Help For Heroes Parade

People say they're heroes but if you ask any humble service man or woman who has served a tour of duty in any hostile place and every single one will tell you that they are not and that they are just doing their job.

So what does make that person a hero? It takes a very special kind, one that has his mates in mind when approaching a situation, one that does his duty to his or her ability. A hero always thinks of others first. A hero also has to be humble and is always searching for a way to help others.

Today, members of the regional regiments, cadets and ex servicemen and women paraded around the ground of Stadium:mk to support the Help for Heroes campaign supported by MK Dons player Peter Leven.

John Brockwell was contacted by the club to invite 4-6 serving or ex-serving members to attend the parade to represent the MKDSA.

The MK Dons Armed Forces Day guests inclulded members from the following:

1. 7th Rifles
2. Buckinghamshire ACF (The Rifles) - 1COY
3. 1 Signal Squadron (V)
4. MOD Chicksands
5. RAF Halton
6. Sea Cadets TSI (Whaddon)
7. Air Training Corps
8. Parachute Regiment Association
9. Representitives of the Royal British Legion - Bletchley, Leighton Buzzard and Winslow branches
10. Ex servicemen/women of the MKDSA

About Help For Heroes (H4H)

Help for Heroes (H4H) was founded by Bryn and Emma Parry after a profoundly moving visit to Selly Oak Hospital in the summer of 2007. Bryn and Emma met some extraordinarily brave young people who had been badly wounded and they just wanted to do something to help.

www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Photos courtesy of Tom Stewart & Roger Widdecombe

In attendance from the MKDSA was Lewis and Gwen Watson, Tom Stuart and Dave Gaskell.

Both Gwen and Lew are ex serving members of the RAF. Lew retired after 35 years of service with what he describes as 'a few bits and pieces before and after that'.

Lew Watson - Joined the RAF in 1954 after receiving my conscription papers and stayed to complete 35 years service before retiring as a Warrant Officer in the Supply (Logistics) trade group.

UK service was mainly in the Midlands area except for one tour in Scotland and twice at RAF Stanbridge, where I was eventually demobbed and decided to settle (and start supporting The Dons!).

Served 5 overseas tours in Cyprus, Aden, Singapore and Germany (twice), a total of 12.5 years. Fortunately all of these tours were ‘accompanied’ which in Service lingo means my family were with me.

Gwen Watson - joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in 19dot dot. Did my “square-bashing” at Wilmslow and was subsequently posted to RAF Suttoncoldfield where I worked in “Trans”.

I absolutely loved Service life and my job in Trans was perfect for me as a Goods Inward Clerk, I physically received all equipment onto the Unit arriving by post, rail and road transport for distribution throughout the unit. This was the life for me! Out and about, down to the Railway Station every day, off to the Post Room to collect the parcels and receiving the deliveries from the hunky? Lorry drivers. Then redistributing the goods, or escorting the lorry drivers to the different sections on camp.

Chiefy could never keep track of me so I was in my element. Then, guess what? Marriage took over and, instead of the life-time career I had planned (I had already volunteered for Singapore) followed the flag as a w/o (wife of) thereafter, living in such places as Cyprus, Aden, Singapore, Mőnchengladbach, Gutersloh, and Bruggen (on the Dutch Border) and various locations throughout the UK.

Such a varied and interesting life and we certainly saw life in the raw, taking any job that was going in each location and what a selection, from life guard in Singapore, importing duty-free cars in Germany to PA to Station Commander and Personal Secretary to the Commandant/Air Commodore plus loads more in between.

A great adventure, and I couldn’t have asked for a more interesting life, including finding a bullet hole in one of our windows – the bullet was eventually found in one of the wooden ceiling beams, losing 51 panes of glass when our house received a present of an armour-piercing grenade and having the windscreen of our Vauxhall Velox blown out (no wonder our kids used to shout to one another: “Be quiet or a grenade will come and blow you over!”.

Indeed shopping was quite an adventure in those days, but no campaign medals for ‘Wives of’. They used to post hubby and off he’d go with his military possessions leaving the wifie to prepare the married quarter for march out and then get herself and the kids half way round the world on her own! Good scheme that! But we did have a great time, even under curfew.

Thirty-five years is a long time to be living out of deep-sea boxes but what an adventure. And some very moving times - I used to take our daughter to Changi Jail married quarters for piano lessons. What an atmosphere when we stepping through those gates. Our real Heros were held there. We were very proud to march on Saturday and to remember them all, past and present.

I could go on all day so I’ll just say a big thank you to all who put so much time and effort into organising the event and to the Club for the way that they looked after all participants.

Tom Stuart (24206831) served in the 4th Royal Tank Regiment and completed tours in Northern Ireland, Germany during the cold war, Canada, and Cyprus.

He also served alongside Pipe Major Pete Elder who was the founding member of the regiments' Pipe band which now is with 1st Royal Tank Regiment.

Further details of the Pipes and Drums - Click here

Dave Gaskell (24905005) was an NCO in the Royal Engineers between 1990 and 1999 and completed multiple tours of Bosnia under the UN and NATO.

A Class 1 Combat Engineer with City & Guilds in handling explosives - really useful that now - lol.

Based in Germany for over 7 years with 21 Engineer Regiment with tours of Belize - Central America thrown in, and finally with the infamous bomb disposal unit 33 Engineer Regiment EOD based in Essex whose members are currently serving in Afghanistan.