Sandbag - Wincanton RBL Newsletter December 2013
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Summary
Bert Bentley
Bert Bentley passed away suddenly on 21st December 2013. We all extend our sincerest condolences to Joyce and his family. Bert attended most of the monthly RBL meetings and could always be relied upon to support parades and Poppy Appeal. He will be sadly missed.
At the age of 16 Bert volunteered for the Home Guard; he had learnt Morse as a boy for a hobby and quickly found himself in demand as a signalman. In the autumn of 1943 he joined his first ship, the Destroyer HMS Beagle. HMS Beagle was assigned to an escort group with convoys to Russia and through the harsh northern winter of 1944 Bert completed several tours of duty back and forth to Russia.
Poppy Appeal 2013/14
As of the end of December our Poppy Appeal now stands at £13,827 and in addition Castle Cary is at £3,803. Several factors have contributed to this excellent amount. We had a good collection at the Wincanton Racecourse this year, coming in at £2,186 thanks to a large amount of Air Training Corps Cadets in attendance, and several members who turned up to support them. Poppy Appeal Launch was very successful, with the Silver Band concert, our Coffee Morning and two raffles on the launch day raising just under £700 in total for the day.
Nell Shepherd presented us with £50 raised at the Tuesday Bingo Club.
Dawn Old held a Coffee Morning at The Wincanton Fitness Studio and raised £121 and Sam Scammell crocheted Poppy brooches and raised a further £310 for the Poppy Appeal.
Old Faithful Memorial on Remembrance Day
On 11th November members went to the Old Faithful Memorial on Bayford Hill to lay wreaths where our Rector Rev. Nigel Feaver led the prayers.
Mazargues British Cemetery
Our former chaplain Rev. Stafford Low told me of a British Cemetery not too far from where he is living now in France. Stafford said that a friend visited the cemetery recently and was sad to find that only six people had visited it in a year and thought it very sad as it was a beautiful place.
The cemetery, Mazargues, is in the south eastern part of Marseilles. There are 1,487, 1914-18 and 267, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Stafford hopes that if anyone is passing through the south of France they may think of breaking their journey at the cemetery and pay their respects. The cemetery is located 200 metres south of the 'Rond-Point de Mazargues' on the main road (the D559) to Toulon via Cassis.
Christmas 72 years ago
On Bayford Hill near what is now the Old Faithful memorial is Hill House, which during the Second World War was the home of Herbert and Eva Chancellor. They had two sons, both of whom were serving with the Royal Air Force. One of the Chancellor sons, Niall, had just been commissioned Pilot Officer and was serving with No. 15 Squadron RAF.
By the winter of 1941 the British were experimenting with a new type of radar called OBOE which gave bearings to enable more accurate bombing. No. 15 Squadron, part of 3 Group RAF, were given the task on 18th December 1941 to attempt a bombing raid using this new type of radar.
Niall Chancellor, 24 years old, was with his squadron as part of an eight man crew of Stirling bomber. It was a daylight raid and as the aircraft came in over the sea approaching Brest it was surrounded by German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Other RAF aircraft saw the Stirling drop-ping towards the sea with port engine on fire, it finally crashed into the sea. News of Niall's death got to his parents just before Christmas 1941.
Forthcoming branch meetings
7.00pm at the Wincanton Memorial Hall
20th January
17th March
Editor Tony Goddard
01963-824193
Secretary Arthur Pickup
01963-32952
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