THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION ESSEX COUNTY NEWSLETTER

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1 THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION ESSEX COUNTY NEWSLETTER Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. (Henry Ford) JAN/FEB 2018 COUNTY NOTICES APPOINTMENTS MADE BY THE THE COUNTY COMMITTEE for 2018 COUNTY PRESIDENT CLLR BOB VILLA COUNTY TREASURER DUDLEY NASLUND COUNTY YOUTH OFFICER GORDON ROACH COUNTY PADRE REVD DAVID WYLIE COUNTY TRAINING OFFICER VACANT PCRO VACANT COUNTY CONFERENCE 2018 The Essex County 96th Annual Conference was held at the Marconi Centre, Chelmsford on 13 January The speakers were Denise Edgar from the Board of Trustees and Simon Harper and Lucy Harris from the Port of Tilbury project. Thank you to all those delegates and visitors who attended our County Conference.We had over 100 people in the audience. We have already had some good feedback on the morning, especially regarding our guest speakers. The Conference was attended by 28 delegates representing some 24 branches. This equates to 39% of branches, and their members, having representation at the Conference which was a slight increase on the numbers for last year s gathering. Thanks to Terry Jamerson for his pictures of the events. BOARD OF MANAGEMENT COLONEL ROGER BURGESS OBE DL DUDLEY NASLUND HARRY HUDSON MRS GEORGINA SWANN BRIGADIER MALCOLM RATCLIFFE DL MSO S COUNTY PRESIDENT (IN ATTENDANCE) COUNTY CONFERENCE COMMITTEE SANDRA SABAN, KEVIN CAMPEN GORDON ROACH*, PETER BAIDEN* COLIN FOX, MELVIN SWANN* MSO (IN ATTENDANCE) COUNTY CLUBS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ALAN CRIPPS, HARRY HUDSON, CARLO PELKA MSO (IN ATTENDANCE) COUNTY AWARDS SUB-COMMITTEE DUDLEY NASLUND (Chairman) HARRY HUDSON SHIRLEY RATCLIFFE COUNTY PRESIDENT (IN ATTENDANCE) * Elected at County Conference until 2020 Note: County Chairman and Vice-Chairman are ex officio members of all committees and sub-committees TISH LEGIOL AWARD County President, Cllr Bob Villa, presenting the Sir George Creasey badge to Major David Swann, TD, our representative on the Membership Council. The award is presented for outstanding service to the Royal British Legion in Essex.

