Page 60 - Bugle Issue 20 Autumn 2022

NORTH
It has been a busy period with association events and support to community engagement activities both near and as far away as Norway. We have also welcomed new Association members who served in the Light Infantry Territorial Army, and we are delighted to see them attending our various branches. A timely reminder that our Association membership is open to anyone who served in the KOYLI, The Light Infantry and The Rifles as Regulars or Reservists, and Adult Cadet Force instructors who wore the Bugle cap badge.
We have held our first face to face AGM in two years in the refurnished dining room in Minden House. We are now looking forward to our Minden Day Reunion Function on 30 July in Pontefract and the annual wreath laying on Minden Day, 1 August, at Elmfield Park, Doncaster.
Commemorating Lieutenant General Sir John Moore KB
Members of The Rifles and its Forming and Antecedent Regiments gathered at Sir John Moore’s Memorial in the splendid surroundings of St Paul’s Cathedral to commemorate his death. Among those present was Capt (Retd) Dickie Dutton KOYLI. Dickie laid a laurel wreath on behalf of the Association and all who served in the KOYLI. The inscription on the card read:
“In proud and honoured memory of All Ranks of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light
Sounding Retreat on Horse Guards
Several of our association members made the journey from Yorkshire to London to watch the watch the Massed Bands and Bugles of The Rifles’ Sound Retreat on Horse Guards Parade. Brigadier (Retd) Roger Preston and several other retired KOYLI Officers held a reunion lunch in London before the Retreat parade. Also in London for the Sounding Retreat was our Association Secretary
Colin Cranswick. Colin, an adult music instructor with the Army Cadet Force, was taking part in the Retreat Parade as a guest player with the Band and Bugles of Durham ACF. Colin also joined the Band and Bugles of Durham ACF and the Band and Bugles of The Rifles for the final concert of the weeklong “The Rifles in the Northeast tour” in July.
Unveiling of KOYLI, LI, and RIFLES Memorial Stones at Barnsley Armed Forces Commemorative Walkway
Mid-June saw the unveiling of KOYLI,
LI, and RIFLES commemorative paving stones on the Armed Forces Walkway in Barnsley.
Association members together with Lt Col Mark Laverick, Commanding Officer
8 RIFLES and Maj Ben Clare, OC Y Coy 8 RIFLES joined the Mayor of Barnsley, Cllr Sarah Tattersall, other veteran organisations, their Standard Bearers, and members of
the public for the official unveiling of three Regimental stones on the Barnsley Armed Forces Commemorative Walkway.
Infantry of Lieutenant General Sir John Moore KB, commissioned into the 51st of Foot (later the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry)”
David Bowie’s
Connection to
the KOYLI
Research carried out by Lynsey Slater, the Regimental Archivist at Doncaster’s Danum Gallery, Library and Museum, has revealed singer and song writer David Bowie’s connection to the KOYLI through his grandfather Private Robert Haywood Jones of the 2nd Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
Born in Armley, West Yorkshire, Robert Haywood Jones settled in Doncaster with his wife and two children. He was killed in action during the final phases of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and never got to meet his famous grandson – David Bowie.
60 RIFLES The Bugle
NEWS FROM YORKSHIRE