COFEPOW - News - Chairman's Report

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 2007

Presented at the COFEPOW Annual General Meeting on 20th January 2008

Well another year has come and gone and I have been looking back at some of the events during the past twelve months and we are still keeping busy and keeping to our aim of not letting the FEPOWs be forgotten. I was a bit inactive for the first three months, following another spell in hospital but at the end of March we spent a weekend in the FEPOW Building, in the upper section, and with the help of Mary Harris and Keith Andrews, many of the books were catalogued and boxes of research material were filed away.

About this same time, we had another day in the Building when the BBC made a television documentary about Pat Bienkowski and her determination to prove that the main photograph of a skeletal POW, seen as you enter the Building, was in fact her father. It was a very moving story and many of our members saw this when it was broadcast nationally in October with a happy ending.

On Saturday 23rd June a lunch and dinner event was held in Manchester, organised by Cecil Lowry and Patrick Toosey and what an extremely interesting day that was. Following an excellent lunch (and later we had and even more wonderful dinner) the author Peter Thompson - who wrote the book "The Battle for Singapore" was the guest speaker, followed by a very informative and interesting debate on the fall of Singapore. A long way for Ron and myself to travel, but well worth it and hopefully the same event will be repeated.

In July we finally managed to get the Arboretum staff to finish the task of erecting the cell door from Changi Prison in the FEPOW Building. It is situated behind one of the text/photo panels (the Liberation Panel) close to where the artists drawings are displayed and it makes a very impressive additional and original piece of artifact. Also in July we met, for the first time, the staff at the Hertfordshire University who are currently building up a FEPOW data base, all the names on this data base have been taken from our master list of 55,500 men whose names are projected on the wall in the FEPOW Building. The work on this is in full swing with a busy time ahead.

On Sunday 12th August many members gathered at the Arboretum to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the opening of the FEPOW Building. It was a lovely day and the Chapel was packed to hear a very emotional service given by one of our members Rev. Barry Angus. Three of our four patrons attended as our guests.

In September the Arboretum registered the FEPOW Building as a Museum. Several FEPOWs and many COFEPOWS, spent a very enjoyable week end at Blackpool organized by Pauline Simpson, secretary of the FEPOW Fellowship. The hotel was extremely pleasant with choices of good food and a happy family atmosphere. Dancing later at the Tower Ballroom will remain an unforgettable experience for me. Also in September a service at the Prisoners Memorial in Gladstone Park London, which has been held every year for the past 36 years , organised by the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX). This year COFEPOW took part for the first time, and a wreath was laid at the Memorial by Mary Harris, supported by Elaine Howard and Peter Head, in memory of those FEPOWs who died in Japanese POW camps. In October our special annual Remembrance Service was held locally and in November, once again the Remembrance Day Cenotaph Parade in Whitehall was not short of COFEPOW members.

On 25th November over 70 of us celebrated the 10th anniversary of the first COFEPOW meeting. I think everyone agreed (perhaps it was the bubbly) that it was a super success. December of course saw our annual Xmas party.
Sadly more of the FEPOWs have passed away during the year, some we knew very well, but hopefully they died knowing that their story of their terrible time as Pows has not died with them. And as if to honour them, each year our membership keeps growing and my thanks go to Robin and Beryl Canwell for the excellent and organized way they run the membership side of the association. Our web site continues to be a huge success with many complimentary letters/Emails received from many parts of the world. This year will see the site having a face lift.

My thanks go out to all members who have been involved or have taken part in the many activities this past year, or perhaps working for COFEPOW behind the scenes. If you have contacted me, contributed, helped in some small way, then Thank You from me and from all the FEPOWs who are still with us now and or have perhaps long gone, without you COFEPOW would not function. And lastly to our Trustees and those who give up their time to travel with Ron and myself to the necessary and various meetings here, there and every where - Thank You

We have a good association, plenty of feed back, many of you now in contact, helping and sharing with each other. There is a lot of commitment out there, all kinds of other new FEPOW associations, new web sites, far more people becoming involved in this chapter of war than ever before. The more this trend spreads then the more we know the name and fate of the FEPOWS will have a place in our history books. Thank You Again

Carol Cooper - Chairman and Secretary

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