Reunion March 2015

The dates for our next reunion have now been confirmed as follows:

Friday 20th March, Saturday 21st March and Sunday 22nd March 2015

Venue is at our Ship Memorial in the "Close Garden" Saffron Walden, Essex.

Our main base will be the "Saffron Hotel", High Street, Saffron Walden

Two other hotels namely, "The Old Cross Keys" and the "Crown House" have been contacted about our visit.

The town Mayor (Cllr Sandra Eden) and the council have assured us of a very warm welcome  and our local press officer (Malcolm White) will ensure everyone in the area also knows of our impending visit.

Basically, our final itinerary is still yet to be confirmed but will follow these lines;

Friday 20th.  most of us will arrive today and we will meet in the lounge of the "Saffron Hotel from 20.00hrs for drinks and chat with all our friends and local residents.

Saturday 21st. the morning is free, we will meet up in the Saffron Hotel at 13.30 -13.45hrs prior to leaving for our memorial service in the "Close Garden" which commences at 14.30hrs. Members will depart the hotel at 14.10hrs to the Close Garden.  The service at our memorial should last approximately 30 - 40 minutes.
Our evening reunion dinner commences at 19.30hrs in the function room at the Saffron Hotel and we look forward to seeing you join us.

Sunday 22nd   We normally as an association attend the morning service at the local church, but this is entirely your own choice.  You will be made very welcome.  And then of course the sad time of our reunion visit is when we say "bon voyage" to our members, as they depart on their homeward journey.

Final details regarding our itinerary, including the choice of  your menu for the reunion dinner, will be sent to all members well in advance.
However if you are not a member as yet and would like more information about our association and/or our forthcoming reunion,  please do contact me at lesedwardsjersey@gmail.com or by telephoning 01534 744041.

Reunion confirmation to follow

Regards to you all
Les

August 17th 2014. May I first apologise to you all for the delay in this posting.. The reason being is that we have endured problems since we as a Association changed our Email address. PLEASE now note our New Email Address as follows:lesedwardsjersey@gmail.com but that our telephone number remain as 01534 744041. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any information or specific details about HMS Lapwing and/or her crew, that is why we exist. CAN YOU HELP US? We do need help in obtaining personal crew information for our files and quarterly newsletters, so if you had a family member that served on Lapwing please do contact us and share your information with our shipmates and all our crew relatives . Maybe we also have some information that you do not have and would be delighted to share with you! REUNION 2015 Date Friday 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March 2015. Venue Saffron Walden, Essex For more information please contact Les Edwards on 01534 744041 or Email: lesedwardsjersey@gmail.com

Reuinon March 2014.

Another fantastic weekend reunion of HMS Lapwing Association, lovely weather and excellent support of  so many people. This was the 69th anniversary since the loss of our ship and so many of our fellow shipmates and another special moment in the history of HMS Lapwing.

I must thank the following for all their help and support in ensuring the success of our weekend visit to our memorial in the Close Gardens, Saffron Walden:

Mayor Cllr Keith Eden and all the town council,  town clerk Simon Lloyd MBE, all the town hall staff, Wo/1 Herbie Ketch of the Royal Marines (ret) our parade officer, Bob Curran of the Royal British Legion, The officers and cadets of Saffron Walden Army cadet unit, officers and cadets of 1824 Squadron Air force cadet unit, officers and cadets of HMS Ganges Sea cadet unit Cambridge,  veterans of the North Russian Convoy Club, veterans of the Royal Navy Association, the residents of Saffron Walden and finally to our members and families that us, a very big thank you to everyone for your support.

I will be posting a few pictures of our weekend in the next few days to be followed by the dates for our 2015 reunion which will be the 70th anniversary since our loss.

Reunion Programme

Everything is organised for our forthcoming weekend reunion at Saffron Walden over the weekend of Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd March 2014. The itinerary for the visit is as follows:

H.M.S. Lapwing Reunion 2014

 

VENUE                                  SAFFRON WALDEN, ESSEX.

 

DATE                                     FRIDAY 21^st, SATURDAY 22^nd   and   SUNDAY 23^rd March 2014.

 

ITINERARY        

 

The majority of us will be staying at the Saffron Hotel for the weekend and will be our main base for the weekend.  This is where our Reunion Meal on the evening of Saturday 22^nd March will be held

Friday 21^st March     

For those who wish to arrive early, an opportunity to explore the town and relax.  At 8pm (20.00hrs) meet in lounge of the Saffron Hotel for a chat to other members and catch up with all our old friends from Saffron Walden.

Saturday 22^nd March
                                                During the morning, there is plenty of time to explore the town
                                                and  a visit to the town market which is well worth a visit’

1 pm (1300hrs)                       Meet in reception at the Saffron Hotel  prior to our remembrance
                                                  service.

 2.10 pm (14.10hrs)                 Depart to the “Close Garden” ready for start of Service

                                      

2.30pm (14.30hrs)                  Our remembrance service at the Lapwing Memorial during which  we will lay three Poppy wreaths, one for all our lost crew members, the second on behalf of the widows and the third on behalf of the relatives of lost crew members. A wreath will also be laid by the Mayor Cllr Eden on behalf of the Council and residents of Saffron Walden

 

8 for 8.30pm                          Saturday evening - Reunion Dinner at the Saffron Hotel

(20.00 -20.30hrs)                    meet in the lounge                        

 

Sunday 23^rd March

                                                Most will depart this morning but  for those that wish to attend the morning service at the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, please feel free to do so.

 

We are delighted once again to welcome the younger generation to our remembrance service

where we will be joined by the Saffron Walden Army and Air force cadet units and for the first

time  a unit from Cambridge Sea Cadets from TS Ganges.

 

We will include in our next posting a write up of the weekend along with photographs. 

If you would like any more information about our weekend please do either call me (01534 744041) 

or Email: lesedwards@jerseymail.co.uk