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You may remember that March 8th was International Women’s Day – and there were dozens of events going on during that week.
International Women’s Day commemorates women’s fight for equality and liberation, focusing on gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence against women.
Back in the olden days, when I was editing Taxi Newspaper, the magazine for the London black cab trade, it supported – and in fact still supports – various charities.
You may well have seen photographs of beautifully decorated London cabs taking underprivileged children to the seaside or to Hertfordshire Zoo, and every year, there’s an enormous Christmas party hosted at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Park Lane.
The other well-known charity was previously known as the War Disabled Charity – now the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans: supporting veterans since 1948. I can vividly remember our “national sweetheart” Vera Lynn joining the charity convoy as the veterans were driven down to Worthing. During lunch, Dame Vera would bring tears to the eyes of everybody as she sang all her old favourites, and of course, ending with “We’ll Meet Again”.
This year, I was totally thrilled to be invited to “A Little Book of Courage”, a meet-and-greet buffet lunch at the RAF Club in London’s Pall Mall, hosted by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans.
Buoyed up by wearing my wonderful new make-up from English Minerals, and donning my very best leather boots, my husband dropped me off at Blackhorse Road tube, and I jumped on the Victoria line to meet my friend, Steph, outside Green Park station.
What I’d failed to remember was that over the last couple of years, I had broken all my toes and my ankle, and I hadn’t worn any heeled boots for well over three years. I was quite happy sitting in the car, but by the time I’d climbed the thirty or so stairs (yes, of course, the lift was broken) to the platform, my feet were killing me.
Emerging from Green Park, naturally, I needed the loo, and hobbled as gracefully as I could through the front door of The Ritz. Pretending I was meeting my friend before we decided where to go for lunch, I clumped downstairs and as befits The Ritz, the loos were so elegant and refined. The last time I’d been to The Ritz was to have tea with author Jackie Collins (sorry, a bit of name-dropping there!), and I distinctly remember wearing the highest of high heels. Ah, those were the days!
Anyway, continuing my hobbling walk towards the RAF Club, I met Steph and in we went.
I’ve never been to any of the London clubs before. In fact, my only knowledge of London clubs is gleaned from reading and re-reading Georgette Heyer and her Regency romances, where the hero is always “at his club”.
Climbing the magnificent staircase, we all congregated at the bar (where else?) for a pre-lunch drink, and it was so wonderful to see so many old friends.
Checking out the group of WWII veterans sitting together, I was delighted to say hello to Marie Scott, whom I’d interviewed a couple of years ago.
Marie was the young WREN radio operator based at Fort Southwick in Plymouth, who was in direct contact with the beach as Operation Overload got underway.
I know it’s a long shot, but I often wonder whether Marie ever spoke to my Dad; he was a D-Day veteran who landed with the first wave on June 6th.
Anyway, it was wonderful to see Marie and the other veterans looking so well.
As we were ushered in for lunch, Chairman Colin Mills welcomed us all, and we sat back to enjoy a conversation between host broadcaster Hannah O’Sullivan and two wonderful guests from the Netherlands. Els Schiltmans from the Dutch Army Recovery and Identification Unit and Dr Linda Hiddink, who served with the Royal Netherlands Army Medical Corps. My goodness, the traumas those two have seen.
As we were sitting around a table for 10, and with my poor tootsies still throbbing, I took off my boots and walked around in stockinged feet. Don’t tell anyone, but quite a few others also did the same. We do suffer for getting dressed up, don’t we?
We were also all given “A Little Book of Courage”, which honoured some of the brave women through the wars, including Louisa Mary Gould, hailed as a British Hero of the Holocaust. The book also includes Susan Travers, the only woman to enlist in the French Foreign Legion and who served with the French Red Cross. This “little book” is crammed with so many forgotten stories.
A Little Book of Courage
Lunch was delicious with all sorts of canapes and followed by yummy desserts. Bolstered by a couple of glasses of a rather nice white, we swapped all kinds of stories about old friends that I hadn’t seen for a good few years.
I met some lovely new friends as well, including Lynne Kersh, whose father, Mervyn Kersh, is now 101 and also a D-Day veteran. Since both Mervyn and my Dad lived in London’s East End and are Jewish, it’s quite possible that they knew each other from religious services. Lynne is the founder of Vegepa Club, which funds biomedical research into ME/CFS.
With the party still going strong, I had to leave at about 3.30pm. I put my boots back on, but about 50 yards into my walk to the tube, I stopped, whisked my flat slippers (craftily designed to look like fluffy ballet flats) out of my bag and happily walked back to the tube. In fact, I wore my slippers the whole journey and nobody batted an eyelid!
The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans does such wonderful work, and events like these are so important for bringing together veterans, supporters, and volunteers whilst highlighting the importance of remembrance and service.
The Taxi Charity relies wholly on donations, grants and sponsorship, and I was so delighted to have been invited – I had a wonderful day.
With thanks to Christina Bowden, PR Consultant, and Photographer Dean Euesden and The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans.
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