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Chelsea Pensioners Weekend in Ringwood
You are our dead, you held the foe The last weekend in July saw the arrival of two Chelsea Pensioners from the Royal Hospital Chelsea. They were invited by Sammy 'Sunshine' Rowe to attend the 'Celebrate Veterans Season' at the Ringwood Town & Country Experience and the ENSA evening as Guests of Honour on the same day. The visit was to help create awareness and raise funds for the Royal Hospital Chelsea New Infirmary Appeal. The Royal Hospital Chelsea needs one million bricks to build a new infirmary in order to provide modern-day care for the Chelsea pensioners. David Poultney and George White were 'on duty' when 10am arrived Saturday morning. They joined in and got on well with the ex soldiers and military enthusiasts that had gathered for the day. Brandishing their red buckets for the appeal they soon had people filling in the donation forms and leaving £5 for each brick donated. In the evening Dave and George followed the two standard bearers into the function room and a two minute silence was held for all the soldiers that had fought in both world wars and the more recent conflicts. Dave started off with a light hearted introduction and recalled a few memories from his past. George then went on to talk about the Royal Hospital Chelsea and the care and treatment they receive there. As guests of honour they were seated at the top table and enjoyed the evening of jazz and memorable tunes from the 1940's performed by The Pete Weston Big Swing Band. Sunday morning saw our visitors attended mass at Ringwood Parish Church, afterwards being introduced to various members of the congregation by The Revd. Canon John Turpin. Following mass our two intrepid visitors spent the day at Ringwood Town & Country Experience, enjoying a light lunch, reading the papers and exploring the Museum. On leaving to catch their coach back to London they both said they had felt very welcome in Ringwood and were looking forward to coming back later in the year. David Poultney and George White both joined the Army in 1943 at the age of fourteen but were too young to fight in World War II. Both have the War Medal and the General Service Medal with Suez Canal clasp on David's and Palestine clasp on George's, George also has the Long Service Medal. David was born in 1929 and educated at the local grammar school in Ciltyndel near Pontypridd. On joining the Army he attended Army Tech School at Arborfield and did a Diploma Course. On passing his exams he joined the Royal Engineers at Chatham and served in Egypt from 1949 to 1952. Returning to Aldershot for a time until his posting to Trieste in 1954 followed by a period at Bulford and Salisbury Plain. At age 26 David was promoted to WOII. Six months were spent at Longmoor and Long Marston camps followed by another three years at Chatham, this time lecturing on Military Law, Military Pay Duties, Queen's Regulations and Finance Laws. Leaving the Army in 1959 David joined A J & J D Harris, Consulting Engineers of Victoria Street, London. He then went on to join the famous architect Sir Hugh Casson's firm of Casson, Condor and Partners as Office Manager. His final civilian role was working as a civil servant for Gloucester Land Registry in their legal branch. David retired in 1989 age 60 and later took on the job of Treasurer to West Gloucestershire Constituency Conservative Party to occupy his spare time. At age 72 David became a Chelsea Pensioner and together with George, travels the country to raise funds for the hospital. He still finds time to study and in 2001 took an Open University course to obtain a Diploma in European Humanities. George White was born locally in Southsea in 1929 and age 11 was sent to the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover for his education. Dover was an easy target for German aircraft so George was evacuated several times. Between the ages of twelve and fourteen George was the 4th Euphonium player in the School Band. Joining the Army at fourteen he attended Army Tech School, where he gave up boxing to join the Band and passed all his Army Certificates. VE Day came and George was now a member of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards Band, he recalled that they played for 24 hours that day, it was non stop celebrations. 1946 saw his first tour, a thirteen week Round Britain Tour where each member of the band was paid 2s6d a performance but got fined £5.0s.0d. if they forgot their mouthpiece, George only did that the once. During the tour the band played three weeks in Glasgow and played all thirty-four parks in the city. George enrolled at Kneller Hall and was given a year to become a soloist. In 1948 he boarded the 'Samaria' at Liverpool to take up his posting to Palestine in the last months and days of the British Mandate. The band toured Libya and Tripoli, the Roman city of Sabratha and encountered desert tribes on many occasions, returning to England at Christmas in 1950. George returned to Kneller Hall as a student in 1956 and qualified as a bandmaster in 1961. He was given the Band of the 6th Battalion King's African Rifles in Tanganyika and had to prepare them for Independence Day. 1964 saw the Mutiny in Tanganyika and George was gaoled along with the rest of the British military personnel out there. The British Army took them to Nairobi but they had to leave everything behind, wives and children following later. They were sent home on indefinite leave and given £1000 each to replace their belongings. George next became bandmaster of the Cheshire Regiment Band based in Warminster. Leaving the Army in 1969 George went to Ayrshire to restart the Music Service in Schools and spent 25 years nurturing and developing musical talent to retire in 1994 aged 65. He became a Chelsea Pensioner in October last year to 'complete the circle'. Pictured from left to right: David Poultney, Rev. Canon John Turpin, George White. To make a donation to the Royal Hospital Chelsea Appeal you can call their
Appeal Office on 02078 815516 or 815536 or visit their web site www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk
or send a cheque to The Appeal Office, Royal Hospital Chelsea, Royal Hospital
Road, London, SW3 4SR. |
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