Plans for Bingham to mark the centenary of the end of the World War I were outlined to members of Bingham Business Club at their January meeting.
Mr Richard Montgomery and Mr Wally Rees of Bingham Royal British Legion were guests at the meeting and spoke about different aspects of remembrance. Mr Geoff Ashton of Bingham Heritage Trails Association also spoke briefly about some of the local men who died in the war. Mr Montgomery said that, in the biggest membership event in its history, the Royal British Legion was recreating its 1928 pilgrimage to the World War 1 battlefields.
A decade after the end of the war, veterans and war widows visited the Somme and Ypres, before marching to the Menin Gate on August 8, 1928. This August thousands of legion members, including two from the Bingham branch, will recreate the pilgrimage 90 years on. The branch is trying to raise £1,000 to cover the cost of sending the two members, who will take the branch standard and a wreath.
Mr Wally Rees spoke about commemorative events due to take place in Bingham in the run-up to Remembrance Day this year. This will include young people from Toot Hill College playing the part of servicemen and their families in various locations around the town, including the market place and railway station. The group, known as a ghost squad, will represent 36 Bingham men who died during the First World War. They will also parade to the parish church on Armistice Day, Sunday, November 11, but will not take part in the service, to represent the fact that they did not survive the war. A wreath will be placed in the church in their memory during the service.
Club chairman Jonathan Hammond told members that the annual quiz he runs to raise money for ChildLine had this year raised £2,079 for the Nottingham branch. This amount would pay for 520 calls to be answered. He also thanked
those club members that had provided quiz prizes.
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