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Morning of Christmas Cheer - December 2023
Maralyn Green • Dec 28, 2023
Mayor of Bognor Regis, Councillor Francis Oppler meets Santa
Two surprise guests met at the Morning of Christmas Cheer, hosted by the Bognor Town Twinning Association. Father Christmas met the Mayor of Bognor Regis, Councillor Francis Oppler, who came to wish Twinning members a very Happy Christmas. The Mayor was able to get an early taste of Christmas, in more ways than one. Santa came with a sack full of little gifts for everyone and there was opportunity to fill up many an empty tum on the Christmas food delights on offer : warm mince pies, stollen bites, lebkuchen, biscuits, cheeses, crudites, grapes, etc. To help get in the holly jolly mood, there was plenty of warm mulled wine to drink and, also, hot spiced apple juice for those preferring a non-alcoholic alternative. Roaring log fires and Christmas decorations helped everyone, including Santa, feel right at home and maybe also helped get Santa ready for his big night of the year. And we know he did very well on that night!
The Morning of Christmas Cheer was the last Town Twinning event for 2023 but a whole new programme of events starts in January.
On Saturday May 18 th 13 BRTA members walked 4 and a half miles from outside the Ship Inn Itchenor along the harbour coastal path to West Wittering and then back to Itchenor cross country. The weather forecast was for light rain but there was only one rain shower during the walk and the sun came out towards the end. The walkers then enjoyed a good lunch at The Ship Inn Itchenor before going home.
Twenty adults from Bognor recently enjoyed a very successful French exchange visit to Bognor’s twin town of St Maur-des-Fossés, near Paris. Travelling by Eurostar to Paris and then by RER to the nearby town of St Maur-des-Fossés, guests were welcomed by their individual hosts into their homes for the duration of the visit. Not everyone could speak French but, as many of the hosts spoke good English, careful placement meant everyone felt relaxed and happy during their stay. A programme for the visit, organised by Les Amis de Bognor Regis, included an outing to the Chateau de Vincennes, a former fortress and royal residence, with a talk given on the history of the castle. Guests also had the opportunity to visit the Abbaye de Saint-Maur, an old monastery, which is mostly in ruins, but a guided tour took visitors into the cellar and underground passageways not usually open to the public. It wasn’t all monuments as St Maur-des-Fossés is the town in Ile-de-France with the largest number of food markets and a visit to one of these, a regular shopping venue for locals, was also on the programme. All have a huge range of high quality, fresh food products, with the market at La Varenne being the first to have over 100 traders. A veritable feast for the eyes and enough to make one very hungry! There were also opportunities for visiting Paris, where the ongoing reconstruction of the burnt-out cathedral of Notre Dame could be seen. After a devastating fire in 2019, during which the roof and spire collapsed, the historic renovation of Notre Dame is now nearly 90% complete but at an estimated cost of 700 million Euros. Preparations for the 2024 Olympics, to be held this August in Paris, were also well underway and visible throughout the city centre. Riverboat trips down the Seine, walking through Les Tuileries, the Ile de Paris, the South Bank, visiting the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides (Napoleon’s tomb), Les Halles, Galeries Lafayette, were all places visited by some of us on our city excursions. On the last evening in St Maur-des-Fossés, the local association of Les Amis de Bognor Regis treated all 20 visitors from Bognor, with their French hosts, to a sumptuous three course meal in a local restaurant. Speeches from each side were made and thanks given to those who had helped make this exchange visit such a success, after a hiatus of several years, when the exchange visits had to be suspended due to Covid. Special thanks are owed to Mr. John Russell, whose tireless efforts for more than a year, on behalf of the Bognor Regis Twinning Association, resulted in a very successful visit. It is hoped that this very enjoyable visit will now form the basis for the return of regular annual exchanges and that friendships, old and new, that have been reinforced or begun, will continue the long-standing connections between our twin towns.
D-Day 80 Years On D-Day 80 Years On was the subject of a very detailed talk, given recently by popular historian, Dave Smith. Planning for D-Day actually took place not far from Bognor and very close to Portsmouth. It was at Southwick House, which stands on the northern slopes of Portsdown Hill, where the preparations for Operation Overlord were laid. It was there that General Dwight Eishenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, took the decision to launch the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944. You can still visit the house and see the Map Room but have to make an appointment to do so. The date of 6 June was chosen because it fulfilled the requirements necessary for the beach landings. The weather forecast was good, there would be a full moon and, importantly, a half tide. Originally 2 other dates were considered, 5 June and 19 June. 5 June was discounted because of the bad weather forecast for the day before and 19 June was deemed too late. Several million men, tanks, landing craft, etc., were waiting secretly, in multiple locations, across the South Coast of England and there was a very real risk that waiting too long might lead to discovery. So, the date of 6 June became the date of D Day. This was fortunate as the weather turned out to be appalling on 19 June. Dave Smith asked the audience what the D stood for in D Day. The answer was that it stands for Day. Apparently there were many D Days (Day Days), a name for the beginning of Operations during the War, but 6 June is the only one remembered by everyone. Much effort had gone into covering up the true destination of D Day. Double agents fed wrong information back to Germany about possible invasions at Calais in July or even on the Norway coast. Inflatable tanks, trucks, airplanes and landing craft had been placed as decoys, even as far North as Scotland, to deceive reconnaissance aircraft. Decoy dummy paratroopers, known as Ruperts, were also dropped at 4 different locations on the morning of 6 June to lure the Germans away from the beaches of Normandy. The dummies self-destructed on landing. These were just a few facts from Dave Smith’s presentation as his enthusiasm for his subject gave us many further insights into the planning before the invasion, the intricate detail of the invasion itself and what must have been a logistical nightmare to get everyone and everything to where it was needed before, during and in the days after the invasion. Dave Smith also recounted stories of a few of the soldiers, who had been part of D Day, as well as the personality clashes between some of the leading organisers of Operation Overlord. Roll on next year for another of Dave’s brilliant talks!
