Remembrance Sunday, blind veterans to march past the Cenotaph in memory of the fallen
11 Nov 11
On Sunday, 13 November, a group of St Dunstan’s beneficiaries, supporters and staff will join representatives of the Armed Forces and other military organisations in paying homage to those who have given their lives in war at the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph War Memorial in Whitehall.
Remembrance Sunday has been observed since the end of the First World War, but the relevance remains undiminished. While it is a time for remembering those who fought for our freedom during the two World Wars, we also mourn and honour those who have lost their lives in more recent conflicts. Today, with troops on duty in Afghanistan and other trouble spots around the world, Remembrance Sunday is as important as ever.
Those participating in the Remembrance Sunday march on behalf of St Dunstan’s will reflect the cross generational membership the charity has and the range of conflicts that its beneficiaries have experienced.
Marching from the front of the St Dunstan’s contingent will be 27 year old Billy Drinkwater and 25 year old Kennett Facal who were injured simultaneously by an IED in Afghanistan in 2010, leaving both visually impaired. They were in the Royal Anglian Regiment and are now both St Dunstan’s beneficiaries.
Craig Webb is their sighted escort and was serving in the same regiment as them. He wanted to escort Billy and Kennett and represent St Dunstan’s in the March Past to acknowledge the help and support that the charity has given them.
General Sir Peter de la Billiere KCB KBE DSO MC DL - a Vice Patron of St Dunstan’s, will be escorting St Dunstan’s President Ray Hazan. General Sir Peter de la Billiere is former Director SAS during the Iranian Embassy Siege and Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the 1990 Gulf War.
General Sir Peter de la Billiere said “It is a great honour to represent St Dunstan’s on Remembrance Day and to march alongside courageous veterans who have not only served their country but have also battled sight loss. As a Vice-Patron of St Dunstan’s I am well aware of the important support that the charity and it’s dedicated staff provide to blind and visually impaired ex-Servicemen and women, enabling them to lead more fulfilling and independent lives. And I am also aware of the amazing courage and determination that St Dunstan’s beneficiaries display in overcoming the obstacles of sight loss. I shall be very proud and humble to march to the Cenotaph as a member of the St Dunstan’s contingent”.
St Dunstan’s President Ray Hazan is a former Captain in the Royal Anglian Regiment, Ray lost his sight and his right hand and also a colleague was killed when a parcel bomb exploded whilst he was serving in Northern Ireland in 1973. Ray received extensive practical and emotional support from St Dunstan’s enabling him to return to work. He has been president of St Dunstan’s since 2004.
Among the other members of the St Dunstan’s group will be:
Rob Long, 24, will be laying a wreath on the Cenotaph. He joined the 5th Regiment Royal Artillery in Nov 2008 and worked his way into the elite Sphinx Operational Observation Battery. After just two months of his first operational tour with 5th Regiment RA in Afghanistan he suffered a serious eye, skull and brain injury as a result of an IED explosion on 8 Jul 2010.He was aero-medically evacuated and treated at RCDM Selly Oak. He also has shrapnel wounds to his neck and shoulders along with burns to his fingers.
Rob Long said “When I was first in hospital and awoke from two days of sedation St Dunstan’s came and got me going – they got me out of bed and I walked for the first time in weeks. The charity has brought me back my independence. When I first moved home they spent a week with me just learning routes outside of the house to the shop and other places. St Dunstan’s got me started on my cane and gave me gadgets and gizmos that could help”.
Harry Henson (WWII) served in the RAF from 1944 to 1948. Harry’s grandson - Lt David Henson, 26 a Royal Engineer search adviser to A Coy 1 Royal Irish lost both his legs as a result of an IED in Afghanistan in February.
Billy Black, 54 and Charlie Eastwood, 52 are visually impaired ex-Servicemen who undertook an epic 327 mile march this September, along with another St Dunstan’s beneficiary Chris Lee, ending in Llandudno, North Wales to hand over a symbolic ‘key’ to the Manager of the St Dunstan’s new £12 million Rehabilitation and Training Centre when it opened on 19th September. Billy will be laying a wreath on the Cenotaph.
Matthew Rhodes, 34, (Bosnia) was an Army Physical Training Instructor with the 1st Battalion, the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment. He served in Germany, Canada and the summer of 1995 tour in Bosnia, until sustaining severe injuries as a result of a motorbike accident. The accident left him paralysed down the right side of his body, and registered as blind due to brain damage.
Why not watch the Remembrance Day commemoration ceremony on BBC 1 on Sunday, 13 November at 10.30am you might catch a glimpse of the St Dunstan’s contingent.
