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Welcome
The Royal British Legion Wales Festival of Remembrance returns for its 46th Annual event on Saturday 31st October 2026 from 7pm. The event is held at the International Conference Centre Wales, this modern, purpose built location is just off the M4 motorway near the city of Newport in South Wales.
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The venue with a capacity of close to 1500 is a perfect location for the Wales Festival of Remembrance as a large-scale national event that enables the people of Wales to reflect, remember, commemorate and honour all from our Armed Forces, those serving, veterans, their families and those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
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The Royal Navy Submarine Service is marking its 125th anniversary in 2026, celebrating over a century of "silent and steadfast" operations. Established in 1901 with the ordering of the first Holland 1 submarine, the milestone is being honoured with major memorials, parades, and international tributes this year.
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H.M.S. Urge was a submarine paid for by the people of Bridgend during World War 2. One of the Royal Navy’s top ten ‘Submarine Ace’s’, H.M.S. Urge saw active service in the Mediterranean, where she damaged or sank a number of enemy vessels.
​She left Malta on her final mission on 27 April 1942, bound for Alexandria in Egypt. Aboard were not just her 32 crew, but 11 other naval personnel and a war correspondent. Sadly, H.M.S. Urge was lost shortly after.
It is now known that she struck a mine off the coast of Malta.
Musical Performances will mark the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Mametz Wood (1916).
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The Battle of Mametz Wood (7–12 July 1916) was a brutal engagement during the First Battle of the Somme. Tasked with clearing the heavily fortified wood, the 38th (Welsh) Division suffered around 4,000 casualties but succeeded in pushing out entrenched German forces after days of fierce, close-quarters combat.
Operation Granby, was the code name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War.
As we mark the 35th Anniversary, we remember 53,462 members of the British Armed Forces (RAF, Army and Navy) who were deployed during the conflict.
47 British personnel were killed during Op Granby and many more were injured during the hostilities there.
In May the National Memorial Arboretum celebrated 25 years since it opened in 2001. The anniversary weekend included performances from 600 school children, military bands, choirs and local community groups to honour the 400+ memorials on site.
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In September 2026, the NMA will officially be renamed the Royal British Legion National Garden of Remembrance to mark the full integration of the NMA into its parent charity.
Operation Telic was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the Invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003, and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on 22 May 2011.
The bulk of the mission ended on 30 April 2009 but around 150 troops, mainly from the Royal Navy, remained in Iraq until 22 May 2011 as part of the Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission.
As we mark the 15th Anniversary of the end of operations, we remember the 46,000 troops who were deployed at the onset of the invasion. 179 British personnel were killed during Op Telic and there were over 3,500 non-fatal casualties.
Many more personnel subsequently reported conditions such as port-traumatic stress following their deployments.
​We have set up this website to enable you to find out as much as possible about this year’s Festival of Remembrance. Please do navigate around the pages, book tickets, work out your travel arrangements and keep up to date as the artists and performers that will be supporting us on the night are confirmed.
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I look forward to seeing you at this year's Festival at the ICC on Saturday 31st October when Wales will unite in Remembrance and Commemoration for our Armed Forces Community past and present.​​
Ant Metcalfe
The Royal British Legion​​