Poppy Appeal 2010 Lyme Regis

Members of the Lyme Regis British Legion The Mayor and residents honoured the fallen in there service to our country on Saturday 13th November at the cemetery and the Polish war memorial in Anning road. Each service grave has a cross put on it.

November 11th 2010 The Mayor, Town Clerk Legion President, Chairman members and residents of Lyme Regis attended the ceremony at the local war memorial. At the going down of the sun we will remember them

The opening of the Poppy appeal at Cerne Abbas

On Friday I attended Cerne Abbas for the opening of the Dorset Poppy appeal. I have enclosed a copy of the event and some pictures. It was really a great event and gave the appeal a tremendous send off. The unveiling of the Poppy on the hill next to the well known Cerne Abbas figure was the feature of the event. The parade of the standards and the ceremony did Dorset credit. After the event the village hall was open for tea coffee and bites which was excellent . Well done all those concerned in this event. Our guest for the day was a 90 year old member pictured here

Some Pictures by kind permission of Finbarr Webster.

Introduction and Reading “In Flanders Fields”, Lt. Col. Howard Fairman, MBE

The Last Post by Mr Marcus Adams

The Exhortation spoken by Maj. Gen. R C Keightley,CB, County President

TWO MINUTES SILENCE

The Reveille - Mr Marcus Adams

Kohima spoken by Maj. Gen. R C Keightley,CB

The Soldier’s Prayer - The Very Reverend Allan Woods TD

Fanfare to Launch the Appeal - Mr Marcus Adams

Declaration by County Chairman – Mr John Hurst

Unveiling of Giant’s Poppy

Eulogy to Bill Kenely

The Chairman and Mr Keith Austin attended the funeral of the late Bill Kenely on 21st June. The following is a Eulogy from the Chairman in memory of Bill:

"Today, there are still among us some who have served their country and Mankind in an exemplarily way, taking a quiet and sincere satisfaction from having contributed to a greater and better cause than their own gratification.
These men and women are a part of a special breed; people of moral substance, coveting the sincere belief that they have answered the call and done their best for their country.
Into this category undoubtedly dwells Bill Kenely whose life we give thanks for today. As chairman of Lyme Regis Branch of the Royal British Legion I feel especially honoured to be paying this tribute to a man who has been such a final example to us all; a man who clearly felt a great sense of pride in the call to fight for his country but who carried it with great dignity and modesty.
Members of the Lyme Regis Branch of the Royal British Legion are always privileged to recognise and honour ex service personnel such as Bill whose instant response to the call to arms and whose unselfish way of life are so inspirational to all who care.
Therefore, it gave the branch a real buzz when our President, Cecil Quick, presented Fusilier Bill Kenely with his war medals for the second time during a short, but heartfelt, ceremony recently.
Bill served for two years during the extremely traumatic campaign in India and Burma and was the fourth generation of his family to have served in the British Army. Naturally, he was very proud of that and with his time with the Lancashire Fusiliers.
However, his well-earned array of medals, including the much-revered Burma Star, which he wore on very special occasions, looked the worse for wear after 63 years. and it was only fitting that such a symbol of dedicated service should be re ribboned, cleaned and remounted.
As I have indicated, Bill was in many ways a very quiet and private man. but we know that he kept very happy, sometimes poignant, memories of time in the Army and in life. Perhaps, there are others more aware of the details of his early life, but we in the branch were always conscious of his endearing qualities.
So now we says goodbye to Bill, confident in the sure and certain knowledge that he is now serving in a much higher regiment, having received the commendation from his "Commander in Chief - "Well done thou good and faithful servant.""

A weekend many years ago. there are no pictures in this story it does not need them

Attacked by an enemy on land and sea this weekend many years ago at Dunkirk. A fleet of small ships left these shores to bring home some of our forces that were left stranded on the beaches of France. Many families have a story to tell about the heroism and loss that weekend. My family is one of them. My eldest brother a warrant office in the army had walked to the beach with many others during the night and all day.He then got into the water and headed for the boats that had come to rescue them which eventually they did. Not until years later did he find out that he had waded passed the boat that my other brother, who is still with us I am glad to say was in the navy picking up anyone they could.The Royal Eagle paddle steamer was the boat. Over 300.00 thousand were saved with this armada of boats something this nation should not forget the debt we owe to them. The attack was continuously it was a most remarkable escape.At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.

Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance

The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne Kings Domain.
The shrine was built in Remembrance of those who served and those who died in the great war of 1914/18 and other conflicts and peace keeping duties since.
The Chairman and his wife were in Melbourne for Australia Day, 26th January, and were able to visit the Shrine for the 21 gun salute and flypast ceremony.

Monumental Walk

Matt Hollox is walking around the UK pushing a very large fridge. He aims to raise £3 million for service charities, with the majority being donated to the National Memorial Arboretum -home to The Armed Forces Memorial.
He arrived in Lyme Regis on 13th March where he was welcomed by members of the Branch. He had an overnight stay at the Nag's Head for a well deserved rest before setting off for Honiton.