We Will Remember

 

 

Remembrance Sunday

Over the weekend we had Remembrance Sunday you may have seen the post I published. Cholsey commemorated the centenary of the ending of the First World War like other towns and villages through out the country. They all celebrated in their own way.

 During the week Cholsey Remembers 1914-1918 was fixed to the chains that surrounded the Forty

It was made up poppies knitted by the local people

 Sunday the number 100 was placed near the memorial, each poppy had a name of one of one of the fallen from Cholsey who gave their life. There were over 60 making the number up

 I could not tell you if they were placed in order

 But each poppy had a name

Every man who lost his life was remembered

 The Chestnut tree was decorated with poppies. The tree was probably  one of the last things the men saw of the village when they went off to war

The memorial was decorated with stones which were painted by the village primary school then placed in a box. People were asked to pick one and place around the memorial after the service

People were asked to place a stone in memory of someone they knew from the war

The walnut tree you can see in the distance was also decorated though with less poppies and a black ribbon I found out after that there are 100 poppies here which we given to the the organiser but as they were different to the ones being sold they were used in the display you see. The last post was played by a young girl from the school and added to the occasion. Personally I felt it was fitting remembrance of those men from the village who gave their lives in such a terrible war.

Taking Part in Our World Tuesday

1914-1918 We Will Remember

Cholsey Remembers

We Will Remember Them

Hero with a Shovel

Friday I posted a statue of Fred Potts VC and today I'll show a few more of it and tell you a bit about how it came to be. Fred you could say was a hero a couple of times over because he saved a young child from drowning in the Thames before signing up for the Berkshire Yeomanry. In 1915 he was  sent to Gallipoli  with the regiment where they were sent to attack Hill 70, during the attack he was wounded in the thigh not far from the Turkish positions along with a fellow Yeoman. In the next 48 hours he managed to fix a shovel to his fellows equipment and drag him back to their own positions while still under enemy fire. That earned him the Victoria Cross. They both survived the war. Fred went on to become a cobbler and lived in Reading till he died in 1943 aged 50. He was cremated so there is no grave to see. I think he sort of became for gotten about until his story came out around 2009 on a BBC program was made and the relatives of the two me were reunited. In 2010 a trust was established to raise the funds for a permanent t memorial which is what you see here and it was unveiled in 2015. I had read it was going to happen and had not released it had been built until I went for a look on Friday 11th November the Sculptor is Tom Murphy

The memorial is a lot larger than I thought it would be

Fred dragging his fellow behind

His fellow Trooper was Arthur Andrews who also came from Reading and died in 1980 ages 87

The Victoria Cross, Britian's Highest Honour

The memorial with The Yeomanry roll of Honour behind

The Berkshire Yeomanry roll of honour

If you wonder why the White Horse well its from White Horse hill which used to be in Berkshire along with Abingdon which was the County Town

One of the history boards beside the memorial

The other telling you about the Victoria Cross

A pano shot of the Toll of Honour

Taking Part in Our Word Tuesday

We Will Remember

Fred Potts VC

Remember

Least We Forget

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Will Remember them

We Will Remember them

We Will Remember them

Remembrance day Parade

On remembrance day I went to Newbury  with my wife. Like many other towns & villages up and down the country it had it's parade which I went along to watch. It's the first time I have seen one in a long time

 After the service the parade started with the Royal British Legion

Next up seem to be the church choir as that was were they were off to next,they were followed by the town council and mayor who were walking slower than a funeral procession

 These two guys were ex forces and were barking out orders you could hear in the next town

another shot of the mace bearers

The Veterans part of the parade

Hero's from the past

and a few of the more able bodied still marching on

just like they were still in the forces

Sargent's at Arms

The Army marches through

Later after the church service the army marched down Northbrook Street taking a salute from a Senior officer as they went by.

Taking part in Our World Tuesday