2 FROM THE MSOs BRANCH TREASURERS TRAINING. Localised National training to increase RBL Members knowledge of the Legion s financial provisions applicable to the Royal Charter and Charity Law. To train RBL Branch Treasurers in basic book keeping skills Content: The Legal framework, The Royal Charter,The Membership Handbook particularly Branch responsibilities and the Treasurers role, Accounting practices and Financial controls, Practical exercises, Bank Reconciliation procedures,completing the year end branch accounts. Aimed at: Branch Treasurers, potential Branch Treasurers and Branch Committee members DATES: Fri 16 March, Sat 17 March VENUE: Chelmsford Branch, New London Rd, Chelmsford BRANCH MANAGEMENT To provide in-post and potential Branch Committee Members with an overview of complying with Charity Commission and Legion procedures; their duties and responsibilities as Branch Committee members and to develop or refresh the managerial skills required to carry them out in a Legion environment. Content: A Legion overview and organisation leading to structure in support of the Branch and Membership. Legion Values and Code of Conduct, Charter responsibilities and trusteeship, Application of Part 3 of the Membership Handbook, including overviews of: Branch finances, Branch activities, Branch meetings, Recruiting and retention, Local relations, Disputes and complaints procedure. Branch involvement in the wider Legion, Elections; County and Annual Conferences, Corporate image, use of logo, Fundraising Interface with other branch members on the course Aimed at: Serving and or newly elected Branch Officers, Elected Branch Committee Members and Members volunteering who might stand for election. DATES: Wed 21 March, Thurs 21 March VENUE: Chelmsford Branch, New London Rd, Chelmsford MS1 We still have a significant number of MS1 forms outstanding from our Branches. Please can you ensure that these are completed and sent to the MSO as a matter of urgency so as not to delay the production of the County Handbook. GP90 Passport requirements Please can I remind all branches that your representatives for GP90 will require a passport to travel. Please see below the official response from the tour operator. All members/travellers will require a valid passport and will need to take this with them. Border control is a lot tighter these days in Dover and Calais and especially in Calais on the return journey members/travellers will need to disembark the coach and show their passport like they would do at an airport. Branch Community Support Reporting required Quarter 4 (1 October 31 December 2017) Branches are kindly requested to submit these details by logging into the BCS portal, and clicking on the blue box that states Add Activity Report. The form is self-explanatory and should be completed fully where applicable. Where it states month you should select the quarter: 1 Oct 31 Dec. If you have been utilising the system to monitor monthly entries and have already created an activity report for this quarter, you simply need to click on that entry (opening it up) and press edit. Ensure you add the total amounts of entries for the full quarter and then hit save. Your help to ensure this information is submitted by no later than Friday 16th February 2018 would be welcomed. Branch news and events Don t forget to let us know if you have any events or activities planned, we can include them on our Facebook page which has over 900 followers so far. Also, please do share with us Branch news for our Essex Newsletter. Our is msoessex@britishlegion.org.uk. New County Chaplain Following the retirement of Rev Tony Rose we welcome our new County Chaplain, the Revd David Wylie. Fr David previously served in the Royal Navy as a chaplain for 19 years prior to becoming the parish priest at St Margaret of Antioch in Leigh-on-Sea and continues in a reservist capacity. Page 2

3 COUNTY NEWS PRESENTATIONS AT THE 2018 CONFERENCE. Livermore Trophy Winner: Witham Toby Brace Trophy Winner: Debden Nigel Bird Shield Winner: Stock Yeldham Branch Cup Winner: Hadleigh & Thundersley Justin Lewis Shield Winner:Great Wakering Mc Master Trophy Winner: Richard Hyam, Brentwood Coggeshall Service Cup Winner: Andy Gannon, Billericay Gordon Clarke Trophy Winner: NJ Turner, Manningtree Jobson Trophy Winner: Jeska Bayford, Witham McMaster Trophy awarded for County Standard Bearer 2018, Coggeshall Services cup awarded for Deputy County Standard Bearer Gordon Clarke Trophy awarded for best Novice Standard Bearer, Jobson Trophy awarded for winner of Youth Standard Bearer competition Page 3

4 COUNTY NEWS PICTURES FROM THE 2018 CONFERENCE The Marshall s Cane County Parade Marshall 2018 Jamie Robinson, Clacton-on-Sea Emmie Mann Cup Winner: Iris Line, Hatfield Heath Gwen Clarkson Cup Winner: Margaret Antoniou, Mersea Island County Chairman, Roger Burgess, hands the County standard into the safe keeping of the new County Standard Bearer, Richard Hyam County Chairman of the Womens Section, Sandra Saban, hands the Womens Section County standard into the safe keeping of their County Standard Bearer, Iris Line Presentation of a cheque to the County Welfare Fund Sandra Saban, County Chairman of the Womens Section (centre) and Jeanette Beet, PAO for Hatfield Heath, handed a cheque for 2531 to Dudley Naslund, County Treasurer. The money was the result of Hatfield Heath s Festival Weekend and Christmas Market. Page 4

