Page 5 - Devon and Dorset 2024

THE DEVONSHIRE AND DORSET REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 3
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF
THE REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION
A warm welcome to the 2025 Newsletter.
2024 was a busy year of Association activity,
not least to mark the 80th anniversaries
of the battles of Kohima, Normandy and
Arnhem. The monthly page-turnings in
Exeter Cathedral and Sherborne Abbey bear
witness to the immense sacrifice of both our
parent Regiments. In late June, Steve Keane
led a strong party from the Association to
Normandy to commemorate that campaign
and to visit the key sites and memorials, at
Asnelles (Gold Beach) and Hill 112. I commend
to you the account and photos that appear
later in the Newsletter. We were also well
represented across the counties at the
annual Remembrance events, and at the
Cenotaph. As I look out of the window at the
freezing January rain, I can only imagine what
it must have been like, fighting on the lower
Rhine in these conditions in early 1945. What
a debt we owe.
Commemoration of the past is an important
part of Association life, but it is not the only
part. The Association is an organization of the
living. At a recent funeral somebody said to
me how great it was to see everybody again
and what a shame it was that it took a funeral
to bring us all together. Of course, it doesn’t
– there is a range of Association and other
activities throughout the year that provide
the platforms to stay in touch. Many of our
branches and events are thriving, but there is
always room for new faces. Why not make this
the year to reach out?
Speaking of funerals, 2024
again saw an unfortunate
number of Regimental passings.
All are much missed, but I offer
my personal condolences to
the families of those I knew
personally: Ray Darragh, Dave
Stacey, Nigel Glanfield, Neil Ellis
and Andy Moreland. Also Lt
Col Sam Squires RE, the much-
respected Assistant Regimental
Secretary in the early noughties,
and the inspirational Angela
Dutton. A more comprehensive list is included
later in this Newsletter, along with obituaries
as appropriate.
I want to provide brief updates on two
issues. First, Association members will be
aware that the Keep Museum has been closed
since early autumn, when safety concerns
The Association
I hand over
feels in good
shape, both
financially and
substantively
were raised regarding the materials used in
the construction of the building. Solutions
are being actively pursued, but as I write the
situation is uncertain, and closure may last for
some time. Secondly, there is an ongoing issue
over the state of the Regimental memorial
at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA).
Simon Young has pursued this vigorously
with the NMA and the stone masons, and
has reached agreement that remedial work
will begin as soon as weather
permits, to replace the current
stone path with a material better
able to withstand the conditions
at the site. The target date for
completion is 30 April 2025. The
Museum issue may, unfortunately,
take longer to resolve.
This is my final Newsletter
as President of the Association.
It has been an honour and a
pleasure to have filled that role
but seven years is long enough
for everybody and I shall be
handing over to Carl Boswell in the second
half of 2025. I am sure that Carl will bring fresh
energy to the role, and will also strengthen the
important link with the RIFLES, who deliver so
much welfare and benevolence support to our
members, with a depth of resources that we as
a Regiment simply could not match.
The Association I hand over feels in good
shape, both financially and substantively. We
have benefitted from some generous donations
(and should have captured some of 2024’s
improvement in financial markets), and our
events - both Association and Officers’ Club –
are well supported. For that, all the credit must
go to our extraordinary group of Association
volunteers and staff: Bill Sharpe and his
Committee, the ever-young Steve Keane,
Mick Jarrett for the Janner, Shane Neill for re-
energizing our social media, our standard-
bearers who are ever-present at Regimental
events, and our many other organizers and
supporters within the Branches. At RHQ, Carole
Arnold has been a diamond, and Tony Cox goes
on and on! I offer you all my heartfelt thanks.
I especially thank Simon Young as Chair of
Trustees for standing in for me repeatedly and
patiently, when work or legacy commitments
have forced me to be elsewhere. I also want
to recognize and thank those who organize
and lead those non-Association events which
are nonetheless such an important part of
members’ lives: the Semper Fidelis Dinner
Club, the Jolly Boys, the Glumso Bridge dinner,
and all. The list goes on, and you can read
about many of them later in this Newsletter, so
I will stop now and let you do just that! My best
wishes to all.
Lt Gen Sandy Storrie