Police World Edition 2 2014

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BranchChair, DavidMarchant, took the opportunity, at the ThamesValley branch AGM, toawardmembershipcertificates to sevenmembers. Ernie Lee, DickAllenandPeter Cook received a50 year certifcateandDerekO’Nions, Eric Thornton, NickGriffiths and JimWoodeach receiveda40 year certificate. MikeVince , ThamesValley branch D-DayTour Followingon fromother successful IPA battlefield toursDyfed-Powysbranchdecided to re-visit theNormandy beaches in late2013. Twenty threemembers, family and friends arrived inFrance for aD-Day tour. The tour startedat PegasusBridgeandmuseum andour guide for thedaywasEdwardRobinson. We thenheadeddown the coast stoppingat the famousbeaches: Gold, Juno, andSword. After a swift lunch inArromanche, homeof the remains of themulberry harbours, we continued ontoOmahbeachand thenon toPointeduhoc. Edwardwas a very knowledgeable guideaidedby oldpictures of the variousbattlementswe visited toassist his entertaining storytelling. His tales kept us amused, informedand reflective. Backat our hotel inCaenweweremet by our French IPA friends, DominiqueAvenel Vice-

SectionUK’sFacebookPagenowhas over 750 likes, rising from618 likeson 18November (whenwe last reported). A photoof the IPAHouse ‘Krätzersrasen’, in Thüringen, Germany, postedon28 January reached1,400people. A listingof the12 international sportingevents, takingplace through2014, reached729people. The third most popular postingwas regarding theFree membershipoffer, postedon9 January, with 655people seeing thepost. SectionUK’swebsitenow includes aYou Tube Video Librarywhich is growing. See: www.ipa-uk.org/Video-Library There’s anexcellent recruitment video preparedbyBrianKennedy, PublicityOfficer for Region2, Northern Ireland. It’s available for you to shareand ideal for promoting the FreeMembershipOffer.

President of theNormandyBranch, his colleague Claudeandhiswife.Weexchanged giftsbefore headingout together for theevening. Thenext day gaveus free time to further explore Caen, its local streetmarket and castle. Robert Griffiths, Dyfed-PowysBranchSecretary, said, “Thiswas another successful tour by the branchwith special thanks tobranchmember MarkDoran for organising the trip. Thenext question iswhere togonext year...”

Members fromDyfed-Powys andSectionFrance

Trip of a Lifetime onRoute66 In2013, LanceCorporal BryanPhillips, from 1stBattalion IrishGuards, startedout ona trip of a lifetimeaspillion riderwithRonKirkland, from ThamesValley branch, on theworld famous Route66 inAmerica. Bryan lost bothhis legs whenhe stoodonan IED in2012. PetrifiedForrest National Park, the ‘WigwamHotel’ - whichwasmadeupof 25double roomwigwams, theworld famousMeteor Crater and theGrand Canyon. Ronadded, “InWinslow inArizona thePolice

mymates, I did it for Byran, who so rightly deserved it.Would I do it all again?Youbet I would, I have already bookedon theOctober Trip in2014 to take another Heroona ‘TripOf aLifetime’.” RonKirkland

closedoff thewhole town toallowus toall get our motorbikes onto theworld famous ‘Crossroads at Winslow’ for aphotoshoot.With the tune ‘Well I’m standingon the crossroads atWinslowArizona’ playing in thebackground, weall linedupnext toour bikes all the locals cameout to see the spectacle.” Onday8, thepair rodeon theoldoriginal Route66 for the final day’s ridewhere they cameupon the original ‘Route66Museum’ beforeheading to the TheSantaMonicaPier, whichheralded theendof a longweekon thebikes andmanymiles. Ron summedup the trip in saying, “Formyself, thiswas the tripof a lifetime thatmany people canonly dreamabout, but I didn’t do it formeor

This tripwas oneofmany organisedby the charity ‘Bike Tours For TheWounded’. Ron foundout that the charitywere seekingexperienced riders to go toAmerica so immediately signedup to goand agreed to raise thenecessary£5000 through sponsorship to takeBryan. Ron said, “The tripbegan inSanDeigowherewe weregreetedby11gleamingmotorcycles - our transport for thenext 10days. ThegrinonBryan’s facewas adelight to seeand I could tell hewas excitedabout the journey aheadof him.” Someof thehighlights of the trip saw thepair visit: theGeneral PattonMuseum, theArizonadesert, breathtaking snow coveredmountain ranges, the

RonKirklandandBryanPhillips

POLICEWORLD Vol 59No. 2, 2014

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