War veterans will muster for the last time on Sunday with the ending of a 100-year-old tradition.

Buffs Sunday has been marked in Canterbury since 1919 with an annual reunion and parade by members of the Queen’s Own Buffs and its associated regiments, followed by a service of remembrance at the Cathedral and reunion reception.

But the regimental association set up to help support veterans is being closed for administrative and financial reasons.

Association secretary Maj (rtd) Peter White said: “It’s very sad and the end of an era of our military history but we want out with our heads held high. Fortunately, the individual branches across the south east, including Canterbury, can continue on their own.

“As it’s our last ever Buffs Sunday, it will be even more poignant and we are hoping for a good turnout of support.

“We are expecting up to 250 former Buffs from across the South East along with members of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and other associated regimental representatives.”

Among them will be their oldest member, 99-year-old Ted Stuart from Swalecliffe who spent five harrowing years in prisoner of war camps.

“As it’s our last ever Buffs Sunday, it will be even more poignant and we are hoping for a good turnout of support..." - Maj (rtd) Peter White

The soldiers used to march down Burgate but because of safety concerns about the uneven, cobbled-type surface, they will assemble in the Cathedral Precincts before parading into the Cathedral. Afterwards, around 150 will attend a reunion lunch at Leros Barracks.

The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) was formed in 1572 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1961, it amalgamated with The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment to become the Queen’s Own Buffs The Royal Kent Regiment, based at Howe Barracks.

Buffs Sunday dates back to 1919 when on June 21 a special service of remembrance was held in the Cathedral to commemorate those Buffs who gave their lives in the First World War.

During both world wars, more than 7,000 Buffs were killed. Their names are recorded in the Books of Remembrance in the Warriors’ Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral where a veteran ‘turns the page’ in the Book of Life every week.

Oldest veteran reveals horrors of war

Ted Stuart is expected to be the oldest veteran parading on Sunday but it will be the first time he has joined the reunion.

Mr Stuart, who turns 100 on July 14, says he had preferred not to dwell on the past and the appalling experiences he suffered.

But after being persuaded to take part, he will do so with great pride and is looking forward to meeting fellow veterans from his old regiment.

He was just 18 when he signed up for the army in 1939 and joined the 7th battalion of the Royal West Kents, initially as part of a work battalion.

“I wanted to help because I was angry after hearing about how the Germans were treating the Jews,” he said.

“But my older brother thought I was mad to go. I had a medical and the doctor just looked me up and down and said ‘you’re A1’ - and that was it.”

His brother’s reservations proved well-founded. Within weeks of finishing his training, he found himself involved in frontline conflict in Belgium.

The order soon came from the top brass to retreat with, Ted recalls, the words “it’s every man for himself”.

As mortar fire rained down on them, Ted’s sergeant was badly hurt and he and two other soldiers helped get him into a hut. But they were soon surrounded by Germans and captured.

That was not the end of the suffering and horrors Ted would witness. He was held in camps in Poland and Germany, including Staleg 13.

“I tried to escape a couple of times but got caught and at one point thought I was going to be shot,” he said.

“I was with my mate Ginger and I just said to him, “I’m sorry mate, this is it.|”

They were put in solitary confinement for three weeks with just water.

“Most of the time we only had potato soup and a slice of bread,” he said.

“I remember a Polish girl used to secretly give us sandwiches but she was caught by the guards, beaten up and taken away. I’ve never forgotten it and her bravery.”

Probably his worse experience was being taken on the infamous forced “death march” in January 1945. Prisoners were marched from Poland to Germany for hundreds of miles, often in freezing conditions down to minus 35c.

“When someone fell from exhaustion or illness, as many did, they just left them to die at the roadside,” he said.

At one point, the column even came under fire from British fighter planes who mistook it for the enemy.

Ted vividly recalls his mug being shot out of his hand, but miraculously he escaped injury.

He eventually found himself free when the Germans abandoned the prisoners and retreated as the Americans advanced.

“I never felt we would lose the war but I was just relieved to be free,” he said.

Back home and demobbed, Ted continued his printing apprenticeship and met his future wife of Doris, who he has been devoted to for 65 years.

Now a great-grandad, Ted says he will never forget the experience but got on with life, putting the horrors to the back of his mind.

“I was one of the lucky ones and my life changed forever and for the better when I met my beautiful Doris,” he said.

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