WFA SUFFOLK BRANCH Branch Briefing

April 2015 Our Website : www.suffolkwfa.org

Tonight’s talk :

John Spencer: ‘Second Ypres: problems of command’.

TWO MINUTES SILENCE Derek Pheasant

GALLIPOLI 100

100 years ago this month, on 25th April 1915, my Grandfather, Company Sergeant

Major Bernard Steven, landed on the Gallipoli Peninsular. As part of the MEF

(Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) under the command of General Sir Ian Ham-

ilton he had landed on W Beach at the southern tip of the Peninsular with the 1/

Essex, after the 1/Lancashire Fusiliers had virtually secured the landing beach and

won their six VCs “before breakfast”.

Further north up along the west side of the Peninsular the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army

Corps) contingent of the MEF were planned to land at Z Beach. They would land in two bodies – the first

being a covering force to seize the beaches and the ridges around the landing area and the second and main

body to begin landing about an hour later.

The first wave of this covering force - about 1500 men - would land in lifeboats and launches from three

Formidable-class battleships, one of which was HMS London. Aboard her were two companies, about 500

men, of the 11th Battalion AIF (Australian Imperial Force), a Western Australian Battalion and part of the 3rd

Australian Brigade which had been chosen to lead the assault. The brigade consisted largely of miners from

Broken Hill and the Western Australian goldfields – fit lads with stamina and strength.

One amongst them was No.711 Private Walter Reeves - nearly six feet tall with blond hair and blue eyes - of

“C” Company, a native of Fenn Ditton, a small village near Cambridge. He was born in 1894 in the village,

the son of Walter and Eliza Reeves and the 1901 Census shows the family living on Newmarket Road, Cam-

bridge, Walter (senior) working in a local maltings. Walter (junior) was the youngest of five and at the age

of fourteen he joined the Notts and Derby Regiment – the Sherwood Foresters – serving with them for three

years before emigrating to Australia in 1912.

He settled near the town of Kalgoolie, about 350 miles inland from Perth in Western Australia working there

as a gold miner and when Australia joined the war effort he immediately volunteered, enlisting at Blackboy

Hill Training Camp near Perth into the 11th Battalion AIF. He embarked for Europe after just two weeks of

preliminary training but the battalion was diverted to Egypt. Here their training continued before they sailed

north into the Aegean Sea and the Greek island of Lemnos with its large natural harbour at Mudros – the

staging post for the Gallipoli landings.

Here Wally ran into a spot of bother with the authorities for refusing to obey an order from a certain Provost

Sergeant Simpson and he found himself court martialled on 15th March 1915 and sentenced to three months

Field Punishment No. 1, later reduced to five weeks.

During the 24th April the 1500 men of the first wave of the covering force boarded their respective battle-

ships and at 3pm sailed out of Mudros Harbour en route for the Peninsular.

Raised at 1am the following morning Wally and his mates

were served a hot meal and drink and prepared their equip-

ment. The weather was perfect, the sky clear and moonlit and

the sea like glass. At 2am HMS London stopped engines and

the boats were lowered, the men scrambling down the rope

ladders and by 2.35am the tows were ready. As the moon

sank the three battleships silently approached the Peninsular

followed by their twelve tows of boats.

“The men were motionless and silent, cramped together in the tows as they neared the shore. The

night was cold and with their great coats stored in their packs, the men shivered as the boats

chugged there way through the darkness”.

At 4.00am the silhouette of the coastal ridges could just be made out and at this point the naval

officers in charge of the boats realised that they were too far north as the current had swept them

along the coast. But it was too late to correct the error and so at 4.15am the tows, with a midship-

man and five sailors to row each boat, were set adrift to make their own way the last 50 yards or so

to the shore....and then the firing started.

The men of 11th AIF were to land on the left and form a defensive flank to the north but they were

not sure where they were (they had in fact landed at what was to become known as North Beach,

some distance away from their objective). All they knew was that they had to get out immediately,

for as the wooden boats grounded on the gravel beach machine gun and small arms fire hit them

from several directions - many soldiers were des-

tined never to leave the boats. Charles Bean, the Of-

ficial Australian War Historian describes the bullets

as “splintering the boats or thudding into their

crowded freight”.

