Where will you be this Sunday

Young and old alike at Hunsdon on Sunday….

At Sawbridgeworth on the Saturday….

To be honest, I didn’t do anything significant and (like most Sundays) spent best part of the morning cleaning the car.

That ends the debate on who did the least interesting thing then 😀

I was present in London near the Cenotaph on sunday.

Cheers

Cees

Following my comments about the Braintree public, I went into town on Saturday morning and in the shopping precinct the British Legion had a display consisting of a beautifully restored WW2 army truck, a re-enactor with lots of uniforms for the kids to try on and some interesting old boys.
During my conversations with them, they told me that the main Rememberance day event was at Black Notley and not at the town war memorial, which is in a park just up the road from me, only the HMS Kite people would be there, followed by a main service there at 14:15 in the afternoon.
HMS Kite??????
After some research, HMS Kite was a Black Swan class corvette, adopted by the town of Braintree in 1943, sunk by U-344 on the way to Murmansk in 43 with the loss of 217 lives, only 9 survivors, U-344 was sunk the next day with the loss of all hands by a Swordfish.
I went up to the park that afternoon, it was empty, but very atmospheric.
I found the memorial to the Kite, erected by the local council in 2004 and surrounded by pictures and momentoes of the crew, the actual war memorial itself only listed people killed in WW1, what happened to WW2?
So, yesterday morning, I decided to go to Duxford, a poignant place for me as the D-Day 60th anniversary was the last event I took my old man to before he died.
I polished up his RA cap badge and clipped it to my jumper, I did wonder yesterday whether out of all the thousands of artifacts on site at the museum, that this small badge could have been one of the few objects that actually came ashore under fire at Arromanches, possibly with the Grace spitfire flying overhead.
I went straight to the LWF, the old boy always reckoned that the dispatch rider scenario was him, apart from the RA flashes and the twin Colts of course.
At 11:00 I stood outside, it was very wierd to see everyone, and it was busy, including the whining kids, stop silently in their tracks, very moving.
The service was great, made more memorable by the presence of the East Anglian 3rd Battalion TA for the award of their service medals, looked very prominent in their desert combats.
Pity no-one had seen fit to clean up the Bloodhound a little bit, as the backdrop to the ceremony, it looked awful, nice to see the 2 spits pulled out for the occasion, ok, one was GRP but it looked the part.
What surprised me was the number of USAF pilots from Mildenhall/Lakenheath, they outnumbered everyone else, looking self conscious in their dress uniforms, but every other one looking like they’d stepped out of the cast of ‘The Right Stuff’, nice to see them there though, particularly the one’s that had brought their wives and kids, I had to show one suffering pilot with 4 kids how to find the toilets, sorry , washroom, in the AAM.
But the day didn’t finish there, I decided to go up to Madingley, wow, been so many times but it still has a special feel about it.
I parked at the bottom car park and walked through the graves, I was struck at how many had been killed after the war had officially finished.
I then teamed up with an elderly couple and found them the names of Joe Kennedy and Glenn Miller, ‘So many names and so many young men killed’, was all she said, quite right to, yet it sadly goes on.
On returning we had a rememberance day TV feast, starting off with ‘The Last Tommies’ on UK History, seen before, then Jeremy Paxman on Wilfred Owen, brilliant programme we thought, handled very well by JP.
The dissapointment was ‘My son Jack’ about Rudyard Kipling on ITV. Why, well, the bloody adverts of course, it was excruciating. I know they pay for the production, but to watch a terrible scene with the troops going over the top then hurriedly cut to adverts for celebrity Xmas goodies and Nintendo was all wrong, they were on every 10 minutes, for such a sensitive programme on such a day, the pillocks in control should have considered what they were doing, it was all wrong in our eyes and totally ruined the point of the programme, every time it got heavy we were confronted by a grinning Lulu and artificial snow, it’s only the begining of November for Gods sake, 2 fingers to ITV and the reason why we rarely watch the channel.
That was my day, for what it was worth.

Found this Video on another site, not strictly historic but appropriate for the thread. Cracking song too, brought a ter to my eyes.

thosewhofell.co.uk

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not waery them nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

lest we forget

Martin

Remberance Weekend

My weekend was spent in Durham City with the surviving members of 607 (County of Durham) Squadron.

Saturday was their annual reunion, their 50th since disbandment in 1957. The youngest participant was 72 and the oldest 87.

I had the pleasure of spending time with a wireless fitter who served with the squadron in May 1940 at Vitry. This gentleman was 86 years old and was attending his first reunion.

His recollection of events in 1940 is still as sharp and vivid as the day the happened. Until Saturday he had met no fellow survivors and therefore could not share his story. From my research I was able to confim that his memory of those sad days was correct. Another piece slots into the jigsaw of life and his family have finally learned of his deeds so many years ago.

Sunday was the ceremony in Durham Cathedral followed by lunch.

I can truly say that I dined with the most modest group of individuals whose service spanned from France in 1940 to the final days in Burma in 1945.

Long may I be arround to pay my respects.

Today… not much, but tomorrow eve (12th), I will be taking supper with a relative… who turns 90 this month (I am 45).

As we are both US veterans, our supper will be free, courtesy of Golden Corral Inc…. an “all you can eat buffet” style resturant chain, who give all veterans (& active/reserve Armed Forces members) a free meal on (or near) Veteran’s Day (Armistice Day, Remembrance Day).

