Page 123 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 121
Dave Fagg and Mick Holtby comparing noes
The party at Audregnies
Cross. In our party we had Mr
Michael Mills whose grand-
father had been captured by
the Germans on the morning
of the action, with the 9L,
his presence made the morn-
ing on the 100th Anniversary
(24th August) all that little
more special. We then moved
to Moÿ de l’Aisne to meet the
mayor for some refreshments
before we moved to the north
of the town to look at the 12L
action which had taken place
on the 28th August 1914. On
our way to our hotel we had
one last stop at the grave of
Private Charles Smith of the
16L at Flavy le Martel, where
a wreath was laid by Colonel Martin Todd and the story regard- ing his death and the subsequent conversations by his father and the village which took place was told by Major Martyn Pocock.
On the final morning, we moved to Bourlon Wood where Mick Holtby and Don McLean covered the story of Private Billy Clare
Mr Michael Mills at Élouges
VC, and the last Victoria Cross of the 5L, who posthumously won his Victoria Cross on 29th November 1917. On our way back to Calais Mick also cover the cavalry’s role dur- ing the Kaiserschlacht. Both myself and Mick would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who came for their attentiveness and com- panionship. Inevitably, there are many other stories which could have been told. How- ever, we stuck to our brief and hopefully all who attended will be able to talk knowledga- bly about the lancers at Mons. There were many moments of
Grandson of Pte Godley at Lieutenant Dease VC’s grave
poignancy, especially meeting Mr Godley, but to be able to walk the battlefield and discuss in detail what happened on the 100th
Anniversary of each action was a unique experience.
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Regimental Association Welfare Support to Ex-Lancers – 2018
Since last year the Regimental Association has given £30,318 in welfare payments and in total generated over £67,500 in financial support to ex-Lancers. The association helped 81 indi-
viduals who were all past members of the antecedent regiments of Lancers or their families. Of these 81 cases, 51 were new applicants and for the most part all requests for support were met, with the exceptions of funeral costs, care homes and social debt. All case which were declined were then forwarded to the organisations who were best place to assist them. In addition to the money provided by the Regimental Association a further £38,178 was sourced from agencies such as the Army Benevolent Fund (ABF) and The Royal British Legion (TRBL), with the ABF being the single largest provider who matched to contribu- tion made by the association. All the cases are referred to HHQ via either SSAFA or the TRBL and where individual come to
HHQ direct they are put in contact with SSAFA. The majority of cases were men over the age of 65 and currently we are assist- ing six individuals over the age of 90.
The assistance covered a large and varied range of request, from widows and wives (20) and serving soldiers and their families (4). The greatest areas of need this year were housing and priori- ty debt. The money that underpins the welfare payments that are distributed by HHQ comes from the ‘days giving scheme’ which is the voluntary payment made by serving officers and soldiers of the regiment. This money is used exclusively for the relief of suffering of past members of the regiment and their families. This is the tangible link from the serving regiment to support ex-members and binds us together as a family.
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