Tuesday 26 May 2015

West Yorkshire National Front pay respects to Lee Rigby.



On Saturday 23rd May 2015, members and supporters of West Yorkshire National Front attended a memorial day to remember and pay respects to the British Soldier, Lee Rigby in the former mining village of South Elmsall, which is situated between Doncaster and Wakefield. Around 40 people were in attendance including six Scooter Boys and their elaborately decorated Lambretta`s and Vespa`s . The Editor of the Nationalist Correspondent was also invited to attend. Everyone gathered at the local War Memorial in the centre of the village at around 2pm, people had travelled from Manchester, Bradford, Scarborough, Hull and many from the local area as well, there was also a soldier who served alongside Lee Rigby in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in the war-torn country of Afghanistan. At exactly 2:20pm, the time when Lee Rigby was murdered on that fateful day back on May 22nd 2013, Mr Darren Lumb opened up the proceedings by welcoming everyone and gave an excellent and emotional speech which captivated the hearts and minds of the people who were gathered, Darren gave a brief speech about the history of South Elmsall from its first mention in the Domesday Book right through to when the local men enlisted in the Armed Forces during both the World Wars, and that 248 brave men are forever enshrined upon the War Memorial. The speech lasted around 15 minutes and then a lone Bugler sounded the Last Post and everyone fell silent to remember Lee Rigby, the Flag Party lowered their flags to the ground After the one minutes silence the Bugler then sounded Reveille, the Flag Party then raised aloft their flags. A round of applause echoed around the memorial in tribute to Lee Rigby, then children accompanied by their parents placed bouquets of flowers on the plinth and the soldier who served with Lee Rigby paused at the memorial to reflect on his friend and then removed his feather from his beret and placed that upon the Union Flag that was laid on on the steps on the War Memorial. Darren then thanked everyone for their attendance in particular Chris Hale, who, without his help none of this would have been possible, a few photo`s were taken of the impressive War Memorial then everyone headed to a nearby public house for drinks and a social get together. 

Below is the transcript of Darren`s speech, two YouTube video`s and a selection of photographs.

Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for making the effort to come here today. I would ike to give a brief speech about South Elmsall before I explain why we are all gathered here. The first mention of South Elmsall was in the Domesday Book in 1089 and is referred as `ERMESHALE` which meant that the village was under Norman occupation at that time. Before this occurred, on Field Lane, there is a Stromatolite reeef dating back to the Permion period and was discovered by geological experts, on the West side of this reef was sand, and on the East side of the reef was sea, which stretched as far as Holland and Germany. We also had a local hero called John Morris, he was born in 1619, and at an early age he progressed through the ranks from different skirmishes to the rank of Colonel in the English Civil War. He was best remembered for taking Pontefract Castle from the Parliamentarians in 1648. South Elmsall continued as a farming village with stone cottages which nestled in the valley until the 18oo`s, lime quarrying was the main industry until coal was discovered and then that became the main provider and attracted workers from different areas, which in turn had to provide houses and schools, to house and educate the growing population. At the outbreak of World War One, the men of this village answered the call to arms and joined Kitcheners Army, and this War Memorial that you see before you is testament to their bravery and sacrifice. There are 248 names on this War Memorial, 174 from the first world war, and 74 from the second world war, all of these men gave their lives for King and country, some of these men are buried in the cemetery just up the road to my Left, the rest are buried in foreign fields such as : France, Belgium, Galipoli, North Africa and some have no known graves. Every year nearly all the residents of this village turn out on Remembrance Day to remember the brave souls who fought in the British armed forces. This brings me to why we are gathered here today. We are gathered here today to remember another British soldier, his name is Drummer Lee Rigby. Lee was born in July 1987 in Greater Manchester, he joined the British Army in 2006 as a teenager, he did his basic training at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, then he became a member of the second Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and joining us today is a soldier who served alongside Lee Rigby. Lee was stationed in Cyprus for a period of time where he became a Machine Gunner, and on ceremonial duties he was in the Drum Corps. In April 2009 Lee Rigby was deployed on active service for the first time to Helmand Province in Afghanistan, where he served as a member of the Fire Support Group in patrol base, WOQAB. On returning to the UK, Lee completed a second tour of public duties and then moved with his Battalion to Germany, which was to be held at a high state of readiness for contingency operations as part of the small scale CONTINGENCY BATTLE GROUP. Lee spent six months there during the most violent periods in the troubled country. After returning from Afghanistan, Lee was stationed in Hounslow, West London where he worked as a recruiter for the Army. Lee also guarded Royal Palaces, he also served as one of the iconic guards at the Tower of London. On May 22nd 2013, Lee, who was wearing an Help for Heroes hoodie, was walking back to his barracks, and at around 2:20pm that day he crossed the road close to his barracks and a car veered across the road and headed straight for Lee, the car hit Lee and pinned him against a road sign, two men jumped out of the car and began to brutally butcher Lee with knives and meat cleavers, they then dragged his lifeless body into the middle of the road. Now im telling you this, if it wasnt for a member of the public filming it, then Lee`s murder would have just gone down as just another murder by the establishment in our own capital city of London. Lee Rigby survived the Taliban in the war-torn country of Afghanistan, only to be murdered on an English street in our capital city of London by two crazed Muslims who were fanatics of Islam, I wont mention their names out of respect for Lee and his family, but what I will say is this, these two animals should have been put against a wall, and a firing squad from soldiers of the very same regiment that Lee served with, they should be given the honour of dispatching these two savages. Lee Rigby was the eldest of five children and when he was so brutally murdered he left behind, Sara - Chelsea - Courtney - and Amy whom he adored. He was also a loving Father to Jack. Lee may well be a hero to us all, he may also be a soldier to us all, but he was also a loving Brother, Son and  Father and on this second anniversary of his death we must all think of his family at this sad time. I am now going to read a short poem in memory of Lee Rigby.

I was just out for a walk, after an early stack.
not looking for trouble, not watching my back.
Mother`s with prams, holding hands with their kids,
not paying attention to the car as it skids.
Caught completely off guard, not expecting what comes,
one man with a knife, another with guns.
No chance of defence, no chance to fight back,
Looking for help, as the cowards attack.
An Angel arrives, as the light turns to Grey,
A woman attempts to steer the attackers away.
My last thought of `THANK YOU`, ne`er strays from my brain,
as my body shuts down, ans I feel no more pain.
I look to my Left, and I look to my Right,
thousands of Squaddies, are all that`s in sight.
Uniforms are crisp, and their faces are clean,
no sign of anger, or hate to be seen.
As if by command, they all salute as one,
the RSM smiles and says
"WELCOME HOME MY SON"

(Everyone joined in with the Lord`s Prayer)

Ode to Remembrance.
THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD
AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD.
AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM
NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN.
AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN
AND IN THE MORNING.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.


















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