11
May
GALLERY: Royal Engineers take centre stage at Ripon Freedom Weekend
This article, which completes the Stray Ferret's comprehensive coverage of the VE 80th anniversary celebrations in Ripon, is free to read. You can help support independent local journalism for as little as 14p a day by subscribing to the Stray Ferret. To get started, just click here.
The Royal Engineers' Freedom Weekend brought a fitting end to events which served to remind Ripon residents and visitors about the vital part played by Sappers in both wartime and in peacekeeping roles.
Their skill and ingenuity was crucial to the D-Day landings in June 1944 and subsequently paved the way to Victory in Europe in May 1945.
In 1949 the Ripon-based regiment was awarded Freedom of the City and today 120 soldiers based at Claro Barracks maintained the tradition of marching along Ripon's ancient streets with music playing, standards flying and bayonets fixed.
The march took them past Ripon Town Hall and down Kirkgate to the cathedral for a service at which Councillor Jackie Crozier was installed as the city's newly-elected mayor.
She and her consort, Lorna Fassnidge, were accompanied by city councillors and other civic dignitaries as they entered the cathedral, where Ripon's branch of the Royal Engineers Association provided a guard of honour.
To add to today's spectacle, Captain Eddie Thompson, Adjutant of 21 Engineer Regiment followed the parade on his 26-year-old Charger, Merlin.
Yetserday, other types of transport were on display on Market Square as members of the public had the opportunity to see some of the military hardware that the Engineers use in their world-wide work.
The Freedom March and installation of the Mayor
Captain Eddie Thompson, standing guard, outside the cathedral on Merlin
The Nottinghamshire Band of the Royal Engineers led the parade
Councillor Jackie Crozier, the newly-elected Mayor of Ripon and her consort Lorna Fassnidge, were greeted by the Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson, as they entered the cathedral for the installation service
Freedom Weekend display on Market Square
The 21 Engineer Regiment's display attracted people of all ages to Market Square
Among the youngest were two-year-olds Maeve (left) and Polly, who are pictured with Sapper Robert Ashworth and a light-wheeled tractor used by the Engineers to dig trenches
The Royal Engineers are famous for building bridges in many theatres of war around the world and showed their skills in assembling a medium girder over bridge
There was also a display from Royal Engineers divers, which attracted a lot of attention
The Engineers' trades team taught children how to lay bricks
Peter Coulson, a former Quarter Master Sergeant Instructor, who is a member of Ripon's Royal Engineers Association, told visitors about guns used in World War Two and other conflicts
Sapper Cameron Pollard stood guard on a Mastiff armoured troop carrier ...
... while four-year-old Elliott was among many children who sat in the driver's seat
Ripon Military Heritage Trust had a stall at the Freedom Weekend, where they unveiled an interactive map, which features military, civic and home front facilities across Ripon and the wider area, that played a role in the war effort. Pictured, from the left are trustees Jane Furse, Michael Furse, Guy Wilson and Rachel Wigginton
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