The resturant staff will be assisted by the local chapter of the CAP (Civil Air Patrol).

Eric Williams Memorial Sunday 11 November

Many thanks to those who were able to attend the short memorial service at Fl/Sgt Eric Williams memorial in Gordan Gardens, Gravesend at 12.30pm.
It was well attended by approx. fifty persons including Eric’s daughter and husband from America, a detachment of the local ATC with flag bearer, a minister from the local church and the Conservative MP for Gravesend.
Unfortunately the windy weather at Duxford prevented the intended Spitfire fly past salute, but the rain held off and it was a very satisfactory memorial moment for all those in attendance.

At the cenotaph in Oakville Ontario.
The weather was great for a change and we got a flypast from the Hamilton Lanc and three Havards.
Great turnout from the public with the parade being applauded at every intersection. Everyone wore a poppy.

Our Remembrance weekend kicked off yesterday with the annual coffee morning in the Parish of Trinity. If anyone has any doubts that the youth of today has little if any interest in the events of the past 100 years, then the donation of £500 by Warren Holt and Warren Le Sueur (No relation) organisers of the Jersey Live pop concert to the Poppy appeal, should go a little way to dispel that myth. The cheque was received by Chelsea Pensioner and local boy Les Perrier.

This morning I spent a couple of cold hours at the Cenotaph in St Helier:-

The island has a small TA unit, however nearly half of the guys have now done a 6 month tour in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Much to the annoyance of one of our (left wing) politicians who wants the unit dispanded in protest at the two conflicts. His absence was noted this morning .

It’s also an excuse for the great and good of the Island to wear silly hats and clothes, these are members of the Islands legal judiciary.

Les Perrier was in attendance again

The smallest band master I have ever seen.

On the way home I took a detor back through the Parish of Trinity to pay my respects at Bernard Scheidhauer’s memorial

To the fallen of both world wars who are remembered on the main gate to the parish church

and finally the memorial to the men of operation Hardtack 28, the only Commando raid to take place on Jersey on the night of 25/26 December 1943. The CO Captain Philip Atterbury of the SBS died of injuries received on this raid. His medals now take pride of place in the parish hall.

It’s now only 3 hours until the eleventh hour of the eleventh day here in Australia.

I’ll spend the time with my Mum, a WWII WAAAF radar operator, as my father, a veteran of World War Two and Korea, is now gone. Mum also lost her fiance in World War Two in a Beaufort in New Guinea 6 weeks before her wedding.

As such, today and ANZAC Day have always been significant in our home. Particularly for Mum.

Lest we Forget.

OZ

So will I ,with my son Benjamin.

I’ll be loading a Dakota with poppies.

Honouring all the vets from 500 ft above the Cenotaph in my hometown of Dundas Ontario Canada. Performing a lone fy-past in my WW2 1940 Fleet Finch Trainer for them.

Lest we forget

Fleet16b

I’ll be….

At church for the remembrance day service, with my wife and children. I’m not a regular church goer, but it carries a memorial to all members of the congregation who died during the 2 World Wars.

My Great-Great uncle’s name, who died in the trenches in France in 1915 is on the memorial. I’m of the opinion that the least I can do is pay my respects to him and indeed all others who fell (then and since), and pass on some history to my children. Hopefully they will grow up with the same sense of respect that I was fortunate enough to gain from my father.

I have in my possession, a letter written by my Great-Great Uncles brother (who was serving with him in the same complex of trenches) to his parents, about 30 mins after his death. It is an incredibly emotive – and treasured – document, due in no part to the matter of fact and “proper” way in which it is written, displaying a level of maturity beyond the years of it’s author.

It is one that leaves me in no doubt as to where my thoughts and respects belong, especially this Sunday.

At the village war memorial where they still read out the names inscribed upon it. Remembering the crew of Nimrod XV230 and in particular Flight Sergeant Adrian Davies my former flight engineer.

Still on task.

exmpa

I’ll be at Willow Springs watching a CanAm race…

Hope indeed there is….

Very true. I have spent the past 2 days teaching my Year 1 class (5 and 6 yr olds) all about Remembrance Day. They have responded with great understanding and respect, for which I praise them enormously.

I will most likely be at a local crash site paying my respects.

It seems that the meaning of Remembrance Day is still taught in some schools, as when I drove past Repton School earlier today, most of the pupils were wearing their poppies. The same was true yesterday of Trent College in Long Eaton.

There is hope after all, I think…

I’m not sure where to go.
For the past 20 years I’ve been to the memorial at Finchingfield, first of all with the Scouts, then I suffered 2 years of having to endure a thunderous sermon in the church because the vicar didn’t want to get cold and wouldn’t go on the green, so I gave up and stood out on my own for the past few years, but it’s a lovely spot and well worth it.
Braintree War Memorial is just up the road from me in a park, pleasant spot, but as I noticed today, despite the large number of old boys on every corner selling poppies, nobody in this town gives a damn, as, considering the number of people in the town centre and in Sainsburies at lunchtime, you could count the number of people wearing poppies on one hand. Perhaps someone should tell them that it’s not all about WW1, there’s our brave boys dying at the moment that we should be remembering too.
Perhaps I’ll go back to Finchingfield, I’ll see how I feel.