WHERE have all the Falklands War veterans gone?
That’s the cry from the Redditch branch of the Royal British Legion which is trying to reach out to as many ex-servicemen and women as possible in the borough – and not just from the Falklands conflict.
“Last year we saw 20 to 30 veterans at the Remembrance parade who we didn’t know, and it is absolutely the right place to be, but then they all disappeared,” said Redditch RBL chair Jeff Farnes.
“We’re trying to reach out to younger soldiers – because we have no clubhouse people think we have no focus – some don’t even know there’s a branch in Redditch, but we are here and we can help.”
He added: “I recognise that there’s a bit of a disconnect between the age of a lot of people in the Legion and a lot of ex-soldiers but we are here to help and there are a lot of things the Legion can do for veterans.”
The Legion will be at Morton Stanley Festival on Saturday, August 17 and at the Bandstand event in September.
“We’re trying to put ourselves out there to reach those younger people – and Falklands War veterans too,” said Jeff, who now works at Bromsgrove School and spent 23 years with the Royal Signals, serving in the First Gulf War and doing two tours of duty in Afghanistan .
“In a town the size of Redditch there must be veterans of the Falklands, but I’ve never met one here.
“In electing a new committee we’ve managed to drop the age range by quite a bit.
“All we’re asking is that people get in touch.”
Redditch Royal British Legion can be contacted by emailing branch secretary Alison Gray at [email protected].
