The weekend 14-15th April the group “Field of Fire” headed by Phil Terry, whose late father was a Normandy Veteran and member of the Southend branch NVA, attended Cressing Temple Barns near Braintree for the Internstional Living History Festival. The photos show their display and a collection Bucket for the Spirit of Normandy Trust to which they give much support. They will be attending Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey 5th – 7th May. So will be collecting again. Our thanks to this group for all their efforts and consideration for the SONT.

If you have a relative or friend who died in the 1944 Normandy Campaign…Do check to see if their name is listed on the roll of names to be included on the new Normandy memorial, hopefully to be constructed at Ver-sur-Mer in time for the 75th anniversary 6 June 2019.

Visit www.normandymemorialtrust.org; then on the bars in the top right hand corner, select “Roll” , and follow the instructions to complete the details. Feedback is that by just adding the first and surname, and selecting which service, the names are easily found without the need for the service number.

If his/her name is not included or if anything is incorrect, it is important that you contact the Normandy Memorial Trust immediately to ensure that the name is added/corrected.

A memorial service to commemorate and celebrate the life of Brigadier David Baines MBE will be held on Friday 4th May at 2.00pm at Salisbury Cathedral. The family would be pleased to welcome all to the service, particularly veterans and widows of veterans, along with their carers. To facilitate arrangements the family would greatly appreciate an idea of the number of people likely to attend. In order that we may offer assistance in this please would you kindly let us know if you are planning to attend by emailing us. If you email or call us and leave a message on tel:01428 605672
Click on this Email to get in contact: info@spiritofnormandy.org.uk
An Obituary for Brigadier David Baines from the Telegraph can be found here.

It is with great sadness that we have to report the passing of Brigadier David Baines MBE, who died yesterday 1st March 2018. He was National President of the Normandy Veterans Association (NVA) and also served as President of the Wiltshire Branch of the NVA and a former Trustee of the Spirit of Normandy Trust. David was a passionate and outstanding ambassador for the Normandy Veterans and was rightly determined that the Normandy campaign should always be properly remembered. It is expected that there will be a private family funeral and a memorial service to be held at Salisbury Cathedral. Details will be announced as soon as possible. Our condolences go to Mrs Baines and the family.

Hector Duff MM, BEM , Leg;d’hon , continues to visit the schools on the Isle of Man to interact with the pupils about his WW2 experiences.

The photographs were taken at a recent Open Evening for year 6 & 7 Pupils at Ramsey Grammar school. Hector now in his 99th year and despite a “hiccough” with his health just before Christmas, and being advised to slow down a little by his family is apparently still on great form.

Last year Hector received an honour from the National Association of Retired Police Officers he was then described “as probably the most remarkable Manxman alive today”.