Soldier – August 2019

20 AUGUST 2019 http://www.soldiermagazine.co.uk

Picture: Sgt Paul Randall, RLC

COOLING OFF

ADDICTION REFUGE OPENS

■A CENTRE for veterans battling addiction

and mental health issues has opened its

doors in Manchester.

Leon House will support up to 23

residents at a time, taking referrals from

charities, GPs or other professionals.

Thanks to corporate funding it is

completely free of charge.

The centre was officially opened by the

Duke of Westminster last month.

RESERVE GRANTS

■FAMILIES of Reservists who die

in service could be missing out on

financial support.

The Army Dependents’ Trust awards

grants of up to £15,000 to nominated

beneficiaries of serving personnel, but

many Reservists are unaware they are

eligible to join.

Membership is optional and costs

£8.75. Applications can be made

via Modnet, Defence Connect or by

contacting your regimental admin office.

Soldiers’ final resting place

Household Cavalry takes a dip

■MEMBERS of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment swapped their London barracks for the sands of

Holkham Beach in Norfolk during their annual training camp. As well as fun in the sun, the programme included a

tough regime of equestrian and military skills, designed to build bonds between the troops and their horses.

HEROES CAPTURED

■THIS striking photograph of D-Day

veteran Robert Purver is one of 29 images

adorning the walls of the National Memorial

Arboretum, Staffordshire, until September 1.

The free exhibition, called Six Six Forty-

Four, was put together by photographer

Stuart Wood in tribute to those who were

part of Operation Overlord.

A lance corporal in the Wiltshire

Regiment, Purver landed on Juno Beach in

June 1944 with shells whistling overhead

and men dying around him.

“This is the culmination of several years’

work, capturing the spirit of these veterans

on camera and documenting their stories of

heroism,” Wood said.

Picture: Stuart Wood

Y

EARS of painstaking research by

MoD specialists has seen two

soldiers who were killed in the

First World War named and laid to rest

with fallen comrades.

Privates Henry Wallington and Frank

Mead of 23rd (County of London)

Battalion, London Regiment, were

buried at the Hermies Hill Cemetery in

France – more than a century after they

died in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917.

Members of the Joint Casualty and

Compassionate Centre (JCCC) had been

investigating the identities of the men

after remains were discovered near

Anneux in 2016.

The only artefact found with their

bodies was a shoulder title naming

their unit – but from there the experts

narrowed the candidates down to nine.

They used genealogy to trace

relatives before positive DNA tests

confirmed the identities.

A funeral was attended by members

of the troops’ families plus military

personnel, dignitaries and locals.

Nicky Nash, who works with the

JCCC and led the efforts to identify

the soldiers, said: “It has been a great

honour to name these two men.”

Research continues to name a third

soldier found with the bodies.

MAXIMUM range, in metres, of

Javelin. Read more about the

anti-tank missile’s latest outing

IN NUMBERS: on page 32

Troops from 4th Battalion,

The Princess of Wales’s Royal

Regiment laid the soldiers to rest

A funeral was attended by members

personnel, dignitaries and locals. soldier found with the bodies.

MAXIMUM range, in metres, of

Javelin. Read more about the

anti-tank missile’s latest outing

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