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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 1 OLD STATIONER MEETS PRESIDENT OBAMA Dear Geraint 14th May 2015 davidsheath@hotmail.co.uk In June last year I travelled to Normandy to take part in the D Day Celebrations. My father, Robert, was a paratrooper in the US Airborne Division (The Screaming Eagles 101st) and had been killed on D-Day in 1944 in the first wave of the invasion. His plane had crashed at a small village called Magneville, south of Cherbourg. All 18 paratroopers and 4 crew had perished. There is a fitting memorial just outside the village (see picture) to commemorate the event. Every year in June the Mayor and Villagers perform a small ceremony around the Memorial and I was invited to attend. It was a very emotional moment, especially when I met one of the villagers, Alfred (picture enclosed), who was 17 at the time of the crash, and had rushed to the scene and removed all the bodies (badly burned), covering them with their parachutes before taking them by trailer to the local churchyard for burial. My father was reburied after the War at the American War Cemetery (Colleville-sur-Mer) overlooking Omaha Beach. I was privileged to be invited, as next of kin, to the June 6th event at the American War Cemetery which was hosted by Presidents Hollande and Obama. It was indeed a great honour on the occasion for me to meet and shake hands with the American President. Sadly I have no 'selfie' of the moment! I had made the same trip to my father's grave in 2013 when I was accompanied by former classmates and good friends PETER BONNER and MARTIN BURR and their wives. It was then that we discovered the crash site at Magneville and met the Mayor whose grandparents too had been present on that fateful morning, He, very kindly presented me with a small book that had been written (in French) about the crash on June 6th and the events preceding it (picture enclosed). Thanks to 'Beaky' Davis, I was able to read most of it! Yours sincerely David Sheath 1953-1960 OLD STATIONER UNVEILS NEW SPORTS HALL Dear Geraint davidsheath@hotmail.co.uk 14th May 2015 I was wondering if any Old Stationer has had a building named after him? Last December I was honoured to be asked back to the School, St. Marks Catholic School, Hounslow, where I had been Headteacher for 15 years, to open the new £2 million Sports Hall that had been built at the rear of the School, on the old school 'MAGNEVILLE Ce Jour La...' 6 Juin 1944 Philippe R. NEKRASSOFF Eric BRISSARD] (bottom left) DAVID SHEATH and the MAYOR (below right) David Sheath in France 22
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 1 field. To my utter astonishment, when I pulled back the curtain over the brass plaque in front of the Sports Hall Entrance, I found that the Sports Hall (picture enclosed) had been named after me . To say I was chuffed would be the understatement. I had no idea as it had been kept a complete secret from me. Yours sincerely David Sheath The David Sheath Sports Hall Officially Opens The Sports Hall was officially opened on the 10th December at 9.30am. The school was fortunate to welcome back former Headteacher, David Sheath as guest of honour. Mr Sheath was Head of the school from 1986-2001, and in recognition of the great contribution he made to the school the new Sports Hall was named after him. David Sheath unveiling the plaque. The David Sheath Sports Hall 23
Page 1 and 2: No 81 /July 2015 The Old Stationer
Page 3 and 4: T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o
Page 11 and 12: OSA CHRISTMAS LUNCH 2015 at STATION
Page 19 and 20: Hi Geraint perring32@btinternet.com
Page 21: T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o
Page 29 and 30: up from where he’d thrown them an
Page 39 and 40: got them both into trouble. Who wer
Page 47: Old Stationers Fantasy Football - S

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