Page 212 - Bugle Autumn 2014

The Rifles Gloucester Office
Here
in Gloucester
we have had an eventful
year, with a good spread of activity, regimental and otherwise, throughout the year. The annual remembrance events were well supported, both in the county and further afield. Again the Rifles and RGBW Regimental Association used up its full allocation of tickets for the Remembrance Service in London. Without doubt we could easily field a much stronger contingent if more tickets were available.
Much of our activity has been centred on major works to
our building - Custom
House. Over the winter
through the centre of Gloucester behind the Corps of Drums of Gloucestershire ACF (The Rifles). We all then retired to the New County Hotel for refreshments. After a few hours rest over one hundred Glosters and their guests sat down for a very fine dinner in The Gables Hotel in Falfield. Special guest that evening was the folk singer, Johnny Coppin. Johnny
The Glosters Memorial is unveiled at the new Imjin Memorial site
in the city of Paju. Needless to say they were treated like royalty, and they did not have to pay for a single drink during their time in Paju. Given the age of the veterans this will probably be their last visit to the site of the heroic action of the Glosters.
On 5th June Major Carter and Lesley Bradshaw were privileged to attend the Founders Day ceremony at Royal Hospital Chelsea. It was the first time that either had attended and they were very impressed by the turnout and steadfastness on parade
of the In-Pensioners. At the end of June Gloucester was the venue again for an Armed Forces Day (AFD) celebration. Building on the success of the first AFD event in the city in 2013 the organisers put in place a comprehensive programme of events and activities in the area outside Custom House. The icing on the cake was the flypast of a Hurricane and Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The day was a resounding success and it is difficult to see how we can make the 2015 AFD better than this year’s, but we will try.
months we found
ourselves shrouded in
a cocoon of scaffolding
so that our leaky old
roof could be replaced.
Making use of the
scaffolding that was in place, our friends at Defence Infrastructure Organisation carried out a survey of the many windows in the building. The end result was that many of the frames and windows had to be replaced as the wood was totally rotted away. Both the County Secretary and the Admin Officer found themselves excluded from their offices for several days as new windows were being fitted. Ultimately the hassle and inconvenience of it all has been well worth it, as we now have a roof that no longer leaks and windows that no longer let in the cold winter winds.
Whilst all the external work was going on, internally the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum were undergoing a complete revamp, courtesy of a very welcome grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Without doubt, the Museum has been totally transformed as a result.
In March Gloucester hosted the annual Back Badge Day celebrations. The day began with a church service is St Mary de Lode Church. The veterans then marched
Glosters veterans of the Battle of Imjin on parade for the unveiling of the new memorial
Much of our activity has been centred on major works to our building - Custom House
gave a rousing rendition of many of his songs that are synonymous with the county of Gloucestershire, including his song,
‘We are the Glorious Glosters’.
In April a group of Glosters Korean War Veterans were guests
of honour at the unveiling of a new memorial to those who fought at the Battle of Imjin in South Korea. Also present at the ceremony were a civic group from Gloucester, headed by the Mayor. The veterans were feted by their hosts at the unveiling of the memorial
210 REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION NEWS
THE RIFLES