I suspect Wally Reeves was such a casualty as Pri-

vate Theo Anderson of the same company reported

that “Pte Reeves was in a picket boat and was not

seen to land. Machine guns were playing on the

boats, many of the men were hit”. He was officially

reported wounded and missing on 25th April and lat-

er pronounced dead on that day by a Board of En-

quiry held at Fletre in France on 10th April 1916.

He has no known grave and his body may well have

been buried at sea, for in the early days of the land-

ings there was neither time nor opportunity to give

the dead a formal burial on land. He is therefore

commemorated on the CWGC Lone Pine Memorial

to the ANZAC Missing which stands on a high plat-

eau looking over the landing beaches. In Australia

he is commemorated at the Australian War Memori-

al at Canberra and most importantly he is not forgot-

ten at home for his name is inscribed on the War

Memorial in the centre of the village of Fenn Ditton.

HMS London - the battleship Walter landed from

THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD..............

References: “Battleground Gallipoli. Anzac - The Landing” by Steve Chambers. “Britain at

War” magazine.

This article, with some amendments and corrections, appeared in the May 2011 Branch

Briefing.

***

DOUG POTT’S LEGACY Dave Hedges

You no doubt recall from the AGM that Doug Pott’s very kindly left us £1000 in his will.

Your committee feel that we should not just lose this money in to the general funds without

considering a number of options. We would like you to contribute to the decision. At the

back is a tear-off form. Please fill it in and hand back to Colin Woods.

***

RELATIVES LOST DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL 1915

IN THE GREAT WAR

None submitted this month

Now we have entered into the centenary four years of the war please submit entries for your

relative in the correct month and the correct year.

Fenn Ditton War Memorial

GALLIPOLI 100 Derek Pheasant

THE LANDINGS

“The morning was absolutely still; there was no sign of life on the shore; a thin veil of mist hung motion-

less over the promontory; the surface of the sea was as smooth as glass.”

So wrote Major Gillam RASC, attached 1/Essex on the morning of 25th April 1915 as the great armada

of boats carrying the invasion troops of the MEF (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) approached the

Gallipoli Peninsular.

My Grandfather was one amongst them, a Company Sergeant Major in 1/Essex

and as Major Gillam continues.....”I went on deck , and there found the Essex fall-

ing in as on parade, with full packs, two bags of iron rations, entrenching tools,

200 rounds of ammunition, rifle and bayonet. I stood there and watched their fac-

es, listened to what they said to each other, and could trace no sign of fear in their

faces and no words of apprehension at forthcoming events in their conversation. It

was a simple “fall in”, just as of old in days of peace parades, with the familiar

faces of their NCO’s and officers before them like one big family party......the

booming of the guns grows louder. It is very misty, but on going forward I can just

see land, and the first officer points out to me the entrance through the Darden-

elles. How narrow it seems. Like the Thames at Gravesend almost.......The din is

getting louder. It is getting clearer and a lovely day is developing. Seagulls are

swooping over the calm sea above the din.

Essex are disembarking now, going down the rope ladders slowly and with difficulty. They are landing

in small open boats. A tug takes a string of them in tow, and slowly they steam away for “W”

Beach.......we hear the Lancashires have landed there and are a hundred yards inshore fighting for dear

life. Tug after tug takes these strings of white open boats away from our ship towards land with their

overladen khaki freight. Slowly they wend their way towards the green shore in front of us, winding in

and out among transports, roaring battleships and angry destroyers towards the land of Great Adven-

ture.”

The landing of 1/Essex was relatively unopposed as the IWM photo shows but you can just make out the

dark smudges on the water’s edge – the bodies of the 1/Lancashire Fusiliers who fell in the initial land-

ing. My Grandfather survived the dangers and privations of the early weeks on the Peninsular, was

wounded in May but returned to the battalion in time for the Third Battle of Krithia on 4th June.

References: “Essex Units In the Great War 1914-19. Volume 1” by John Burrows.

1/Essex on "W" Beach

2015 SEMINAR - TICKETS ON SALE TONIGHT Dave Hedges

Tickets for our Seminar are on sale tonight - and you can order via our website. It would

greatly help plan the Seminar if Branch members bought their ticket soon. We undertake to

refund Branch members if you find you cannot attend due to illness or personal reasons.

MAIN BRANCH TOUR 2015 Dave Hedges and Colin Woods

1915 TRIAL AND ERROR

The main Branch big coach tour this year will follow the fortunes of the French and British

Armies as they vainly attempted to end the trench stalemate north of Arras in 1915. We have

engaged the guiding services of Michael Orr from Thames Valley Branch. Michael is a lead-

ing expert on the 1915 battles, ex Sandhurst lecturer and Holts guide - and a flat-mate of Rich-

ard Holmes ! - Michael has studied the battles and guided on the ground over many years. No

recce costs are needed.

