Trafalgar Day Celebrations
With the 21st October 2005 being the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar the GMI held a formal dinner to celebrate.
The battle of Trafalgar was fought on 21 October 1805, south west of Cadiz in southern Spain, between the British and Combined French and Spanish fleets. Sixty ships of the line were involved and just under 50,000 men. Under the command of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson, the British took or destroyed nineteen enemy ships. No British ships were lost. Nelson was shot at the height of the battle and knew that he had won victory before he died at 4.30pm.
The evening began by watching the Duke of York light a beacon in the grounds of The Old Royal Naval College, the dinner guests then enjoyed a five course meal. In between courses a quiz took place in which the tables competed to win a bottle of port, the winners being the table named after the Spanish ship Santa Ana.
Sarah Palmer acted as the toast master, Roger Knight gave a presentation on the Battle of Trafalgar at the beginning of the evening and led the toast to the Immortal Memory at the end of the evening. Grace was said by Terry Lilley and two readings were given by Joan Ryan and Chris Ware.