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Remembrance Day 2010

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chocks2

master brummie
I've marched at the Cenotaph in London every Remembrance Sunday since I can remember but this year, I can't make it there. I can't go to the NMA either so where should I go within the West Midlands area? Where is there a good service and a parade worth seeing or even taking part in?
Chocks

"There are no flowers on a sailors grave,
No lilies on an ocean wave.
The only tribute is the seagull's sweep,
and a tear drop on a loved ones cheek"
Anon
 
I've marched at the Cenotaph in London every Remembrance Sunday since I can remember but this year, I can't make it there. I can't go to the NMA either so where should I go within the West Midlands area? Where is there a good service and a parade worth seeing or even taking part in?
Chocks

"There are no flowers on a sailors grave,
No lilies on an ocean wave.
The only tribute is the seagull's sweep,
and a tear drop on a loved ones cheek"
Anon

I suppose there is always Brum city centre mate
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=Lord-Mayor%2FPageLayout&cid=1223243646767&pagename=BCC%2FCommon%2FWrapper%2FWrapper
 
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Hi Chocks, I am in the Birmingham branch of The Coldstream Guards Assc;, and some years ago they were complaining about the lack of
numbers at the City Centre Parade, but I would have thought there are enought exservice people in Brum to hold a decent parade. None
of us are getting any younger me old mate, lack of mobility is par for the course I am afraid.My local Suez Vets branch always run a weekend
trip to London for the Big One. Take Care Now, Bernard
 
Can anyone please advise me?

I would like to wear my late father's medals on remembrance day - what side should they be worn? Mabz
 
When is OK to wear my relatives medals ?
War medals and service decorations of any sort may be worn only by the person upon whom they were conferred, and in no case does the right to wear war or service medals, or their ribbons, pass to any relative when the recipient is dead. Modifications of the above rule are permitted in connection with Remembrance Day, when relatives who desire to avail themselves, on those days only, of the distinction of wearing the decoration and medals of deceased relatives, they may do so, wearing them ON THE RIGHT BREAST.
 
hi mabz...if possible i would love to see a pic of you wearing your dads medals...as already said..wear them with pride as im quite sure you will...:)

lyn
 
I've got to take 'Er Indoors away for the week-end (its her birthday on Friday) so am going to miss this years parade. I shall do my remembering in my own way, and raise a glass or 3 to the fallen.

RIP 10049 Pte "Bill" Davis. 8th Battalion Sth Staffs Regt. KIA 1 Nov 1916. Gone but not forgotten.
 
Chocks, the Kingshurst British Legion Club which is in Clopton Crescent,Bacons End has a large parade.
They meet at the club which has a remembrance garden and lay poppy wreaths and then march to St Andrews church Chelmsley lead by a pipe band.
It is always very moving and more so this year as the club is in danger of being demolished and replaced by new housing.
They gather between 9am and 9.30.
 
Chocks thanks for bringing up remembrance parades . This year so many parades will not take place because of the cost of policing. Small British Legion clubs can no longer afford to pay councils the bill for having a police precence, wich without will make them illegal. Private security firms can be used, but at a simular cost. The irony is that so many police officers would offer thier time for free, but health & safety wouldnt allow it. But at the end of the day the most imortant thing is to spend time, time we have been granted by those who gave thier lives so we could live ours in freedom to REMEMBER THEM.
 
I can remember going with my father to the service held outside the Hall of Memory on Remembrance Sundays in the 1950s, when that end of Broad Street was closed to traffic (Which was diverted via Cambridge Street) as the crowds spilled from the HoM gardens well into the road. There was never a question of who would pay for it, it was just 'done' because it was the right thing to do.
I think more people would go to local events if this little bit of effort was put in by the authorities - they do it for New Year's Eve, after all, is that more important?
 
During my late teens and early 20s I played euphonium for Aldridge Brass and the WM Police bands playing at many Remembrance Sundays, mostly on crisp winter sunny days. Always, the most poignant site was the veterans standing there proudly at attention and then marching proudly, heads as high as they were able. I was lucky enough to be in Belgium last remembrance Sunday at the Menin Gate Ypres and the experience was the most touching I have ever attended. This year, I shall be watching the parade on the TV, I know I will be missing the live atmosphere but at least I will have a comfortable grandstand seat.
I moderate on another forum and one of the members contributed this poem, he claims it to be his own work and has given permission for it to be disseminated here.

The Veteran

Bent with age the old man stands,
His trousers pressed, his buttons shined,
With trembling, liver-spotted hands,
And eyes, once blue, now all but blind.

He does not see, as you and I,
The traffic passing in the street.
Instead he sees the Flanders sky,
Feels Flanders mud beneath his feet.

We dream of tinsel, snow, and joy.
We shop for gifts for near and dear.
He thinks of guns, aimed to destroy
And trenches where men hid in fear.

He sees his brothers, friends, and cousins
Now buried under foreign turf.
We hear the Christmas bells by dozens,
Presaging jollity and mirth.

We buy our mince pies, cards and wrapping,
Then hurry home to the TV set.
He walks along, white cane a-tapping
To sell his poppies, Lest We Forget.

Bent with age the old man stands,
His trousers pressed, his buttons shined.
We hurry past, bags in our hands,
Important matters on our minds....?
 
Deleted . No bus travel there on Sundays . Max
 
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