5 BRANCH AND GROUP NEWS & EVENTS Debden Branch DEBDEN BRANCH ROYAL BRITISH LEGION ANNUAL DINNER The Annual Dinner of Debden Branch Royal British Legion took place in the Officers Mess at Carver Barracks, Wimbish, on Friday 3 rd November with the Branch Chairman, Mike Clarke, presiding. Some 60 members and their guests attended the dinner. Guest of Honour was the new Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Mrs Jennifer Tolhurst, accompanied by her husband Philip. Guest Speaker was Lieutenant Colonel George Cormack RE commanding Officer of the Carver Barracks Support Unit. After dinner, the Lord Lieutenant graciously agreed to present a number of RBL Branch Certificates to thank a number of local companies that had generously donated money to sponsor the event. John Arkwright being presented with a RBL Certificate by the Lord Lieutenant DEBDEN REMEMBRANCE YOUNG LADS SINGLED OUT FOR SPECIAL AWARD At a special assembly at Debden Primary School, two young pupils were singled out for a surprise award in front of the whole school and parents. The two young 8 year old lads, Isaac Reeve and Logan Armour, were awarded with special Royal British Legion Certificates of Appreciation for their participation in the Remembrance Service at Debden Parish Church the week before on Sunday 10 th December, where they had played Last Post and Reveille on their trumpets. The certificates were presented by Mr Michael Clarke, Chairman of Debden Branch Royal British Legion. Isaac Reeve and Logan Armour at the Remembrance Service flanked by two Air Cadets. Michael Clarke, Chairman of Debden Branch presented the Certificates to the two lads. Epping Ongar Railway Group Bookings Epping Ongar Railway is the award winning longest heritage railway in Essex. RBL Groups of 15 people or more can benefit from specially discounted group travel rates. This would be a self-funded social activity that branches may wish to consider. For further information please call the railway on or visit their website. Page5

6 BRANCH AND GROUP NEWS & EVENTS Grays Thurrock Branch Over 50 s Walking Football Competition in aid of the Poppy Appeal On Saturday the 28th October 2017 an Over 50 s Walking Football Competition tournament was held at William Edwards School, Grays. The tournament trophy was called The Passchendaele Trophy as it was the Centenary of the Battle in Oct teams participated, namely Colchester Phoenix WFC, Chelmsford City WFC, Southend WFC and the organising team Grays Walking Football Club. A parade was held to commemorate The Fallen, organised by the Grays Thurrock Branch Royal British Legion. Branch Chairman Rod Oakley read out a briefing about the Canadian attacks of the 26th and 30th October 1917 at Passchendaele. Nine Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadian troops during the battle. This was followed by The Exhortation, The Last Post and a minutes silence was observed during which the RBL Standard, carried by Natasha Oakley, was dipped. Finally, reveille was sounded with Kohima read. Our thanks go out to bugler Dave Honeywell, Director of Grays Town Band for his support. The Branch Chairman Rod Oakley would like to thank all the teams who participated and contributed to the Poppy Appeal. Special thanks go out to Steve Skinner, Director of Grays Athletic Football Club who generously handed over a cheque for 100 to The GWFC Secretary Julian Wiseman. We also raised 55 on the tea stall, 87 on the raffle plus 82 on entry fees. Additional donations for the Poppy Stall have not yet been counted. During the competition there was a refreshments stand where tea, coffee, soft drinks, cakes and snacks were available. All donations were greatly appreciated. Our Poppy Stand was also in attendance with pins, bracelets and crosses etc. Many thanks to Sabine and Natasha Oakley for their assistance on both stalls and to our photographer Ren Oakley for some great pictures. Additional thanks to Julian Wiseman Secretary and Paul Shrubsole, Treasurer of GWFC, who organised the competition, and to team manager Billy Spencer for picking the winning team! Live On For more information contact the organisers: Rod Oakley Grays Branch RBL on Julian Wiseman Grays Walking Football Club on Page 6

