AT the 166th meeting of the club, held at the Swan Hotel on April 26, president Peter Buxton welcomed visitor Mr Bill Humpheys.

Three birthdays were celebrated since the last meeting; Jack Bassett, Bob Tugwell and Allan Harrison.

After the loyal toast, Peter introduced speaker Major Bob Woodfield, one of the members, who gave a talk on Alcester War Memorial.

Bob explained that he was born 70 years ago and from a very early age he wanted to join the Guards and did so in 1946.

He finally handed in his uniform after 40 years and joined the Royal British Legion.

He was immediately co-opted onto the committee and given the job to research the memorial and its records.

He arranged to replace the plaque on the memorial at a cost of £950 and then researched the 1914-18 War using the local paper.

He gave details that he has recorded from the paper, including obituaries and letters of those who gave their lives.

And finally, he listed all the honours and awards that had been won by Alcester men during the First World War.

He was now doing a similar study of men from Alcester who responded to the call to arms in 1939.

The next meeting will be on May 23, when speaker Ralph Richardson will talk about Peru and Bolivia.

New members are always welcome.

Meetings take place at The Swan Hotel every fourth Wednesday of the month at noon.