The 25th Anniversary celebrations of the twinning of Bellême and Stühlingen were held during the weekend of 5th to 8th May 2005 in France.

This also coincided with the 60^th Anniversary of VE day, which was marked by a ceremony at the war memorial with the laying of floral tributes by veterans from each country. A wreath from our committee was laid at the war memorial.

This anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe was also marked by the production of videos from each of the three towns with interviews with people who had served in the respective forces of Germany, France and Britain. Adrian, assisted by camera man Ray, had interviewed a number of local people who remembered the war years. These interviews may be made available on DVD together with the interviews made in Germany and France. The article in the May edition of Goring Gap News was based on the interviews recorded in Goring as part of this project.

A related web site has been set up to record the memories of our local war Veterans.

Norman R had been invited to Bellême to participate in the ceremony as a war veteran. Unfortunately Norman’s wife became ill and he was unable to make the trip.

It was thought that even without a veteran, we should be represented at the ceremony. Adrian’s father was a corporal in the 4^th Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment who left Southampton for Le Havre in January 1940 and unfortunately died of meningitis at St Nicolas de la Taille and is buried in the military cemetery at Le Havre. For this reason it was appropriate for him to represent us at the reconciliation ceremony between the three communities.

Our committee was also represented by the Life Presidents, Peter and Mary B and past Chairmen of the committee, Mike J and his wife Diane.

The Stühlingen Band led the procession from the Town Hall to the War Memorial in the centre of the town, where they played the national anthems for the three countries. Various local dignitaries were there to lay floral tributes. The wreath laid by Adrian and the French and German old soldiers had the flags of the three countries and the European Union flag.