THE WAR GENERATION - HEROES ALL

It is always a pleasure to meet old friends at my Royal British Legion branch, especially when we meet for our annual dinner in the run up to Remembrance Sunday.  This year was a particular delight, with the guest of honour being our own Branch President, Emlyn (Len)Jones.

Len turned 100 in the week before our dinner, and remains a proud, and active member of both the Royal British Legion, and Regimental Association for his old unit - the Royal West Kent Regiment, and we were delighted to be joined at our dinner by Major (retd) P R White MM, Secretary of the association.

Len will mark another significant date in December, with the 75th anniversary of his actions in Italy which led to the immediate award of the Military Medal by authority of Field Marshall Alexander.

As a twenty-five year old Acting Sergeant, Len was commanding a Platoon of D Company of the 6th Battalion Royal West Kents, at Camaggio.  Under heavy fire he steadied his men, lead a charge to silence a machine-gun post and, later, provided a rear guard for the withdrawal of the remainder of the Company.

Len is an unassuming man, but one cannot help wondering if his courage is a little in-the-blood, since his father also won the Military Medal during the First World War.

As we move, inevitably, to the point where we must bid farewell to the Second War World generation, as we did with their Great War predecessors just a few short years ago, it is right that we listen to their experiences, and give thanks for our freedoms, bought by their efforts.

The actions in the Far East, where Len's Regiment also served with distinction, gave rise to the Kohima Epitaph.  It's sentiment applies equally to the legacy his generation in every theatre of war, and deserves to be remembered by us all -

When you go home, tell them of us and say - For your tomorrow, we gave our today.