Unveiling of the new Clock on Marine Parade at the openng of the New Parade

This clock is in line with the history of the Maring parade clock . It is completely new but of a copy cat design of the old one. The Royal Bridih Legion give there gratefull thanks to the Lyme Regis Town Council for there generosity in  there finacial aid  and the resiteing of the clock.   

Lyme Regis War Memorial

At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them

Presentation

Steve Staples presented this cup to our branch and is a former Royal Marine who now works at the school of boatbuilding. He acquired some genuine HMS Victory oak and decided to turn it into a goblet to be used on Trafalgar night (21st October).The idea is that the loyal toast (of Rum.... Nelson's blood) is toasted using the goblet.
I suggested that we asked the Lyme Museum to keep it . It deserves to be seen.

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.

Visit to Westminster Abbey 11th November 2009. A Service to Mark The Passing of The World War One Generation

On Wednesday 11th November 2009 my wife and I accepted an invitation to a service to mark the passing of the World War One Generation It was a most wonderful occasion to be invited to.

Those invited had to have a relation who had served in the first world war. My father served in that war and was at one of the first battles to take place at Nery in November 1914 and then Ypres and after all that survived the war.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were also there .

We Will Remember Them...

It is with great sadness that I inform you that Michael Emmett has passed away. He was for many years the Standard Bearer of our branch and he did so with honour and bearing attached to the position. He will be sadly missed by all.

The funeral service will take place at St Michael’s Parish Church at 2 pm on Tuesday 18th August 2009.
Family flowers only but donations can be made to The Firefighters Charity or the Calbury Unit at Weymouth Hospital.

Last Tommy Dies Aged 111

The last British Survivor of the trenches, Harry Patch, died at his care home in Somerset on Saturday morning. Harry's death comes just one week after the death of Henry Allingham and marks the end of an era in British history.

Only one other British survivor of World War I remains and that is Claude Choules who served in the Royal Navy and now lives in Australia.

Henry Allingham Crosses the Bar

Henry Allingham, the worlds oldest man and only one of two British survivors from World War One, died this morning at 03:10 hrs at St Dunstans care Home in Ovingdean.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror in 2006 , Henry was quoted as saying ...

"Whenever I saw people wearing poppies, it reminded me of my time in France when death and the fear of death was as near to me as the poppies growing in the fields.
Age has made my eyesight fail and I can no longer see the symbolic red flowers. But when someone near tells me they're wearing a poppy, I always ask if I can feel them. It's comforting to know that people are still paying their respects.
And that is all a poppy represents - respect. All this talk of wearing white poppies, red poppies and no poppy at all is getting away from the point. Pinning a poppy to your chest is a sign that you are remembering all those men who didn't want war, but volunteered anyway and had no idea of the horror and brutality they would face."

Henry, you will be sadly missed and although you wished for people to forget you I hope you will forgive us in paying tribute to you. You faced the same horrors as those who did not make it back and you kept their memory alive for future generations.

In remembering them...

We will Remember You.

Kitson & Trotman Support Armed Forces Day

Solicitors Kitman & Trotman are showing their support for Armed Forces Day by flying the new flag from their office in Lyme Regis. The flag was raised at 10:30 on 22nd June by Royal Marine Cadet Adam Figgins whose mother Sharon is a member of staff at the Lyme Regis Office. Adam is hoping to join the Armed Forces in September. Members of the Lyme Regis Branch of the Royal British Legion were also in attendance for the raising of the Armed Forces Day Flag.

The first UK Armed Forces Day will be taking place on Saturday 27 June 2009. It is an annual day to celebrate the work of the Armed Forces community.

Armed Forces Day is an opportunity for the nation to show its support for our Service men and women, whether veteran or still serving. It’s an opportunity to honour and celebrate the work they do in support of our country

Photograph courtesy of View From Publishing Ltd

Lyme Regis Branch Vice President - named in HM The Queen’s 2009 Birthday Honours List

You will by now, I am sure, have received the news of the award of the MBE to Bill Reed.I have given my thoughts to the Lyme Regis News and hope they will embrace yours as well. It is a great honour for Bill ,and his family, to have the highest recognition awarded for all the work that he has put in over the years for individuals, the community, the Royal British Legion and for many other organisations locally. He has shown sincere concern for the welfare of others in spite of his own disabilities. As his friends and collegues we share this opportunity to honour his achievements.

Ken Whetlor
Chairman
Royal British Legion. Lyme Regis Branch

2009 Annual Quiz

This year the Quiz was held in the Nag's Head. A good night was had by all and over £150 was raised. It was good to see the return of Rev John Harrission wha has been very ill for many months now.

Lyme Regis Branch ventures out!

Saturday 4th April saw the first outing for many years when 26 of the Lyme Regis branch attended the 70th Anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Armoured Corps at Bovington Tank Museum. In glorious spring weather, the group saw displays of tanks from all ages culminating in a parachute freefall display and a cavalcade of the most recent armour currently on operations around the world.

Future events will be published in the local press, Branch Newsletter and website as details become available.

New Legion Committee Appointments

The first General Committee meeting of 2009 was held on 5th February. This was precedeed by a meeting of the newly appointed Welfare Committee.

Royal British Legion welcomes new welfare secretary
The Lyme Regis branch of the Royal British Legion has a new welfare secretary, Ania Driver, who succeeds Bill Reed after over 50 years of service to the branch. Mr. Reed continues to play an important role in the branch as a valuable committee member, honorary Vice President and advisor to Mrs. Driver to ensure a smooth transition.

The Welfare secretary is arguably the most important position on the branch committee as the welfare of beneficiaries ie Service personnel, Veterans or dependant family members, is at the core of all Royal British Legion activity.

Ania herself comes from a military background in that she served with the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Navy Nursing service for four years and is the widow of Royal Marine Terry Driver who saw active service in the,Northern Ireland and Cyprus.

Should any beneficiary feel in need of assistance from the branch, Ania can be contacted by mobile on 07971 631380. There are a number of ways in which the branch can assist its beneficiaries including hospital transport, hospital/home visits, financial support and advice. Mrs. Driver’s cheerful determination will ensure that as much as possible will be provided to assist confidentially any beneficiary

The Branch welcomed guest speaker Beverley Harrison, the Dorset County Secretary. Beverley gave a summary of the the Dorset Annual Conference and presented the Medium Branch Poppy Appeal Cup to the 2008 Poppy Appeal Organiser, Angela Manners. The Cup is awarded to the Branch which has shown the largest annual increase in donations to the Poppy Appeal.