"Until the day break ..."

1. Staff Sgt. William Fisher Birkett, REME
Known as 'Billie' to family and friends
"Died of injuries in a battle accident" 
Western Front, 18 April 1945
[Photo courtesy of 'The Whitehaven News']
[His father was killed in the 1914 - 1918 war]

2 .High Street, Cleator Moor Cumberland 
(Early 20th C postcard)
Birthplace and home of Sgt W.F. Birkett, REME

3. Cleator Moor Brass at a remembrance service
Cleator Moor Wesleyan (Methodist) Church
Billie Birkett was married in this church 

4. Cleator Moor War Memorial
Decorated with poppies of Remembrance
Billie Birkett died in WW2, his father Dick in WW1

5. 1914 Lonsdale Battalion recruitment poster
Dick Birkett, father of Billie, was a recruit
Dick Birkett was killed in action in 1917
  [Photo taken at Cumbria Museum of Military Life, Carlisle]

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"Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether." 

Song of Solomon 2:17 
The Bible (King James Version)  

[The first part of this verse is the epitaph on Billie Birkett's CWGC headstone in the war cemetery at Becklingen, Germany]
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Introduction

Staff Serjeant William Fisher Birkett, REME (known as 'Billie') [Photograph No. 1] "... died of injuries sustained in a battle accident in a forward area on the Western Front ..." on 18 April 1945. Sgt. Birkett came from Cleator Moor, Cumberland in the N.W. of England [Photograph No. 2]. In life, Billie was a popular member of the Wesleyan (Methodist) church at Cleator Moor, a church which holds an annual service of Remembrance for all those killed in wars [Photograph No. 3]. 

The death of Sgt. Birkett in WW2 was a case of history repeating itself. His father, Pte. Dickinson Fisher Birkett ('Dick'), was killed on the Western Front while serving with the 11th (Lonsdale) Battalion of the Border Regiment in the 1914 - 1918 war. Like father, like son - both made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the Armed Forces. Billie Birkett and his father Dick Birkett are just of the war dead from the Cleator Moor district of Cumbria commemorated by the town's war memorial [seen in Photograph No. 4]. 
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For further information click on 'Comment's below. 
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Medals for Mary ... after more than 70 years!

1. (Left) W/152141 L/Cpl. Mary Hanson, ATS
Wearing the ATS 'duck cap'(altered for style)
(Right): Mary wears her WW2 medals
Finally received in February 2018 

2. Mary receives her WW2 medals and thanks
The 1939-45 War Medal and Defence Medal
[February 2018]

3. Mary Hanson (right) celebrates with her family
Afternoon tea at the Midland Hotel, Morecambe
[Photograph: John Holland]  

4. Mary Hanson in the years before enrolment
(Left): 'May Queen' at school in Batley (1932/33)
(Right): As a fashion model for Novello's (c. 1939)

5. Overton-on-Dee, on the Welsh-English border
Mary was posted here to the RAOC (1942-1945) 

6. Mary Hanson with her army colleagues
With the RAOC at Overton-on-Dee
(Mary is in the middle row looking down)

7. Mary Hanson with her MOD Veterans Badge

(Awarded June 2018)

At last - appropriate recognition for a wartime veteran
In February 2018, ATS Lance Corporal Mary Hanson finally received her WW2 service medals and written thanks for her service - more than 70 years after the end of the war. Between 1942 and 1946 Mary served in the A.T.S. (Auxiliary Territorial Service), the women's branch of the British Army. A few weeks later, and in time for the 2018 Armed Forces Day and Mary's 97th birthday, she also received her M.O.D. Veterans Badge. Appropriate recognition for Mary's fine contribution to the war effort during WW2. 

To read more about Mary's story click on 'Comments' below.
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The War memorials of Loweswater, Cumbria

1. Loweswater Parish Church, Cumbria
Dedicated to St Bartholomew 

2. Interior of Loweswater Parish Church
The WW1 memorial is the lectern near the altar
(Bottom left): The V.E. Day memorial prayer kneeler

3. Loweswater's WW1 memorial lectern
(It lists the names of five parishioners who died)

4. Prayer kneeler in Loweswater church
Remembering the 50th anniversary of V.E. Day
(8 May 1945 - 8 May 1995)

5. Headstone memorial for Rev. G.H. White 
A former Vicar of Loweswater (1945 - 1974)
He was also a P.O.W. of the Germans in WW2
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 For additional information click on 'Comments' below. 

