Surrey, October 30, 2022. On Sunday the Memorial Association for Free Czechoslovak Veterans (MAFCSV) held their Remembrance event at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey. The event was a great success. It was very gratifying that after several years of Covid travel restrictions, many students from Czech and Slovak schools were in Brookwood. This year the main theme was that of service to others, and one’s country, something that resonated with the recent passing of the late Queen Elizabeth and the current situation in the Ukraine, as well as our own veterans.

The event was attended by Ambassador for the Slovak Republic His Excellency Róbert Ondrejcsák, Secretary Michal Žižlavský from the Czech Embassy London, the Slovak and Czech Defence Attaches, and defence representatives from the Australian, New Zealand, French, Norwegian, Polish and Hungarian Embassies, and the Deputy Mayor of Woking. Their presence reflects the new allies the Czech and Slovak Republics have now, and the respect they have for each other.

Wreaths and flowers were also laid by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The American Battle Monuments Commission, Friends of the Czechoslovak Memorial Fountain, The Queens Regiment, the Scouts and students from the Czech and Slovak Schools and the Frimley and Camberley Cadet Corps who were on parade. The children placed wooden remembrance crosses in front of the headstones of those veterans who died during the war.