Wycombe and District Royal Artillery Association

The Tercentenary of the Royal Regiment of Artillery

Service and Wreath Laying at Wycombe and District Cemetery

The Service of Remembrance took place as planned at the Priory Road entrance to the cemetery and involved about 50 people including the Chairman of the District Council, the Mayor, and military representatives from RAF High Wycombe and 9(Plassey) Battery Royal Artillery and a member of staff from John Hamden Grammar School.  The Reverend Christopher Bull and The Reverend Wendy Bull took our Service.  

After the Service Wreaths were laid by Mr Stuart Reid on behalf of the Wycombe Branch of the Royal Artillery Association, Councillor Mahboob Hussain JP on behalf of the District Council and Councillor Zia Ahmed, Mayor of High Wycombe.  Attendees then toured the cemetery in small groups to place ‘Poppy Posies’ on each of the twelve graves of those serving in the Royal Artillery who gave their lives in both world wars.  We are indebted to Michael Dewey who researched each gunner and provided valuable information to enable us to mark their remembrance very personally and also to Sally Scagell who provided us with much information on the day. 

We all felt very moved as we stood in silence for a moment at each grave.  At noon many of us were able to gather at the Royal British Legion Club at Wycombe Marsh for refreshments and to remind ourselves of the histories researched by Michael Dewey and indeed the story of the ‘Ubique Baton’.

Their histories can be found here - The Gunners who died in WW2

On the 26th May 2016 the Royal Regiment celebrated its 300th Anniversary. As part of the celebration of this significant milestone, the Gunners conducted a west to east circumnavigation of the globe. A baton, designed to represent our 300 years, was carried, commencing at our birth place in Woolwich in mid-2015, and finishing at our Regimental home in Larkhill.  The circumnavigation provided an exciting and unrivalled opportunity for the Regimental family, to take part in this incredible journey.  The Baton Contained a message from our Captain General, Her Majesty the Queen; a total of thirty countries were visited. 

We would like to thank the many people who helped us including The Cemetery Staff, the St John’s Ambulance Brigade who stood by for the accident that happily did not occur, the Bucks Free Press and the Battery Commander of 9 (Plassey) Battery who undertook the visits to the more distant graves.  We are also most grateful for both Councils’ generous support in every way.        

Nick Launders

President Wycombe & District RAA