Basra Memorial Wall
Basra Memorial wall UK Bound
Over the next few weeks brick by brick the memorial wall will be dismantled....The plaques are being removed and boxed up for the safe return to the country these fine young men and women who lost their lives have come from. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten and these heroes will be forever in our hearts....broken families who have campaigned hard to bring the wall home will find some peace in that finally their own job is also done....Thanks to Carol and Ray Jones for their No10 petition:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/MemorialWall/
Also special thanks to Brian and Victoria Tanswell for their tireless efforts and the following photo's
Thanks also to everyone who has helped achieve this goal and to all those who also campaigned for the walls return.....together we have shown strength of feeling towards our lost Heroes and the tribute to them.
To add to this the foundations of the wall are now in place and the date is also set for the opening.
The MoD have announced that a rededication service for the Basra Memorial Wall, being reconstructed at the Arboretum. The memorial honours the 179 UK lives lost in Iraq.
To be held on Thursday 11 March, the service will be an invitation only event.
Artists Impression of a Hero
Michael G Regan is an American artist who wanted to sketch all fallen American and British soldiers...Our very own Carol decided to send a picture of their son John as a young Soldier off to Michael and today they received the following by special delivery....Please contact carol for details should you also wish to have a picture drawn by Michael.
7 November 2009 - Please Remember
This week Carol and Ray Jones received a Scroll from Her Majesty the Queen in honor of their son Sgt John Jones who lost his life in Iraq on November 20th 2005
Memorial Balloons
Can you help us trace the origin of 9 Memorial Balloons? All the cards are now being returned to the families of those fallen Heroes
Linda Dunback from Sweden and her o/h were walking through the Forrest near where they live and found 9 burst balloons with memorial cards attached. I have been in touch with Linda, when she realised where these balloons had come from she wanted to let the British people know as it would mean such a lot to families of the fallen. One of the balloons had my sons name on it Sgt John Jones, I can't tell you how
I felt when I heard this news, and want to thank Linda for letting me know.
What we want to know now is where did these balloons come from? I have put a few feelers out but so far to no avail. Do you know of any organisation who has let balloons off in memory of our fallen troops?
The cards had the following names on them:-
Michael Smith
Matthew Bacon,
John Jones,
Richard Palmer,
Gordon Pritchard
Shaun Brierley,
John Rigby.
Kevin Thompson,
Adam Smith.
If you have any information, I would be most grateful,
Carol x
From Linda came the following
To the families of soldier Adam Smith 1988-2007, soldier Kevin Thompson 1986-2007, soldier John Rigby 1983-2007, soldier Shaun Brierley 1975-2003, soldier Gordon Pritchard 1974-2006, soldier Richard Palmer 1974-2006, soldier John Jones 1974-2006, soldier Matthew Bacon 1973-2005 and soldier Michael Smith 1968-2007.
In the early morning of the 21 th of March 2009, we walked our dogs deep in our forest in the south of Sweden and one of the dogs, Calle, stoped and called for our attention. He had found nine remembrance cards attached to nine broken white balloons. It took us awhile to realize the meaning of them but when it became clear it instantly deeply thouched our hearts. We do not live as close to the reality of war as you do but we have been reading about your loved ones and are truly sad about your loss. We can also understand that you are very proud of your boys. I think that both you and your loved ones are very brave.
My meaning of sending this letter is just to let you know that the stories of your boys have deeply thouched us and that we talk about them even though we never met them.
Me and family spend a lot of time in our forest, it's our second home, where we find a lot of peace and joy. So I want you to know that I think that the balloons picked a lovely and beautiful place to land. We will forever think about your boys and you when we walk in this special part of the forest.
If it will help you to find out some more about who sent them; seven of the cards are blue with a red flower, I belive it's what you call a poppyflower. The card of soldier Michael Smith is green with a cross and the card of soldier Shaun Brierley has the words " We will remember them, In Flanders fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses row to row - John McCrae"
With best regards
Linda
Honored by the French
Honored by the French....served for Queen and Country
Lt Tom Tanswell had a bright future ahead of him as a proud officer in the British Army, coming
from a long line of Tanswell officer's to serve for Queen and Country.
Lt Tom Tanswell was born in London on 23 February 1979. Prior to joining the Army he had
gained a degree in Management and Marketing from the University of Manchester, and amongst
other things, had also been the area manager for a major supermarket chain.
Tom commissioned into the Royal Artillery in August 2004 and, upon successful completion of
the Royal Artillery Young Officers' Course, was posted to 12th Regiment Royal Artillery taking his
place as a Troop Commander within 58 (Eyre's) Battery in February 2005.
Tom lost his life as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic accident near Shaibah Logistics
Base, southwest of Basra City, on 27 October 2006, in which a military Snatch Land Rover collided
with a civilian vehicle. Three other soldiers were slightly injured in the accident.
Tom was buried in France where his family live and recently the family were asked if they would
be happy for 'la poste' the French post office to issue a stamp commemorating Tom's life...The
stamp was issued on what would have been Tom's Birthday and was issued for that day only. The
Stamp was a sell out and is now known to be a 'collectors item' of the future as only a very small
number were printed.
