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XMAS PARCEL APPEAL 2006 ** 2,437 Parcels ** Sent December 2006 SOS Scotland Xmas 2006 Updates & Pictures SOS Xmas 2006 Updates & Pictures Below you'll find just some of the pictures and extracts from letters received from the lads and lassies who received the Xmas Parcels. If ever anyone needed convincing as to just how important these parcels are, read on (and please do scroll down!) ...... From 1 Staffords BG LAD, Basra - "Dear Karen, I am Warrant Officer ............ and I am currently stationed out in Basra. Craftsman Mills is one of my soldiers and he has just received a very large amount of Christmas presents from you to all of the soldiers in my workshop. I really can't express how grateful I and the rest of the lads are. I am overwhelmed at your generosity and the effort you have obviously gone to, to send us all these gifts. Life out here is pretty grim at the best of times and we all miss our friends and families, especially at this time of year. So it is even more special that you have gone to such lengths to send us all these gifts. I consider myself to be fairly literate and have a good grasp of the English language but I am struggling to find the words to thank you sufficiently and to convey just what it means to us all. It has certainly improved morale around here hugely and we all look forward to opening them. One of the lads out here has been sent a 3" Christmas tree which we plan to put up in our restroom and put all our presents under it so we have something to open on Christmas morning. Anyway, I'll sign off by thanking you once again. I and all my soldiers wish you and all the team a very merry Christmas and all the very best for the New Year. x" From the MOD Alamein Coy. 7 Scots web pages - "....Since we had arrived in theatre we had been receiving Christmas parcels from a charity called Support Our Soldiers based in Ayr. In total we received 380 parcels, 80 which we gave to the RAF. This meant that on Christmas day there was a mountain of parcels and all Alamein personnel were given 2 presents each. All available personnel met in the Baz Bar at 7.45am where we opened our two parcels together. The selection of gifts within the parcels was varied and very gratefully received by everyone. Everyone was amazed by how much stuff could be crammed into one shoe box. The OC, 2IC, CSM and CQMS then traveled around the 4 static locations, Incident Response Team and Bomb Disposal Team to ensure that everyone received their two parcels...." 'P' Btty, 5 Regt RA, Basra (with now infamous elf 'Linford' - will he ever live this one down!)
HMS Blyth
My name is .... and I am currently serving onboard HMS Blyth. I and my ship mates were surprised and very grateful to receive a load of parcels sent to us from your organization. It was a shock when all the mail bags were brought down to my mess full of parcels with my name on them. At first I thought I had the most wonderful wife in the world sending me loads of Christmas presents but it was not true. I would like to thank you and all the grateful people who contributed to this very kind gesture. I am still at a loss on how my name was chosen from a list as big as the armed forces. If there is anything that we as a ships company can do for your organization then please let me know and we will do our best to accommodate. Again many thanks from all of us. 39th Reg Royal Artillery, Cyprus ... 'Our collective thanks for your kindness and generosity of spirit. I don't think many of you will realise the impact your boxes will have but let me assure them, its a good thing that you aren't around to see them go all wobbly lipped and wet-eyed!' M Company, 42 Commando, Afghanistan ...
1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets, Basra ...
7 Scots, Basra ...
RAF Regiment, Kandahar ...
Goles Heights, Kosovo ...
C Coy, 1RGJ, Basra... 'As a means of encouragement they were very warmly received by a very tired bunch of soldiers. There was no rest on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day ..... it was so good to have some Christmas cheer with the parcels you packed' HQ Coy, 1RGJ, Basra... 'It is nice to see that although we are away from family and loved ones at this time of year we are not forgotten and that people appreciate the job we are doing helping others not as fortunate as ourselves. It was amusing to see the amount o soldiers walking around our base armed to the teeth wearing flashing Santa hats!' M Coy, 42 Commando, Afghanistan ... 'The parcel made a welcome change from the patrol rations we have all been eating for last couple of weeks' UK Med Group, Basra ... 'I am a nursing officer looking after our boys. I gratefully received a parcel from you and was so touched and thankful that you took the time to donate such goodies that I felt I had to write to express my gratitude. There are only a few of us girls here so we were pleasantly surprised with our gifts' 1 Staffords, Basra ... 'All of the contents are very greatfully received and they and just the box itself are a welcome break from the monotonous day to day routine. It is heartwarming to know that in our home country there are still some good people who support their countrymen (persons!) in a very unpopular theatre of operations. Please pass on my thanks to all those people who care enough to care! P.S. Luckily enough for me I am the only member of my team who likes Jamaica ginger cake!!! 6/36 Btty 40 Reg RA, Basra ... "Dear Agnes, Many thanks again for what is an excellent parcel and very timely. The regiment is split to the four winds over here at the moment with us being detached from our main unit so we do not have excellent facilities due to us being detached. We are due to rejoin our unit in 3 weeks but essentials such as razors and toothpaste are fantastic especially with all the sweets - especially the Highland Toffee (a favourite of mine). Please continue your excellent work as your parcels bring so much joy to all those who are so far from home. ... I would love to be able to take time to write to all of your kind donatees but I fear time is against me but please pass on my sincere thanks to all of your members and also thank you from me on a personal note for sending me another fantastic parcel. I hope this letter find things getting warmer for you all in Bonnie Scotland. Yours Aye "
Jt UK EOD Group ... Im curenty serving a 7 mth tour in iraq optelic 9 im one of eight in a high risk search team as well as ...... and our troop comander, we are very happy with the shoe box we recived from you two it was a nice suprise. This is a very hard time for me ive been in the army for 4 yrs now and this is my first away from my 5yr old girl .... its From Brigadier P A Kellett OBE, Bosnia & Herzegovina...
From Capt A Davidson, Counter Intelligence...
From Major D McSorley, Iraq ...
From Catherine! ...
And finally, no details necessary ... 'This is my second tour here and with me not having a family I never received any parcels until I got yours so as you can imagine I was really happy to receive the present from you..' This letter was sent to a girl locally. She obviously wrote back and they seem to have struck up a real friendship. So the parcels are not just a quick fix, they can have real long term benefits too!
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