Memories Shared With Veterans During Presentation Ceremony
Learning Morse Code, rescuing a Polish soldier and serving well-to-do-families were a few of the special memories shared during a veterans presentation ceremony at the Tunbridge Wells Care Centre.
The event, organised by the care centre on Upper Grosvenor road, welcomed Tunbridge Wells Deputy Mayor, Cllr John Smith, the Chelsea Pensioners, TS Brilliant officers, the British Legion and friends and families of all the residents. The garden party, basked in sunshine, kicked off with music and the residents stories delighted guests, young and old.
“Keeping the residents’ memories alive is very important,” said Bill Blackford, Activity Manager and key organiser of the August 20 event at the Care Centre. “It is with pride and humility that we organised this event. Many of our residents served in major conflicts in the past and have shown tremendous courage both then and now as they deal with their own health issues on a daily basis.”
We applied for HM Forces Veterans’ Lapel Badges – the first to win this honour was Lord Healey, who served at Monte Cassino – and ten were presented at the celebration garden party.
The fascinating anecdotes from wartime experiences were brought to life by the likes of Sidney Gillingham, a wartime ship’s radio officer, who recalls learning Morse Code in Japanese as “quite difficult, they have all these symbols. Italian was easier”.
For 84-year-old George Squires, rescuing a Polish pilot entangled in the branches of a tree in Upper Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells, is one of his strongest wartime memories. “His plane came down just by the bend. We didn’t bother going into school that day,” he remarked.
John Boon followed service in North America with a career in the theatre, where he met his wife.
Mr. Gillingham, who was born in Stephens Road, sits quietly in his chair with Cathy, his wife of 67 years beside him, and delves back through the years to describe the horror of sailing to the Normandy beaches after the D-day landings. “As we got nearer the coast we could see bodies bobbing about in the water”.
“Then two of our Mosquitoes flew overhead to salute us with a victory roll – there was such camaraderie – and one just exploded in mid-air, it was something I’ll never forget.”
Mr. Gillingham, 87, whose skill in Morse code enabled him to report back to top secret Bletchley Park if he picked up enemy messages at sea, was later awarded the Burma Star for services in the Far East.
Tunbridge Wells Care Centre looks after residents with and without dementia. The Manager, Sandra Wilmshurst, who herself has a nursing background, ensures the entire team at Tunbridge Wells Care Centre recognise and support the needs of all the residents.
It is said that on average, Alzheimer’s sufferers in care are believed to have only two-and-a-half minutes’ constructive communication a day, there is so much to learn from this generation if people only make the time to sit and talk to them.”
During our Veterans’ day, we did just that, and it proved to be an incredibly special occasion.
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Category: Care Operators, Dementia Care, Domiciliary Care, General Info, Local News
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