We will cover the French at Vimy and Notre Dame de Lorette, and the British at Neuve

Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos, and if time permits we will touch on 2nd Ypres

as we make our way to the ferry on the last day. We will stay in a hotel in Arras.

The dates are Friday 31st July to Monday 3rd August (3 nights)

The cost, to include 2 group dinners, is estimated to be about £300 sharing a twin and £385 for

a single, assuming we have 26 on the coach.

***

MENIN GATE CEREMONY Dave Hedges

I was at the Menin Gate ceremony last week for the umpty-third time. Each evening through-

out the centenaries they appear to be reading a few paragraphs on a soldier that was killed on

that date. If you want your relative’s story read out on the centenary of the day he died then I

can arrange for it to happen.

***

SNIPPETS Derek Pheasant

With thanks to Essex WFA

PART THREE FROM MY BROTHER’S ARTICLES Viv Whelpton

The following is the 1915 'naval diary' account by Commander David Childs. These articles are

appearing in the 'Naval Review' during the centenary and my brother David is kindly allowing

us to print them in our Branch Briefings.

THE FORGOTTEN VCs OF ‘V’ BEACH

This account draws heavily on S Snelling, VCs of the First World War, Gallipoli

Some years ago I was sailing towards the Dardanelles in the early morning when I was joined

on deck by two young privates in the Lancashire Regiment who had risen to get a glimpse of

‘W’ Beach where their predecessors had famously ‘won six V.C.s before breakfast’ during the

Gallipoli landings of 25 April 1915. Meanwhile the naval contingent onboard snored on untu-

tored of the fact that the Navy had won the same number of medals at the neighbouring ‘V’

Beach although it had taken them all day. They were the most awarded to the Service for any

one incident or to members of any one ship’s company. To a certain extent this somnolent ig-

norance must reflect the far longer and wider history of the Royal Navy but there are other con-

tributory factors. Firstly, the ship concerned was no warship but an old converted collier, the

SS River Clyde. Secondly, she had not engaged the enemy in some fight at sea but crunched

up on the beach head. Thirdly, they were an odd bunch, these gallant six: they included three

ex-merchant navy men (51-year old Commander Edward Unwin, 26-year old George Samson

and 20-year old Midshipman RNR George Drewry), a 34-year old reservist, Able-Seaman Wil-

liam Williams, a member of the RNVR and Churchill’s brainchild, the Royal Naval Division,

Sub-Lieutenant Arthur Tidsall, and only one regular career seaman, Midshipman Wilfrid Mal-

leson who, at 18, was the youngest recipient of a Victoria Cross during the Gallipoli campaign.

The six had arrived at the same location thanks to an idea conceived by Unwin.

The assault on the Gallipoli peninsula was planned as a means of supporting the naval attempt

to force the Dardanelles and sail on to Constantinople which had been repulsed on 18 March by

a combination of shore-fire and a well-located minefield that sank HM Ships Illustrious and

Ocean and the French battleship Bouvet. The landings were meant to seize the pesky gun em-

placements, thus allowing the Navy to clear the minefields. To achieve this General Sir Ian

Hamilton, the Commander-in-Chief’s plan comprised: the landing of the 29th Division on the

seaward toe of the peninsular; an assault by the ANZACs further along the coast; a feint at Bu-

lair at the peninsular neck to draw away reinforcements, and a French landing on the Asian

shore below Troy. It was a well-conceived plan but with one major drawback: the Turks had

time and warning enough to prepare their defences.

The British knew this, and also knew that it was only possible to land a limited number of

troops at any one moment on the small beaches at the southern end of the Gallipoli peninsula.

Without either purpose-built landing craft or the advantage of surprise, those taking part in the

assault would have to clamber over the side of grounded boats and wade ashore, exposed at

their most vulnerable to withering fire from well-positioned defenders. It was thus essential

that the reinforcing waves arrived as fast as possible to maintain the momentum and overcome

the opposition by weight of numbers. This was particularly important at ‘V’ Beach, a Greek

theatre of a bay, which was dominated on the right by the rubble-reduced fortress of Sedd-el-

Bahr and on the left by a curve of low cliffs while, in the centre, beyond a three-foot high ridge

close to the shore, the ground sloped gently up to a small village named after the fort. Below

the high ground the beach itself was an exposed arc, just 10 yards wide by 350 yards long.