Forces Family Support Group have been hosting the Art Funds 'Queen and Country' A Project
by Steve McQueen for some time now and during that time there have been some 19009 names
added through various channels as well as ourselves.
The hope was that the stamps on Queen and Country would eventually be released by The Royal
Mail when Troops finally withdrew from Iraq...this has now happened and an outcome remains to
be seen in terms of the stamps release. A 'first day cover' could be a solution in showing the images
of all those who lost their lives in the Iraq conflict....We are sure that the British public would
welcome the release of this tribute to our true Heroes.
Forces Family Support Group are proud to be able to add the news that the French postal service
'La Poste' recognizes the loss of a British serviceman....Why can't Britain!!!
Parcels to the Troops
Due to numerous recent requests ref Parcels for our Troops
Forces Family Support Group only send parcels to the loved ones of those using the website who are currently on deployment, we are unable to give out addresses of personnel to the general public.....We will however do our very best to re-direct you. we would suggest donations to military charities and we ourselves donate to Combat Stress as our Chosen charity....your donations to these charities really could make a difference.
If members of the public wish to show support by sending parcels please go to http://www.supportoursoldiers.co.uk/
You can then contact the nearest area co-ordinator to where you live in the UK and arrange to hand over your parcel....they will forward your parcel using the addresses they hold.
There are also several other agencies such as, Thank the forces (sussex based), UK4U Mod backed) you may also find local small groups via the internet.
Lastly please take a look at our petitions and please do support us or visit our shop for badges in support of our Troops, the sales of these mean donations going in the direction they need to.
Details in contact should you wish to call for more information
Karen O is now Karen E
Congratulations Mr and Mrs E
Wedding presents were given as donation to Help for Heroes which I am sure all will agree was a fab thing to do. May you guys have a long and happy marriage and may all your problems be little ones.
16 December 2008 - Statue Tribute
Statue Tribute for a fallen comrade
Since the loss of their son in November 2005 Carol and Ray Jones have been visited on a regular basis by comrades of their fallen son. The gift of a statue was received from Gary Bartlam (who has since left the forces) and Pezz who is a L/cpl in Johns old Regiment.
Sgt John Jones 'Always a Fusilier'
Linda's Hero in the making
Linda's Pride of Britain
On the 18th December 2008 Tom passed out after 42 week training at AFC Harrigate......P43 luck to you in your future in the Armed Forces. This is Linda's second son in the forces and a third is hoping to head that way too.
Letter to a child from the frontline
Just want to share a letter sent to my daughter from one of our special combat medics serving with MERT in Afghanistan.
Message to our Troops
Message in support of our brave Men and Women who make up our Armed Forces
John Nichol is a former RAF Tornado Navigator - he was shot down over Iraq in 1991 and held as a POW.
Having served 16 years in the RAF - including deployments to the Falklands, UN duties over Bosnia, and of course the Gulf, I know just how important contact with home can be. That's why I am fully behind Parcels 43 and all of the charities fighting for better conditions for our troops. For many years now, our political leaders have relied too heavily on the dedication, resolve and team spirit of our fighting men and women - the time has now come for the nation to give something back. 
There can be very few people who do not believe that our armed forces are over-stretched and under-resourced; at some point soon this situation has to change or the system will simply break. I send my best wishes and incredible admiration to all our military men and women - they are doing an incredible job amidst almost impossible circumstances. Their sacrifice knows no bounds and their country is supremely proud of them - and they can be justifiably proud of themselves. cheers John
John is now a writer and broadcaster - Take a look at his website at www.johnnichol.com
Aquila Victrix
Please check out this great site, you may find your loved one on one of the many news items listed, Aquila Victra covers them all. http://www.aquilavictrix.com/index.htm
26 January 2008 - 2 Yorks shoebox appeal
Tina's Hubby in the paper for the 2 Yorks Christmas shoebox appeal To view the story click here
10 December 2007 - More letters
Oops forgotten to put this letter up from Mark Pritchard to Sylvia, click here.
And a letter from the Royal Mail to Jill, click here.
20 November 2007 - Lydia in the Bournemouth Daily Echo
This time it Lydia in her local paper The Bournemouth Daily Echo, click here to see the article.
9 November 2007 - Secret weapon of the British Soldier
Sylvia's lad awaits a special delivery a refreshing change from a packet of sweets
Something that no serviceman/woman should be without, to view the story click here
2 November 2007 - Support British Troops
Sylvia calling on all in shropshire to support Parcels43 and in turn show the Troops you care
Click on article once opened ........to view click here
5 November 2007 - Kathy's plea for freepost
Kathy has double the worry with two soldier sons, to view story click here
5 November 2007 - Kathy's lads
One just back another one going,Kathy how do you do it?
Click on cutting to open up to read, to view click here
29 October 2007 - Rachael in the Scarborough Evening News
Yes Rachael flying the flag for Parcels43 in the Scarborough Evening News, click here to see the article.
