Tuesday, 14th May

A good crowd from a variety of nations attended the Annual Ceremony in Remembrance for those who fell at Albuera and Badajoz at the British Cemetery, Elvas. After a short Eucharist in the Chapel led by the Rev. Fran Le Blanc, the customary wreaths were laid at the foot of the memorial plaques and many local dignitaries participated in the ceremony and gave speeches, including representatives from the municipalities of Elvas, Vila Viçosa, Badajoz and La Albuera, as well as members of the British, Portuguese, and Spanish military, the Military Attaché from the British Embassy and the Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland.

Special thanks are due to the Chair of the Friends, Celia Denney and the Committee Members, who organised the day and cleaned up the Cemetery beforehand, the Rev. Fran Le Blanc, who gave the prayers and blessing, and also to Stewart Streeting, who impeccably conducted the ceremony and produced the illustrated programme. Luís Santos of the Portuguese GNR once again ably played the ´Last Post’ followed by ‘Reveille’ at the end of the two minutes’ silence. On behalf of the ‘Friends’, the Chair of the Annual General Meeting of the Friends, Mark Crathorne presented a prize to the Elvas high school student who had the best improvement in English over the past year.

The assembled crowd then made its way to the Museu Militar de Elvas for the official inauguration of the ‘Albuera Room’. Col. Nuno Duarte, the Director of Museum kindly made available the Cloisters (the Museum was previously a Dominican monastery) for our lunch reception. Caterers were engaged for the delicacies, but the wine was most generously provided by José Rivero Sudon of the bodega Encina Blanca de Alburquerque.  The customary auction was held after the lunch.

Wednesday, 15th May

On the day following the Annual Ceremony, widening the commemorations, while remaining within the parameters of the Peninsular War, many members gathered in the neighbouring town of Vila Viçosa, first for the presentation in the Town Hall by the Mayor, Inácio Esperança, of a book based on the memoirs of the erudite parish priest in the 19th century recording the three burial sites in Vila Viçosa of those British who were wounded following the battle of Talavera de la Reina, in July 1809. This excellent book has been produced thanks to the interest and energy of the Vice-Chair of the Municipality of Vila Viçosa, Tiago Salgueiro.