7 BRANCH AND GROUP NEWS & EVENTS Burnham-on Crouch Medal Presentation. In May 2017 it was announced by the French Embassy that Leonard Sadler of Southminster had been appointed to the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Legion d honneur by the President of France. David Price, Chairman, was asked to present him with his medal at a private ceremony attended by members of his family and the Burnham Branch. Lest We Forget Presentation to Leonard Sadler On Sunday 29 th October 2017, at 12 noon, Burnham-on-Crouch Branch of the Royal British Legion remembered three men from the town who died one hundred years ago during the Great War. Members of the Branch were joined by relatives of the Fallen for the Act of Remembrance. Kathy Honeyman laid a Poppy Cross in memory of her cousin, Harry Jennings who died while a Prisoner of War in Turkey. He was wounded during the 2 nd battle of Ypres in When he had recovered from his wounds he joined the 5 th Battalion of the Essex Regiment in Palestine where he was captured by the Turks. He died during October 1917 and is buried in Baghdad North Gate War Cemetery. Frederick Flick was a merchant seaman who enlisted in the Canadian Army when his ship docked in Vancouver in April He served in the 2 nd Canadian Mounted Rifles battalion and was killed in action during the battle of Passchendaele on 29 th October. His Great, great, great Niece Erin Neill, watched by her Grandparents and parents, placed the Poppy Cross on the War Memorial in his memory. Walter Willett was born in Burnham in 1896, in 1904 the family emigrated to Canada. Walter enlisted in the Canadian Mounted Rifles in February 1916 and was sent to the Western Front. He died on 31 st October 1917, of wounds received during the Battle of Passchendaele. The cross in his memory was laid by the Burnham-on-Crouch Royal British Legion Chairman, David Price. There are 26 people listed in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website as being War Casualties buried in Burnham-on-Crouch Cemetery. Some of the Fallen of both World Wars are also commemorated on family gravestones. On November 2 nd, All Souls Day, a Poppy Cross was placed on each Grave in Remembrance by the Burnham-on-Crouch Branch of the Royal British Legion. We also remembered with a cross Past Branch members who are buried in the Cemetery. 100 TH Anniversary of the Battles of Arras and Passchendaele. An Act of Remembrance was observed at the War Memorial to remember the Fallen of two battles of 1917, the battle of Arras and the Battle of Passchendaele. At the ceremony to remember the Battle of Arras we were joined by the Standard and Escort from the Air Cadets to remember Sub- Lieutenant E B J Walter RNAS who was shot down in April 1917 and is the only Airman on the Burnham Great War Memorial. The Battle of Passchendaele was remembered at a Ceremony when Poppy Crosses were placed on the War Memorial in memory of those who died during August (Below) Battle of Arras Commemoration Page 7

8 NEWS & EVENTS REGIONAL RBL STANDARD BEARERS COMPETITION The Region Standard Bearers Competition was held at Over Village Community Centre, Cambridgeshire, on Saturday 18 th November. A total of 7 competitors took part, 3 from Essex County and one each from Suffolk, Herts, Bucks and Norfolk. The 3 competitors representing Essex were Jeska Bayford, winner of the Essex County Youth Competition, Iris Line from the Women s Section and Richard Hyams, winner of the Essex County Competition and County Standard Bearer. All 3 Essex Members performed well and Jeska won the Regional Youth Competition. Congratulations to Jeska who will now represent Essex County in the Finals to be held in May 2018 in Belfast during The National RBL Conference. Jeska Bayford Major David Swann TD, our regional member on the Membership Council, addressing the competitors at the Regional Standard Bearers Competition. Competitors from Essex are highlighted in red. Smiley Bits Great writing There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer. When asked to define great, he said, 'l want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream in disbelief, cry in despair, howl in pain, and vent their anger in ways they've never dreamed of! He now works for Microsoft, writing error messages. Woof!... Latest news: The Isle of Dogs bank has collapsed. They've called in the retrievers. Inner Peace... If you can start the day without caffeine, If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles, If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, If you can conquer tension without medical help, If you can relax without alcohol, lf you can sleep without the aid of drugs,. then you are probably the family dog! FROM THE NEW TEMPORARY EDITOR Because of his illness over the last year or so I have been helping the late Bryan Emery, the former editor, with the production of the newsletter. I have agreed to continue until a new permanent editor can be found. To help me please send articles in Word documents, Arial narrow, 10pt. Pictures should be in TIFF or JPEG form and not embedded within the article text. Your summaries of items from newspaper articles should be sent, NOT WEB LINKS, as neither the MSOs or I have the time to browse through newspapers, and articles are always better in your own words. Items for inclusion in the County Newsletter should be sent to msoessex@britishlegion.org.uk Page 8