School friends to cycle for veterans
Two school friends will be cycling to Belgium to mark 100 years since one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.
On the July 31, 1917, the whistles blew to start the Battle of Passchendaele, one of the most brutal engagements of the Great War, which by November that year had seen the loss of more than half a million British and German soldiers in appalling conditions, an encounter that has become a byword for the futility of war.
100 years later school friends Ben Elias and George Parish will cycle 320 miles to a memorial at the former front in just three days.
The two 17-year-olds both attend Eaton College, the famous private school in Berkshire, but are from the Shropshire and Herefordshire region – George is the son of the Parish family who live at Walcot Hall, Lydbury North, near Bishop's Castle, and Ben hails from near Hereford.
The pair will start out from Hereford War Memorial on July 31, with a blessing from the Dean of Hereford and motorcycle escort. On their way to the south coast they will pass through the capital and past the London Cenotapth before crossing the channel and continuing all the way to the finish Menin Gate in Ypres.
The boys have chosen to attempt the challenge to raise money for the Royal British Legion, as both studied the Great War at school and have been so moved by the unbelievable sacrifice made by so many soldiers at Passchendaele.
But neither are habitual riders and will be completing the ride on borrowed bicycles.
Ben said: “I hope that by raising awareness of what happened in the past, I can also help someone today.
"What could be a more appropriate way of commemorating the start of one of the most destructive battles in modern history than by supporting today’s victims of conflict?"
The boys are looking to raise funds specifically for the Poppy Breaks initiative, which enables veterans, who have been wounded or suffer from mental illness as a result of their experiences, to go to Legion Centres for assistance, counselling or just a break.
Each of these breaks costs £1,100, and the boys are hoping to raise enough to send ten veterans away.
They will be meeting veterans helped by Poppy Breaks as part of the fundraising drive.
To sponsor the school friends, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/benandgeorgepedalforpasschendaele
