The Coronation in Pictures The West Kent Military Lodge is extremely proud to present the Coronation in Pictures. The coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, took place on Saturday, 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II. This Coronation post has been created by […]

Beauchamp Lodge history and Bobbie the dog Bobbie - Many members of the Beauchamp Lodge served with great distinction in the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1881); not only taking an active part in the fighting, but also building bridges, erecting fortifications, and laying telegraph lines during the army’s advance into Afghanistan. Intriguingly a recent history of […]

Battle of Waterloo 1815 The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium. A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition. One was a British-led coalition consisting of units from the […]

Among the thousands who … Among the thousands … We tend to think of Masonic gatherings in terms of lodges or chapters; but whilst they are certainly the building blocks of Freemasonry it is the Brethren themselves who are its heart and soul; to paraphrase Brother Robert Burns, ‘The [lodge] is but the guinea’s stamp; […]

VE Day - Victory in Europe Day VE Day - 8 May 1945 – was one that remained in the memory of all those who witnessed it. It meant an end to nearly six years of a war that had cost the lives of millions; had destroyed homes, families, and cities; and had brought huge suffering […]

Operation Nimrod - Iranian Siege Operation Nimrod, the Siege at Iranian Embassy in London, ends as the SAS and police storm the building. The two SAS teams on-scene, Red Team and Blue Team, were ordered to begin their simultaneous assaults, under the codename Operation Nimrod, at 19:23. One group of four men from Red Team […]

HMS Sheffield On this day forty years ago, the Class 42 Destroyer HMS Sheffield, part of the Falklands Task force, was attacked by two Argentine Super Etandard aircraft firing Exocet missiles. One of the missiles struck the ship in the galley area, causing the deaths of twenty members of the Ship’s company; twenty six others […]

The Pilgrimage - Sir Frank Fox wrote an evocative account of the Kings visit the War Graves in Belgium and France The Pilgrimage - In 1922, King George V visited the graves of First World War soldiers buried in France and Belgium in a trip documented by Australian journalist and soldier Sir Frank Fox. Despite […]

The Acts of Union 1st May 1707 The Acts of Union took effect on 1 May 1707. On this date, the Scottish Parliament and the English Parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain based in the Palace of Westminster in London, the home of the English Parliament. Hence, the acts are referred to as the […]