Old Soldiers never Die !

This is a book ,discribing the history of 'The Royal Hospital Chelsea' it is a book I now hope Santa might bring me ,On the cover of the book we can see a picture of The Hospital,and in front a picture of a Chelsea Pensioner,I have been reading it all up on the 'net ' Since last Monday, when Karen and I went to our meeting ,at Portcullis House in London,you see whilst enjoying our cuppa's ,we were joined by this dear old gentleman who introduced himself as Bob ...and who's picture you see at the top of the entry,with me ,and as Karen said later ,we were the wrong way round ,he had a chest full of medals and you cant see them ! He did however tell us how he was awarded them ...one was for the campaign in Africa during WW2,it was presented to him by our late King,our present Queens Father ,he was also proud of one given to him by Her Majesty,because he had worked at Buckingham palace,in the post room ,these retired soldiers still perform duties,and he told us he often saw the Queen in the morning whilst delivering her post,Because of my work until I retired ,in sheltered housing for the elderly and before that care homes ,I was interested in his discription of where he lives in the Royal Hospital ,with other retired service men ,who now live there for various reasons ,some are widowers ,all have applied and been accepted,they each have their own birth /room with their personnal belongings,when they agree to stay there, they forego their pension ,for board and lodging,in exchange for their room and meals ,they enjoy many facilitys,with communal rooms, a bar ,and of course are with like minded people , their familys are free to visit them there ,and off course they go on holiday to visit family and friends too ,they are encouraged if they are fit,to join in a wide variation of activities ,ranging from state occasions,to simply talking to tourists who come to our capital,They are very well informed and like nothing better than a good old yarn ,and Karen and I agreed Bob really made our day

http://www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/     As you can see I have added the web site for you to see ,for yourselves ...I do hope you enjoy meeting Bob as much as we did

Jan xx