Page 85 - Mind, Body and Spirit Online Edition
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on Saturday 14th September to pay their respects and view the
memorial stone which takes the form of a life-sized vaulting horse.
Pride of place among the VIPs invited to the service, which
included the Colonel Commandant of the Royal Army Physical
Training Corps, Major General James Bashall CBE and Brigadier
John Donnelly CBE, the Corps’ Commandant, went, of course, to
the families of Warrant Oficers Class 2 Dan Shirley, who was killed
on active duty in Afghanistan 2008, and Dave Bellamy who gave
his life in Northern Ireland in 1979.
Speaking of the memorial stone and its service of dedication,
Major General James Bashall said, “It was a great honour for
me today, as Colonel Commandant, to dedicate the memorial to
those members of the Corps who have paid the ultimate price.
The memorial will be a place of remembrance for colleagues,
family and friends, it symbolises 153 years of the Corps’ vital role
in keeping the Army ‘Fighting Fit and Fit to Fight’.”
Extracts from Post-Event Letters and Emails
“To have achieved a gathering equivalent to the Corps’ total
strength at a time when the Army is so busy was quite remarkable.
