Remembering all who served in WW2

1. The Drigg Oak outside a former Ordnance Factory
[It commemorates all who served their country in WW2]

2. Memorial tablet for the Drigg Oak 
[Mounted on granite outside the former Drigg R.O.F.]
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Embleton & Setmurthy War Memorials, Cumbria

1. Embleton (St Cuthbert) parish War Memorial
[Lists three WW1 casualties and one WW2 casualty]

2. Embleton (St Cuthbert) WW1 parish war memorials
[Found inside the parish church]

3. Embleton (St Cuthbert) parish church, Cumbria
[The Celtic cross war memorial is in the churchyard]

4. Setmurthy (St Barnabas) parish church, Cumbria
[The WW1 war memorials are found inside the church]
There is one WW2 casualty buried in the churchyard

5. Setmurthy parish WW1 memorials found in the church
(Left): Brass plaque remembering three WW1 casualties
(Right): Stained glass windows for Nurse Dorothy Fisher

6. War casualties buried at Embleton and Setmurthy
(Left): WW1 casualty Pte. Alfred E. Watson (Embleton)
(Right): WW2 casualty R.SM. John Marston (Setmurthy)
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"Disposing of the lie" about Marshal Pétain

Keswick Country House Hotel, English Lake District
[WW2 home of the evacuated Roedean Girls School]
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At the end of WW2, the provisional French Government, headed by Charles de Gaulle, put Marshal Philippe Pétain (Chief of the French State 11 July 1940 - 20 August 1944) on trial. Marshal Pétain also signed the 1940 Armistice with Germany, rejected by General de Gaulle and the Free French. The trial took place France between 23 July and 15 August 1945.

Was Pétain culpable of signing the Armistice prematurely? Should France have continued the fight? These were two of the questions that were considered, not just in the French High Court but by French men and women in France and by those living outside of France.

One French woman with an opinion on these matters who was living in Britain was Dr. Aline Lion. She was working as a French teacher at Roedean Girls School which had been evacuated to the Keswick Hotel in the English Lake District (seen in the above photograph). Dr Lion even sent a telegram giving a witness statement in support of Marshal  Pétain which was read out in the High Court.

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A Seasonal Greeting 2016

Season's Greetings 2016 

1. Traditional decorated Christmas tree (December 2016)
'The Rum Story' courtyard, Whitehaven 

2. Thirlmere in the English Lake District (December 2016)
A source of fresh drinking water and timber
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  "Dear Christmas, here you are after such a long time

  It's been a whole year 

  That I've waited for you." 

  ............................................ 

  Translation of a traditional French Christmas greeting: 

  Cher Noël, voici bien longtemps 

  Tout juste un an 

  Que je t'attends

  + + + + + + + + + + + + + +   

                                      

For many hundreds of years the darkness of winter has been lightened up by decorating greenery and lighting candles. Even during the Second World War an effort would be made to decorate homes with greenery and if possible a tree although perhaps not as decorative as the one seen in photograph No. 1. Even in these darkest of times there remained places where timber was felled for the war effort, such as near Thirlmere (photograph No. 2) which also provided an essential fresh water supply for Manchester and district. 

A West Cumbrian 'Living Memory' project

1. Commonwealth War Graves Cross of Sacrifice 

(Whitehaven Cemetery, Cumbria). 

[Similar to those found in war cemeteries around the world]

2. (Left): Wartime ATS recruitment poster
(Right): Front cover of booklet 'Life in the A.T.S.'

3. (Left): Wartime WRNS recruitment poster
(Right): Front cover of a booklet 'Life in the WRNS'

4. (Left): Wartime WAAF recruitment poster

(Right): List of WAAF wartime recruitment offices  

5. Cleator W.I. with local children : 
Placing tributes at Cleator Moor War Memorial
(In remembrance of seven local servicewomen) 
[Remembrance Sunday, 13 November 2016]

6. (Left): Cleator W.I. booklet ('Living Memory' project)
 (Right): Cleator Moor War Memorial (November 2016)
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The Red Poppy and Remembrance

1. Poppy Appeal collection display 2016
(Bransty Royal British Legion, Whitehaven, Cumbria)

2. Large poppy on cemetery entrance gates
(Whitehaven Cemetery, Cumbria) 

3. The red poppy and the CWGC Cross of Sacrifice
(Whitehaven Cemetery, Cumbria)

4. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cross of Sacrifice
(With poppy wreath and some war graves behind)
Whitehaven Cemetery, Cumbria

The red poppy of Remembrance 

The remembrance poppy was inspired by the 1915 war poem 'In Flanders Fields' by the Canadian doctor, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. In 1918 an American YWCA volunteer, Moina Michael, used John McCrae's poem to write one of her own ('We Shall Keep the Faith') and conceived the idea of wearing a poppy as a symbol of remembrance. She began selling silk poppies as a way to raise funds for disabled ex-service personnel.

In 1921 the poppy was adopted as the symbol of remembrance by the American Legion Auxiliary and also by the Earl Haig Fund which developed into what is now the Royal British Legion. Each year the R.B.L. has a poppy appeal at Remembrance time which coincides with Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Many people still assocaiate the red poppy and Remembrance with the fallen of the two World Wars. Although this remains important to the R.B.L., for 2016 the Legion wishes to wants to raise awareness of a new generation of veterans and Service personnel that needs its support.

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Harding's Battery, Gibraltar

1. The restored Harding's Battery
(Europa Point, Gibraltar)

2. The 12.5" RML gun mounted at Harding's Battery
(Relocated from Dockyard South site in June 2013)

3. One of the restored former ammunition chambers
(These now host interactive information displays)

4. A WW2 soldier on lookout in one of the chambers
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