Posted on behalf of David Mulcahy

On the 30th of May I will be heading to Europe on an unsupported European cycling tour. I hope to cycle from Calais 30 May to Ypres and to finish the tour on, or about the 21st of June? I intend to visit as many locations as possible where our forefathers in the Gloucestershire Regiment served and fought bravely. On the 6th of June, I will be in the area of the Normandy beaches, so I intend camping around the area of Gold beach, where British troops landed including the 2nd Battalion the Gloucestershire Regt. I later intend to visit the Somme and Ypres and the surrounding war cemeteries.

Having proudly served in the Regiment from 1975 to 1979 I hope to raise further funds for the Gloucestershire Regiment Memorial.

A Dedication of the Gloucestershire Regiment Memorial will take place on Wednesday 25th September 2024 at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA).starting at 2.30pm.

Donations for the memorial fund are still being gratefully received, as they will enable us to continue to encourage and enable visits to our memorial in the future.

If you are willing and able to donate, please follow the just giving link below.

Thank you

https://checkout.justgiving.com/gx8kxe7f5z

Any donation no matter how large all small would be greatly appreciated. Please note ‘Just giving do not take any of your donation, however you can choose to give a voluntary donation to them or change the voluntary contributions to zero.’

Dear All,

Please see attached details re an Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan. Whilst this is unlikely to directly affect our veterans, I forward it to you for your (and their) information. As it is likely that the subject will soon feature in the news, it is important to give our veterans the facts. 

Please pass it on to those that you think will benefit from the information contained within.

{rsfiles path="20231213-Letter_Out_Afghanistan_Inderpendant_Inquiry-CGS.pdf"}

{rsfiles path="20231213-All Staff Letter - IIA Undertakings_to cascade-O.pdf"}

Korea 70 Horseguards, London July 2023. (Dad must be one of the last remaining Glorious Glosters). From Heather Measey

Forest of Dean branch Chrismas lunch. Today at the Orepool. Great turnout, good food. Old friends. Much Banter. Roll on next year when we can do it all again. Thanks to Gill Phelps, Jenny McBride and Judy for putting this together. Our guests for gracing us with their presence. Splash and Mandy, Keith Kinsey, Mel Dawes and Eddie Kenneford. Brigadier Martin Vine. Members of the Severnside Branch Association and Forest members.

Curtesy of Ken Durham

The following has been received:

Good Morning Gentleman,
Following your latest communication , I was curious to know how many old and bold are still with us from 13 platoon D Coy, which was my platoon after being commissioned from Mons OCS in 1965. Paul Arengo Jones was the senior sub in D company, some other bloke commanded 15 platoon I think, and Bobby Martin was the OC. George Thomas was the CSM and the Bn was commanded by HENRY RADICE !!!! Adjt was David Godfrey and his asst was Tim Cooper. Jeremy Mermagen was sigs Officer and Mike Smith- Rewes was the mortar comd. Swaziland was the posting.

Cpl Panga Price will live with me for ever as will Cpl Nobby Clark !!!!!! and Len Keeling (Then pte Keeling) I know you won't forget me Len!! . How I wish memories did not fade.

Best wishes to all old Glosters

Peter McNaught

Yesterday saw the funeral of Les Allen take place at Romsey Abbey, Hampshire and later a celebration of his life at Totten. The regiment was well represented with the last commanding officer giving a regimental tribute, both County Chairman's with four standard bearers in attendance and a total of eight standards on parade. The Korean military attaché, Lt Col Yang was also present with his family. It was also nice to see many other non-Gloster veterans on parade. There is a video link attached for the service and a photo taken at the wake after a well-earned beer.
Feedback from the family was outstanding and made all the hard work very worthwhile, the association really does live up to "by our deeds we are known"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv-pgO2s780

We receive quite a lot of enquiries about Veterans’ Cards and are aware that our members are keen to hear about advancements in this area.
The latest news is that work is underway to develop the digital verification system required to begin the second phase of the card rollout (to those who left the Armed Forces before December 2018).
The Office for Veterans Affairs (OVA) has led this work through the prototype stage, and it has now passed to the MOD for development and roll-out.
The Government will begin issuing cards by the end of this year and will be engaging with veterans over the coming months to participate in the Beta testing phase.
For future updates please visit GOV.UK where the latest news on progress will be shared.

The match between us & The Farmers boys for the Burma cup took place on Friday 23rd June 2023 , the venue was Broome manor GC 6 The Fairway , Swindon , SN3 1RG.

Burma cup match results,

Farmers boys. 6. Slashers. 4.
Steve Riddell (13). V. David Llewellyn (13) Won 3/2
Ron Cooke. (19) Halved v Tony Dixon (14)
Dave Gardiner (18) won 2/1. V. Tim Perrins (24)
John Marsh (24) V. Steve Knight (17). Won 4/3
Peter North (16). Won 2/1. V. Graham Sargent (14)
Toby North. (22). Halved. V Roy Evans ( 9)
David O’Hara (9) Won 3/2. V. Gary Hopkins (24)
Darren Drury. (21). V. Steve Bennion (16). Won. 4/2
Kevin Flay. (11). Won 4/3. V Brian Wakfer. (16)
John Ledgister (13) won. 4/3. V Dean Mitchinson. (5).

Gents
This years Slashers Golf Society annual meeting is being held at Brickhampton golf club on Friday, the 4th of August 2023, and this year we are supporting the efforts of the Gloucestershire Regiment Memorial fund,
Therefore, I am asking you all to make every effort to attend this year’s meeting we are hoping to get the numbers up, so we are asking you to invite your friends and family to attend, there will be prizes for guests the more the merrier , If you are able to invite your friends and make up a fourball, even better, they can all go out and play in a four ball together.
Hoping for your support .

View details of The Gloucestershire Regiment Memorial fund, here  The Proposed Regimental Memorial (glosters.org) 

The match between us & Farmers boys for the Burma cup will take place on Friday 23rd June 2023 , the venue is Broome manor GC 6 The Fairway , Swindon , SN3 1RG.
Arrive 0845 hrs first tee 1000hrs ,
The teams must consist of ex soldiers from respective regiments with a maximum handicap of 24 ,
We are looking to field a team of eleven , we are one man short so if anyone fits the above criteria please contact me , (dress. primrose shirts with back badge )
Our team is ;
Dean James Mitchinson, Roy Evans, Tony Dixon, Steve Bennion,
Brian Wakfer, Graham Sargent, Dave Llewellyn,
Steve Knight,
Tim Perrins, Gary Hopkins ,

The Veterans’ Recognition Scheme has a two-phase rollout. Phase 1 is complete; with Service leavers receiving a recognition card as part of the discharge process.

Phase 2 is to extend the scheme to existing veterans so that they can more quickly, easily and securely prove they served in the UK Armed Forces so they can access the services they need.

There is a need to future-proof the roll-out and ensure that we are giving ID cards only to those with verified service to guard against fraudulent use as veterans become able to access a wider range of benefits.

In the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan (2022-2024) the government committed to exploring the secure, digital verification of veterans’ status. This work is underway, and we are currently working with veterans and other stakeholders to ensure any solution meets the needs of all veterans. This will support delivery of the Phase 2 roll out of ID cards. The government is still committed to delivering ID cards but cannot give a timescale for final delivery as this work is in progress.

Last reviewed 15 February 2022

Source New veterans ID cards rolled out to service leavers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)