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Royal Garden Parties[ 15/07/2008 ]
Representatives of the Corps are invited each year to the Royal Garden Party on the day our Commandant-in-Chief, HRH the Princess Royal, attends. The proud guests on this occasion were snapped at HQ, prior to being whisked off (3 Cinderellas in a black taxi) for their brief but glorious audience at the Palace.
An added bonus this year; on 10th July, 24 members attended the Garden Party celebrating TA100, where many of the Corps had the honour of meeting the Commandant-in-Chief, who went out of her way to greet the Commandant and her party.
TA100 Pageant[ 19/06/2008 ]
As the screens over the parade ground showed pictures of the Mall, bedecked with flags, a convoy of vehicles lined up behind the band of Guardsmen, it seemed for a moment to be a replay of our Centenary convoy last June. But this was the TA, just one year younger than the Corps, celebrating its 100th birthday.
What a birthday party it was, too. So many of our friends were there, taking part or enjoying the spectacle. We each picked out the vehicles we knew from Richard Beddall's Military Vehicle Trust cavalcade and applauded the owner/drivers we recognised. The HAC paraded in their distinctive uniforms, the Boers were repelled; Sudan remembered; the London Scottish went off to the Great War; many weary soldiers perished in the arena under shot and shell.
The modern 'rescue under fire' was particularly poignant as everyone was aware of the four soldiers being repatriated from Helmand as well as the many others currently serving abroad. HRH The Prince of Wales empathised with fathers, worrying about their children in danger, and with all the families waiting for soldiers' return from battle.
The TA is a vital part of the British Army and has been playing a vital role for one hundred years.
Les Femmes de L'Ombre[ 19/06/2008 ]
Director:
Jean-Paul Salome (2008)
Cast:
Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, Marie Gillain, Deborah Francois, Moritz Bleibtreu, Maya Sansa.
An all-woman SOE team is parachuted into occupied France in May 1944 to rescue a wounded British agent captured on a reccie ahead of the Normandy landings. The pressure is on - he must be rescued before the Nazis can torture the D-Day information out of him. The five women complete the job successfully only to be sent on an unplanned second mission, to assassinate the head of German military intelligence who may already have discovered too much.
Jean-Paul Salome and Deborah Francois
Four of us went to a screening of the film on 19th June in Soho. We enjoyed it very much. The beautiful heroines displayed an accurate mix of spunk, brave determination, naivity and numbing fear. Jean-Paul Salome and Deborah Francois answered questions afterwards when the role of the women of SOE was discussed at some length. The fact is that in France very little is known about the women of F section. The character of Louise (Sophie Marceau) was inspired by Lise de Baissac - though the story was not about her. Jean-Paul reserved the right not to let the truth get in the way of a good film. With some reservations, the audience tended to agree with him.
Go and see it yourself. (Oh and inaccuracies in FANY uniform and secret wireless transmitter have already been noted)