Welcome to the Central Brittany Branch of The Royal British Legion

Notices & Newsletters

CEREMONY INVITATION & AUGUST SOCIAL

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all well and have recovered from the Euro 24 football, the tennis at Wimbledon and are now looking forward to the Olympics in Paris!

As mentioned at the last lunch the Branch have been invited to attend a ceremony at Île aux Moines on Wednesday 14th August to mark the 14th Commemoration for Squadron Leader Cook and Flight Lieutenant Pyrah, who both lost their lives when their Mosquito was downed over the Île aux Moines on 14th August 1944. If anyone would like to attend can you please let me know ASAP (by 20th July at the latest) so we can inform the organisers of the approximate numbers.

The programme for the day is:

Wednesday 14th August - Île aux Moines

10:15 a.m.

Family members + state and military representatives, lay the hydrangea wreath and handfuls of petals at the place of the crash between Ile d’Irus and Île aux Moines, and in sight of, the port.

10:45 a.m.

Fly-past - Casa - between Ile d’Irus and Ile aux Moines.

11:15 a.m.

Back at quay, move towards the newly commissioned monument: Speeches from the Mayor, The British representative (Group Captain Jon Edmondson), and Mr. Sous, Prefet du Morbihan.

The inauguration of the monument created in honour of the British airmen, followed by a reading in both French and English. At the end of the unveiling, the assembly will be invited to move towards the Memorial stones in memory of the 5 Deportees from the Island, 3 of whom were killed, and 2 escaped.

Speech by the Mayor or Jacques Bathiat.

The Song of the Partisans will close the ceremony.

12:15 p.m.

Drinks at the Bois d’Amour (wooded area overlooking the sea at the end of the port area).

1:30/40 p.m.

Private lunch near St Miquel beach for a limited guest list hosted by the Mayor.

3:15 p.m.

Departure towards the cemetery.

3:30 p.m.

Commemoration in a small group, in particular members of the family(ies).

Reading in English of the translation by M Gaston Calbourdin (William Calligaris or young member of the Cook family).

Laying of a wreath of poppies, according to British/RBL tradition.

British anthem.

10:30 p.m.

Commemorative fireworks display.

Ferries run every 15mins and cost about €4.50.

For those of you who cannot attend the ceremony there is always the monthly social. The next Social is on Thursday the 1st August 2024 and will be held as usual at the Carpaccio Ristorante on Rue du Caire, Pontivy.

To enable orders to be taken and to ensure you get your choice of meal please arrive no later than 12:00hrs. The owner likes to give us first choice of the ‘Deal of the day’ so we must order by 12:00hrs. There will be the usual topical Quiz and a Raffle. Donations for raffle prizes are always most welcome.

This is an ideal opportunity to meet new friends or see friends you have not seen for a while and have a good catch up. You don’t have to be a member of the RBL to attend so please do come along and bring your friends.

As the venue has asked for the number of attendees, if you think you will be attending could you please let me know by e-mailing Karen with the number attending, by Monday 29th July.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Kind Regards

Karen Lockwood

Secretary

BRANCH NEWSLETTER - JUNE

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all well and enjoying this current spell of good weather which will hopefully continue for the remainder of the summer.

We hope you all enjoyed the extensive and poignant coverage of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Branch members attended various ceremonies to mark this auspicious occasion, in particular a ceremony in Plumelec, attended by President Macron and another in Lesneven. Further information and photographs will soon be posted onto the Branch website and Facebook page.

We would like to invite you to the RBL monthly social. Recently attendance has been good and it would be super to continue the trend this coming month.

The next Social is on Thursday the 4th July 2024 and will be held as usual at the Carpaccio Ristorante on Rue du Caire, Pontivy.

There will be the usual topical Quiz and a Raffle. Donations for raffle prizes are always most welcome.

As the venue has asked for the number of attendees, if you think you will be attending could you please let me know by e-mailing Karen with the number attending, by Monday 1st July.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Kind Regards

Karen Lockwood

Secretary

BRANCH NEWSLETTER - MAY

Hello Everyone

I hope you are all well, have enjoyed a few sunny days and the current inclement weather is not too disappointing.

Unfortunately due to the 80^th anniversary of D-Day on the 6^th June and the absence of several branch members it has been agreed not to hold the monthly Brittany RBL lunch in June.

Whilst the main ceremonies will be taking place in Normandy there are also many ceremonies within Brittany and I would recommend you contact your Marie for details.

If anyone is involved in any ceremonies, can you please send me photos of the event and a small write-up so we can include it in our newsletter.

The next monthly RBL lunch will be on Thursday 4^th July 2024 and an email will be sent nearer the time.

Kind regards

Karen Lockwood

Secretary

BRANCH NEWSLETTER - APRIL

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all well and enjoying this spell of nice weather, long may it last.

It’s that time again where we invite you to the RBL monthly social. Recently attendance has been good and we want to continue the trend this coming month.

