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About
ELMS - and how it all began
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| In the 1980s and '90s,
a group of service and ex-service personnel undertook a series of
challenges, known as the Home-Run Challenges, to gain sponsorship
for the funds of the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society (RAFES) who
supported their members' helpers in need. |
| The challenges followed
the routes of many of the former escape-line routes that crossed Europe,
and involved parachuting, cycling, walking, sailing and swimming parts
of the routes, from Norway to Gibraltar. |
| From these events,
contacts were established with many former 'helpers', escapers and
evaders, encompassing people from all walks of life, and of many nationalities. |
| During the events,
support and encouragement came not only from RAFES but also from members
of The Army POW Escape Club, The Monte San Martino Trust, SOE veterans,
the F.A.N.Y, the MGB Association, former Resistance workers ans others,
and of course, from the 'helpers' themselves. By 1994, the Escape
Lines Reunion emerged, supported by the Home-Run participants and
many members of these organisations. |
| By 1996, sufficient
artefacts and memorabilia had accumulated to establish an 'Escape
Lines' presentation at Eden Camp Museum at Malton, Yorkshire, England. |
| By 2003,
support had grown sufficiently to establish the 'WW2 Escape Lines
Memorial Society'. In 2006 ELMS unveiled and dedicated the 'The Helper
Memorial' at Eden Camp. The memorial has a base of Pyrenean granite,
topped by a plaque of Lakeland slate, symbolising the union between
France and Great Britain during WW2. |
| ELMS is administered
on a purely voluntary basis, and is non-commercial. Support for the
organisation and the 'helpers' comes from annual subscriptions, donations
and sponsorship. |
| The Society is strictly
non-sectarian, non-political, and non-nationalistic. |
| Members of ELMS receive
quarterly Newsletters and eligibility to participate in our numerous
events: our Annual Reunion, Service of Commemoration, AGM and dinner
at York in April; Reunion (with Comète) in Brussels, Memorial
Walking Trails (as walker, veteran or supporter) and other events. |
| We have this dedicated
web-site with details of our calendar and events, and we have established
a permanent 'Escape Lines' display courtesy of Eden Camp Museum. |
| There are currently
Memorial Trails, or Freedom Trail Challenges, established, or under
development, in Norway, Denmark, Holland, France, Andorra, Italy,
Crete and Poland. |
| The ELMS
logo depicts a lone man walking over mountainous terrain by moon-light,
within a circle of barbed-wire, which is broken by the Dove of Peace
- evocative of the experiences of many WW2 escapers, evaders and 'helpers'.
Our motto "We Remember" is derived from "I help the
old to remember, and the young to understand" (attributed to
Gervaise Cowell - formerly MI6, the SOE Advisor, and ELMS member)
because it embodies all that ELMS stands for: remembrance and understanding,
for all generations past and those to come. |
| Should
you wish to know more about the Society or our activities, please
contact the ELMS Secretary on 01423 508 667 (UK) or via this website. |
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