Contents

Foreword by Colonel Carron Snagge OBE DL Chairman The Royal Green Jackets Association

Coronavirus, inevitably, has caused me to re-write my foreword, just before this magazine goes to press. We are all being affected by this pandemic and it is already making the working of the Royal Green Jacket (RGJ) Association more difficult. Our meetings have all gone on-line and our finances have taken a major hit, which, although we will recover from eventually, will certainly test us this year. The situation reinforces the importance of this magazine, our website and our Facebook page, so please make use of all these sources of information and news. They are more useful than ever as we weather this extraordinary storm.

Getting together physically will be much more difficult, if not impossible, this Spring and Summer. Sir John Moore and Peninsular Barracks (including the RGJ Museum) have already been closed to visitors. The RGJ Officers’ Club Annual Dinner has been postponed until the Autumn and the RGJ Reunion at Sir John Moore Barracks has been cancelled, with planning already under way for the next reunion in early July 2021.

Hopefully, the Northern Ireland Veterans Association Commemoration at the National Memorial Arboretum on 12 September will go ahead and, if it does, it will be especially appropriate, after the long period of social isolation, that as many of us as possible make the effort to attend. We can be assured of an excellent reception after the parade, courtesy of Central England Branch, and many other Branches will arrange transport, as they did last year. It is a great day out and our Regiment is always well represented. As most readers will already know, not so long ago we lost two of our most senior and influential Riflemen; Field MarshaI Lord Bramall KG, GCB, OBE, MC, JP, DL and General Sir Thomas Pearson KCB, CBE, DSO & Bar. Both have obituaries in this edition of Swift and Bold which are well worth reading. They were inspirational founders of our regiment and they have set us extraordinary examples to follow.

Last year most RGJ Association Branches had active programmes and the national reunion in Winchester in July and the NIVA reunion at National Arboretum in September were well attended. There were also good turnouts of Riflemen at the Remembrance Sunday Parades not only in London and Newcastle but also at memorials all over the country.

On behalf of all members of the Royal Green Jacket Association I would like to acknowledge and thank all those who support, contribute, edit and produce this magazine and all those in the association’s Branch Committees, the RGJ Officers’ Club and the RGJ Council, who give up so much time and energy to make our Association as successful as it is. Thank you all.

Good luck if you are suffering from the virus or just self-isolating. Keep up to date through the Association’s website and Facebook page and, in the meantime, let’s all look forward to some truly mighty “Survivors’ Reunions” when it is all over!

Swift and Bold