The next Social is on Thursday the 2nd May 2024 and will be held as usual at the Carpaccio Ristorante on Rue du Caire, Pontivy.

There will be the usual topical Quiz and a Raffle. Donations for raffle prizes are always most welcome.

This is an ideal opportunity to meet new friends or see friends you have not seen for a while and have a good old catch up. You don’t have to be a member of the RBL to attend so please do come along and bring your friends.

As the venue has asked for the number of attendees, if you think you will be attending could you please let me know by e-mailing Karen with the number attending, by Monday 29th April.

Due to the branch being involved in various ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, there will not be a lunch in June, but we will return in July.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Kind Regards

Karen Lockwood

Secretary

BRANCH NEWSLETTER - MARCH

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all well and looking forward to the Easter celebrations.

We had a very good attendance at the March lunch and would like to thank everyone for their continued support of the Branch.

We hope you have all enjoyed the recent spell of warm weather and are available to join us for the next British Legion Social on Thursday the 4th of April 2024. It will be held as usual at 12:00hrs at the Carpaccio Ristorante on Rue du Caire, Pontivy. To enable orders to be taken and to ensure you get your choice of meal please arrive no later than 12:00hrs.

There will be the usual topical Quiz, book stand and a Raffle. Donations for raffle prizes are always most welcome.

As the venue has asked for the number of attendees, if you think you will be attending could you please let me know by e-mailing Karen with the number attending, by Sunday 31st March.

A number of members are now back from their travels to sunnier climates and we look forward to hearing about your holidays.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Kind Regards

Karen Lockwood

Secretary

RBL Central Brittany

N.B. We are updating our mailing list and therefore if you no longer wish to receive these updates or are aware of anyone who wishes to be added to the mailing list, please let us know.

BRANCH NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a lovely start to 2024 and are not too cold nor wet. I am sure everyone is looking forward to a few dry and sunny days.

The branch has been quite active this month with the well-attended February social, despite the traffic disruption due to the farmers action.

Also, on Sunday 4th February a number of Branch members attended two ceremonies in Finisitère. The first ceremony was organised by the UNC and local community to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the sacrifice of three valiant resistance fighters at Le Fessiou bridge. The second ceremony was organised by RBL members John Duncan and Jean-Michel Crewe with support from the La Forest-Landerneau officials to pay tribute to Sgt J F J Sheridan (Royal Air Force) at his graveside, to mark the anniversary of his death, at the age of 25. Sgt Sheridan’s family attended to pay their respects after making a special journey from England. Both ceremonies were well attended by various organisations with a wreath laid by the Chairman at each ceremony and an additional wreath laid for Sgt Sheridan, by Tony Turner whose brother was killed on the same weekend 79 years ago. More information is available on the “Remembrance in North Finisitère” Facebook page.

We are coping with the damp weather which is helped by the arrival of our 4 month old German Shepherd puppy. We are proving to be typical new parents whose baby is “so well behaved and so intelligent”!!!

We are also keen to leave the house and enjoy human company so what better way than to meet with you all at the March British Legion Social. As usual it will be held on the first Thursday of the month, Thursday 7th March at 12:00hrs at the Carpaccio Ristorante on Rue du Caire, Pontivy.

There will be the usual topical Quiz and a Raffle. Donations for raffle prizes are welcome.

As the venue has asked for the number of attendees, if you think you will be attending could you please let me know by e-mailing Karen with the number attending by Sunday 3rd March. If you say you are attending and your plans change can you please let us know.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Kind Regards

Karen Lockwood

Secretary

RBL Central Brittany

N.B. We are updating our mailing list and therefore if you no longer wish to receive these updates or are aware of anyone who wishes to be added to the mailing list, please let us know.

NEWSLETTER - JANUARY

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and are looking forward to 2024.

Here, life goes on with the odd cold frost in the morning and rather damp weather. Thankfully the days are getting longer and the nights shorter as we sit in front of nice warm log fires in the evening deciding what to do tomorrow, or as is more often the case what not do tomorrow!

As February quickly approaches, New Year’s intentions have long been forgotten and the ‘New Year Diet’ has been banished to the cupboard for another year, it is time to think about getting out and enjoying ourselves. So what better way than to join us at our first British Legion Social of 2024.

It will be held as usual on the first Thursday of the month, Thursday 1st February at 12:00hrs at the Carpaccio Ristorante on Rue du Caire, Pontivy. .

There will be the usual topical Quiz and a Raffle. Donations for raffle prizes are welcome. So if you have any new or unwanted Christmas presents you don’t really want to keep, please do bring them along.

As the venue has asked for the number of attendees, if you think you will be attending could you please let me know by e-mailing Karen with the number attending, by Sunday 28th January .

We are aware that a number of members are fortunate enough to have escaped the Brittany winter weather for sunnier climates and wish you all happy holidays.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Kind Regards

Karen Lockwood

Secretary

RBL Central Brittany

N.B. We are updating our mailing list and therefore if you no longer wish to receive these updates or are aware of anyone who wishes to be added to the mailing list, please let us know.

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