On Wed 11th December the Gosport Branch of the Submariners Association held its annual Widows Christmas Lunch. At the lunch the widows of branch members who have ‘crossed the bar’ were wined and dined at no expense to themselves.  This is funded entirely by the branch members who raise funds throughout the year by donations, raffles, and auctions of submarine memorabilia. The widows are chauffeured to and from the lunch by volunteer branch members. The event was hosted by branch members, their wives at The Crofton pub, Stubbington.

Pre-Lunch drinks were enjoyed before sitting down to an excellent 3 Course Meal with wine plus coffee/tea and mince pies. The food and wine were expertly served up by two lovely young ladies Lesley and her colleague Lianne from the Gosport Community Hub.  Some of the children of service families from the hub made Christmas cards for our widows and our members this year.

The lunch was a huge success and was enjoyed by all. Every year it is a joy to see our widows having a wonderful afternoon at a time which may well be difficult for some of them. It’s the look on their faces and the thanks that they give to the branch members that ensures the Gosport Branch will continue to provide the lunch for our widows in the future.    

​Sadly, not all of our widows can make it to the lunch but those who can always enjoy the chance to get together and feel a continuing part of the branch and the wider submarine family.

We were very fortunate this year because the well-known local entertainer Shep Wooley, accompanied by his friend Tim on the Fiddle (no he’s not ‘on the fiddle’ he plays the fiddle) offered to play for our ladies for free this year. Many thanks chaps.

Our President Captain Chris Groves said a few words of welcome to our widow ladies and wished them all a very merry Christmas on behalf of the branch members.

A special mention was made by Chris that one of our lovely widow ladies Sarah Bassett will be 99 years old on Boxing Day, so we all wished her a very special happy birthday for the 26th.

On completion of the meal our president Chris proposed the Loyal toast, and we also toasted ‘absent friends’.

Once again there was a very special thank you to Bertie Brothers, our Widows Rep, and his lovely wife Sue who put in a considerable amount of time and effort to arrange this event again this year and once again it was a huge success and fun was had by all.

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Les Catlin

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Photos by Chris Groves, Bertie and Pony