151/156 Parachute Battalion Association Remembrance Service

~~Sat 07 Oct 2023, 10:30~~ 1 year ago
Location: Melton Mowbray

151/156 Parachute Battalion Association Remembrance Service

Melton Mowbray

Leicestershire

Saturday, 7 October 2023, 10.30

The 151/156 Parachute Battalion Association would like to warmly invite members of the Parachute Regimental Association to their annual remembrance service at St Mary’s Church, Melton Mowbray, LE13 1AE.

There is limited parking for disabled badge holders outside the Church in Church Terrace. In Burton Street (the road to Oakham), near to the Church, there is a pay and display car park (the postcode is LE13 1GH).

This is no ordinary service. At the door, you’ll be met by Pony Pegasus and sniffer dogs from the Defence Animal Training Regiment, based at the Remount Barracks in Melton Mowbray. When seated in the Church you’ll hear Vaughan Williams’s ‘The Lark Ascending’ on the piano and violin. And in addition to other musical surprises, you’ll hear RSM Matthew Eade from the DATR talk about his dog and service in Afghanistan with the Special Forces. The central core of the service is to remember those 156 members that lost their lives at Arnhem, all commemorated in the Church, but we will also remember the Americans who flew the men to Arnhem, leaving from nearby Saltby; one of the veteran’s wives, herself an American, will introduce a special tribute to them.

History of the Battalion

151 British Parachute Battalion was raised in India in October 1941, part of 50 Parachute Brigade, and was stationed in New Delhi. With the designation changed to 156, they moved to the Middle East to join the 4th Parachute Brigade, 1st Airborne Division in 1943. It fought briefly in Italy before being sent to Melton Mowbray prior to leaving from Saltby for Arnhem in September 1944 as part of Operation Market Garden. The few surviving men from the Battle were amalgamated with the 1st Battalion, stationed at Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire.

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