The Airborne Business Group presents ‘Every Man a Link Man’: an evening of networking and planning for the future. This event is a fantastic way to plan and speak to those that have successfully transitioned into civilian life. There will be guest speakers sharing their experiences.
The next event will be held on Thursday 24 November 2022 from 1800-2230 at The Officer’s Club, Londinium Road, Colchester, CO2 7NU.
Please email abg@supportourparas.org to confirm your attendance.
Before he died in January 2016 Reg Curtis pledged income from his book The Memory Endures to Support Our Paras and this month his donation has passed the incredible total of £10,000. We are deeply grateful to our veteran Reg for this fantastic support.
Last year we set up a dedicated fund in Reg’s name, and with further public gifts, the Reg Curtis Fund to Support Our Paras now stands at almost £24,000. We thank Reg’s family for helping to launch the Fund and all who have kindly contributed. Details are on our page at https://justgiving.com/campaign/RegCurtis
Reg Curtis fought through France and Belgium to Dunkirk as a Grenadier Guardsman before volunteering for commando and parachute training in 1940, becoming one of Britain’s first paratroopers in the 11th Special Air Service Battalion, later renamed the 1st Parachute Battalion. He fought with 1st Para in Tunisia, Sicily, and The Netherlands, where he was badly wounded during the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. After the battle he was taken prisoner and had his right leg amputated. He was sent to Stalag XIB in Saxony, eventually returning home to England in April 1945.
Reg’s nephew Geoffrey Holland says Reg first asked him to help publish The Memory Endures during a visit to his home, Pilots Cottage, on a farm near Canterbury in rural Kent.
“Reg’s eyesight was failing in his last years, and he enjoyed sitting in my garden at Pilots Cottage surrounded by the sounds of the countryside. We started Pilots Publishing here, not as a commercial venture but to send all the profits to Support Our Paras. Reg wanted to support soldiers injured as he was at Arnhem and helping him has been a real pleasure. We’ve sent his book all over the world and sold more than 2,000 copies now. Each one has been packed in Pilots Cottage and mailed from the local post office. We’ll keep it going for as long as people want to read Reg’s remarkable story.”
The Memory Endures by Reg Curtis, the story of a Grenadier Guardsman and pioneer of The Parachute Regiment 1937-1945, is still available at £12.95 +p&p direct from Pilots Publishing. Just visit https://pilotspublishing.co.uk/the-memory-endures and get in quick for Christmas!
On 02 July 2022, one of our soldiers was involved in a serious speed flying accident. LCpl Lee Crudgington, who joined 2 PARA in 2005, was speed flying in France when he crashed and was left very seriously injured.
Lee, who is an experienced skydiver having spent 10 years on the Red Devils Army Parachute Display Team, racking up over 5,000 jumps, has been in intensive care in French hospitals since the accident. He needs a 12-hour surgery to stabilise his pelvis, followed by a period of monitoring before he will even be considered fit to transport back to the UK.
Lee is one of our own and family take care of each other – we have been supporting him and his family in France, but now we need your help. On top of mounting foreign medical costs, Lee will need a specialist aeromedical team to fly him back to the UK, where he will undergo further surgery and start a long period of rehabilitation. Please visit our appeal page here and give what you can.
SUPPORT OUR PARAS are committed to supporting Lee with his medical costs and repatriation, but would welcome any contributions towards the total. You can help further by adding Gift Aid to your donation.
If you shop Amazon Prime Day deals on 12 & 13 July, Amazon will double donations: Simply shop with AmazonSmile ON in the Amazon Shopping app or at smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1131977-0, and AmazonSmile donates to SUPPORT OUR PARAS.
SUPPORT OUR PARAS is delighted to announce that Andrew Jackson has been appointed as the next Chief Executive Officer of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Charity.
Andrew, known as Jacko, served in The Parachute Regiment for over 30 years and has been working in the financial sector since leaving the Army.
Jacko assumes the appointment on 11 July 2022.