Blind veteran in Cenotaph march
A BLIND veteran is set to march at the Cenotaph in London this Remembrance Sunday.
Cardiff-born Valerie Peckham, 92, will be marching at the Cenotaph as part of the national Remembrance Sunday commemorations with more than 100 other blind veterans supported by Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired exservicemen and women.
This year the commemorations are particularly significant as the nation marks the centenary of the end of the WWI
Valerie said: “This is my first time marching at the Cenotaph. Even though I have lived overseas for many years, I always watched the Cenotaph commemorations on the television.
“My father served in the Royal Artillery in the First World War. He was one of the naughty ones who signed up aged 17. Taking part in the Cenotaph Parade means that I can remember him in this anniversary year.”
Valerie joined the Army’s Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1944. Based in Shropshire, she applied to work overseas, expecting to be posted to Germany. Instead, Valerie spent three years in Egypt, before leaving the Army when she had returned home in 1948.
Valerie, who now lives in Salisbury, said: “I was one of 30 women needed to go to Egypt. I started in the Generals HQ in Cairo, but after a disturbance, in which I injured my arm, we all had to leave. We left Cairo in the dead of night in Army trucks, and headed to Tel-AKaber. We had to wait there until we had transport to go back home.”
She lost her sight due to a dry eyerelated degenerative condition, recognised by a doctor in South Africa when she was living there.
Upon returning to England in 2016, she found out about Blind Veterans UK and started receiving support from the charity in 2017.
Valerie said: “I only have peripheral vision, and to read anything I need it to be in a very large print. I struggle a little in the kitchen, still, but Blind Veterans UK has helped by providing me with a speaking cooker and kettle. My talking watch is the best thing I’ve ever had.”
Blind Veterans UK was founded more than 100 years ago to support those blinded in the First World War. Now, the charity supports veterans regardless of when they served or how they lost their sight.
In October, Blind Veterans UK unveiled a bronze statue of seven blinded First World War soldiers outside Manchester Piccadilly station. It is the only permanent memorial in the UK marking the 100th anniversary of the Armistice.
■ blindveterans.org.uk/victory