Social
Unique and Memorable Day for White Ensign
On Saturday 30th May 2026 members of White Ensign Lodge, their wives, partners & friends gathered at the National Memorial Arboretum for a very special and unique occasion.
We were delighted to receive and welcome W. Bro. Rev. Fr. Justin T Parker, CF, PSGD, AsstPGM who was to act as our “Sin Bosun” for the day and W. Bro. Tim M L Jones, PAGReg, APGM Elect and his wife Gill together with a Guard of Honour of Sea and Royal Marine Cadets from Burton on Trent and Tamworth & Lichfield.
At 11:30 the party moved to the Allied Special Forces Memorial Grove to conduct the Dedication Service of the White Ensign Lodge No. 9169 Memorial. Erected to honour those Founders and Members who had served in and with Special Forces and Special Operations during WWII and since with particular reference to our Past Honorary Member W. Bro. PO Cox’n Tommy Gould VC. Indeed, amongst our membership we still have those who have served in such Operations in Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, Radfan, Kuwait, Northern Ireland, the South Atlantic, Iraq and Afghanistan. At 12:00 the Padre called the party together and there then followed a moving Service of Dedication with the unveiling of the Memorial followed by an excellent Oration given by the Padre which included the Exhortation and Act of Remembrance, with a former RM Bugle Major sounding Last Post & Reveille. Two wreaths were laid, one for White Ensign Lodge by W. Bro. Les Leek, IPM and the other for the Special Boat Service Association by W. Bro. Ian Fothergill.
Just prior to the Finale W. Bro. Ian Fothergill presented Charity Cheques to Mike Colton, the Founder of the Grove with a cheque for £1,000 and the Commanders of the two Sea Cadet Units with cheques for £250.00 each. The party then returned to the Founders Room to enjoy a Buffet Lunch.
White Ensign Christmas Lunch – end of an era
Our annual Christmas lunch was on Sunday 7th December 2025 at the Sports & Country Club Wishaw. It was a venue that White Ensign had been using for many years and sadly it was to be our last as the proprietors had decided to retire to Wales in the New Year.
Some 67-brave folk (brethren, families, friends and guests) would not be deterred by the rain to descend upon the venue for luncheon. The assembled throng sought out the required beverages before heading to their allotted tables and exchanged pleasantries with the other inhabitants at the tables. W.Bro. Ian Fothergill welcomed the masses to the Christmas lunch and greeted the new Worshipful Master and his Lady. Shortly thereafter, the first course was served by the staff. It being finished, one by one the diners at the tables were ushered to the servery to get the main course.
Bro. Matt Price volunteered to sell the raffle tickets and the sum of £435.00 was raised by the ticket sales. Some tables did considerably better than others when it came to the drawing of the raffle tickets it should be noted.
On completion of the dining, our new Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Paul Tuckley spoke a few words of thanks to the ensembled folk, in particular for W.Bro. Ian Fothergill as MC / Choir cheer leader, W.Bro. Les Leek for the table planning / printing and Bro. Matt Price for managing the raffle.
The lunch was concluded by coffee / tea and mince pies and a liberal helping of Christmas carols orchestrated by W.Bro. Ian Fothergill, the highlight being of course the ’12 days of Christmas’ where each table has one or more days to sing. Although ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ seemed a bit problematic this year for the singers to manage.
Pimm’s On The Lawn – Summer 2025
On Sunday 27th July, a gathering of 54 folk from White Ensign, family, friends and guests arrived at Alderson House in Warwick for the ‘Pimm’s on the Lawn’ social.
The weather was kind as the drinks reception was held outside. The diners took their seats and W.Bro Les Leeks spoke a few words of welcome before the first course started to arrive. The room was a live with a buzz of congenial conversation as the two remaining courses were served.
As usual the raffle was well stocked and run by W.Bro Ian Hart. There was an understanding that W.Bro Glyn Cardy would not be permitted to purchase any raffle tickets, somehow he did and still managed to run off with 3 of the raffle prizes. The raffle raised £500.00 and will be donated to the Allied Special Forces Memorial Grove at the NMA.
W.Bro Les Leek rose for the last time and thanked everyone for their support, Peter Anderson and his team in hosting the event and a special thanks to W.Bro Tom Kennedy for organising the event.
