Page 236 - The Bugle 2018

Representatives of Oswestry Branch of the LI and Rifles Association
Shropshire County Notes
Commemoration of Whitfield VC – Oswestry Tuesday 8th May 2018
The commemorative stone celebrating the award of the Victoria Cross to Pte Harold Whitfield was unveiled in Oswestry on 8th May 2018 in the presence of civic and regimental representatives.
Pte Whitfield was serving with the 10th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in Palestine in March 1918 when he performed the acts of valour that led to the award of the Victoria Cross. As the Battalion attacked Turkish positions on the Burj el Lisaneh, Whitfield single-handedly charged and captured a Lewis gun, which he turned on the enemy and drove back a counter attack. He then organised and led a bombing attack and again drove back the Turkish troops with his rifle and bayonet. After the War, Whitfield returned to Oswestry, his home town, and continued to serve in the Shropshire Yeomanry. He died in 1956.
Oswestry Town Council kindly provided a site in Cae Glas Park and the memorial stone was unveiled by the Mayor of Oswestry. The KSLI, LI and Rifles were represented by Lt Col Ian Sawers, Lt Col Andrew Trelawny and by members of the Oswestry Branch of the LI and Rifles Association, led by Clive Grafton who organised the whole event with support from Tim and Shirley Gallaway and John and Val Taylor. Representatives of Pte Whitfield’s family and of the Shropshire Yeomanry also attended.
Commemoration of the Battle of Bligny – Shrewsbury
Saturday 9th June 2018
As the actual centenary of the Battle of Bligny fell on Wednesday 6th June 2018, on which day a battlefield tour party visited the site of the battle (see separate report), it was decided to hold the commemoration in Shrewsbury on Saturday 9th June 2018.
Proceedings commenced with a march by the Salamanca Band and Bugles from The Square to St Chad’s Church, where it continued to play as guests arrived for a Church Service. Those attending included HM Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, the High Sheriff of Shropshire, the mayors of most of the Freedom Towns and relatives of a number of those KSLI soldiers who fought at Bligny. The Rifles was represented by Brigadier Charlie Collins, Regional Colonel North and Midlands, and by members of E Company, 8th Battalion The Rifles, based in Shrewsbury and the direct descendant of 4th Battalion The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.
The Church Service included an account of the Battle, given by Major Mark Adams, the grandson of Captain Bright, who led the attack, and the Special Order of the Day from General Berthelot was read by Colonel Antoine de Loustal, the military attaché at the French Embassy in London. The address was given by the Bishop of Shrewsbury, himself the son of a KSLI Officer, and the church choir sang anthems in both French and English. The standards of the KSLI, LI and Rifles Association Branches were also paraded.
After the service, the guests made their way on foot to Shrewsbury Castle where a buffet lunch was served in bright sunshine. The guests and members of the public were then entertained by the Salamanca Band and Bugles and by the Band and Bugles of the Shropshire Army Cadet Force. The musical programme included regimental marches and old favourites, with a medley of First and Second World War songs with audience participation. Historical displays were set up in the Castle Grounds and the Shropshire Regimental Museum was open throughout the day.
The day’s events were organised by Lieutenant Colonel John Marsham with support from Colonel Marius Coulon, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Trelawny and Major Nigel Jones, and were attended by about 400 invited guests, participants and members of the public.
The Memorial stone
242 REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS
THE RIFLES