The Forces Motorsport Charity - Mission Motorsport We’re thrilled to invite you to our next Mission Motorsport gathering - Veterans @ Heritage – Scale & Speed! Join us for a free day of fun, banter, and camaraderie at Bicester Heritage, open to all members of the Armed Forces community, including serving personnel, veterans, and their families. Hosted at the Hagerty UK Clubhouse, this relaxed day promises hands-on activities, friendly competition, and plenty of laughs (and brews!). (fb)

The Kiel Canal accident on September 11th, 1974, is one of the many tragic events punctuating Parachute Regiment and British Airborne Forces history. The disaster claimed the lives of five men serving with 15 PARA (V) and one man from 4 PARA (V). Elements of the three Territorial Army Parachute Regiment Battalions had been chosen to take part in the largest airborne operation of the year as part of 16th Parachute Brigade Group on Exercise Bold Guard, a NATO enterprise involving British, German and Danish armed forces. In total, the exercise involved thirty-five C130 Hercules aircraft dropping 540 paratroopers and twenty-six heavy loads in two waves onto a DZ whose northern perimeter was the busy shipping canal connecting the Baltic and the North Seas between Keil and Brunsbüttel. To the south lay the smaller but no less dangerous Eider canal. These men from 4, 10 and 15 PARA were part of the second wave, 2 PARA having jumped the previous day on September 10th. Some 2 PARA soldiers like Geoff Butler, who had been unable to jump with the first wave, emplaned with the Territorial paratroopers. Fifteen soldiers and several heavy load platforms landed in the canal which is eleven metres deep and between 103 and 162 metres wide. The Lothian Branch of the association have launched a GoFundMe page for a memorial bench that will be dedicated to the brave souls who lost their lives during Ex Bold Guard in 1974, so that their sacrifice will never be forgotten. The bench will be placed in West Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, with permission from Edinburgh City Council, ensuring it becomes a lasting tribute. The total cost is £5,200, and every contribution will help honour their memory. Once the funds are raised, they will be directed to the Lothians Branch PRA account for the purchase and installation of the bench and plaque. This is a meaningful way to remember those who served and paid the ultimate price. Please consider supporting this initiative. Every donation, no matter the size, will help keep their memory alive. (fb)