French War Cemetery

This postcard shows La Targette war cemetery in France. This French National Cemetery was created in 1919 and lies southwest of Neuville-St Vaast, a village just over six kilometres north of Arras. More than 11,000 French soldiers are buried there. A smaller British war cemetery is adjacent to La Targette. This LINK provides more detail.

Loss of Submarine L 24

Another souvenir postcard, this time commemorating the loss of submarine L 24 which was lost off Portland on January 10, 1924.  L 24 was in collision with the battleship HMS Resolution. All the crew were lost.

The A1 Submarine Disaster

The A1 submarine disaster touched the hearts of many. Here are four commemorative postcards of the funeral procession. A1's sinking was a result of a collision with the SS Berwick Castle off the Nab Lighthouse. The 11-man crew were drowned. The submarine was salvaged and the crew's bodies recovered - hence the funerals pictured below. A1 was repaired and returned to service but sank again in 1911, albeit unmanned at the time. The wreck site was not discovered until 1989.

Those who died were: Lt Mansergh, Sub Lt Churchill, CER Parkinson, CS Fleming, PO 1 Baker, PO1 Roberts, PO Dudgeon, ERA Baly, AB Wallace, AB King and Stoker Ellis. There is a memorial in the Haslar Naval Cemetery.

Wikipedia provides a useful article on the history of the A1 and it's loss which can be found HERE.

Newspaper cutting courtesy 'Sherurcij' via Creative Commons

Village War Memorials

Three war memorial photographs to mark Armistice Day. The location of the first is unknown. The other two have Bideford, Devon pencilled on the reverse. What strikes me is the fact that so few medals are being work unless they are hidden by the overcoats!

Royal Oak Funeral

In 1928, the battleship HMS Royal Oak sailed on a Spring Cruise around the Mediterranean. During that cruise, crew member Gilbert Henry died. He was buried at one of the ports the ship called at. These seven photographs record the occasion. I have been able to find anything about the circumstances of his death. The ship's Captain and Commander were court martialed earlier in 1928 and the battle ship was the torpedoed by a U-Boat in Scapa Flow with huge loss of life in October 1939. [05 Nov 13 - the casualty is actually:
GILBERT, George W H, Leading Seaman, J 42464, Royal Oak, 17 September 1928, accidentally killed

Grave Mystery!

I have to admit to being completely baffled by this grave in a Somerset graveyard. What is the purpose of the arch and why is there a ball suspended beneath it? There is writing on the ball and one word I recognise if God.

Updated 10 November - The tomb is that of Major Robert Carmichael of the Highland Regiment which features a suspended globe depicted how travelled a soldier he had been.

Ascension Island Graves

I once had some time off while visiting Ascension Island and before I reached the wonderful Bonetta Cemetery at Comfortless Cove, I came across these three graves.Note the volcanic rock piled on top!

Thought-provoking Inscription

I noticed a small churchyard in Whitechapel just three miles from my Lancashire home. On Friday, I had a chance to visit it and found it full of interesting headstones and memorials. This one caught my eye.

It has a nice thing to say about John Jasper Roper inscribed at the base:

Devoted and Loving son

A lover of children

Especially in this Parish and All Saints Southport

A plaque at the top of the memorial states:

Time is the Sand of Life

Ever passing On,

One day to be Accounted for

By Each and Everyone

I found that very thought-provoking . . .