UPDATE 2:
The live streaming will only be available through the Facebook page. There is no separate link for anyone who does not use Facebook.
Please remember that the UK is on GMT - AKA ZULU (BST time finished in Oct). Fiji is on MIKE, which is GMT +12 hrs, so if you wish to watch the live-streaming you will have to be on Facebook in the Group at 202512122200Z.
The funeral of Sgt Jo Ravu - Late DERR -12 December 2025
From Mike Homer
30 August at 16:31 ·
It’s my sad duty to inform you that
Mark Bryan ,Cheltenham,ex A Coy 1st Glosters,1975 -81.Passed away suddenly last Friday 22/08/2025.May he Rest in peace..
Association members will be saddened to hear of the death of Capt David Leadbetter, DERR, on 5 June at his care home in Herne Bay. His funeral will be held at Herne Bay Crematorium, Bullockstone Road, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 7NF on Tuesday 8 July at 12:00 hours.
David's funeral will be followed by a wake at:
The Curious Cat
Canterbury Road
Herne Bay
Kent
CT6 7JU
David's daughter Jane and his sons Ian and Kevin will be pleased to see David's friends and comrades at both his funeral and the wake afterwards. An obituary will appear in the Association newsletter in due course. I would be grateful for any anecdotes or memories of David which former friends and comrades would like to share for his obituary.
Funeral Notices - Lt Col J M Greany, late Wiltshire Regiment and WO1 D A Bailey, late DERR
The funeral of Lt Col John Grealy, who has died on Guernsey aged 91 years, will be held at St, Stephen's Church, Les Gravers, St. Peter Port, Guernsey at 14:00 hours on Thursday 24 April 2025.
The funeral of ex-WO1 Doug Bailey, late DERR, will be held at St. Nicholas' Church, High Street, Bromham Wiltshire, SN15 2EU at 14:00 hours on Tuesday 22 April 2025, followed by internment at the Drove Lane Cemetary at Easterton, Nr. Market Lavington, Wiltshire.
Obituaries for both Col Grealy and Mr Bailey will appear in the April edition of the Association newsletter.
Kind regards,
Steven Bowkett
Secretary
The RGBW and Rifles Regimental Association
Good morning all
Sean Karby funeral is at Rose Hill crematorium at 10:10 on the 26th September 2024, Rose Hill Crematorium, Cantley Lane Cantley Doncaster , DN4 6NE
Family has asked for friends to be there
Thanks all Jacko
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Service Notice: I am pleased to announce that a military bugler and two standard bearers have been found to attend the funeral previously announced of Marc Stannard, formerly of the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire, Wiltshire Regiment on Friday 6th September 2024, at 2.45 pm. The Waterside Chapel, Westerleigh Crematorium, Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh, Bristol. BS37 8RF. I will be representing the RGBW and Rifles Associations on the day and any support from local veterans will be greatly appreciated.
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Service Notice Update: 24343168 Robert (Rob) Bishop of the 1st Battalion of The Gloucestershire Regiment. Following the announcement of the death of Rob, who passed away on Sunday the 16th of June, we can now confirm that his funeral service will be on Monday, 8th July, 2024 at 3.15 pm at Woodlands, Westerleigh Crematorium, Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh, Bristol BS37 8QP. The offer of Association services was greatly received but declined. Family and friends are invited to join the service in a celebration of his life and afterwards at the wake at Little Nannies Café (Feltham Farm, Hinton Road, Pucklechurch, BS16 9SJ). No flowers please, donations to Cancer Research.
No More Parades/Service Notice: It is my sad duty to inform the passing of Sgt Jim Watkins of the 1st Battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment on the 10th of June 2024. Jim is survived by his wife Ruth, who has requested the Association to assist by providing the Regimental Drape and Wreath. The County Chairman is liaising with Jim's brother-in-law Bob, who is the point of contact for the family. His details are held by the County Chairman should anyone wish to contact the family. The service will be on Monday the 1st of July at Exeter & Devon Crematorium, Topsham Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 6EU at 12.30 hrs. “by our deeds, we are known”
I am sad to inform you of the death of ex CSgt Miguel 'Spanish' Navarro on 21 May 2024. His funeral will be held on next Tuesday, 11 June at the Church of All Saints, Sutton Courtenay, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4AE at 15:00 hours. The funeral will be followed by his burial at 16:00 hours. All mourners, family, friends and old comrades will then be welcome at his daughter Iris' home (10 minutes walk from the Church).
The Church of All Saints is in the centre of Sutton Courtenay village, near the village green. The village is easily accessed from the A34 and is close to Didcot GWR main line railway station. CSgt's Navarro's obituary will be published in this month's Association Newsletter in due course.
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he Association has been informed of the death on 28 April of Mr Peter Holmes, aged 64 years. He served as a private soldier in 1 DERR during 1971 - 77 and on discharge joined 2 Wessex, eventually becoming CSM of D Coy and later CSM N Coy 2 RGBW in Newbury. In between serving in 2 Wessex and 2 RGBW he completed commando and parachute training, serving with 29 Commando RA. His funeral will be at the West Berkshire Crematorium, Bath Road, Thatcham, RG19 4LD on Monday 20 May at 16:00 hours. Any Old Comrades wishing to attend are requested to arrive by 15:30 hours.
WOII Paul Jenkins ex Glosters passed away recently, his funeral will take place on Monday 3 June at 11:30 hrs at Fradley Crematorium Fradley Lane Litchfield Staffs WS13 8GA
Val Watkins daughter Alison has put a message on Facebook about parking.
