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Veterans plenary
Meeting of Veterans Plenary - 23 March 2005
Opening address by Air Vice-Marshall - David Pocock - Defence Services Secretary
Ladies and Gentlemen
It might be hard to believe, but we in the military are actually taught how to speak in public. And one thing we are told is never begin a presentation with an apology. Which is why I began with this introduction.
This spot should have been filled with an address from our Minister, Mr Ivor Caplin. But he very much regrets that he is unable to be present to welcome you to this conference. However, he will join us later to chair the key question and answer session.
Had he been here, Mr Caplin would have begun by paying tribute to Debbie Bowles who is standing down from her posts as the Public Relations officer of the War Widows Association, the War Widows member of the COBSEO Executive Committee, and leading light of the RAF Widows Association. Debbie, your drive, commitment, and willing assistance will be very much missed – and we all wish you well in the future.
Mr Caplin would also have offered his congratulations to Major George Correa (Corray) for the well-deserved award of an MBE in the NYHL for his work with the Royal Artillery Charitable Trust.
I think Mr Caplin would have then drawn attention to the outcome of the Ministerial Veterans Summit that he hosted last week.
This was a considerable success and provided a very useful forum for Veterans’ issues on an international scale. Ministers and senior officials from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America attended. The Canadian High Commissioner and the Defence attaches and advisers representing Australia, New Zealand and the United States and many European Nations were also present. As were representatives from the British ex-Service organisations.
The importance we in the MOD attach to Veterans issues is indicated by the fact that the Secretary of Defence opened the Summit with a Key Note speech.
All the countries outlined their commitment to commemoration
with particular emphasis on educational projects such as our:
Heroes Return Project, which as well as being part of the Second World War
commemorations, is invaluable in helping educate younger generations. It
was fascinating seeing how many children and grandchildren wanted to accompany
relatives to their former battlefields.
The series of booklets to mark events from WW2. These are a proving a valuable educational tool for younger people – and not just children. People of all ages eagerly collect them whenever they are on display.
The "Their Past: Your Future”, scheme, which has enabled students from all across the country to join veterans on their overseas pilgrimages.
These visits are coupled with the “Their Past Your Future” exhibition which is currently travelling around the country. Its inter-generational mix of local projects combines education and commemoration in a way which serves veterans, children and local communities across the country.
The Scottish Museum Council integrated this initiative with one of their own known as War Detectives, where children gather stories from Veterans, which are then posted onto a website. It is Mr Caplin’s hope that with collaborative projects such as these, the knowledge and appreciation for the role of veterans in our society will continue to grow.
The Summit also recognised the importance of shared and collaborative research on veterans' affairs, particularly with regard to health matters. It is hoped that with further collaboration and information exchange we will gain an even better understanding of service-related illness and provide more appropriate provision.
I am sure Mr Caplin would not have let this occasion pass without mentioning our veterans badge scheme. With over 45,000 badges issued, the extension of the scheme to new service leavers is now well under way. We hope that this will help make the public aware of the broad definition we are employing for the term “veteran” and that it embraces veterans of all generations.
For my part, during the past year I have been struck, almost literally, by the growing interest in veterans generally, and in what veterans did. We were almost overwhelmed by the interest in the Normandy Commemorations last year, and you will hear later what is planned for this year.
At present, I am responsible, among other things, for medals, commemorations and ceremonial. As part of our move to bring more focus to veterans-related work, I will be taking on, from Julian Miller, 2-star over-sight of the Veterans Policy Unit and its work on the wider Veterans Programme. Malcolm Lingwood, the Director of the Unit, will be giving a presentation on this programme later today in collaboration with General Shellard on behalf of COBSEO. I shall be listening with considerable interest as the presentation forms part of my hand-over programme.
I have found it a real privilege to work on veterans issues so far, and I look forward very much to both the commemorative events later this year and to my increased responsibilities in this area.
Part of being a successful politician is knowing when to shut up. And I think Mr Caplin would be doing that about now. Once again, welcome to the conference, and we hope you find it useful.
