The Secret WW2 Learning Network is an educational charity registered in the UK  - a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)         No. 1156796
  • ABOUT

  • NEWS

  • EVENTS

  • RESOURCES

  • SUPPORT US

  • CONTACT

  • More

    Legion d'Honneur for MI6 veteran

    November 16, 2019

    Free French remembered at Brookwood Military Cemetery

    November 11, 2019

    SOE tribute at Hampshire war memorial

    November 10, 2019

    Remembering SOE's Jewish parachutists and former Palestine training school sites

    November 9, 2019

    Group visit to the Military Intelligence Museum and the Shuttleworth 'Special Duties' Lysander

    October 19, 2019

    Women Behind Enemy Lines: literary lunch with Sonia Purnell & Sarah Helm

    September 30, 2019

    Légion d'Honneur awarded to SOE's James Edgar

    September 29, 2019

    D-Day roles of agents trained in Surrey

    September 21, 2019

    The WW2 Polish contribution behind the lines in France

    September 15, 2019

    Commemorative ceremony for Jewish SOE personnel

    September 6, 2019

    Please reload

    Recent Posts

    Free French remembered at Brookwood Military Cemetery

    November 11, 2019

    On Monday 11th November a group of nine Friends and supporters of the Charity were at Brookwood Military Cemetery for a special Remembrance Service.

     

    IMG_20191111_124851_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_124851_RESIZED_20191112_094
    French_Ambassador2
    French_Ambassador2

    This was the first event of this special day for Catherine Colonna, Ambassador of France to the United Kingdom, as part of the commemorations of the 101st anniversary of the signing of the 1918 Armistice.

    Ambassador Colonna was accompanied by Consul General Guillaume Bazard and Defence Attaché Rear Admiral Luc Pagès; and before a traditional wreath laying ceremony at the Free French section of the cemetery, members of the Armée de l'Air Française were on parade when the Ambassador awarded a currently serving French airman with the Legion d’Honneur.

     

    French_Ambassador1
    French_Ambassador1
    IMG_20191111_113428_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_113428_RESIZED_20191112_094

    This ceremony was accompanied by a particularly moving rendition of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, and the Ambassador later commented: “11 November 2019 is particularly symbolic today. After the Great War centenary commemorations which have punctuated the past four years, we remember today all civilian and military French men and women who died for France. We also honour all the Allies who fought for freedom.”
     

    The Charity was represented by Information Officer Carol Brown, Joy Hanauer, Ray Windmill, Guy Audibert Ld'H, Ian Titman, Adi Proudfoot, Mark Brown and new member Richard Stone.
     

    IMG_20191111_105435_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_105435_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_123627_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_123627_RESIZED_20191112_094

    The Charity's team then moved on to Brookwood's Memorial to the Missing 1939-45 where they laid either a poppy cross, Star of David or a Crescent Moon marker at the base of each memorial panel which included the name of a member of SOE or the Palmach. Ray Windmill read out the Exhortation.

     

    IMG_20191111_123703_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_123703_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_123827_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_123827_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_123733_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_123733_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_124829_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_124829_RESIZED_20191112_094

    The Charity's Trustee Paul McCue had already placed crosses on the graves of Jacques Tayar and Lt-Colonel Albert Berthaud, and also, on the graves of Second Lieutenants Popoff and Garnier.

     

    Tayar and Berthaud had been agents of General de Gaulle’s secret service the BCRA, and were killed when the 161 Squadron Lysander bringing them back from France had crashed in bad weather, also killing its pilot F/Lt Stephen Hankey.

     

    Popoff and Garnier were trainee SOE agents who'd been killed during the Blitz, while in a holding house in central London.

     

    Refreshments were hosted at the Estaminet built close to the cemetery by Eddie Jones, with Ambassador Colonna and the French and British Military attachés among the attendees.

     

    These combined efforts had been a modest but well considered way to honour some of those this Charity exists to remember, and the team's attendance concluded with an enjoyable lunch at the nearby White Hart.

     

    IMG_20191111_113610_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_113610_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_114629_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_114629_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_112816_resized_20191114_082
    IMG_20191111_112816_resized_20191114_082
    IMG_20191111_121114_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_121114_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_112816_RESIZED_20191114_082
    IMG_20191111_112816_RESIZED_20191114_082
    IMG_20191111_112645_RESIZED_20191112_094
    IMG_20191111_112645_RESIZED_20191112_094

    Ambassador Colonna went on to host an event at the French Residence in London, to highlight "the unwavering friendship between France and the UK".

    To mark this tribute to France’s Allies and highlight the unwavering friendship between France and the UK, the Ambassador awarded France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’Honneur, to three British WW2 veterans: Keith Whiting, Jean Neal and William Allen.

     

    Each had contributed in their own way: Keith Whiting on HMS Ramillies and the Normandy beaches, William Allen from Field Marshal Montgomery’s operational HQ and in the Royal Berkshire Regiment, and Jean Neal at Bletchley Park’s Code and Cypher School.

     

    Ambassador Colonna expressed “our country’s gratitude to these heroes, who helped liberate France during the Second World War”.

    “At a time when Europe was experiencing its darkest hours, my country was fortunate to be able to count on the support of its closest partner, the UK, and of the brave British people who fought for our common values: freedom, democracy and peace.”

     Photos courtesy of Carol Brown and the French Embassy in London

     

    Please reload

    Follow Us

    November 2019 (4)

    October 2019 (1)

    September 2019 (5)

    July 2019 (2)

    June 2019 (3)

    May 2019 (1)

    April 2019 (2)

    March 2019 (5)

    January 2019 (1)

    December 2018 (1)

    November 2018 (3)

    October 2018 (1)

    September 2018 (2)

    August 2018 (4)

    July 2018 (4)

    June 2018 (4)

    May 2018 (9)

    April 2018 (1)

    March 2018 (3)

    January 2018 (1)

    November 2017 (3)

    October 2017 (3)

    September 2017 (5)

    August 2017 (1)

    July 2017 (2)

    May 2017 (5)

    March 2017 (1)

    November 2016 (9)

    September 2016 (1)

    July 2016 (3)

    June 2016 (1)

    May 2016 (1)

    April 2016 (1)

    February 2016 (1)

    Please reload

    Archive
    • Facebook Basic Square
    • Twitter Basic Square
    • Google+ Basic Square
    The Secret WW2 Learning Network is an educational charity registered in the UK  - a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) No. 1156796
    click HERE for our                                      page to find out why we hope you will!