The President of the Peterborough Branch of the Royal Signals Association, and all members of the Branch committee wish our Members, Honorary members, Associate members and friends a very Happy, Prosperous and Healthy 2020

Standard Bearer Michael Court at a recent event in Peterborough

Funeral of William “Bill” Thomas

The funeral of Bill Thomas took place on 14th January 2019 at Bourne in Lincolnshire.  Although Bill was not a member of the Peterborough branch, the funeral was attended by the branch standard bearer, the president, the chairman and other members of the branch.  Bill was born in Merthyr Tydfil in 1921 and in 1940 was called up to serve in the Royal Signals for War Service.  He was an accomplished morse operato who was involved in the invasion of France on D-Day and saw service in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.  After the was he was demobbed but missed service life so much that he re-enlisted into the Corps and served until 1970’s.  He then worked for the GPO until he retired.  A fine obituary gave an insight into his life in the Corps.  Several other ex-servicemen attended the funeral and The first meeting of 2019 will take place at the Botolph Arms Peterborough at 1930 on Thursday January 17th. All members and associate members are invited to attend. it could have described as “a good send off”.  RIP Bill.

Review of events which took place in 2018

We may be a very small group, but this is made up of enthusiasm from our Members and Associates.  We wrote at the beginning of the year :

On a date to be decided we expect to run a BBQ in Geoff’s garden to view the Flying Scotsman as it passes the bottom of his garden. (and we did. About 15 of us assembled in Geoff and Margaret’s riverside summer house and had a fantastic barbeque. The Flying Scotsman did not let us down and made a number of appearances within 20 feet of the bottom of the garden)

We are going to run a Flying Day from a local airport for members and their families to enjoy a flight across the Wash or around Peterborough. The plane can take 3 passengers at a time so let Margaret know if you are interested. (This is still open to members and associate members, and their families and friends)

Fantastic entertainment….On November 29th at the Cresset theatre there is a show called “That’ll be the day”. Some of us have seen this group on a number of occasions and they visit the Cresset twice every year and every show is different. They are quite brilliant and we hope to get a group of us together to attend this year’s show. We need to book early as it is always a full house. (It was a wonderful evening with terrific entertainment. The show was full of great humour and Christmas cheer. They are going to visit Peterborough with their new show in March 2019. Well worth a visit)

Nina and Fiona enjoying the occasion

Sqn. Ldr. Clive Wood and Clare posing for the camera

The highlight of the year is our early Christmas Dinner on Friday November 23rd. Once again we have secured the presence of “Juke Box legends” to entertain us. Pete and Fiona ( Juke Box legends) were the entertainment last year and those who attended gave them ten out of ten, so we have invited them back. It truly is a spectacular evening and will he held once again at the Holiday Inn. last year the room, the food, the service and the ambience was superb so here’s hoping for a similar occasion. Bring your family and friends and make it a memorable evening. For those wishing to stay the night, the hotel have offered special room rates which are very inexpensive. ( a great evening with over 50 members and guests present.

The President, John Hill made a call for more of our guests to join the association on an Associate Member status.

ANNUAL DINNER 2019

“It was a night, oh what a night it was , it really was, such a night “

Once again this year’s annual dinner was held at the Holiday Inn Peterborough. Over 60 members and guests attended, a record for the branch. The Branch president John Hill welcomed everybody especially out guest of honour Bill White and his partner Beverley Robb. Bill had been the branch president in the past before he moved “up north”. The planning and organisation for the evening was very ably carried out by the Branch chairman Geoff Gardiner and his wife Margaret. Throughout they have been ably assisted by other members of the committee  Dave Stapleton, Chris Williams and Jane Crowe.

The evening went perfectly.The food was excellent and the wine flowed freely, Entertainment for the evening was again supplied by Juke Box legends who gave a rendering of all the hits of the 50’s and 60’s. Michael Court was toastmaster for the loyal toasts, while the raffle, which raised over £200 was handled by the treasurer, John Walsh ably assisted by his wife Carol and David Brown. Once again the President took over the role as MC for the evening which included running his picture quiz and telling a few “corny” stories. Once the dinner was over and after coffee and mince pies, the dance floor was open and several members  got up to dance. Thank you to all those who joined us, especially those from other military organisations. The Area representative Trevor Holyoake from Bedford branch said he was hoping to organise similar events next year with a number of local branches getting together.

It truly was an excellent evening and reiterating what Elvis said “It was a night, oh what a night it was , it really was, such a night “

We have since agreed to run next year’s Annual dinner at the same venue on November 27th  2020.