Adopt a Military Grave

[Tinribs]

War graves in far off places

I and my Son sometimes visit Murmansk in northern Russia

There are graves their from the 1st and 2nd war

Some are from Northumberland Fusiliers in the first war period about 1918 and others from maritime artillery reg

All are in excellent condition phots available

[Pull what]

Thanks for this post(s)-reminded me to go and look at the graves associated with RAF Lichfield at Fradley Village

[scotbill]

Apologies for the quality - but these graves (in Nunton cemetery, Benbecula) are of RAAF crew members, Sergeants Guppy, Taplin and F/O Delarue of a B17 (I believe) which ditched just off Benbecula in October 42.
Does anyone have any information on the accident?

[Dockers]

The full picture is here:http://www.awm.gov.au/catalogue/rese...9125z007_1.pdf. Search for 402322 Flying Officer DELARUE, Jack Edward.

[scotbill]

Thank you very much for that - have amended my post.
Local rumours had it that more of the crew would have survived if the RAF air sea rescue launch had been available. It was alleged that it had been taken away on a jolly.

[afhelipilot]

It is great to hear about the others taking care of the monuments and graves. I ‘m also taking care of the monument, which is still relatively unknown, and which is dedicated to the WWII pilots and others…Basically, the history of this monument is more less similar to the one at.... where a plane crash took place….just in terms of the history. As both are surrounded by the huge ｃｅｍｅｎｔｅｒｉｅｓ.Some of the survivors who managed to build the monument were my future instructors. As its happens many ( thousands )at a time while reaching the freedom faced the plaque of the tropical sicknesses and died in pretty harsh conditions while the others survived. However, the monument as had learned from the survivors was a form of a gift to a country for being accepted and many reminded in an area at latter . As I was told by the survivors and it is a truth that they shall be always ( at least ) remembered by the people who accepted them …. I do not wish to talk too much about this monument, as I feel a little bit embarassed.

[Peter-RB]

AFhelipilot.

Never feel embarassed, all of us who look after things from many conflicts past, are in our own small way repaying somthing to those who gave much to all future generations , who they could only hope would benefit from what they went through, ultimately some paying a heavy price in so doing.

My regards to all on this thread.

Peter R-B
Lancashire

[lorrym]

Civillian War dead in Singapore

Hi,
I know that this is getting away from the upkeep of the English gravestones but does anyone have any idea what or where the English civillian war dead have been remembered?
My Aunt, Alice Gwendoline Wilkinson was killed on the Yin Ping in the Bankla Straits on evacuation of Singapore. She is listed on the CWGC site but no mention of any headstone.
I would love to visit her grave this year as we are travelling abroad and plan to visit Singapore and the UK.
My Uncle Patrick Ormond Wilkinson was a Lieutenant in the RN and survived the bombing but endured 4 years in POW camps in Changi and other destinations after the loss of his new wife.
Any info on this subject would be appreciated.
Lorrym

[afhelipilot]

Dear Peter,


Thank you so much for your nice insight at this time . I will be going to Africa and shall check my monument, as at previous the only one person in charge of taking care of this monument was my aunt a British African. wife of a Baron (he was also flying,) Lately, had been looking at the pictures of this monument. It's all about our common history which sometimes requires a little bit of silent attention. I had many nice discussions with my aunt about Europe and till now there are many things which I hardly get, I just had learned that the airlines I was s with are giving the people a hard time with the taxes out there. Peter, I will be also in UK to watch the Olympic games with other aunt, and on a way I was thinking about the cancer issue and still thinking always. I will tidy up the pictures and will place them. Actually, you are right there is no reason to feel embarrassed at all, let's the other feel embarassed . Thank you again.

[afhelipilot]

"who they could only hope would benefit from what they went through, ultimately some paying a heavy price in so doing."