Ali has spoken to the Berkeley Estate Manager and we can use the Berkeley Castle Car Park and gain entrance to St Mary's Church at 1300hrs.
You drive through the main gates into Berkeley Castle Car Park, go up to the right and drive into the top car park which is tarmac with painted parking spaces. There is a field with a wooden gate for cars and then the pedestrian gate through which you can gain entrance. If you arrive before 1300hrs you will have to wait in your cars.
There is a cafe there but it is closed at present as Berkeley Castle itself is not yet open to the public.
Hopefully this is all clear. Please pass on to any others you know are attending. There is a car park in Berkeley but it is very small.
Len is making a contribution from his Funeral Fund for the special parking permission. Individual Contributions will be welcome.
Ray's funeral will be held in Swindon on 22nd March 2024. There will be a church service followed by a cremation (Family only). Church TBC. More info later
Shortly after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer, former WO1 Jim Long, late DERR, died peacefully at his home in Chippenham in the early hours of Thursday 22 February.
His funeral service and cremation will take place at 10:15 hours on Friday 15 March at the West Wiltshire Crematorium (Devizes Road, Semington, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 6HL).
Association members wishing to attend WO1 Long's funeral are asked to inform Lt Col (Retd) Norman Minty (
Still to be confirmed. It is anticipated that there will be a post service gathering at the Trowbridge Rugby Club (Paxcroft, Hilperton, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 6JB
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Reminder - Service Notice: George Henry Martin, of The Gloucestershire Regiment. The service will be at 1015hrs on Friday 12th January 2024 at Westerleigh Crematorium, Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh, Bristol BS37 8QP. The wake afterwards is being held at The Swan, 17 High Street, Thornbury, BS35 2AE.
Reminder - Service Notice: Tony Taylor of The Gloucestershire Regiment. The service will take place on Tuesday the 16th of January 2024 at Weston Super Mare Crematorium, Ebdon Road, Worle, Weston Super Mare, Somerset, BS22 9NY at 1330hrs. The wake afterwards is being held at the 49 Social Club, 24 - 28 Baker Street, Weston super Mare, Somerset, BS23 3AE.
No More Parades/Service Notice: It is my sad duty to inform the passing of 23081423 Pte George Henry Martin, of the 1st Battalion of The Gloucestershire Regiment. George passed away on 31st December 2023 after a long illness in Southmead Hospital. George was born in Scotland on 20thJune 1936 and was raised by his parents in Redland, Bristol with three brothers John (deceased) Brian, Micky and one sister Sally. George completed National Service in the mid-fifties with service in Kenya (Mau Mau Insurgency) for which he proudly served the Regiment.
After his service, he had numerous jobs including a fireman on the railways and 18 years with the AA as a patrolman from where he retired at 60. George was married to Mary who passed away last year and leaves a daughter Carol, son Geoff (RAPC 84-99) son Allan (R Sigs 83-07), 6 Grandchildren and 5 Great Grandchildren.
The service will be at 1015hrs on Friday 12th January 2024 (the same day as his wife's funeral last year) at Westerleigh Crematorium, Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh, Bristol BS37 8QP. The family cordially invites any members of the Regimental Association to the service. The County Chairman will be in attendance with the Regimental drape, wreath, hat and belt. We are also trying to get 2 standard bearers in attendance.
“by our deeds, we are known”
The family have arranged for a webcast to be made available at the time of the funeral and for the seven days afterwards, for those regimental friends of Richard who will not be able to travel to Salisbury.
The web address you need to use is https://www.wesleymedia.co.uk/webcast-view
The Web Cast Login PIN to view Richard Funeral is 129 2838
The family very much hope those of you who are unable to attend are able to take advantage of the webcast.
For logistical reasons the venue of the wake has had to be changed. It will now take place at The Stones, High Post, Salisbury, SP4 6AT
Friday saw the funeral of Brian Wright take place at Torbay Crematorium, Devon, and later a celebration of his life at The Crown and Sceptre, St Marychurch, Torquay. The Regiment was extremely well represented, It was a huge challenge to get over 150 people into an 80-seater facility but using every square inch of standing room we accomplished it! I would like to thank Len Keeling for organising the minibus down from Gloucester, the four Standard Bearers: Scott McBryde, Roger Smith, Steven Tierney and the local British Legion representative. Also grateful to the six volunteer pallbearers on the day, Eddie Kenneford, Ben Casey, John Davies, Tony Jones, Allan Winchester and Dave Stone.
Chas Deacon the Celebrant held it all together nicely and the two Senior Rank musicians from The Rifles gave a great rendition of the Last Post, leaving hardly a dry eye in the building. The live service video link has been taken down for editing but will be published again shortly using the details issued previously. Feedback from the family during the day was outstanding and made all the hard work very worthwhile. I would like to thank Bob, Sadie and Clair for hosting the day's events including the most welcoming celebrations I have ever attended in a Pub. Last, but not least, a huge thank you to all the members of the Regiment who turned up and made the day such a great success, it was a great tribute to the “Glosters” family and its former members.
Should anyone have missed donating during the day, and would like to do so, the details are as follows: RGBW Association Somerset. Sort Code: 30 99 51 Acct No 00545601 and include “BW” in the description box, thank you.
“by our deeds, we are known”
The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum
The Wardrobe, Salisbury
The Society of Friends