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Published: 15 July 2019

14 August 2019, National Memorial Aboretum

We are pleased to announce that Veterans and Civilian Service personnel attending Op Banner 50 at the National Memorial Arboretum will now be able to bring a guest.

All registration forms have been updated to reflect the change, so newly issued invitations will allow guest details to be entered.

The Commemorative Events team will shortly contact all individuals that have already registered with a new registration link which will allow them to go back and add their guests details. Please visit our website for more information and event FAQs. If you have any further queries, please contact OpBanner@britishlegion.org.uk 

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Published: 04 April 2019

14th August 2019
National Memorial Arboretum

The Royal British Legion will host a commemorative event on Wednesday 14 August 2019 to mark the 50th anniversary of the UK Armed Forces' deployment on operations in Northern Ireland – the longest continuous operation in British military history. The event will be held at the National Memorial Arboretum, home of the Armed Forces Memorial.

The event is open to veterans and currently serving personnel that hold the GSM (NI).

If you are eligible and wish to attend, please register your interest via the Commemorative Events Team , providing your full name, email and relevant Service Association. A registration link will then be sent via the Association accreditation portal. Upon registration, you will be asked to provide basic details of service, dates served in Northern Ireland, service number and rank.

Please note, in the unlikely event that the NMA is unable to accommodate all those that express an interest in attending and are eligible to apply, spaces will be allocated via a ballot system.

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Published: 10 April 2019

During the occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control.

Britain and it allies responded by initiating the largest airlift in history, flying more than 270,000 relief misions into Tempelhof Airport, delivering over 1,500,000 tons of coal, food and essential supplies to save the inhabitants of West Berlin.

At one minute after midnight on 12 May 1949, the Soviets lifted their barricades and restored access to West Berlin. The breaking of the blockade was the first great humanitarian operation carried out by Britain and its allies.

On Sunday 12 May, marking the 70th Aniversary of the end of the Berlin Blockade, The Royal British Legion will be hosting a lunch reception at the IWM Duxford for Veterans and guests to honour their service and heroism.

Guests will have the opportunity to view concurrent commemoration in Berlin at Tempelhof Airport and have time to explore the IWM Duxford and its numerous aircraft, many of which are of significance to the Berlin Airlift.

REGISTRATION
Registration for this event, organised by the Royal British Legion is now open, and we encourage associations to share this widely to ensure we reach as many veterans as possible.

Veterans and guests can register here.

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Published: 21 January 2019

The following letter has been received from the new permanent stewards at the former BMH Singapore:

Tan DingXiang, phone number: +6563706913 wrote the following message:

"Hi there,

We are from the Communications department, under the team of new permanent stewards at the former British Military Hospital Singapore (now Alexandra Hospital).

Since our takeover of operations at Alexandra Hospital in June 2018, we have had the pleasure of meeting former Army Medical Services veterans, many of whom worked under the Royal Army Medical Corps. We’ve also spoken to veterans from the Queen Alexandra Royal Nursing Corps, who have informed us that over the years, groups of AMS veterans have made pilgrimages to Alexandra Hospital, to commemorate victims of the massacre at the hospital.

As we are a newly-established team of permanent stewards, we unfortunately do not have any prior links or correspondence with any military veterans’ associations, or groups of veterans who have come by for pilgrimages.

Therefore, we hope that the RAMC Association can inform veterans who may be coming to the former BMH Singapore in 2019, to let the management of the hospital know of their plans, so that we can facilitate a guided tour and meeting with our senior management.

2019 is the 75th anniversary of World War II, and is also the year where Singapore commemorates its bicentennial, the 200th anniversary of the British founding of Singapore. Therefore, this year is especially significant.

If the RAMC Association knows of any plans by veterans to visit Singapore, we'd greatly appreciate it if you could let us know, by emailing us at alex_campus_comms@nuhs.edu.sg.

If no one has stated any intention to visit BMH Singapore this year, we hope that you could let your veterans know that we would be happy to welcome them back, and show them around.
We'd be keen to make proper arrangements and plans for them during their visit to the hospital, since this is a special year for us here.

Thank you for your kind attention, and we hope to hear from you soon."