Heroes and Heroines

I have always taken an interest in heroes and heroines and I jumped at the chance to join a group visiting the National Memorial Arboretum near Burton on Trent. I should have worn walking boots as there are hundreds of memorials in about 120 acres -  investigated over two days.

I don't know what I was expecting and it isn't easy to sum up the experience. I'm not good at visiting museums as I don't have the patience to read everything, and if you don't read, you often don't know what you're looking at. The most powerful memorials didn't need words.

I read and photographed as I walked around and made an effort to be as positive as I could - which you need to be in a place which is there to remember so many who have died in horrible situations at home and across the world. On the second day, I couldn't cope with the harrowing audio and visual information in The Far East Prisoners of War Memorial Building and made a hasty exit. The RNLI memorial had the opposite effect. It was a sea-inspired garden close to the River Tame, planted with grasses which swayed in the wind (it was windy) and which mimicked waves.  

Hundreds of trees are dedicated to individuals and the dates and places on each plaque hint at the stories behind the people and circumstances surrounding their deaths. By far the most shocking memorial was to the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers who were shot for desertion, cowardice, striking a senior officer, disobeying a senior officer, casting away arms and sleeping at post during the First World War. Most of them were sentenced after a short trial at which no real opportunity for defence was allowed. These young men were shot at dawn. Their names are listed on stakes arranged in the form of a Greek theatre around the statue of Private Herbert Burden who was shot at Ypres in 1915, aged 17, symbolising the tragedy. 

There is an impressive memorial to the Women's Land Army/Timber Corps. There was one dedicated to those who broke the Enigma code (male and female), but I didn't manage to find one for the women of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) who were parachuted into France in the 2nd World War to support the Resistance. I've read about these women over the years and had to satisfy myself with another book. 

A corner of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Memorial Garden

Poppies

Very important poppies growing with other wildflowers in The Royal British Legion poppy field

 Women's Land Army/Timber Corps

An unidentified memorial

This picture was taken from a long way off and I haven't so far managed to find out who it represents.

Part of the Polish Forces War Memorial

...commemorating the Polish men and women who gave their lives in World War II.

Shot at Dawn

A campaign began in 1992 led by Janet Booth who sought a pardon for her grandfather, Private Harry Farr. Janet's grandmother had lived with the shame and stigma of her husband being shot for cowardice in 1916. She believed he was wrongly convicted and suffered from shellshock. Harry Farr's family took the Ministry of Defence to the High Court and won. In 2006, a posthumous pardon was granted for Harry and the other men.

One of the many damselflies which lightened the mood

The poppies are nearly over in the poppy field