Legion’s pride as pair join Menin Gate ceremony
THEY JOIN THOUSANDS ON GREAT WAR PILGRIMAGE
TWO British Legion members flew the flag for Nottingham on an international pilgrimage to the battlefields of the First World War.
Dave Thomas and Deirdre Chilton, from the City of Nottingham branch of the Royal British Legion, joined more than 2,000 people in the pilgrimage to France and Belgium, as part of the Great War centenary commemorations.
The trip culminated in a march through the Belgian town of Ypres to the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s Menin Gate Memorial for a ceremony to mark the launch of the infamous Hundred Days Offensive, in which hundreds of thousands of men died. Ninety years ago, in the Royal British Legion Pilgrimage of 1928, 11,000 veterans and war widows visited the battlefields of the Somme, in France, and Ypres, in Belgium.
Earlier this week, former Royal Artilleryman Mr Thomas and fellow RBL member Mrs Chilton represented the City of Nottingham branch as standardbearer and wreath-layer, in the 2018 pilgrimage.
They were joined by more than 2,200 other legion members and guests from all over the world.
Mrs Chilton laid, a wreath on behalf of Nottingham, at the Menin Gate. The words on her wreath were written by nine-year-old youngsters from Class Loxley at Robin Hood Primary School. They read: “We appreciate you risking your lives to protect us and our country. You will always be remembered as our heroes.”
Mr Thomas said: “Being part of such an auspicious occasion filled me with similar levels of pride that I experienced whilst serving in the forces. Deirdre and I were immensely proud to represent our city.
“We had a battlefield tour on the lead-up to the parade, to discover how our local regiments fought on the Somme and Passchendale.
“The losses inflicted are simply beyond comprehension. To remember the fallen of the Great War is something that will live with us forever.
“I feel honoured to have taken part in this moment of our nation’s identity and to be part of that history.”
Michael Moore, chairman of the Nottingham branch of the legion, added: “This pilgrimage was a unique opportunity for the legion community to come together and bear our standards along the same route in Ypres. taken 90 years earlier by the veterans and widows of the First World War.”
Nottingham’s wreath will be on display with hundreds of other at the Menin Gate until the end of August.