RBL News #127

April Churrasco

Our first Churrasco of the year took place on the 27th of April and was held at St Paul’s School, with 120 guests attending the event.

We would like to thank the whole team from the school who were involved in the organisation, with the operation on the day and for the kind permission of providing the venue and thank everyone behind the scenes who made this event a success with their effort, donations to the Ladies stall/raffle, support and time

We received feedback about some points that could be improved on. This feedback is appreciated and will help us to organise a better event in the future.

The raffle was successful and was greatly assisted by the Scouts selling the tickets. The draw was carried out by Louise Simpson Head of St Paul’s School and Jim Little from the British Consulate Sao Paulo.

Our next Churrasco is planned for the 28th of September 2019 and will once again be at St Paul’s School.

Lycée Pasteur – VE Day

We participated in the VE Day Ceremony in commemoration of the end of World War II. The event took place on Wednesday the 8th of May, 2019 at the French Lycée Pasteur in Rua Vergueiro.

The reason for this event is to remember VE Day - Victory in Europe Day which was first celebrated on May 8th 1945 marking the official end of the Second World War in Europe. It is remembered every year here in Sao Paulo by the French community and took the format below this year:

American Memorial Day

We took part in the annual Memorial Service at Fellowship Community Church, Rua Carlos Sampaio on Sunday, 19 of May 2019. This was sponsored by the American Society’s Veterans Association and Fellowship Community Church.

St Paul’s School International Day

For the first time the Legion supported the Fundação Britânica de Beneficência at the St Paul’s School International Day.

D Day

This year was the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings that took place on the 6th of June 1944, one of the most remarkable Allied wartime operations that resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control.

Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The D-Day landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.

Working alongside the UK Government and other partners the Royal British Legion in the UK organised various commemorations to mark the anniversary.

This included a voyage on the MV Boudicca to a series of commemorative events on both sides of the Channel for 300 of the veterans who helped liberate France during the Second World War.

Paul McMahon

President Royal British Legion São Paulo Branch