Little Alfred - the Saddest of Notes

When going through the box of funerary treasure, I discovered this small scrap of paper  bearing the sad words of a parent who had lost a child. It is very touching.

Click on the image to enlarge it

A New Memorial

This cabinet card shows the newly installed Memorial to Hitchen who died in 1913. Look how pristine it is. I can see a tall industrial chimney in the background.

Poignant Souvenir

Wherever the Royal Navy based itself abroad, there was always an enterprising photographer who produced souvenir photographs for sale to sailors. Until the 1920s, Cabinet Cards were the preferred format - a thin photograph mounted on card. Quite often they were a real work of art.

This photograph commemorates the death of Stoker Walter Cochrane of HMS Minotaur who died in 1910. Wei Hai Wei was a town in China that was leased as a British Colony from 1898 to 1930.

HMS Minotaur was the Royal Navy's flagship on the China Station

The Cemetery Keeper of Kabul

Kabul At Work is a remarkable video project and soon to be a book. Follow this LINK through to the website for more about the cemetery keeper and the project itself.

The forgotten souls of Taylor Cemetery

Gone but not forgotten

The forgotten souls of Taylor Cemetery

Executed by the Germans

Many years ago, I bought two mounted photographs of the repatriation of Captain Charles Fryatt who was executed by the Germans during the First World War. I recently rediscovered them

Wikipedia tells me that Charles Algernon Fryatt (2 December 1872 – 27 July 1916) was a British mariner who attempted to ram a German U-boat in 1915. His ship, the SS Brussels was captured by the Germans in 1916. When it became clear who he was, Fryatt was court-martialled and executed, although he was a civilian. There was international outrage following his execution. In 1919, his body was exhumed and given a funeral with full honours in England.

In 1919, Fryatt's body was exhumed and returned to the United Kingdom for burial. His coffin was landed at Dover, and transported  to London. On 8 July, his funeral was held at St Paul's Cathedral. Hundreds of merchant seamen and widows of merchant seamen and fishermen attended. Representing the Government were many members of the Admiralty, the Board of Trade, the Cabinet and the War Office.

The band of the Great Eastern Railway, augmented by drummers from the Royal Marines played the Dead March, Eternal Father, Strong to Save and Abide with Me were sung and a blessing given by the Bishop of London. The route of the coffin to Liverpool Street Station was lined with people. Fryatt was buried at All Saint's Church, Upper Dovercourt. His coffin was carried from the station to the church on a gun carriage. His widow was presented with the insignia of the Belgian Order of Leopold which had been posthumously awarded to Fryatt. He was also awarded the Belgian Maritime WarCross. Click on the two photographs for a closer view.

The coffin containing the body of captain Fryatt on the quarterdeck of the
Destroyer HMS Orpheus during the crossing from Antwerp to Dover

Merchant Marine Captains who acted as pall-bearers at the Memorial Service to Captain Fryatt at St Paul's Cathedral

And thanks to Wikimedia and Creative Commons, here are three connected images:

A studio portrait of Capt Fryatt

The SS Brussels sank off the Zeebrugge Mole

The Fryatt Memorial at Liverpool Street Station in London
Photo: Stzhang

Marble Quarry's link to Memorials

Veteran Headstones: From Mining To Engraving To The Cemetery