Page 139 - Mercian Eagle 2013

Brian Billington was elected chairman in his place and unsurprisingly, there was no change anywhere else on the committee.
SANDBACH BRANCH by Dave Beech
The annual trip to Stockport for the
East Cheshire Reunion was made by
13 members, all of whom reported that they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, meeting with old friends and making some new ones of young soldiers from 1 Mercian (Cheshire). Congratulations go to the organisers of this very successful event and our thanks to Stockport Branch for making us so welcome.
On Remembrance Sunday the branch was well represented, Percy Cooke laid
a wreath on our behalf. Following the official parade, we held a short service for members at our memorial garden at the cemetery.
Our annual Christmas Shopping Outing took us to the Meadowhall Centre in Sheffield and most people enjoyed themselves exploring and spending.
A small delegation attended the CRA AGM in Chester and welcomed the new Chairman. Colin Farrington was both surprised and proud to receive a General Peter Martin award for the outstanding commitment and service he has given Sandbach Branch over the years.
SOUTHERN REGION by
George Szwejkowski
Those of us who made the trip north for
the Mons Parade found it was a great disappointment not only for there to be
no march behind a band, but also for the planned Lord Mayor’s review to be aborted.
As usual we were very busy in
early November, first of all supporting
our regimental plot at the Field of Remembrance. Afterwards some of us were fortunate to be invited by Colonel Bob Stewart DSO MP to have lunch in the Palace of Westminster.
On the eve of Remembrance Sunday
we enjoyed our annual visit to the Tower
of London, where we enjoyed a tour of the grounds, hospitality in the Yeoman Warders’ Mess and witnessed the Ceremony of the Keys.
unknown ex-22nd living in the south have rallied to the Southern Region’s standard. Welcome to you all.
The one event that has dominated the early months of the year has been our Meeanee Ladies Dinner, held for the first time in the Victory Services Club. It was an excellent evening, with superb food and wine to go with the equally excellent company. Our thanks once again to Trevor Taylor for pulling all the strings and for the two Lynnes for their
The woman standing nearest to him said, “Sergeant, we’re all waiting for a bus and if you look up, you’ll see that you are standing under the bus stop.”
Reassessing the situation and realising that flexibility was required to keep the situation under control, he announced, “This is an illegal gathering. As soon as the bus arrives, you will disperse on to it and leave the area.”
At that very moment, the No 48 bus arrived, and the crowd,
expert execution of the raffle. We hope that next year we will see even more enjoying this not- to-be forgotten event.
Reassessing the situation and realising that flexibility was required to keep the situation under control...
as instructed, obediently dispersed onto it
and left the area. The patrol then continued on its way across the Londonderry Bridge, safe in the knowledge that peace and order had been restored.
In the middle of April,
we lost a great stalwart
in Harry Conlin. Harry
was a founder member
of the branch and was
always a great supporter. A celebration of his life was held on 9th May in St Mary’s Church near his home in Rye and the number of people who attended was an indication of the regard in which he was held, both within the regiment and in the wider community. Our oldest member, Mr Les Stelfox celebrated his 100th birthday on 5th May, and a surprise birthday lunch took place near his home and was attended by his family and friends and a sizeable contingent from the branch.
STOCKPORT BRANCH
by Gordon H Smith
September 9th 2012 saw us descending on Chester for the annual Mons Day Parade and Reunion. Numbers are reducing year on year and it does make us wonder why so many do not make the effort. After a wonderful service in the Cathedral, we retired to the RHQ area for a first class Buffet Lunch. During the lunch, Brigadier James Percival was the surprised recipient of his Pingat Jasa Medal courtesy of Harold Riley.
An outing in October saw 22 members and their wives attend the Annual Passchendaele Dinner hosted by the Ashton Old Comrades of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment Association. Among our number was Branch Secretary Keith Mort who had been involved in an horrific RTA on the A1 in August and whose
life was saved by the deployment of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (Keith made an appearance on ‘Helicopter Heroes’ the daily TV Programme on BBC TV). He had managed to get a leave pass from Leeds General Hospital for the weekend. He still has a long way to go before he returns to anywhere near full fitness, so we were glad to see him and wish him good luck on his road to recovery.
On to the East Cheshire Reunion and what a great turn out! Good to see so many old faces that night; 170 people sat down to the traditional Cheshire Hotpot supper.
At the AGM there were no changes to our committee; Paul Lomas was appointed as
temporary Secretary until Keith Mort is back in action.
Our annual Ladies Dinner saw 22 ladies of the branch enjoy a superb three course dinner served with aplomb by the nine gentlemen of the branch.
In February, we joined with Macclesfield Branch for their annual Meeanee Service in the chapel at Capesthorne Hall, the home of Colonel Sir William Bromley-Davenport. This was followed by a delicious lunch at the nearby “Flower Pot”. The next week saw a number attend the CRA AGM in Chester,
Remembrance Sunday saw us a little thin on the ground, but we are still very grateful to everyone who supported us, particularly Thomas and Karen Jones who travelled down from Wolverhampton in order to join us for the third year
running. We said hello
to General Sir Charles
Napier as we traversed
Trafalgar Square, and
this time we also tipped
our hats to Edith Cavell
as we entered the
Chandos Public House
for a well-earned lunch.
Led by our energetic
President, we have recently carried out a small recruitment campaign and we are very pleased to report that a number of hitherto
The Inter Services T20 Cricket at Lords was very enjoyable and made more so by having friends in high places (our branch president) which enabled us to enjoy it from the seats of the members’ pavilion.
THE STAND-OFF AT LONDONDERRY BRIDGE by Harry Conlin
On the first tour of Northern Ireland my platoon was given the daunting task of guarding the double decker road bridge that linked the two sides of Londonderry.
Our platoon sergeant, who will remain nameless, read the standing orders and was immediately out on patrol to fulfil this critical task.
As the sergeant spiralled up from the lower deck onto the upper level, he was confronted by a group of people gathering on the bridge. He knew from reading standing orders that public gatherings were not permitted on the bridge and so he immediately took command of the situation. He announced in a loud voice, “This is
an illegal gathering. Disperse now or I will be forced to take action.”
The crowd held their ground and were obviously unwilling to comply with the order. He raised his voice and said again, “THIS – IS – AN – ILLEGAL – GATHERING.
DISPERSE – NOW – OR – I – WILL – BE – FORCED – TO – TAKE – ACTION”.
Led by our energetic President, we have recently carried out a small recruitment campaign...
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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