RBL's AGM & Great Pilgrimage 90

AGM

By the time you receive this article the Royal British Legion - São Paulo Branch Annual General Meeting will have taken place on the 20th February 2018 at the São Paulo Athletic Club in Santo Amaro. We will update you in the next Spotlight edition with the details from this AGM.

GREAT PILGRIMAGE 90

The Royal British Legion - São Paulo Branch has been invited to participate in a very special event this year. It is the GREAT PILGRIMAGE 90, which will take place from the 5th to 9th August 2018. Representatives of our branch will participate in a Remembrance visit to the Somme and the Ypres Salient.

Great Pilgrimage 90 (GP90) will be a modern recreation of the 1928 pilgrimage. Ninety years ago, 10 years after the end of the Great War, veterans and widows visited the wartime battlefields of the Somme and the Ypres Salient, walking for miles between each; every site the scene of sacrifice on a scale never seen before. On the 8th August 1928, the original pilgrims marched in solemn salute to the Menin Gate in Ypres under the watchful gaze of the Prince of Wales, then the Legion’s Patron, to mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the “Last 100 Days Offensive” which, later that year, led to the signing of the Armistice.

On the 8th August 2018 we hope to proudly carry our Standard along that very same route in Ypres, representing the communities of Britain and Ireland that willingly contributed an entire generation of their me and women to the defence of The Crown, and the contribution of those from our own community here in Brazil that gave so much in war, then, and in the years that followed.

There will be a mass parade and march past to the Menin Gate for a commemorative service to mark the centenary of the start of the ‘Last 100 Days’ offensive. The march past will be observed by royal, diplomatic, civic and military guests from the UK, Commonwealth and countries of Northern Europe. We will also be parading a wreath containing a Remembrance message from our community here in Sao Paulo, to the Menin Gate as part of the parade. The wreaths will be arranged into an enduring structure within the grounds surrounding the Menin Gate and will remain in place for up to a month for viewing. The Last Post Association, the body founded in 1928 that began the Last Post Ceremony and is still responsible for delivering the daily commemoration at the memorial, will lead this national commemorative service and wreath laying

This will be the largest membership event in the history of the Legion.

GP90 promises to be a magnificent occasion, an unforgettable moment in the history of the Legion and we feel very proud to have been invited and to represent our community.

Our participation as a branch at this very important event has been confirmed and, for those of you who receive the RBL Magazine, you will see a mention about our participation in the form of the photograph below in the next edition which you should have received by now. As far as we know this is the first time the RBL São Paulo Branch has had a mention in this magazine!

The next event as published in the calendar, being:

April Churrasco - 12:00 pm on Saturday April 28th to be held at St Paul´s School.

Please mark the date in your calendar; we will also update you via the BSSP.

Paul McMahon

President

Royal British Legion - São Paulo Branch