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MINUTES OF THE
24th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
ON 26 AUGUST 2017
AT KÖNIGSHOFF
HOTEL, KÖNIGSLUTTER
INTRODUCTION AND LAST POST
The meeting, attended
by 54 members, honorary members and German guests, was
opened at 1100 hrs by the Chairman, Rod Goddard. He
welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the
Bürgermeister, Herr Alexander Hoppe, for being in
attendance.
The Chairman then
invited the meeting to stand as he read out the names
of those members who had passed away since the last
meeting:
Alan Caine
Peter Todd
John Gant
John Plaskitt
Following the
Exhortation, recited by the Chairman, a minute’s
silence was observed during which the standard was
lowered by Standard Bearer Robbie McCallum.
APOLOGIES
The Secretary read
out apologies from those who had been unable to attend
the reunion:
Derek Fowler, Clive
Sanders, Gerry Kane, Dave Street, Bill Hogg, Ray
Armstrong, Rod Walker and Bob Wells.
MINUTES OF THE 23rd ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
The minutes of the 23rd Annual
General Meeting had previously been circulated on the
branch website. Robin Seaward proposed and Jim Husband
seconded that the minutes were a true reflection of
proceedings at that meeting.
MATTERS ARISING
Commemorative Plaque
A plaque had been
added to the Branch Bench at the National Memorial
Arboretum to commemorate the late, much missed
President, Maj Gen Peter Baldwin CBE.
Branch Donation
Following the
donation of €1,000 to a charity of the Bürgermeister’s
choice, a small delegation had accompanied the
Bürgermeister to the Rudolph Deisel School,
Königslutter, which had benefitted from the donation.
A wonderful school for physically and mentally
handicapped children, with impressive facilities and
which was a very happy place. Riding for the Disabled
was much loved by all of the children and was where
our donation was spent.
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS
The President, Maj
Gen Tim Inshaw CB, addressed the meeting saying that
he felt very humble as those present represented
hundreds of years of service, he had never actually
served in Langeleben, and that he was born in the same
year that 2 Squadron, 1st Wireless Regiment
was formed! He talked in glowing terms of the Branch,
its website, Listening Post, continued connection with
Königslutter and the spirit and comradery that so
obviously exists within the membership. He felt it a
great privilege and honour to have been asked to be
President.
He then went on to
deliver an update on the Army and the Corps. Currently
the manning levels within the British Army are at its
lowest since Cromwell. That said, there is
considerably more importance now based on the roles of
the Royal Corps of Signals and the Intelligence Corps.
He felt that those two bodies together probably make
up a higher percentage of manning within the Army than
ever before. Both Corps are soon to be enhanced and
better exploited within an Information Manoeuvre
Command and are at last getting the profile and
resources that they have always deserved.
BÜRGERMEISTER’S ADDRESS
The Bürgermeister,
Herr Alexander Hoppe, thanked the Branch for the
invitation to be present at the meeting and welcomed
the Branch again to Königslutter. He made mention of
the town’s twinned association with Taunton and
emphasised that, despite the discussions and
consequences of Brexit, this would not have any
influence on the friendship with the town of Taunton
or the Langeleben Branch. He went on that, in these
times of dastardly terrorist attacks, the Langeleben
Stone stands as a symbol of the unprecedented bonds of
friendship between British soldiers and the
inhabitants of Königslutter. He was very pleased that
the Branch are now regular guests of the Schützenfest
thus helping to uphold historic local traditions. He
wished all a very happy stay in Königslutter and
looked forward to welcoming us again in 2018.
HORST FUNKE ADDRESS
Herr Funcke again
welcomed the Branch to Königslutter and presented the
Chairman with a very impressive cup as a memento of
the weekend.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer, John
Rosson, presented the financial statements for 2016
and up to 27 June 2017. The current balance of the
Branch stands at £3,894.29.
SECRETARY’S REPORT
The Secretary,
Charlie Charlesworth, reported that since the last
Annual General Meeting six new members had joined the
Branch bringing the total of active and honorary
members to 459.
He then went on to
thank:
-
Tom Perkin for
maintaining and updating the Branch website
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Marlene Brooks
for preparing, editing and distributing the
Listening Post
-
John Richardson
for all of the local arrangements that need to be
made in Germany to enable the weekend run
seamlessly.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The Chairman,
Treasurer and Secretary had all indicated a
willingness to continue to serve in those posts. John
Evans proposed, and was seconded by Stuart Macleod
that they should all continue for a further year. The
vote was unanimous.
25th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE
TIES
100 high quality,
100% silk, hand-made, 25th Anniversary
Commemorative Ties, designed by Robin Seaward, had
been produced for sale to the membership at £20.00
each and were on sale after the meeting. These to be
sold during the course of the year and again at the
2018 meeting, stock allowing.
25th ANNIVERSARY LELM PROPOSAL
Herr Heini Feddeck
proposed that during the course of the 2018 weekend a
function be held in the Lelm Sports Club. The Chairman
thanked Herr Feddeck for this opportunity and reported
that it would be considered by the Committee when
making arrangements for the 2018 Reunion..
WEEKEND ARRANGEMENTS
Our “Man in Germany”,
John Richardson, gave details and timings for the
activities taking place over the weekend.
2018 25TH ANNIVERSARY
ARRANGEMENTS
The Chairman, Rod
Goddard, asked the meeting for suggestions for the 25th Anniversary
weekend. Dennis Weir suggested, and was seconded by
Farmer Vaughn, that the Saturday celebrations take
exactly the same format as in 2009. This suggestion
was accepted by majority vote.
There had been a
suggestion, by John Richardson, that the Schützenfest
theme for 2018 could be “British” but, if this was the
case, the Branch would need to embrace the event. This
was unanimously agreed by the meeting.
The suggestion for a
formal dinner on the Sunday evening was proposed but
was not carried.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Dennis Weir proposed
that, in this day of social media, the Branch should
have its own Facebook page set up as a closed group.
Chris Jones had been willing to set this up and the
suggestion was accepted by majority vote.
DONATION
Frau Ilona Hawxwell
addressed the meeting and, having been the beneficiary
of a will, had donated part of the proceeds ( €500) to
the Branch. This was greeted by a very grateful round
of applause.
There being no
further business, the meeting closed at 1200 hrs.
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