NEWS | Anzacremembrancecio

WHAT'S NEWS WITH A.R.C.I.O.?

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2026

A warm welcome to all of our 'Friends of ANZAC REMEMBRANCE', both established and new. On behalf of the Trustees, I hope that if you are in the vicinity of Yorkshire in April, you will be able to attend our ANZAC ceremony.

ANZAC CEREMONY...Sunday 26th APRIL at 1.pm

STONEFALL COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES CEMETERY, HARROGATE, NORTH YORKSHIRE

In attendance this year will be representatives from the Royal New Zealand Defence Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Air Force, Royal Air Force Association, United States Space Force, Royal British Legion, French Air & Space Force, Chief Constable of North Yorkshire, Harrogate International Partnerships, CWGC Director, 57/630 Squadron, Yorkshire Air Museum, and Soroptimists of Harrogate who will all be laying wreaths in honour of the ANZACS. We are also honoured to have the presence of the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire Captain Stephen Upright RN who will lay a wreath on behalf of His Majesty King Charles III. Once again we are delighted that Harrogate Band and Soprano Singer Jo Dexter will be providing the music for the ceremony. For those who are able to attend... we look forward to seeing you. For those friends spread around the world... pictures and a video of the ceremony will be posted in May.

IN CAMBRIDGE FOR ANZAC DAY?

If you live in or around Cambridge, there will be an ANZAC service on Saturday 25th April. This will take place in Cambridge City Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery with the service commencing at 10.30am.

The Cambridge CWGC cemetery contains 250 Australian and 80 New Zealand graves. A service has been held at the cemetery since 2017 and is organised by the Cambridge branch of the RAF Association.

During World War II, the RAF took over a plot in Cambridge Cemetery and over 800 graves of RAF personnel are buried there, together with a number of World War I military graves. In total, there are 1,019 graves in Cambridge forming the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. The Memorial Stone was unveiled by Lord Tedder.

This year. the address at the service will be given By Air Marshal Sir Baz North, KCB, OBE, MA, FRAeS who is the President of the Royal Air Force Association.

The Cemetery is located on Newmarket Road, Cambridge, CB5 8PE. Following the service there will be refreshments in the Air Cadets Drill Hall on Newmarket Road which is opposite the cemetery.

FUNDRAISING

We are launching our FUNDRAISING APPEAL for 2026 in order that the ceremony and reception for attending dignitaries and invitees may continue to be funded each year. A huge thank you goes to individuals who have already contributed this year and we look forward to receiving any donation both large or small.

Donations can be made from any country and most credit and banks cards are accepted.

Thank you in advance for helping to maintain the memory of 23 New Zealand and 97 Australian aviators. Please clock on the DONATE link here...

ANZAC CROSSES

As we work towards expanding THE PURPOSE of the charity, we are aiming to lay crosses on graves around the UK where there are a small number of Kiwi or Australian aviators from WWII. As previously mentioned, Richard has undertaken this task and, following a few months of research and with the helpful information available on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, Richard has now compiled a full list of over 350 cemeteries throughout the UK where we would like to lay ANZAC crosses on the graves of Australian and New Zealand aviators from World War II. The intention is to discover cemeteries and churchyards where there may only be a few or sometimes even one aviator buried.

Thanks to the efforts of Stuart Brett who is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission volunteer, he has recently kindly placed our ANZAC crosses on the graves of two airmen buried at Peterborough Eastfield cemetery. The PDF will give you information on these two aviators. Craig is a New Zealander and Browne an Australian.

Sargeant A.J. Craig Flying Officer R.L.P. Browne

SUPPORTING RAFA

As members of RAFA’s South West branch in France, Richard and I were delighted to attend their Annual General Meeting. Once again this year, the meeting was held at Château Balestard La Tonnelle where we were hosted in the beautiful setting on a hill that overlooks this wine-centred area of St. Emilion. The meeting was conducted by RAFA Sud Ouest Chair Beryl Dennett Standard and Secretary Terry Dennett.

As the meeting came to an end, Richard was invited to talk about the ANZAC charity’s mission of laying small ‘ANZAC’ crosses on the graves of Australian and Kiwi aviators buried in England. As he informed the members, we are concentrating on the small cemeteries or churchyards throughout the UK where sometimes there are maybe a few graves or sometimes just one grave.

At the end of the proceedings, we were delighted that some RAFA members who have homes in England, had offered to lay crosses on behalf of the charity. One kind offer came from Australians John and Frances Upton who live south of London and will be placing crosses in the near future. This is a long-term project with over 350 cemeteries and churchyards to cover. This might take us a while but with help we’ll get there!

Mr & Mrs Upton

Richard delivers information about ANZAC crosses.

Wing Commander Stephen Lamping & Julie Lamping

YORKSHIRE AIR MUSEUM

We continue to promote the YORKSHIRE AIR MUSEUM at Elvington on the outskirts of York. Below are some planned events for the near future. Please refer to their website for full details regarding events and purchase of tickets. You will have a wonderful day... it's amazing.

https://yorkshireairmuseum.org/plan-your-visit/events

3rd/4th April - OPERATION HALIFAX - Theme for the year begins

April 12th - OPEN COCKPIT DAY

May 9th - 10th - WE'LL MEET AGAIN

7th June - THUNDER DAY

THANK YOU WOOLWORTHS

On our recent visit to New Zealand, Richard and I stayed in Nelson. This beautiful town is nestled on an expansive sheltered bay on the north west coast of the South Island and is home to many members of my family. To the far side of the bay sits the Abel Tasman National Park and on the outskirts of Nelson is a shopping complex called The Junction, where we would shop for groceries.

For the ANZAC ceremony in 2025, my daughter and I cooked 160 ANZAC biscuits which went down very well at the ceremony. We have previously sourced ANZAC biscuits from New Zealand because they are sold in some supermarkets. For each packet sold, a donation goes to the R.S.A., which is the equivalent of the R.B.L.

Whilst shopping one day, we asked if we could order some packets of ANZAC biscuits as there were none on the shelf. The ‘biscuit’ manager duly agreed and when we went into the store the next time, they were on the shelves. Speaking to the Store Manager, we asked if they might like to donate the biscuits for the ceremony in April in England. And of course, he agreed. Consequently, we returned home with half a suitcase full of packets of biscuits… 18 packets in total. Consequently we now have 216 ANZAC biscuits!

So, a huge THANK YOU shout for WOOLWORTHS. They are a major Australian-based multinational retail company operating across Australia and New Zealand with over 1800 Stores. And I must say… they offer very friendly service

REMEMBERING THE FAMILIES

Decided to leave this on the website if you didn't have time to read last time...

ALFRED CHURCHILL LOCKYER
PILOT

Over the past 18 months, I have been in contact with descendants of four of THE TWENTY THREE... Charles Agnew, George Bell, Sidney Cains and Alfred Lockyer. On my recent visit to New Zealand, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting these family members, sharing their memories of these young RNZAF aviators who gave their lives in the pursuit of peace. These meetings have been so special and evoked tears from the family as well as myself. A massive thank you to everybody we have met. Please read about these young men..