Andy Thompson writes:
First call for lunch at the Union Jack Club (adjacent to
Waterloo Station) on March 21st 12:00 for 13:00.
Please contact Andy Thompson at info@eyewitnesstours.com or call
01306 880960 to reserve your place.
An excellent venue to both socialise and network with
like-minded people.
Deepcut Event 8th February
Alison Hine writes:
The Deepcut event of Saturday 8 February is full and there
is a waiting list. Please would all those planning to attend the event
pay in advance by BACS if at all possible (details are in the Admin
Instructions on the Guild website). Otherwise cheques will be collected
on arrival but it is hoped these may be kept to a minimum.
Help Wanted
Secretary writes:
I have received the following request from Lesley Davies
which members may be able to help with:
I am writing from TV Production company Twenty Twenty. We’re
working with the BBC to create a children’s TV series looking at the First
World War.
As a brief summary, The Big Performance 3 will take six
youngster aged between 10 and 14 and trace their ancestors First World War
stories. It will be presented by choirmaster Gareth Malone, so we’d like the
children to have a love of singing, and as they learn about their ancestors
experiences, they’ll use this knowledge to write a song for a final big
performance in August. The series will be part of the BBC’s WWI centenary
programming, and the kids will get to do all sorts of First World War
activities – including a trip to Belgium or France.
We’re only a week into the programme, and before we head
into schools to hold our auditions, I’ve been tasked with finding some children
whose ancestors experiences are particularly interesting or well documented. I
was wondering if you might be able to speak to your tour guides to see if they
remember any children within this age bracket whose ancestry had a particularly
interesting story, or perhaps brought something really interesting with them on
tour.
I hope that makes sense, but if you have any further
questions please don’t hesitate to give me a call on 0203 301 7873.
Centenary Medals
Secretary writes:
I have received a request from the Tower Mint to introduce
members to a World War 1 Remembrance Medal which the company is producing and
which may be of interest to guides who want to give their clients a souvenir of
their tour. The medal which can be seen on the company's website at http://www.towermint.co.uk/Shop/product/58
is of good quality and is available to the Guild in minimum quantities of 50 at
£4.26 each (inclusive of VAT and postage). If you are interested in ordering
any please let me know and I will see if we can build up a composite
order.
Royal Navy in the D Day
commemorations
Mike Peters writes:
Members may be interested to see what the Royal Navy is
going to be doing for the 70th Anniversary commemorations this year - see http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/News-and-Events/Latest-News/2014/January/29/140129-Normandy-landings
News from Kenya
James Wilson writes:
Following a meet with the Governor of the recently created
Taita Taveta County (under the new Constitution of Kenya where a devolved
system of Government is now in place), the Governor expressed an interest
that the start of the East African Campaign should be commemorated in Taita
Taveta County. The proposed date is 15th August 2014, being the
centenary of the morning that the then British District Commissioner, Mr Hugh
La Fontein, fired the first shot in anger at a German led invasion column
entering the British East African frontier border town of Taveta from German
East Africa. This marked the start of the WW1 land campaign in East Africa. The
country around Taveta was the only British territory that the Germans
controlled during WW1 until they were driven out by General Smuts in 1916.
There are in this area a number of interesting battle
grounds/skirmish sites, forts and CWGC Cemeteries (Including a VC won in the
area) that are easily accessible from several safari lodges that dot the
county and also adjacent to and within Tsavo West National Park. Besides
a battlefield tour, good wildlife viewing is also available, while the
beautiful Kenya coast line, with its fabulous beaches, resorts and water sports
facilities are just a few hours south.
I would like to suggest Kenya safaris, taking in these sites
to members of the Guild and interested tour companies, especially when I
believe Europe is going to be overrun with people visiting the sites there,
while Kenya Battlefields Safaris can offers a new, virtually
undiscovered, forgotten corner of the British Empire that stood up against the
Germans.
To date I have guided several high profile groups on 3 to 7
day Battlefield ordinated tours, with the extra interest of Kenya’s wildlife, a
perfect experiences for the battlefield specialists and the less interested
spouses or partners, who just wish to enjoy the African bush.
It would be great to have the Guild members more aware of
the East Africa campaign and how it developed into a ‘Guerrilla war’ amongst
the zoo that was the African battlefields.
Reactions from Guild members would be appreciated.
BBC News
·
Doodlebugs 'diverted' to Kent and Sussex to save
London - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25878273
·
New Bradford war memorial unveiled - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-25886010
·
Sapper's photographs of Flanders are found by
grandson - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25869896
·
World War One's financial crisis - parallels
with 2008 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25882943
·
Lancashire Fusiliers Gallipoli Victoria Cross
sought by museum - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-25940865
·
Huddersfield's Holocaust memorial site to be
announced - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-25957611
·
Greenham Common control tower funding for
refurbishment - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-25958064
Best Regards
Tony Smith
Guild Secretary
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