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"When They Sound The Last All Clear"

When they sound the last 'All Clear'
Wartime music sheet

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During the Second World War, the British singer Vera Lynn became known as "the Forces Sweetheart". As part of ENSA, Vera Lynn toured overseas to entertain the troops in Egypt, India, Burma and elsewhere. In 1941 she began her own radio programme, "Sincerely Yours", sending message messages to tthe troops serving overseas, The songs she sang on "Sincerely Yours" included requests for service men and women serving away from home. 

One of Vera Lynn's most popular songs was "When the sound the last 'All Clear'", which was first broadcast in 1941. An original wartime song sheet of this can be seen above. As with many Vera Lynn songs of the period, it was one of optimism, when sweethearts would be reunited at the end of the war and the church bells would once again ring out in peace time: 

"For the peace bells will ring,
And the whole world will sing,
When they sound the last All Clear."

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Season's Greetings 2017

Season's Greetings 2017

1. Christmas Tree, Covent Garden

2. The Cenotaph, London
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Wishing all members and visitors to this site seasonal greetings of peace and goodwill. Regardless of Creed or nationality peace and goodwill are common to all mankind. They are surely better than war and hostility . 

                          _________________________

During the six years of the Second World War there were many changes to the hitherto familiar wintertime festive rituals. Celebrations were largely scaled down due to restrictions and shortages in Britain and elsewhere. Nevertheless, for many it was still possible to collect greenery from the countryside and have a Christmas tree and other greenery such as holly, ivy and mistletoe continuing what seems to be a timeless tradition transcending international boundaries. 

A visitor to London's Covent Garden around Christmas time will see a large decorated Christmas tree [Photograph No. 1]. According to the Canadian writer and politician André Laurendeau: 

"Childhood is to believe that a with a Christmas tree and three snowflakes all the world is changed." 

Can a simply decorated Christmas tree and a few snowflakes really transport young children into another world? It does seem so. During the war many children were set the task of collecting the greenery and the tree and perhaps make the decorations for the tree. With snow on the ground children can enter a new playground and perhaps build a snowman and in wartime spend a little time a long way from the war. 

While in London, a visitor can take a short walk from Covent Garden to Whitehall and in a central location will see the Cenotaph [Photograph No 2]. The poppy wreaths seen at the Cenotaph have been left here by Armed Forces Veterans and relatives of those who have died in wars and conflicts. Think of why the Cenotaph was built and why there should be peace and goodwill to all on earth. 

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Is 'Armistice Day', 11 November, still relevant?

1. The Cenotaph, Whitehall, London:
Without any poppy wreaths of Remembrance!

2. Armistice Day at Keswick, Cumbria
The Last Post and 'Two Minute Silence' at the Cenotaph
'Remembrance' as part of everyday life of the town 

3. The 'Keswick Reminder' remembers the 'Fallen' 
A list of Keswickians who died in WW1 and WW2
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Is marking 'Armistice Day', 11 November, each year still relevant to the modern world? What, if anything, is special about 'Armistice Day'? Does Britain and the Commonwealth not have Remembrance Sunday to remember the World Wars and other conflicts? Is Remembrance Sunday not sufficient? 

For additional thoughts and information click on 'Comments' below.
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The passing of a French Resistance hero

André Heintz (1920 - 2017)

On 31 October 2017 the Memorial Museum at Caen, Normandy has reported the passing of Monsieur André Heintz at the age of 97. In the period before D-Day, 6 June 1944, André Heintz was a member of the French Resistance in the Caen area who was able to provide London with valuable information about the German forces in Normandy. He was also able to alert the Allies not to bomb the Abbaye aux Hommes (Men's Abbey) at Caen in the immediate aftermath of D-Day as this was where thousands of civilians had taken refuge. 

According to André Heintz, the greatest day of his life was 9 July 1944, the day the Allied soldiers were finally able to liberate his beloved, if battered, home city of Caen: 

"That day was the most beautiful of my entire life. I could hardly believe that I survived the German occupation and the battle, and I rushed to church as soon as I could to thank God for the privilege of being alive and being free again."
(BBC "People's War", Article ID 2524385)

Click on the following link to read André Heintz's personal account of his wartime experiences, as told to the BBC "People's War" website: 

André Heintz's D-Day: The Resistance in Caen
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We salute the passing of this fine hero of the French Resistance of WW2. 
May he rest in peace. 
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