Suffolk veterans to hold memorial walk from Bawdsey on August 16

Name: Veterans fundraising walk in memory of Guardsman Glen Ling
Start: 2026-08-16
End: 2026-08-16
Location: Bawdsey to Snape Maltings

demoduck.co.uk editorial team 2026-08-11 11:34 3 min read

Group of eight men standing together on a sunny lawn during an outdoor event.

Former Grenadier Guardsmen will undertake a fundraising walk across Suffolk on Sunday, August 16, 2026, in memory of Guardsman Glen Ling. The route runs from Bawdsey to Snape Maltings via Tunstall Forest, with a memorial tribute at St Mary Magdalene church in Sternfield.

The event is organised by the Suffolk branch of the Grenadier Guards Regimental Association. Members of the public are being asked to support the veterans through donations to the Colonel’s Fund, the regiment’s welfare charity. No start time or entry fee has been announced, and the available event information does not specify whether members of the public can join the walk.

Suffolk County Council’s event announcement provides the source information and directs supporters towards the JustGiving appeal.

A Suffolk route with a personal destination

The veterans will set out from Bawdsey and travel through Tunstall Forest as part of the route to Snape Maltings. They will also head to Sternfield, near Saxmundham, where Guardsman Ling is buried at St Mary Magdalene church.

Suffolk veterans to hold memorial walk from Bawdsey on August 16

At the church, the walkers will lay a wreath at his grave and will be accompanied by members of his family. This gives the day a memorial focus as well as a fundraising purpose, connecting the cross-county walk with the Suffolk community where Guardsman Ling lived and was laid to rest.

Guardsman Ling, from Saxmundham, was 18 when he was killed in an IRA ambush in Crossmaglen, Northern Ireland, in 1978. He was serving in an eight-man foot patrol that came under fire from gunmen concealed in a van. Guardsmen Graham Duggan, aged 22, and Kevin Johnson, aged 20, were also killed.

Why the veterans are raising money

Organiser Kevin Kitcher said the walk was the association’s way of honouring Guardsman Ling and the soldiers who died alongside him. Money raised will go to the Colonel’s Fund, which supports bereaved families and Grenadier Guardsmen wounded in combat.

Mr Kitcher also said organisers hope the memorial walk can become an annual event. Councillor Tristan Gale, Suffolk County Council’s Armed Forces Champion, has backed the initiative and encouraged the public to support the veterans’ fundraising.

Confirmed details for August 16

Date: Sunday, August 16, 2026
Route: Bawdsey to Snape Maltings via Tunstall Forest, with a tribute at St Mary Magdalene church in Sternfield
Organiser: Suffolk branch of the Grenadier Guards Regimental Association
Purpose: To remember Guardsman Glen Ling and raise money for the Colonel’s Fund
Donations: Available through JustGiving, as directed from the Suffolk County Council announcement

A start time, participation arrangements, transport information and accessibility details have not been published in the supplied event information. Anyone planning to attend or hoping to walk with the group should therefore check the official council announcement and regimental association channels for confirmed arrangements before travelling.

Source: Suffolk County Council

Context & actions About this article

Source check Verified Local News

This event preview was compiled using official information provided by Suffolk County Council regarding the Grenadier Guards Regimental Association memorial walk.

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