Hi all, I am taking my two daughters and a nephew with me for the 65th anniversary of Operation Varsity. We are in Germany for 3 days and we plan to visit ,Hamminkeln,the Riechwald cemetery and Groesbeek cemetery. As an add on we are probably going to go to Arnhem on our last day. I am taking them to my dads dropzone(5th brigade)and then to the railway station (some of his pals crashed into an artillery position there). Is there anything obvious that i should not miss? I am moving to Canada to live this summer so will not get the chance to go again,and would hate to get back and one of you guys says "you went all that way and did`nt see........." We will be there on 23rd 24th and 25th,so will miss all official ceremony`s but have a small gathering for the 24th at the Riechwald. Other than that,times our own. I promise photos! Thanks in advance...
Hi all, I am taking my two daughters and a nephew with me for the 65th anniversary of Operation Varsity. We are in Germany for 3 days and we plan to visit ,Hamminkeln,the Riechwald cemetery and Groesbeek cemetery. As an add on we are probably going to go to Arnhem on our last day. I am taking them to my dads dropzone(5th brigade)and then to the railway station (some of his pals crashed into an artillery position there). Is there anything obvious that i should not miss? I am moving to Canada to live this summer so will not get the chance to go again,and would hate to get back and one of you guys says "you went all that way and did`nt see........." We will be there on 23rd 24th and 25th,so will miss all official ceremony`s but have a small gathering for the 24th at the Riechwald. Other than that,times our own. I promise photos! Thanks in advance... I don't know how flexible your plans are, but I just got the final programme for the Rhine Crossing tour. On saturday 27 March the group of veterans etc. will attend a para drop of British, US and German paras somewhere near Rees-Speldrop somewhere in the afternoon. After a dinner they will go to Hamminkeln where there will be a church service (18.00h), a ceremony at the railway station (19.00h) and a reception for them at the townhall (20.00h). Hope you can change your plans. Levien.
I don't know how flexible your plans are, but I just got the final programme for the Rhine Crossing tour. On saturday 27 March the group of veterans etc. will attend a para drop of British, US and German paras somewhere near Rees-Speldrop somewhere in the afternoon. After a dinner they will go to Hamminkeln where there will be a church service (18.00h), a ceremony at the railway station (19.00h) and a reception for them at the townhall (20.00h). Hope you can change your plans. Levien. Thanks for that Levien, work commitment will kybosh me,so i am going to have to go independant. Rob
Thanks for that Levien, work commitment will kybosh me,so i am going to have to go independant. Rob Pity. L.
Will be motoring up from Ieper Belgium on Monday 22nd with Pat Smart our trip was planned months ago before anyone said about details of events? Plan to have my Uncle on the L Z "p"at 10:51 on 24th He said "At least this time I might be in the right place and it will be a lot less busy"! We also plan to visit Groesbeek etc. Hope you have a good trip Wessex
Theobob- I note that you are moving to live in Canada in the Summer - you will be made very welcome - and the Works and Pension dept. will be even more pleased to see you go....you will be aware that when your turn comes to claim your due entitlement of pension for which you have been contributing since starting work - it will NEVER increase by even one penny - this is what is known as a"frozen pension" for living in the old Colonies ! Those living in Germany - Italy and Japan get their full entitlement ! Just yesterday - 16th March - we had the final decision from the Eu Human Rights Court that we ""did not contribute to the fund since we left - ergo - we are NOT entitled to any indexing "' So be most aware of how you can be treated once you leave the UK. The Gov't says it would cost around 500GBP million to uprate us - doesn't stop them giving all sorts of costly benefits to illegals and others who can vote them back into Office ! When we return to the UK we make a point in ensuring that we have the full entitlement of pension for the period spent in the country - we even applied and got the Christmas bonus - but NOT the heating allowance - that went to the South of France - Spain and Portugal ex pats !The Pension week starts on Mondays - so we arrive over the week end and invariably leave on a Saturday, as I shall again in this coming Saturday May 1st ! So welcome to Canada... Cheers
Hi Tom, Yes i have just been looking into pensions. I am 50 so i am hoping to be able to build a small pension pot in Canada?,but my wife is ten years younger so she can keep me fed and watered in my dotage (lol) I have an uncle who has been in Spain for 20 years and still gets a heating allowance(very odd) We do worry how things will go once we get to Canada we have looked into what we can but i guess we will find out for sure when we move. Its wrong that UK vets are treated that way,i know a Canadian WW2 vet who lives in England and he gets sent to Harley Street for medical checks,paid by Canada.Cant see UK doing that!