Faced with the problem of landing here, and possibly inspired by the story of the fall of

nearby Troy, Unwin proposed that an amphibious ‘wooden-horse’ in the shape of an old

4,000-ton collier, the SS River Clyde, should be filled with the two thousand men of the sec-

ond wave and run aground at ‘V’ Beach which was the central and most important of the

five assault beaches. The men would emerge from sally-ports cut in the side and stream

ashore along lengthy gangways and across a bridge formed by a shallow-draughted steam

hopper, the Argyll, which would be towed to the beach by the River Clyde as would be three

lighters that would be used to fill any watery gaps. In this way, Unwin argued, not only

would the men be protected until the last possible moment, but two waves of assault could

be effectively combined as one. Despite concerns that one well-placed shell would dispose

of all those men, the idea won approval and Unwin was promoted to Captain and placed in

command of the conversion and the ship. In this position he was able to pick his crew and

included in that number both a junior officer from his previous ship, HMS Hussar, Midship-

man George Drewry, and Petty Officer, now Leading Seaman, William Williams, who vol-

unteered to ‘chuck my hook if you will let me come.’

Drewry’s task was to command the hopper which was crewed by Greek volunteers and an-

other one of Unwin’s old shipmates, Seaman Samson. Williams’s task was to stick as close

as possible to Unwin throughout the landing, a command he would obey with fatal faithful-

ness.

The day began with a dawn barrage against the Turkish positions with that directed at ‘V’

Beach hindered by the fact that Albion’s gunlayers were facing directly into the rising sun.

Beneath the barrage, the assorted assault craft steered the two miles to the shore. Ahead of

them, well hidden and silent, just three companies of Turks watched the boats approach.

Disregarding, for a moment, the welcome that awaited them, the plan began to go fall apart

on that short journey. For a reason that remains unknown, River Clyde moved ahead of the

tows ferrying the first wave ashore. In an effort to restore the order Unwin slowed and, pre-

sumably lost steerage way, with the result that the ship grounded in deeper water and further

from the shore than had been planned. Drewry’s hopper had also beached some fifteen yards

from River Clyde, meaning that she would be of no use as a gangway. They would have to

rely on the lighters which, of course, would have to be hauled into position to serve as a

bridge.

At 06.22 Lt. Col. Weir de Lancy Williams, onboard River Clyde, noted that the ship had run

aground and that, there being no opposition, ‘We shall land unopposed.’

Eight minutes later the first wave, carrying the 1st Battalion, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, hit

the beach and was met by a thunderous and deadly applause as every rifle opened up at an

unmissable range with such rapid fire that the troops believed, erroneously, that they were

being machine-gunned. In moments half of the 700-strong group was slaughtered or badly

wounded. Robert Rhodes James describes it thus:

‘The shattered cutters, now full only with the dead and dying, drifting away from the beach;

the floundering, screaming troops; the ugly crimson stain which spread rapidly over the

placid water; the pile of corpses at the edge of the beach and in front of the barbed wire; the

spume from the hail of bullets drifting lazily across the water.’

Salvation for those ashore lay solely in the men packing like sardines behind the low ridge at

the top of the narrow beach. Once here there was no question of them even raising their

heads above it, let alone regrouping for a charge. For a while those onboard River Clyde,

without a link to the shore, could only witness the destruction that was being wrought on

their companions. Then Drewry and Samson leaped into the sea and endeavoured to haul

the lighters from the stern of the hopper over to River Clyde while Unwin and the faithful

Williams jumped in the water to pull them into position. At great risk they managed almost

to bridge the gap so that the disembarkation of the Munster Fusiliers and the Hampshire

Regiment could begin. The men issued forth. The Turks shifted target. Soon each lighter

had its own cargo of dead.

For over an hour, up to their necks in water, Unwin and Williams held the lighters in posi-

tion. Then Williams, struck by a shell fragment, let go of his line as did Unwin in an effort

to save his companion. The lighters drifted away, ironically giving a short respite to those

still to run the gauntlet of disembarking. Williams had, however, been mortally wounded.

Of his deeds that day Unwin was to write that he was ‘’the man above all others who de-

served the VC at the landing.’

