The Frontline Walk 2026
In 2024, I joined a small group to walk one of the routes over the Pyrenees used by escaping Allied aircrew, their guides and others. This wonderful Frontline Walk organized by ABF brought together an eclectic bunch for four joyous days’ walking and talking and we remain in touch today – indeed some of us are coming together for this year’s edition in September to walk from the Salerno Beachhead to Monte Casino.
One of my first duties as a recently promoted/minted/ subaltern in 1990, was to lead the burial party for CSM Peter Wright of the Coldstream Guards who won his VC on the slopes of Hill 270 just outside Salerno. On that moving day, surrounded by the crowds of mourners several times too many to fit into the small church outside Ipswich, I promised myself that if I got the chance, I’d visit the scene of his heroics. This is my chance.
Of course, the main purpose of the walk is to raise money for the 90 or so military charities and the people directly supported by the ABF. By walking in the footsteps of the 8th Army, which included relatives on both sides of my family, I hope to gain a more personal insight into some of the challenges they faced.
The ABF is the British Army’s national charity. It supports veterans and serving soldiers with independent living, care, training, mental wellbeing and housing, and the families of service men, women and veterans who need it. In 2024/25 the ABF helped 80,000 people in 52 countries worldwide, and funded 93 other charities and organisations that deliver frontline services (including the Royal British Legion (Poppy Appeal), Poppy Scotland, SSAFA, Combat Stress and the NSPCC). You can read all about it here How we help - Army Benevolent Fund.
I know there are many very deserving causes out there, and the Army is, by definition, a special interest group. Nevertheless, those men and women who have served in it, and their families, who now need support deserve our help. If you feel able to donate, please follow the link below.
https://events.armybenevolentfund.org/fundraisers/benjaminwhitworth/frontlinewalk-italy
As before, I will be paying my own costs so that every £1 raised goes directly to the work of the ABF.
