ON HIS WAY

As Harry Belafonte crooned “ I am sad to say, I am on my way, wont be back for many a day”. I leave the Charity in 10 days time so the festivities started to day at a lunch in the Guards Museum, somewhere I know well. I was kindly presented by the trustees this amusing cartoon which shows me jumping a fence at Cheltenham or somewhere on an unknown horse. Mr Stitch says it certainly isn’t him!!

WELCOME TO WATERLOO

Tremendous to see the Soldiers’ Charity poster back up on  Waterloo Station.  This is part of the marketing for the Soldiers Challenge due to take place on sat 19 May when we hope to have 2000 young supporters careering round London in aid of the charity.  The poster which is enormous will remain there throughout March, April and May.

FAREWELL ST JOHN's WOOD

Sad day as the gates of the King's Troop Barracks in St John's Wood were closed for the last time. The Troop were royally looked after by the citizens of St John's Wood as the guns and horses paused in the High Street. Choirs, singing old songs and a splendid speech by the Commanding Officer. The Troop went on to fire the Royal Salute for the Queen's Accession.

BORODINO

To day a visit to the 1812 battlefield of Borodino where Napoleon faced the Imperial Russian Army hoping to stop the French taking Moscow. Napoleon was intending to destroy the Russian Army. A bloody battle which failed to produce a result. Napoleon did take Moscow but the Russian Army was able to fight another day and when Napoleon retreated in the Russian winter they got their revenge and destroyed the Grand Army. We walked a good 5 mile in the snow to see the ground. One needed to keep walking to stay warm. Last blog from Russia, thank goodness I hear some of you say.

A CATHEDRAL REBUILT

This is the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour the Moscow equivalent of the Abbey. It was built between the 1840s and 1882 and was built to commemorate the victory against the French in 1812. However it was destroyed by Stalin in 1932. But in 1990 the new Regime complied with the appeal by the Patriarch to rebuild the Cathedral. It was finished in 2000. It is a remarkable reconstruction, beautifully decorated and adorned with ikons. It is a living Cathedral with a constant stream of worshipers.

VETERANS MEET

Later that evening we attended a slap up reception, Stalingrad style, with a host of veteran Soviet officers.  They all looked as we remember them laden with medals and looking rather stern. But after a few toasts of vodka they warmed up.  I discovered that the gentleman who was a Tank officer on the left had been in 3rd Shock Army and was therefore opposite 1st British Corps in the bad old days.  The one on the right was also a Tank officer and aged 90.  Both had been at Stalingrad and made little of it. They didnt like to talk about it vfery much.  They had a job and just got on with it.

FIELD MARSHAL SURRENDERS

We then went back into City to watch a re enactment of the surrender of Field Marshal von Paulus in the basement of a department store. It is still a Department Store and the cameo was quite well done. We then had lunch next door and a semi drunk lad accosted us (the DA and Brummers were in uniform); he had served in Chechnya for 4 years and clearly had problems. There is no Combat Stress in Volgograd. I suspect there are many all over Russia. At times the Russian Army can lose kia about 500 a month in Chechnya.