Peter RB ( former Vf)
Right!I am happy you are here since you are really an example to follow wisely afterall you went through with the operation. As for now, please do not botheryourself with any additional not needed duties, any " advises "which could have any effect onyour health. I want you to fly as you have two kids, I will convince the management in the nearestfuture, as I already spoke with one of the airlines in general, as you wentthrough an operation touching my field. I will be in mum’s country UK and alsoin Africa again, and will submit the pictures of the monument further on. Then will tell further on of what I had learned from that monument.

[lauriebe]

Lorrym, I'm not sure what details you may have on the loss of your aunt aboard HMT Yin Ping. This was an Admiralty tug and appears to be among one of the last vessels to leave Singapore before the final surrender.

Checking through my copy of "Singapore Burning" by Colin Smith, he notes that there were 78 people on board and that the ship was attacked by a Japanese cruiser on 15 Feb 42, whilst trying to negotiate the Bangka Strait. Only 32 of those on board survived the attack. There is also mention of the sinking here:

About us

It seems, in common with many other casualties from around that time, your aunt may not have a known grave. Clicking on her name in the CWGC search record takes you to another page on that site. I include a link to the new page below:

CWGC - Casualty Details

From that, it would appear that she is commemorated within the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour which is located near St George's Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

I'm sure that if you have any other query regarding your aunt, the CWGC would do their best to answer it.

I hope that helps a little.

[tarantonight]

Have just found this thread - what a cracking idea. Will contact the CWGC and check the state of the few graves in my locale sharpish.

TN.

[Peter-RB]

Even VC's are not Immune!

Up here in Lancashire we have the Local Town Hall just comming under huge pressure from the populace ( read Older Generation) due to the headstone of a brave man having just been re-discovered hidden in what looks like a jungle(in the main town cemetary), this is the final resting place of a private Soldier from the 1914/18 Great War, who was the holder of the VC for a very brave and unselfish act of courage in the face of the Boch, he passed away it seems in 1959 and was afforded the headstone from the War Grave Commision who some time later replaced this with a Marble type with his bravery and embellishments worded for all to see.

It seems the local Council also have a agreement with the WGC to ensure this type of grave is always tended and kept clear, however with many members of this Council now too young even to remember the Mau-Mau or the Eoka problems, and being from many different points of the compass, it seems respect for Valour has gone the way of most traditions.

I am happy to say that a local Stone Mason upon hearing of this took it upon himself to ensure the marker of this very brave man has been restored to full view and cleaned up.

How sad this is, that a council who is a body supposedly working for the local population and have taken funding from the WGC, can overlook things such as this.

Peter R-B
Lancashire

[Halton Brat]

In Holland, the graves of Allied casualties from WW2 are often 'adopted' by local folk, who ensure that flowers are regularly placed on the 'their' grave. In particular, this is done on significant anniversaries (Liberation Day/US Memorial Day etc.)

I was at Margraten (east of Maastricht) US Cemetery a few years ago on Liberation Day (May 05). The place was a sea of flowers, placed by local Dutch folk, who were there in large numbers. General David Petraeus (US Army) was there & I managed a few words with him as his entourage passed by. He was amazed & clearly moved by this display by the Dutch people.

Based as I am in north-central Europe, I always endeavour to visit as many of these places as possible on my travels.

Lest we forget........

HB

[Limeygal]

On a trip to Thailand I visited a British WWII cemetery up near the River Kwai. It was a beautiful spot with well cared for graves. There were Thai ladies clipping the grass around the graves with scissors! Anyone who has someone buried here can be assured that their loved ones are very well cared for.

[MaximumPete]

I look after four war graves in two local churchyards, two First World War and two Second World War.

