ROYAL BRITISH LEGION SENIOR CITIZENS CHRISTMAS LUNCH

I was invited to attend the Royal British Legion lunch for senior citizens on Sunday 16 December at their premises in Pelican Lane. Edwina Cooper, the Mayoress, and I arrived and were met and taken into the Bar area. There we met many of the guests who were not only pensioners but also veterans of the Second World War but also of Suez, Korea and Malaya and other campaigns. We also met an ex-serviceman who, having served in various theatres of war, had only recently received his campaign medals and an extra one as well. They were from all arms of the Services; the Royal Navy, including Royal Marines, the Royal Air Force and the Army. Among them was a former sub-mariner, Vernon Coles who had been on midget submarines and he must have been a great survivor as many of these brave men were killed in action. Another was Leslie Weaver who was a retired Group Captain who was in bomber command in the second world war. There were also some ladies present who had been in the armed forces and others who had served in munitions factories or in the nursing service.
We all sat down to an excellent lunch provided by the ladies of the Royal British Legion and at the end I gave a short speech, thanking them for inviting us to their lunch, thanking those who provided the lunch and wishing them a very happy Christmas and New Year.