YORK branch members of a military association who marched in remembrance last Sunday (November 10) have issued a callout to boost their numbers.
The York Branch of The Parachute Regimental Association (PRA), formed at the end of the Second World War, has issued a call to serving and ex-serving personnel to attend its monthly meetings at Imphal Barracks in Fulford Road.
Regional contact Chris Jackson said the branch has seen dwindling numbers from its peak of nearly fifty members.
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The branch is appealing to any service of ex-serving members of the Parachute Regiment - the airborne infantry regiment of the British Army - and Airborne Forces.
Around 10 members and friends from York, Haxby, Bishopthorpe and Ripon attended the latest first Tuesday of the month meeting on November 5.
Also present was currently serving member Private Adam Precious, a York resident on leave from 2 PARA in Colchester.
Pvt Precious said: “I’ve met people that have served before me in the past, but I feel like since day one at training, you’re always told to respect those who have gone before you and uphold their standards.
“It’s nice to meet people that went before you, speak to them and get to know them for yourself, and learn from their stories.”
York resident David Atkinson, who served from October 1983 to February 2007, said: “When I left the army not knowing many people in York, I joined the PRA to help me settle in to living in the area and to get to know new people and make friends.
“The PRA gives many things, we meet monthly and socialise with like-minded people and support each other.
“In the past it has helped old soldiers who have suffered from loneliness, we organise group trips and nationally, the association has a network for those needing financial and welfare support.”
The York Branch attends two annual events in the north – celebrating Airborne Forces Day at Eden Camp Modern History Museum outside Malton, one of the largest gatherings of airborne personnel in the North of England, and then National Trust property Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, where the first regimental training camp was based on the estate there.
Further afield, untimed trips over the ‘ten mile route’ known to recruits in Aldershot and then a ‘Fan Dance’ over the hills of Brecon Beacons – part of the regiment’s ‘P Company’ selection process, are included in branch activities.
For more information about the York Branch of The Parachute Regimental Association, visit https://theparachuteregimentalassociation.com/branches/york/
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