A cool, overcast ceremony today, the weekend of D-Day.

Our Individual Remembrance today was delivered by Paul McCue and we remembered Canadian Private Joseph Johnston, Service Number D/76413 of the Royal Montreal Regiment, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps, 1st Canadian Army.

Private Johnston was born in 1900 and underage, signed up for service during the First World War. He served for two years before his age was discovered and he was discharged. He stayed in civilian life until the outbreak of the Second World War when he again enlisted. He served in the UK and died from an unspecified illness 85 years ago today on 7th June 1941, aged 40. He is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, plot 31, row F, grave 4.

The ceremony was recorded and may be viewed here.

There were eight standards on parade with the Brookwood Last Post standard being carried by Alan Lopez.

Mrs Ruth Moore sounded the Last Post and we were joined by a student of Gordon’s School Pipes and Drums and she performed the Lament to a very high standard. This was the first time the student performed the Lament in public. Rob Bennett said the wise words.

The Exhortation was recited by WO Paul Dods RAF (Ret’d) who was visiting from Scotland and the Kohima Epitaph by one of the young cadets from Woking Sea Cadets.

Afterwards we retired to the Trench Experience for refreshments and to continue the stories.

A special thank you to Mike Hillman for the photographs and Alan Meeks for the video.

Today, the weather was not too kind with a little drizzle during the ceremony and that was reflected in the size of the audience.

Our ceremony focussed on British involvement in NATO led wars with the Individual Remembrance being WO1 (RSM) Darren Chant of the 1st Battalion, the Grenadier Guards.

WO1 Chant along with four other British soldiers died of gunshot wounds in a sustained attack in the Nad e-Ali district, Helmand province, one of the most dangerous front-line areas in Afghanistan. They had been working as mentors and living in a compound at an Afghan National Police (ANP) checkpoint for two weeks. Six British servicemen and two ANP officers were also injured. An Afghan police officer opened fire on the soldiers as they were sitting down to tea or resting after a patrol.

Originally from Walthamstow, but a resident of Camberley at the time of his death, ‘Daz’ Chant had been in the military since 1986 when he completed his basic training at Pirbright, near to Brookwood Military Cemetery. He had previously served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq. He had been a member of the elite Pathfinders Platoon, the Parachute Regiment’s reconnaissance force, before joining the Grenadier Guards. As a colour sergeant and company sergeant major at Sandhurst, WO1 Chant was a major influence on a whole generation of junior and middle ranking officers. As Regimental Sergeant Major of the oldest Guards regiment, his position was a great honour and the pinnacle of his career. On the day he was killed, he was to be told that he had received a commission as an officer.

He is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery and by some extraordinary coincidence, his wife was visiting his grave at the time of the ceremony and was proud to hear him being remembered by the Brookwood Last Post Association.

Alongside WO1 Chant the other soldiers killed in Afghanistan were Sgt Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major of the Grenadier Guards and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith and Cpl Steven Boote of the Royal Military Police.

There were eight standards on parade with Alan Lopez parading the BLP standard. Paul McCue delivered the Individual Remembrance, Rev Peter Hills said the important words and Mrs Ruth Moore sounded the Last Post.

Royal British Legion Camberley Branch Chairman, Patrick Mathe was invited to read a statement from the RBL regarding the involvement of British forces in NATO led wars.

The ceremony was videoed, expertly edited and may be viewed here.

Afterwards, we retired to the Trench Experience to warm up and continue the stories.

Thank you to Paul McCue for his Individual Remembrance research. Mike Hillman for the photographs and Alan Meeks for the video footage of the ceremony.

We welcomed members of the Intelligence Corps to the ceremony this month.

We had several Individual Remembrances this month. In the closing month of the Battle of Britain, 85 years ago today, Pilot Office Norman Sutton of 72 Squadron, at Biggin Hill and Flying Officer Wojciech Januszewich of 303 Squadron based at Northholt were killed on the 5th October 1940.

Pilot Officer Normon Sutton died when his plane collided with another, whose pilot survived, while taking off from Biggin Hill to intercept ME109s over Maidstone. Sutton’s Spitfire crashed and burned out. Sutton was 26 years old when he died. He is buried in St. Helen’s Cemetry, Lancashire.

Flying Officer Wojciech Januszewich was killed when his Hurricane was shot down by ME109s, crashing in flames at Stowting in Kent. Januszewich was 29. He is buried in Northwood Cemetery and is remembered on the Polish Air Force War Memorial at Northholt.

80 years ago today on 5th October 1945, the Elvetham are crash occurred. The crash involved a Consolidated Liberator GR VI aircraft, serial number KG867, of 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron Royal Air Force. The aircraft caught fire five minutes into its flight and crashed at Elvetham, east of Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. All 23 people on board were killed—17 official passengers, five crew members and one stowaway.

All 23 victims were Czechoslovak and included nine women and five very young children. They were returning home after World War II. All five of the aircrew were buried in the Czechoslovak section of Brookwood Military Cemetery and most of the passengers share a common grave in the civilian cemetery in Long Avenue called the Old Roman Catholic Ground. The remaining five are buried elsewhere.

Flight Sergeant Zdenĕk Sedlák and his wife Edita Sedláková, Aircraftwoman 1st Class of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force were onboard the aircraft and are buried together here in Brookwood.

Captain William Goodwin of the Intelligence Corps, service number 295087 served in various roles during World War II, including the Royal Fusiliers (TA), the Royal Berkshire Regiment, the Corps of Military Police and the Intelligence Corps.

In June 1942 he attended Sandhurst as an officer cadet and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps in October 1942. After further intelligence and counter-intelligence training, he served with Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) and was promoted to active captain in March 1945.

In July 1945, with the war in Europe over, Goodwin was attached to the Counter Intelligence Bureau of the Control Commission for Germany, but based in London at Oxford Circus. He was at home in London when, on the evening of 29th September 1945, his wife found him lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head. He was still alive, but died soon after admission in hospital.

The Coroner’s verdict was that he had taken his own life when the balance of his mind was disturbed. He is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery in Plot 5, Row E, Grave 17, he was 27 years old.

After the ceremony, we slipped round to the Trench Experience to continue the stories.

Thank you to Stephen Newson and Paul McCue for the Individual Remembrances, and Mike Hillman for the photos.