Sundown on the Somme

[Steve]

Had a very good (and very cold!!!) visit to the National War Memorial in Staffordshire. They were commemorating 100 years from the end of the Battle of the Somme and I felt a need to go and pay my respects with a few friends.

I went to the Somme last year and was incredibly moved by some of the sites we visited. Im very interested in WW1 and WW2 history and really feel that we owe these brave soldiers a huge debt of gratitude.

There were lots of activities going on including a military band, poetry readings, outdoor theatre by kids in full costume acting out the story of how families lost loved ones in WW1, and a very moving rendition of the last post by a bugler. It was dark and they made smoke clouds that blew over the ceremony in the cold wind that made the hair stand up on my neck.

19,240 men perished on day 1 of the battle. A local artist made a small wooden cut out soldier for each one and left it plain on one side and painted bright colours by school kids etc on the other. They were all placed facing the same way. When you look at all the plain sides, it looks like a huge faceless army of men who all look the same. When viewed the other way, they are all different to reflect how different we all are. Very moving indeed. One of the young artists who painted one had lost her dad recently in conflict and, when asked why she had painted so many bright colours on the wooden soldier, she said that she believed that where her dad is in Heaven is brightly coloured and happy. Moved me to tears.

There are literally hundreds of memorials at the Arboretum and it is well worth a visit. Its very tastefully done and you will need a day to get round it all. Café on site etc and its free to enter the site (small donations gratefully accepted).

Here is a link to the Memorial and a few pics of the day

Cheers Steve

http://www.thenma.org.uk/

[Steve]

Here are a few pics of the 'Shot at Dawn' memorial. Over 200 men who were shot for desertion etc (before they understood PTSD) were recently posthumously pardoned. Extremely hard to read the plaques on each post as lots of the men shot were in their teens....