By now Unwin himself, exhausted and white with cold, was in need of relief. He was

hauled out of the water and returned, temporarily, onboard by Drewry who continued to try

and keep viable a gangway between ship and shore. Witnessing all of this from his position

in command of the machine-guns in the bows of River Clyde , Lt. Cdr. Josiah Wedgwood

M.P., a member of the Royal Naval Division, was to write: ‘The wounded cried out all day –

in every boat, lighter, hopper and along the shore. It was horrible, and all within 200 yards

of our guns.’

For commanding officers in the fleet had been ordered to cease their bombardment from the

moment the troops reached the beaches for fear of shells falling short. Most stuck to their

orders despite the carnage at several of the beaches being clearly visible from the sea.

Now it was the time for the third wave to pull towards the shore, their timing and determina-

tion neither dented nor delayed by the obvious evidence of calamity. As they approached,

led by four boats from HMS Cornwallis, Drewry continued his gallant effort to re-link the

lighters to each other and the shore. He managed to re-establish one of the connections but at

the cost of a head wound which he chose to ignore. Seeing the difficulties that Drewry was

experiencing, Midshipman Malleson, in command of one of Cornwallis’s boats, stood up in

full view of the Turks and hauled in a length of rope with which he then swam across the

gap to establish a new ship-to-shore link. In this he was joined, once again, by Unwin, kitted

out conspicuously in his tropical whites. At 09.30 the 2nd Hampshires charged out of the

sallyports only to be mown down as speedily as the Munsters and just before the main group

of the third wave arrived in their open boats.

In vain did the survivors on River Clyde and the lighters try to wave the last group away.

Hailed to warn him of the impossibility of landing, the commander, General Napier, stood

up in his boat and shouted back: ‘I’ll have a damned good try.’ They were his last words.

Those of his wave that lived scrambled onto the lighters where they lay unable to move for-

ward while the gaps between them and the shore remained unbridged.

Cont’d next month

MEDALS RE-UNITED David Gant

My story starts about fifteen to twenty years ago (not sure of the exact year), I my wife and two

girls spent a day at Military Odyssey in Kent. This is a show mainly consisting of re-enactment

groups from pre-Roman times to the present day plus military vehicles and many vendors sell-

ing all sorts of military collectables.

At the time I couldn’t afford to buy much having a young family to keep, however I trawled the

vendors looking for bargains. I came across a small tent where a gentleman was selling medals.

I wandered in and enquired if he had any to the Suffolk Regiment. His answer was no but he

did have one medal to a man from Suffolk. Not only was he from Suffolk but it transpired that

he also lived in the same town and street as myself. Naturally my interest was piqued and I had

a look. The medal was the 1914 -18 British War Medal to a Private Bertie Gowers of the York-

shire Regiment who was killed in Belgium on 17th July 1917. I bought the medal took it home

and put it in my collection.

The story moves on to August of last year when I attended a ceremony at the Hadleigh War

Memorial commemorating the outbreak of the First World War. After the ceremony I found

myself talking to Mark Brennan, Chairman of the Hadleigh Branch of the British Legion. I

learnt that he was heading up the Hadleigh WW1 Centenery Project and having received a

grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund was looking for interested parties to help. I offered what

help I could and at a later meeting Mark explained that he was looking for medals, badges, pic-

tures etc to photograph for the website. He was interested to see the medals that I had and was

very interested in Bertie’s medal. Mark had been contacted by the family who were interested

in sharing what they had on the site. Mark knew that they had Bertie’s Victory Medal and also

his Death Penny and were seeking his other medal.

Mark approached me about whether I would be willing to sell the medal to the family which

was a bit of a dilemma for me but on thinking things over I decided that I would give the medal

to the family. Mark arranged a meeting at the British Legion where I met up with the family

and after a short speech I handed Bertie’s medal back to a very delighted family. Some photos

were taken by an East Anglian Daily Times reporter and we retired to the bar. The family plan

to visit Bertie’s grave in 2017 on the anniversary of his death and if there is space then I hope

to go with them. If anyone is interested in the project the website address is

www.hadleighww1.com.

***

WFA CLOTHING Viv Whelpton

Viv 3 small and one 2XL WFA T shirts and one small rugby shirt for sale – all at £10. At this

stage there is still no news from the WFA about new provision of t-shirts and rugby shirts.

(Several people have made requests for other sizes.)

