Tributes Paid to War Heroes at Rest Far From Home

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British Legion members from Wincanton visited Northern Europe and the final resting place of fallen soldiers from the town in the build-up to Armistice Day.

Tony Goddard, David Mills and Peter Cox made the poignant trip to Flanders, Picardy and Northern Pas De Calais. They laid wreaths at memorials commemorating soldiers from Wincanton who lost their lives in conflict.

Casualties included Harry Hamblin, William Deane and Sidney Thomas from the town and Mr. Goddard visited their graves during the trip to pay his respects.

Mr. Goddard said: "During the last few years I have made it a personal quest to visit as many of their graves as possible but three had eluded me until now. Strangely enough, these three were quite poignant because all were related to members of our branch. Harry was buried in a small cemetery at Point du Jour Athies near Arras."

The trio also visited Loos in Northern France, scene of intense fighting both in 1915 and in 1918.

"The day we visited Loos the weather was absolutely awful, very cold with driving rain and we could not help thinking of those poor soldiers who endured months at a time in the trenches in that area," said Mr. Goddard. "A friend who lives in Loos took us to a new building development and to our amazement an extraordinary amount of live ammunition and battlefield artefacts were just laying on the surface of the ground. In both world wars, Wincanton paid a heavy price through the loss of brave sons at many of the battlefields around the world."

On their travels, members have also placed crosses and wreaths as far away as Kohima on the Burma border, Crete and The Dardenelles.

Article first published by the Western Gazette

Comments

Nick Colbert
Posts: 1

War graves and battle sights.
Reply #1 on : Sun November 28, 2010, 18:58:55

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Whenever I visit a battlefield or the scene of an atrocity I am always amazed by the tranquility and how nature has removed all the evidence of the carnage that had taken place there.

It is probably for the best, as although we must always remember the fallen life for those left must go on.

I visited the grave of my Uncle Fred in Northern France when I was about 15, he was 19 when his Lancaster bomber was hit, shorthy before the end of the second world war, and crashed. He and a Canadian went down with the plane, as they were fighting a fire in an engine they did not hear the order to bail out. The rest of the crew survived but they died together and share the same grave as without DNA there was no way to seperate them.

I still and always will remember that grave and how it housed two men, the only time I have experienced anything like that was looking at a large hole in New York that used to be the twin towers.

My wife and I are going to see the battlefields at Flanders in December.

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