Here’s where you can find out all about events planned by the Hill 112 Memorial Foundation and how you can be part of the story.
Our fantastic celebration of the forties is returning to Betteshanger Park on 27 and 28 July 2024 and promising to be bigger and better than before.
We’ve lined up a superb range of activities, events, attractions, stalls, trade stands music and dance. A licensed bar, street food and re-enactment groups will make this a fantastic weekend of forties fun, food and fizz. We are still keen to hear from traders and re-enactors – just email annette@thehill112.com or telephone 07540 374683 to find out more.
Plans are being put in place for two military vehicle convoys next summer that will follow in the footsteps of the 112th (Wessex) Field Regiment, 477 Battery, F Troop.
The aim of the fund-raiser will be to retrace Albert Figg’s journey from Ver-sur-Mer, at the eastern end of Normandy’s historic Gold Beach, to Hill 112.
There will be two opportunities to join the convoy, on Wednesday 5 June and on Sunday 7 July.
The vehicles will journey through some of the places where Albert’s troop dug in with its 25-pounder field gun on the way to Carpiquet Airfield, from where it fired over Hill 112 in support of the infantry.
To be kept informed of the plans as they develop, please email annette@thehill112.com
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With the 80th anniversary of D-Day approaching, the Hill 112 Memorial Foundation is planning a number of events to raise awareness of the sacrifices made by those who secured our freedom in the second world war.
The first is a sponsored walk by Trustee Fred Ross, who is setting out to walk from Winchester to Eastbourne, an impressive 99 miles, between 20 and 27 April.
This will be a remarkable achievement for a man who, while a keen walker, admits to being “the wrong side of 75”.
We hope you will feel able to support his effort, which will raise money to improve, maintain and provide new drainage at the Garden of Remembrance at Hill 112.
To sponsor Fred and support this great charity, call him on 07803 149046 or email fredross246@btinternet.com
The Foundation is marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day with a very special Taittinger champagne reception and luncheon at the Crescent Turner Hotel, Wraik Hill, Whitstable on Thursday 9 May
Guest speaker at this not-to-be-missed event will be well-known author, historian and radio and TV presenter David Starkey, who will talk about D-Day, while the Swingtime Sweethearts will add to the occasion with a selection of hit songs from the 1940s.
Also present as a guest of honour will be Normandy veteran Ken Hay, who landed on Juno Beach on 23 June, 1944.
Overnight on July 7/8, Ken was one of 30 men on a platoon night patrol behind German lines when they were cut off, and battle ensued. Sixteen men, including his brother Bill, got back, five were captured and the other nine were killed in action. Ken was just 17-and-a-half.
The captured men endured a terrible journey to Stalag V111B Teschen in Poland and then a further journey by lorry to Gliwice before being marched to Zabrze and put to forced labour in a coal mine. They were later forced to march through snow and ice on what later became known as The Long March to Freedom before being liberated by American soldiers.
As well as the presentation by David Starkey, guests will be able to bid in our auction of highly prized items, including a week in a villa in the South of France, a Mont Blanc pen and Taittinger Champagne.
Tickets for the luncheon are just £75, including a champagne reception, with a discount of £75 for tables of eight. They can be purchased by emailing annette@thehill112.com All proceeds will go to The Hill 112 Memorial Foundation.
A short season of films with a wartime theme is being held between Thursday 30 May and Saturday 1 June, organised by award-winning Kent filmmaker and Hill 112 Memorial Foundation Trustee Peter Williams.
The films are being screened at the Great Hall, Kent College, Whitstable Road, Canterbury CT2 GDT to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and tell the stories of those caught up in the conflict of World War Two.
Thursday 30 May, 7.30pm
A Canterbury Tale - Albert Figg and the Battle for Hill 112
This film tells the tale of a Canterbury veteran’s life-long fight to create a memorial to the 7,000 men who died on Hill 112 in Normandy in the weeks after D-Day in 1944
Sergeant Gunner Albert Figg, from Canterbury, took part in the battle for Hill 112 in Normandy as the Allies pressed south after D-Day in 1944. It was one of the costliest battles of the war and one in which Albert lost many of his colleagues; he never forgot them and instead spent the last 30 years of his life establishing a memorial on the crest of Hill 112.
This event is organised, managed and delivered by Peter Williams, the film’s director, and the screening will be followed by a Q and A session. The performance is supported by James Claque Architects.
Friday 31 May, 7.30pm
Martha Gellhorn on the record.
This film is introduced by the late Marie Colvin, war correspondent, who was killed in Syria in 2012. In her last major film before she died, Marie traces the passions of her mentor Martha Gellhorn.
This event is organised, managed and delivered by Peter Williams and the screening will be followed by a Q and A session. The performance is supported by The Sunday Times and sponsored by Fenwicks of Canterbury.
Saturday 1 June, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Double Bill – Battle of Britain: They fought the Few and LIDICE: The Village that Refused to Die
Battle of Britain: They Fought the Few
Telling the story of Spitfire 'Ace' Wing Commander Bob Stanford Tuck, from Deal, and his friend, Luftwaffe 'Ace' Adolf Galland, the film joins them at Stanford Tuck's home and embraces the experiences of pilots, British and German.
LIDICE: The Village that Refused to Die
The mining village of Lidice, in the Czech Republic, was razed to the ground and its inhabitants slaughtered in 1941 by Hitler's Nazis. Mining communities in the UK helped to rebuild the village, and Win Plocka, now 100, revisits the new Lidice.
This double bill will be followed by a Q and A session and is supported by Quinn Estates. Both films are featured in both screenings, at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
The films are all part of Canterbury Festival’s D-Day Plus 80 commemorations. Tickets cost £12 plus £2 booking fee and can be booked by following this link.
https://canterburyfestival.co.uk/whats-on/?category=d-day-plus-80&from_date=&to_date=
All proceeds go to support the Hill 112 Memorial Foundation (Charity Number 1181345)