***

ANTHOLOGY OF POEMS Viv Whelpton

I have copies for sale (at £7.99) of the anthology of poems of conflict written by Suffolk poets

for the centenary, publication of which was sponsored by the Branch.

***

LEST WE FORGET -Colin Garwood

ROBERT JAMES GARWOOD: KILLED IN ACTION 24TH APRIL 1915

As a family history researcher I feel compelled when confronted by a list of names to look

for my own surname. There are 49 entries for Garwood listed by the Commonwealth War

Graves Commission. This surname is generally agreed to be most common in Suffolk; it

appears 11 times (22.5% of CWGC total) in the Roll of Honour held by the Suffolk County

Council. Two of these men I know are blood relatives. Five more are most likely to be re-

lated. Three from the Lowestoft area may not be identifiable as blood relatives but may in

the mists of time share a common ancestor.

The birth of Robert James Garwood was registered at Loddon in quarter 1 of 1881: probably

in January as on the Census on April 3rd that year his age was shown as 3 months, his birth

place was Haddiscoe, Norfolk. Recently I learnt that one person in Haddiscoe can trace a

connection to a Garwood born in Hawkedon Suffolk, very close to my family’s origin. In

1891 his family had moved to Suffolk and were living at no 9 Brickfields, Somerleyton.

Robert cannot be traced on the 1901 Census. In 1902 he married Gertrude Edith Spooner;

by 1911 they had four children and lived at 465, Stanford Street, Lowestoft. Robert was a

labourer for the Great Eastern Railway; in 1913 he was shown on a list of NUR members in

Lowestoft working for the Great Eastern Railway.

EXHIBITION

www.elmswell-history.org.uk ELMSWELL

& MEMORIES

of the GREAT WAR

INCLUDING the “LOST” WW1 AERODROME

of Elmswell’s Royal Flying Corps & RAF

Sat-Sun 11th & 12th APRIL 2015 11am - 4pm WESLEY HALL, School Rd, Elmswell IP30 9EE

FREE Admission - ALL WELCOME

Talk at the Norwich Branch on Tuesday 5th May

Geoff Carlton: French and Belgian Uniforms of the Great War

Please send any contributions for the Branch Briefing to:

David Hedges, 99 Cliff Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 9SA

telephone: 01394 272677 and email:david.j.hedges@btopenworld.com

Next Committee meeting: 29th April 2015

Approach a committee member if you want any issue raised.

HEALTH & SAFETY

1. In the event of a FIRE or an incident requiring the evacuation of the hall, there are Fire Exits and Safe Exit Routes clear-

ly marked by Green lights. Please familiarise with these routes.

2. The Assembly Point is directly across the street outside STANNARDS ELECTRICAL SHOP.

3. Please learn the location of Fire Points where equipment is provided to tackle a fire.

Our next month’s talk on Wednesday 13th May

Simon Worrall: Aubers Ridge and Festubert

He enlisted at Lowestoft, possibly in late summer or early autumn of 1914, joining the 1st Battalion of

the Suffolk regiment as number 16943. His Medal Card shows he arrived in France on April 1st 1915.

The battalion was called on to fill a gap on the left of the Canadians during the Battle of St Julien. On

the 24th of April the battalion received its first gas attack. He is shown on Soldiers Died as Killed in Ac-

tion, and commemorated on the Menin Gate as he has no known grave. Only 6 of the 50 men of his bat-

talion who died that day have a known grave. His name also appears on the Memorial in St Margaret’s

Church Lowestoft.

Panel 21 Menin Gate Ypres

THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD..........

DOUG POTT’S LEGACY OF £1000 please hand to Colin Woods

Below are some ideas in a random order. Please consider each one and score in the box

3 = Like this idea

2 = Not my favourite but would support if this proved to be chosen

1 = Not keen

0 = Definitely against

Put a cross through for no decision

1. Use a fraction, say £100, each time we have an Branch trip out in the UK to subsidise

the trip.

2. Use to help offset the costs of each monthly meeting to delay further increase to the

entrance fee

3. Use to support local pupils and teachers to further understand WW1 with educational

items (books, dvds etc)

4. Use to subsidise the cost of local pupils and /or teachers visiting the battlefields

5. Just hold in a reserve fund in case needed in the future

6. Pay for ‘top class’ speakers to attend our Branch

7. Any other suggestion from you (if your suggestion is likely to “win” we will repeat this

questionnaire with it added next month)

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Your name ________________________________________________