Thebob- All depends on what you are trained to be - and a job waiting for you - regarding the pension - we have three versions - 1) the Old Age Security - a non contributory -2) Canada Pension Plan - contributory - 3) RRSP - voluntary and is by deduction of part earnings tax free until you withdraw funds- also there is an Education savings plan for the children as this is built up over the years and augmented by the Government to 20% p.a and so builds up for University education plus grants and loans. Universituy education is expensive....my Grandaughter elected for Montreal - she lives in Vancouver - so it's expensive for tuition - food and board - had she gone to a Vancouver Uni - she might have saved around $10,00 p.a.- but hey - she's 18 ! The British Govts are by no means generous - we have a card from the Works and Pensions - which states that we are indeed Brit pensioners and thus allowed FREE medical treatment should we need emergency - BUT - if we stay overnight - we shall be charged ! My wife had a broken leg repaired which she broke while on holiday in Italy - we were dropped off at Hillington Hospital - she was there a week - still waiting for the bill ! Figured we had earned a free treatment as she is also a veteran with the WRAAF. Cheers
Thebob- All depends on what you are trained to be - and a job waiting for you - regarding the pension - we have three versions - 1) the Old Age Security - a non contributory -2) Canada Pension Plan - contributory - 3) RRSP - voluntary and is by deduction of part earnings tax free until you withdraw funds- also there is an Education savings plan for the children as this is built up over the years and augmented by the Government to 20% p.a and so builds up for University education plus grants and loans. Universituy education is expensive....my Grandaughter elected for Montreal - she lives in Vancouver - so it's expensive for tuition - food and board - had she gone to a Vancouver Uni - she might have saved around $10,00 p.a.- but hey - she's 18 ! The British Govts are by no means generous - we have a card from the Works and Pensions - which states that we are indeed Brit pensioners and thus allowed FREE medical treatment should we need emergency - BUT - if we stay overnight - we shall be charged ! My wife had a broken leg repaired which she broke while on holiday in Italy - we were dropped off at Hillington Hospital - she was there a week - still waiting for the bill ! Figured we had earned a free treatment as she is also a veteran with the WRAAF. Cheers Hi Tom So whats your status in Canada? Are you a dual citizen like me? I am shocked to hear that you pay for hospital stays!!! We seem to treat everyone apart from our own. I am a decorator in UK so i hope to do that in Canada for a while,but would like to give that up and re-train(my back is slowly giving up on me!) We have two young daughters with us so i guess i better get saving for uni. Having said that its not cheap to send your kids to uni in UK I guess we are going to be on a steep learning curve,but our eyes are wide open we know that Canada has its problems like most modern countries but we are bringing our work ethic with us,we are moving near to some friends who emmigrated a year ago (Bancroft, Ont) all the best Rob
Thebob - Bancroft Ontario is a good country town and the people will be friendly as they are mainly in all of Canada - nver been there but have been in Ottawa - Kenata and Peterborough where we would travel there in the fall as the colours are unbelievable - we would picnic there from our home in Don Mills Toronto just to let the children kick the leaves around. The Library behind the Houses of Parliament is a must to visit also as you will not be too far away from Ottawa and the Gatineau Hills park is not to be missed - Belleville is also due South from Bancroft - on Lake Ontario - so lots to do on the week-ends. We came out here in 1957 as landed immigrants then in '82 Trudeau repatriated the North America Act making us having to take out citizenship if we wanted to vote ..so we are fully fledged Canadians with both Canadian and British passports merely to cut down waiting times at Heathrow Immigration where we can sail through on the shortest line up ....you will find many differences as part of your learning curve but don't give up - it's well worth the trouble ! the best of luck Cheers
