During school holidays and half-terms:
During school term-times:
We will also be open 10.30am-4.00pm on all Bank Holidays (except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when we will be closed).
Until Sunday 6 April we will be open 10.00am-4.00pm daily.
Monthly Bulletin March 2014
14.22 DLI Annual General Meeting
14.22.01 Be reminded of the DLI Association Annual General Meeting on 16 April 2014 at 1400 hrs at the Rifles (Durham) Office.
14.22.02 All branches should ensure they are represented.
14.22.03 The Agenda is attached at Annex A
14.23 8/11 Bns DLI O.C.A. Reunion Sunset Ceremony and Dinner
14.23.01 Members of the 8/11th Battalions DLI O.C.A. will shortly receive an application form to attend this function. It consists of a ceremony on Sat 26 April 2014 at the Hild-Bede Gravenstafel Memorial of the commemorating the losses sustained by 8 DLI on Gravenstafel Ridge on 25 April 1915 followed by a short Sunset Ceremony by Durham ACF Band & Bugles at the memorial. After this the 8/11 Bns DLI O.C.A. Annual Dinner takes place at the Gilesgate Armoury. Note the start has been brought forward 15 minutes to 1800 hrs.
Bombardment of the Hartlepools Event
In an earlier bulletin branch secretaries were informed of a ceremony to commemorate the Centenary of the Bombardment of the Hartlepools by the German Navy which took place on Wednesday 16 December 1914. The DLI sustained their first KIA of WW1 here. I have received details of the ceremony to commemorate this attack. Details are as follows:
Date: 16 December 2014
Location: The Headland Cenotaph Hartlepool
Time: 0800hrs
Standards : Branch Standards are requested
Refreshments: There will be refreshments. No details are available as yet, except the Standard Bearers will receive free refreshments. Others may have to pay.
Organisation: The general public are being encouraged to attend, but if you are hoping to take advantage of free refreshments (if any) I will need a return closer to the time.
I will keep secretaries in the picture as information is received.
14.25 Reminder Annual Finance & Strength Returns
This is to remind any branch which has not submitted its annual Finance and Strength Returns to do so. They should have been submitted by 19 February. These affect the amount we can expect from the Sir James Knott Fund, and no branch which has not submitted theirs information is eligible for a grant from this fund.
14.26 Forecast of Events
14.26.01 23 March DLI Association Indoor Games Sunderland
9 May DLI Trustees Meeting Rifles Office Durham
9 May Northern Cocktail Party Durham Cathedral
5/8 June Normandy 70th Anniversary and Memorial Normandy
Service to DLI killed June 1944
13 June DLI Officers Lunch Rifles London Club
12 Sept WO’s & SNCO’s Dinner Durham
13 Sept Rifles Northern Dinner Durham
14 Sept DLI Reunion & Memorial Service Durham
2 Nov VC Stone Ceremony DLI Museum
5 Nov Inkerman Day All locations
7 Nov “The Faithful” Inkerman Dinner Club Dinner Fencehouses
9 Nov Remembrance Sunday Co Durham Locations
14.27 Light Infantry Reunion – Warning Order
Light Infantry Reunion takes place from 6-7 June 2014 at Copthorne Barracks Shrewsbury for the last time before moving to another venue. Branch Secretaries have been informed of this.
As usual accommodation is available from Friday at Nesscliffe for those who require it.
Further details if required can be obtained from the Secretary.
14.28 ASSOCIATION INDOOR GAMES
The Draw for the Indoor Games is at Annex B.
Branches are reminded that they need to bring a Branch Raffle Prize to the Games, clearly marked with the name of the Branch to be handed in to the organisers on arrival.
Winning Teams from the 2013 Games are reminded that they must return any trophies suitably inscribed and in a polished condition.
14.29 Deaths
Keith Straughier 1 DLI/2LI who died Monday 3 March 2014. Keith will be remembered as the instigator of The DLI Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum. Without his forethought and enthusiasm to raise the necessary funds, the memorial may never have been thought of.
2 Harry Bell 11 DLI and POW in Stalag 8b/ (21D) Posen.
3 Major Peter CM Arnot 1 & 2 DLI, brother of Lt Col John AG Arnot (former DLI Regimental Secretary)
4 Ron Hague Secretary of the Ryhope and Silksworth Branch. Ron died at home on Sunday 16 March 14
May they rest in peace
Elvet Waterside
Durham
15 March 2014
The memorial arrived safely at Lingevres, near Bayeux, in Normandy, France. Allan and his colleagues from from Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service worked hard to erect the it in it’s final location.
Many thanks to Allan Pattinson for providing the photographs
Saturday 22nd March, 2pm
All talks start at 2.00pm.
Tickets are available now priced £3.00 (plus admission charges), from the DLI shop or by calling 03000 266590.
‘Finding Murphy’ – The Search for a Missing Airman of the Great War – Chris Page
Chris will be looking at the difficulties the CWGC faced in searching for a missing pilot in the 1920’s and looks at the media treatment of the case over the last 30 years, which has made the case both topical and controversial.
Meetings take place at the Royal Navy Club, William Street, Stockton.
and commence at 8.00pm, members and non-members welcome.
The Bishop of Durham, the Right Revd Paul Butler, blessed a memorial which pays tribute to County Durham soldiers who died in a little-known action in World War Two.
Fundraisers from Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service have raised money to buy the stone memorial in memory of members of the Durham Light Infantry who took on an elite German shock troops at Lingevres, near Bayeux, in Normandy, France, as the Allies made their big push for victory in Europe. Money was raised during a collection outside Sainsbury’s at Durham’s Arnison Centre.
The capture of the village on June 14 1944, with the loss of dozens of lives, prevented the Germans holding a vital position blocking the Allied advance.
Fire service Watch manager Allan Pattinson, who along with a group of fellow firefighters has for several years visited Normandy to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day, said:
“As we travelled round, we noticed that there were lots of memorials but none bearing the letters DLI.
“We always go the little village of Lingevres which was the site of a key battle but there was nothing to commemorate their sacrifices, not even at the local church, where the wounded soldiers were taken after the battle. We decided to do something to put that right.”
Bishop Paul blessed the stone during a ceremony at masons North East Granite in Langley Moor, County Durham, before its departure for France, in one of his first official duties following his enthronement.
Mr Pattinson said security company Serco have offered to pay to transport the memorial to France. It will be accompanied by four fire service members.
Allan said: “We feel that it is important that the sacrifices that the men who died at Lingevres should be remembered. The memorial is a piece of marble engraved with the DLI cap badge.“
The Bishop said: “Remembering is part and parcel of how we find healing. Some people think we open up wounds by remembering but, in fact, it makes sure that they heal properly, that we get wholesome healing. It is a real privilege to be here.”
Private Dick Atkinson, who took part in the battle, said: “To have the Bishop blessing the stone is out of this world. It’s a fantastic honour and I never thought it would happen. It would not have happened without the firemen.”
Thanks to Allan Pattinson and Keith Blundy / Aegies Associates
