James Roffey MBE 20th April 1931 to 25th March 2025

It is with enormous sadness that we announce the passing of Sidney James Roffey MBE, former evacuee and founder of the British Evacuees Association, on 25th March. Much loved father and grandfather, he will be deeply missed by his family, friends and BEA members. A tribute to James and all the work that he did to gain recognition for Evacuees will appear in the next issue of ‘The Evacuee’ magazine.

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The Mountbatten Festival of Music - 21st and 22nd March 2025

The British Evacuees Association was invited to participate in this year’s Mountbatten Festival of Music 2025. What an honour it was to be part of such a magnificent production, the Massed Bands of His Majesty’s Royal Marines put together a spectacular show of music and extraordinary talent.

Following an appeal in our ‘Evacuee’ magazine three of our members were chosen by the production team, to have their stories recorded and played on screen at the event. A special piece of music composed and played by the Massed Bands of The Royal Marines accompanied their stories in a section called ‘The Children of the War. The stories told were of our members Dr Peter Lane, Mr Jim Porter and Mrs Sonya Brett. It was the most amazing tribute to all evacuees and their story.

If you would like to see the concert, you can now view it on YouTube by searching ‘The Mountbatten Festival of Music 2025’, as the whole concert was released on 31st May 2025 at 7.30pm. We recommend that you take a look! Alternatively you can click here to view

Here are some comments on the YouTube Channel so far about ‘The Children in War’ section of the concert:

Awesome as always. ‘The children’s evacuation section was extremely emotional’

Another wrote ‘Absolutely stunning, my mum was an evacuee and had a terrible experience too’

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Evacuees were invited to The VE80 Commemorative Service at Westminster Abbey 8th May 2025.

Members of the Association were invited to attend the Service of Thanksgiving to mark the 80 year anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. The service to pay tribute to The Second World War generation and was broadcast live by the BBC. It featured prayers, readings and music and was attended by The King and Queen. They were accompanied by TRH The Prince of Princess of Wales, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, HRH The Princess Royal and Sir Tim Laurence, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and HRH The Duke of Kent. Sir Keir Starmer, The Prime Minister was also in attendance accompanied by many former Prime Ministers and dignitaries. A wreath was laid on behalf of veterans and the Second World War generation. At the end of the serviceThe bells were ‘fired’ eighty times followed by joyous ringing as the congregation left the Abbey. Several of our members were greeted by members of The Royal family.

VE80 Concert at Horse Guards Parade on 8th May 2025

Evacuees were also invited to attend the VE Concert at Horse Guards Parade in the evening of 8th May at which The King and Queen and other royal family members were present. Seated in the Royal Box were veterans of The Second World War. The concert featured music, dancing and stories of veterans and wartime heroes. The story of some evacuees and their experiences were also told on screen. It was the culmination of three days of celebration and the crowd were encouraged to wear red, white and blue and wave Union Jack flags.

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On 5th May Doreen Simson appeared on a show with Lorraine Kelly on ITV, she even mentioned The British Evacuees Association.

On 8th May she told her story at The Royal Albert Hall, she sang and danced with Katherine Jenkins

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Due to a pledge of support, The British Evacuees Association will continue until September 2026!

More details to follow in the next issue of ‘The Evacuee’

Welcome

Here is some of this years contingent at The Cenotaph Parade on 10th November 2024. The news of our donation was given to our group as we formed up for the March in Horse Guards Parade. You can imagine their response to our fantastic news! The British Evacuees Association were mentioned in the BBC commentary of The Remembrance Parade which has resulted in lots of enquiries and news members.

 

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The above photograph shows our contingent at Horse Guards Parade following the Cenotaph March on 12th November 2023

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Office visits…

Ken and Vivienne called in at the office on their way to giving a talk at nearby Balby School, Doncaster, South Yorkshire – 22nd March 2023

Doug Wilde visits the office  January 2023

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Office revamp…

Joy and Len Townsend paid a visit on 26th July 2021 and gave the new look their seal of approval!

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James Roffey MBE

On 19th November, 2019, James was invited to Buckingham Palace for his Investiture. His guests on this memorable occasion were Lady Emma Barnard (one of the Patrons of The BEA) Karen (BEA Manager) and Sherin, his daughter.

Above: Karen, James and Sherin after the Investiture at Buckingham Palace - 19th November 2019

More photographs will appear in the January/February 2020 issue

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The Evacuees have arrived at The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire

Thank you to all our members, family and friends, and our supporters who have made this possible. It has been a long time in the making and your support and patience has been appreciated. Without you all, this would not have happened.

The British Evacuees Association celebrated its 21st Birthday with the Dedication of our National Memorial to the Evacuation by HRH The Duke of Gloucester on 25th July 2017.  Our memorial stands proudly next to the Children’s play area at The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. 

The BEA (formerly The Evacuees Reunion Association) is a non-profit making registered charity which is funded by our members subscriptions and donations.

It was formed in 1996 to ensure that the true story of the great evacuation would become better known and preserved for further generations.

We publish a 16 page quarterly magazine ‘The Evacuee’ which is sent to all our members worldwide, We currently have members in the United Kingdom, The United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and some parts of Europe.

The magazine features our members stories and recollections of their time as children, articles of interest, and an Events and Lost Touch section, that has helped many contact former friends and family. We organise reunions throughout the country, some are large and others are localised meetings.

Our biggest event to date was the St Pauls Commemorative Service held on 1st September 2009 which was attended by 1800 of our members and attracted worldwide coverage. We also attend many 1940’s themed events throughout the country and are proud to be invited and participate in the Royal British Legion’s Cenotaph Parade in November each year.

We provide educational information to schools, history groups, and are regularly asked to contribute/take part in radio/television programmes on the subject.

We have members worldwide. Why don’t you join us!