The Royal Anglian Regiment Association

Royal Anglian Cap Badge

THE ‘All the 4s’ SPONSORED WALK: 16 – 25 JULY 2010
IN AID OF THE ROYAL ANGLIAN REGIMENT BENEVOLENT CHARITY

All the 4s

4 the boys 4 the families 4 the fallen 4 ever

Mrs Christine Bonner is the Mother of Cpl Darren Bonner who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2007 whilst serving with the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment. Christine is organising a sponsored walk over the period 16 – 25 July 2010 in aid of The Royal Anglian Regiment Benevolent Charity. This provides money for serving or former members of The Royal Anglian Regiment or former regiments and their dependants who are in need, hardship or distress. Christine’s plan is to walk 150 miles in 10 days through 4 counties to raise money for the Charity which last year alone paid out £97,000 in 255 cases. She is calling her walk All the 4s - 4 the boys 4 the families 4 the fallen 4 ever.
Christine says: “In May 2007 my eldest child and only son, Cpl Darren Bonner, was killed in a land mine explosion in Southern Afghanistan. My whole world fell apart and my life was changed forever. How was I ever to carry on bearing this horrific pain and heartache? But I had to keep it together for my 3 daughters who had also lost their big brother. Feeling that I had to do something positive for Darren, I have now organised walks since 2008, raising money for The Royal Anglian Regiment Benevolent Charity. In 2008 we walked 120 miles from Pirbright to Duxford and raised £35k; in 2009 we walked 150 miles from Lincoln to Hertford and raised £44k; and this year we are walking 150 miles through East Anglia and hope to beat last year’s total. I am also having a tattoo of the Regimental Cap Badge and the All the 4s logo on my leg to raise more money for the fund. Walking with the lads is very therapeutic for me. I feel closer to Darren, I feel proud that I am part of the Royal Anglian Regimental Family and know that I will always have people who genuinely care here”.
Captain Ty Smith is leading the Royal Anglian soldiers who are walking with Christine on All the 4s. He said: “Since 1964 my Regiment has lost 74 soldiers killed on duty in Aden, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. We have lost 18 soldiers in the past 4 years alone: 14 killed in action in Afghanistan, 2 killed in action in Iraq and 2 killed in training accidents. Many more have been injured on operations, some very grievously. Our 1st Battalion (the Vikings) have recently returned from their third tour of Afghanistan during which they had a further 5 of their soldiers killed in action. We have 16 Royal Anglian soldiers from the 3rd Battalion (the Steelbacks) serving in Afghanistan right now and The Regiment’s 2nd Battalion (the Poachers), who got back from Iraq in November 2008, are training for possible future deployments to Afghanistan from October this year.  Sadly, therefore, there is every chance that the toll of Regimental casualties will increase, along with the subsequent calls on our charitable funds. So what better motivator could there be to tackle this most demanding walk with Christine once again’.
LCpl Jamie Rogalski is from Peterborough and serving with D (Cambridgeshire) Company, the Vikings, in Pirbright, Surrey. He joined the Army in 1999 and has served in Northern Ireland, Iraq & Afghanistan. He said: “I am walking because I lost some good friends during our last two tours of Afghanistan and also saw many more injured. I want to show my support to the families of our fallen and to help to ensure that our injured soldiers have a better quality of life in the future”.

Pte Connor Darton is 18 and from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. He joined the Army in September 2008 as a Junior Apprentice. He said: “I have only served in the UK to date but hope to deploy on operations with the Battalion in the future. I’m walking to help raise money for our fallen and injured soldiers and their families and also to show my commitment to The Regiment”.   

Pte Harley Hunter is 20 and from Lowestoft, Suffolk. He is serving in C (Essex) Company, the Vikings. He said: “I have only recently joined the Army in July last year and as such have only served within the UK. My reason for doing this walk is to raise money for The Regiment so that we can look after the families of our fallen and our injured soldiers, forever”.

All the 4s will set out from Peterborough at 1000 hrs on Fri 16 Jul 10.  Over the next 10 days, including the weekends 17/18 July and 24/25 July, they will walk through the 4 counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex; they will end their day’s hiking in Wisbech, King’s Lynn, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Ipswich and Clacton-on-Sea respectively, finishing in Chelmsford at around 1300 hrs on Sun 25 July. In order to encourage maximum participation and subsequent sponsorship, the opportunity exists for members of the public to join the walk, on any day, to complete a leg; or if desired to complete any number of legs on different days. Legs will be between 10 – 20 miles per day.

Editors’ Note:

 

 

Thank You from All the 4s

4 the boys 4 the families 4 the fallen 4 ever

The charity in action

All the 4s Flier and Gift Aid form