Armed Forces Day, Plymouth, June 2013
On Saturday 29th the Italy Star Association 1943-1945 to enable us to participate in, and for me to lay a wreath during, the service of commemoration and thanksgiving hosted by the RAF & Allied Air Forces Monument Service Committee.
It was a glorious sunny morning (I think the first lovely weekend of summer weather that we have had so far this year!) when the Band of HM Royal Marines Plymouth led the standards onto the Hoe to begin the service. The address was given by Air Vice Marshal Stuart D Atha, DSO, MA, BSc, RAF, who represented the Chief of the Air Staff and a response was given by Lt. Col. Piotr Pacek, Polish Deputy Defence Attaché. The tribute and oration were two of the most moving passages of text that I have heard, so together with the stirring hymns it all combined to be a very special morning, one which we were very proud to be a part of.
We joined a number of other organisations and invited guests at the lunch afterwards at The Holiday Inn and met up with ISA member David Gaskin who had also laid a wreath on behalf of “the Buffs”.
I would like to think that maybe next year we could arrange for our own standard to be part of this service, so provisionally put the 28th June 2014 in your diary Joe! (Please)!
Mary Tidy
National Chairman