‘Tommy’ is a modern memorial but he’s much beloved, especially by the people of Seaham where he sits wearily, and somehow says it all about war.
Remembrance Sunday, Tommy at Seaham, County Durham
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Category Archives: World War 1
Lest we forget – Remembrance Day
This is Wieltje Farm Cemetery in Belgium – literally the corner of a foreign field – which we visited in 2017. It is close to Ypres.
As you can see from the tractor marks it is in the middle of a working farm but a grass pathway round the side of a house leads to it, so you don’t get your feet muddy.
The view from the opposite end of the cemetery is below.
Leith Hall, Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
It’s months since we visited Aberdeenshire, but it’s only now that I’m getting around to blogging about our visit to Leith Hall near Kennethmont. The oldest part of the building dates from 1650, but it has been added on to over the centuries. Like many such grand houses it was made into a temporary Red Cross hospital during World War 1.
In 1945 Leith Hall was presented to the National Trust for Scotland. As you can see from the photo below it’s a good place to have a snack or some ice-cream.
This house apparently has quite a reputation for being haunted and according to Wiki the writer Elizabeth Byrd and her husband rented 16 rooms in Leith Hall in the 1960s and she later wrote about her paranormal experiences there! The hall is set in a 286 acre estate.
In 1745 the then owner of the hall fought on the Jacobite side, below are some relics of the time.
Strangely there’s a scarf which apparently belonged to Napoleon on show, nice scarf but the photo is blurry as you can see.
It’s the gardens that impressed me most though. We had a lovely afternoon here last August on what was a beautiful day, it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the Aberdeenshire area. This place isn’t very far from Balmoral, but we decided to leave that for another trip. I sort of wish we had gone then as the Queen was there at the time – for the last time.
Lest We Forget
We won’t ever forget, but when we were in Knaresborough, Yorkshire for a few days last week they were just starting to get the Remembrance Day displays set up. I was surprised to see purple poppies around a tree, so had to take a closer look. Apparently they’re to commemorate the animals that have died in war. Particularly horses in World War 1, but dogs and birds also did their bit for the war efforts – not that they could have refused.
As you can see the soldier silhouettes in the photo below hadn’t yet been placed properly when we were there. If you look carefully at the fence you can see the purple silhouette of a dog.
Marwick Head, Orkney, Scotland
We wanted to revisit the cliffs at Marwick Head, especially as it was such a stunningly clear and bright day weather-wise. The cliffs are full of nesting seabirds which you should be able to see if you click on the photo to enlarge.
The photo below is of Marwick Bay with the island of Hoy in the background. Unfortunately we didn’t go to Hoy because the museum we wanted to visit was closed for refurbishment. Orkney was very busy during both World Wars as a strategic defence guarding access to the North Atlantic and the Home Fleet’s base in adjacent Scapa Flow.
We were there at the right time for the Thrift flowers though. They bloom all around the cliffs.
As you can see below there’s a massive tower at the top of the cliffs. It’s a memorial to Lord Kitchener, he drowned in the sea just off Marwick Head when the ship he was on – HMS Hampshire – hit a mine during World War 1, in 1916. You can read about it here. He was one of 737 who died when the ship went down. It does seem like some sort of payback for all the young men that he sent to their death via his ‘Your Country Needs You’ posters.
Apparently the next landfall from here is North America!
I turned around and took the photo below from Marwick Head looking inland, just to let you see what the scenery is like. Orkney is definitely different from mainland Scotland, some people love the gentle looking hillocks, and certainly a lot of incomers have moved there from elsewhere but I don’t think I could ever live there for too long as I really miss trees. It’s a strange barren landscape that has no trees. There are a few dotted around in sheltered spots but they are almost all field maples/sycamores, they are probably the only ones that will survive the fierce winds.
There are loads of rabbits in this area, with rabbit holes all over the place, which makes it qute dangerous as you certainly don’t want to catch your foot in one and take a header over the cliff! There are notices around telling you not to feed the rabbits as they are a menace, but there were dogs in the vicinity so they didn’t hang about for long when we were there – hence no bunny photos.
