Culminating
at Dieppe and marking the 70th anniversary of that battle, Guild members Clive
Harris and Julian Whippy with their
Company Battle Honours Ltd, were proud to lead a tour party of 106 Canadians
across North West Europe as the group retraced the steps of their Regiment (The
Essex Scottish) and the Battle Honours it won during the later stages of World
War Two. Perhaps a first for the Guild was the fact that 7 guides were used on
the one tour and 6 were Badged guides!
After
10 days battlefield touring including Groningen, Xanten, Hochwald, The Scheldt,
Nijmegen, Normandy and a day at Ypres the party was joined by the Colonel in
Chief His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent who arrived on HMS
Charger.
Clive
enjoyed the honour of guiding the Prince around Dieppe
and Canadian Guild member Kirk Drew (Captain in the Essex Scottish) conducted a
stand on Red Beach for the Prince, not knowing that
he was later to be informed that he too had passed his final Guild validation
and was to now be a “badged member” –No pressure then!
Clive guiding at Dieppe
Beneath
a blazing sun, superbly orchestrated ceremonies marked the end of the tour at Dieppe on August 19th. As
a Spitfire flew overhead Prince Michael spoke proudly of his Regiment, its
losses and achievements and the locals hugged and kissed the veterans. It was
remembrance in pure form.
Guild
Badged Guides on tour were Clive Harris, Mike Sheil, Terry Webb, Dudley
Giles, Kirk Drew and Julian Whippy.
GBG member Rory Stephens shone throughout as a new guide and is undertaking his
part one soon. Clive and Julian pointed out that it was the Guild that brought
all these Guides together and without it the trip would not have been the
resounding success that it was.
For
those interested some further pictures are available at
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