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THE MERCIAN EAGLE
Cheshire Regiment Association
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Only 42 members of the Cheshire Regiment Association braved the winter weather to attend the Annual General Meeting in the Regimental Club in late February.
The meeting was opened by the President Brigadier John Donnelly who gave a comprehensive overview of the state of the Mercian Regiment and in particular,
the 1st Battalion before announcing that
as his tenure as Deputy Colonel (Cheshire) was now over, he was handing over the post of President to Brigadier Ian Cave, the new Deputy Colonel. As Brigadier Cave is currently on an Operational Tour, he agreed to act as President until his return. Sadly, Peter Gresty also announced his retirement as Chairman and announced that Lt Col David Oak MBE had agreed to take on the appointment.
There was not much to discuss in
the way of business and at the end of
the meeting, the recipients of the Major General Peter Martin Award, for outstanding contribution to the work of the CRA at Branch level were announced. They were Mr Colin Farrington of Sandbach, Mr Gordon Smith of Stockport and Mr George Szwejkowski of Southern Region Branch. The awards were presented jointly by the old and new Chairmen.
The President then presented Major John Holden TD with an award for service
and commitment to the CRA. A further President’s Award was made to Mr Ken Cooper of Limavady Branch who was not present to receive it.
NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE CRAMC
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret’d) David Oak MBE served in the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment from August 1961 until April 1989. He then served as a NRPS officer at HQ 42 (NW) Bde from January 1992 until retirement in January 2005. He also served as an ACF
officer with Lancashire Army Cadet Force from March 2000 until January 2010 and was awarded the MBE in the 2005 New Year’s Honours List for services to the cadet movement throughout the North West region.
BALLYKELLY – 30th ANNIVERSARY
6th December 2012 was the 30th Anniversary of the Droppin Well Bomb which was the worst disaster to hit the 22nd since World War 2. On 9th December well over 50 former Cheshire soldiers joined with relatives of those killed or wounded to travel
to Ballykelly where, with many local people who also lost loved ones in the bombing, they attended an ecumenical memorial service in Limavady Parish Church and then laid wreaths at the Droppin Well Memorial in the churchyard.
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