The churches are very grateful and it doesn't take up a lot of time to honour those who paid the ultimate price

Pete

[allmanhemel1]

Lancaster Ll791

Further to your posting by John Dale in Aug 2000 regarding the grave of Sgt K E Gilson RAFVR does anyone know any more information as I am possible seeing Sgt H S Cammish of that flight at end of September 2012 he managed to evade but the other 5 were made POW's.
Did anyone trace the families?
contact Michael [email protected]

[bob shayler]

R.A.F. Sharjah

Forgotten and neglected for many years since the departure of Bitish Foces in the early 70's, the cemetery on R.A.F. Sharjah has now come under the care of the C.W.G.C.
We have a special interest in this as my wife Chris's dad was buried there in 1964. He was a civilian working for the M.P.B.W. at the time of his death and is not included in the C.W.G.C.'s commitment. We have received outstanding help and support however from C.P.O. Justin Wardle who is stationed in Dubai in the post of Port Visit Manager. Justin and crew members of visiting R.N. ships have visited the cemetery on a number of occassions to tidy it up. This is what he said:

I can confirm that I have had call to visit the Sharjah Cemetery this year for a Memorial Service in the Military site which was attended by the British Ambassador, the British Consulate General, the Defence Attaché and his team, members of visiting RAF and Army Detachment and will now be conducted every year.

The cemetery is split into two sections where the Military Site is walled off from the rest of the plot. We conducted a memorial service there this year as the site has been recently refurbished with funding from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Unfortunately the remaining part of the cemetery does not receive the same sort of funding and is very run down. The RAF/ARMY and Navy all took part in a cleanup of the military site prior to the memorial service but thought it appropriate that we also assist with the remaining part, as this element was covered in weeds and rubble. I remember that amongst them was your wife’s father and a Royal Navy Captain HW Brammall and were the only two with headstones, the rest were white breeze blocks with no names. We did tidy up the specific areas around these two graves and lined the plots with stones to mark out the plots and identify them both as “owned” and we will look after as long as we are able to do so.

I located an archive within the British Embassy in Dubai a manifest of the persons within the graves and passed this back to the church, who had not kept a record of this for many years.

[abra]

Like many others following this thread, I look after Commonwealth War Graves Commission markers in local cemeteries.
If you are interested in doing the same thing, it would be best to get in touch with the CWGC to ask where you could help most effectively. Whilst there might be a few omissions, the CWGC do have an on-going system for regularly checking their markers. They are cleaned every two years and checked for damage and inscription legibility every three. The CWGC would still like people to check the markers from time to time. They particularly ask that if needed, the marker is cleaned with water and a soft bristle brush. (I was specifically asked not to use any form of bleach as their people use an acceptable biocide, which doesn’t damage the stone). The CWGC ask that the surrounding area is kept cut and tidy, that the marker is checked for damage/graffiti etc and if found is reported and that the grave is commemorated at Remembrance Time.
Apart from asking me not to use bleach, they also asked that I contact the churchyard’s operator before doing anything. This resulted in reactions from ‘Anyone who wants to look after my graveyard is a friend of mine’, to a highly protective stance with an interview on site with vicar and curate and discussion of possible damage to wild orchids in the next field!
If you do contact the CWGC (Mrs Kerry Groves, CWGC, Jenton Road, Sydenham, Leamington Spa, Warks, CV31 1XS, expect a slow response as they are very busy) you will be told of those markers they would like assistance with. These are not confined to the standard CWGC marker and all of those are not necessarily Portland stone. They also include Private Markers, which were erected by the families and are of varying design. Whilst the CWGC takes no responsibility for Private Marker maintenance, it is keen the name is still clearly legible. ‘Keeping the name alive’ is important to the CWGC.
Finally, the CWGC is only responsible for those killed in the First and Second World Wars. You will see other markers of slightly differing shapes that have been erected by other organisations such as the MoD. The CWGC has no jurisdiction over these.
And now back to researching Gunner 273336 Ernest James Day RA who died 94 years and a week ago today.

[bob shayler]

R.A.F. Sharjah

These are recent photographs taken during a Rememberance Service held on the on the 11th November 2012. The re-configuration of the Cemetery is almost complete,
Regards,
Bob