D-DAY 65th anniversary

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Members of the Royal Family who are unable to make it to the Memorial event in Normandy would be very welcome instead to visit Reigate, Surrey where the D-Day landings were masterminded in utmost secrecy by Montgomery and his team! Perhaps the President of France didn't realise this when he was planning his own celebrations for 6th June this coming weekend.

It's such an exciting international story including the top-secret bunker mined deep into Reigate Hill via the old chalk quarry. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Churchill had first thought of it on one of his many visits, decades beforehand. I was up there this morning on a beautiful sunny June day and really, the view southwards across Surrey and Sussex towards France is fantastic. There are many links with the Royal Family in the town's history too, and this new research is all ready to be revealed.

So in the absence of any huge publishing deals, exclusive broadcasting rights and general razamatazz, I shall be giving an illustrated talk about "Churchill's Secret Reigate" on Sunday 15th November at 2pm for the Churchill Fellows Association (Surrey and W Sussex region) at the hotel which is right beside the chalk quarry and Monty's Battle HQ - I have copies of the War Office drawings with that very title BATTLE HQ to prove it.

The location is highly accessible - on the A217 just half a mile south of Junction 8 on the M25.

Churchill Fellows are invited to reserve a place for themselves and their named guests.
Tel: 01737 217013
Email: grace[at]relax-well.co.uk.
No Press please.

Do book early to avoid disappointment. There will be several treasured artefacts on display and key people to meet.

I shall be giving this talk free of charge, so it will be an opportunity for you to make a donation towards the research expenses and CHASE children's hospice.

Revelation

Here's the view north from the top of Reigate Priory Park - just where Winston Churchill would have sat in contemplation a century before.

You can almost see it all mapped out! Over to the east -

Little Gatton where Eisenhower was stationed,

the Reigate Hill chalk quarry and lime kilns where the secret bunker would go plus anti-aircraft guns,

Underbeeches where Monty was stationed,

the area for Monty's pigeon loft,

Beeches Wood with tree cover for the motorbike dispatch riders to camp,

and Broadleas where Churchill stayed occasionally to write his speeches.

Then there's Colley Pit which was still being mined throughout the war until the 1960s.

No wonder he stopped writing about Reigate in his diaries -his plans for the town were all TOO SECRET.

What you can't see are the sandstone caves - right in the middle of town. Very handy for wartime.