Remembrance Sunday 2021
This year I’ve decided to share the well-known actor Clive Russell’s thoughts on his family’s sad experience of war, and his memories of Remembrance Sundays of the past. The village which features in the film is Russell’s home town, Cellardyke in Fife.
Lest We Forget – Armistice Day
For Armistice Day this year I thought you might be interested to read the blogpost that Jack @ A Son of the Rock wrote about our visit to Essex Farm, Ypres, Flanders a few years ago. This was where Lt Col John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae
Essex Farm Cemetery, Ypres (Ieper,) Flanders
Essex Farm Cemetery is located on the banks of the Ypres-Yser canal by the site of the Advanced Dressing Station where Lt Col John McCrae was serving as a medical officer when he wrote his famous poem “In Flanders Fields.” I have blogged about him previously in connection with the McCrae Memorial at Eilean Donan Castle in Lochalsh, Scotland.
The cemetery contains more than 1,000 graves. Unusually for a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery its Cross of Sacrifice is located right at the entrance:-
Graves from northwest:-
From southeast. Note Yorkshire Memorial on the canal bank:-
From northeast:-
From south. Again note Yorkshire Memorial (which I shall come back to):-
Graves from Yorkshire Memorial:-
Graves from north, Yorkshire Memorial to left:-
A tree trunk has grown round the gravestone of Private J MacPherson, Seaforth Highlanders, who died on 5/7/1917, aged 33:-
Symbolic of the fact they fought and died over the same ground the cemetery holds a German grave, Franz Heger, RIR, 238, 7/8/1916:-
Grave of Rifleman V J Strudwick, The Rifle Brigade, 14/1/1916, aged 15, said to be the youngest British Empire casualty of the Great War. (There may be some doubt about this.) It is nevertheless a focus for remembrance:-
John McCrae Commemoration stone. Written in four languages, French, Flemish, English and German, with the poem itself also inscribed on the memorial along with a facsimile of the handwritten manuscript:-
The bunkers at Essex Farm Cemetery where John McCrae worked as a medic:-
Bunker interior:-
Another bunker interior:-
Bunkers, looking back up to Essex Farm Cemetery grounds:-
Information board with a photograph of how the bunkers appeared during the war:-
Lest We Forget – Armistice Day
On Remembrance Sunday I laid a poppy wreath at the local War Memorial, on behalf of the Community Council.
Today is of course Armistice Day. It’s the 102nd anniversary of the end of the Great War at 11 am.
We will remember them
Hooge crater cemetery, Ypres, Belgium,
Langemark German war cemetery, near the village of Langemark, part of the municipality of Langemark-Poelkapelle, Belgium.
Tyne Cot war cemetery, near Zonnebeke, Belgium
Remembrance Sunday
Today’s post is a guest one from A Son of the Rock (Jack).
Poelcapelle War Cemetery, Flanders, Belgium
Poelcapelle is today spelled Poelkapelle. The village is a few miles north-east of Ypres (Ieper.) The British War Cemetery (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) is by the N313 road from Bruges (Brugge) to Ypres.
I’ve been to Tyne Cot but nevertheless still gasped when I entered Poelcapelle Cemetery. There are nearly 7,500 burials here, the vast majority, 6,230, of which are “Known unto God”.
View of interior from entrance:-
Graves:-
Some of the unidentified soldiers of the Great War:-
Lines of graves:-
Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance:-
Memorial to some of those whose earlier graves were destroyed in later battles:-
As usual the graves are beautifully kept. A Soldier of the Great War, Known unto God and Private F J Patten, Hampshire Regiment, 4/10/17, aged 21:-
Two Soldiers of the Great War:-
There is one World War 2 grave at Poelcapelle. Private R E Mills, Royal Berkshire Regiment, 30/5/1940, aged 19:
Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance:-
