Something I don't think I've mentioned before is that many Suffolk Churches that I visit have signs on their fences or gates telling everyone there are Commonwealth War Graves there. The grave stones are always the same design and most date from WWII. Airmen were often buried in the villages where their planes crashed or where they were based rather than going back to their home country, city, town or village.
At Ringshall, with it's proximity to Wattisham Airfield there are many military graves. This row below are all from WWII , and it's always sad to see how young the men were, and how far they came to fly here during the war.
There are no plane crashes or on site accidents listed for early 1961 so it's a mystery.
But while looking online I found an horrific list of accidents and fatal crashes of Wattisham aircraft during the early 1950's. Including two pilots who were killed when they were rehearsing for the Queens Coronation Flypast in 1953.
There are also a long line of more recent military graves from after the war, with well tended garden.
There must be more of a story for this one below as it says A. A. Bushell was a senior aircraftman -which means ground crew - but was only 17 when he died in February 1961.
But while looking online I found an horrific list of accidents and fatal crashes of Wattisham aircraft during the early 1950's. Including two pilots who were killed when they were rehearsing for the Queens Coronation Flypast in 1953.
Ringshall was also the village where my Grandad and the Grandma I never knew had their small farm before the war ( I believe they lost some land to the airfield). It was the place my Dad grew up , but there are no family burials in the churchyard.
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| This photo has been on the blog before but it shows my Grandparents - on the binder and holding the horse. With my step dad, real dad and aunt on horseback on the Ringshall farm. About 1930. |
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So many war graves and still wars happening!!
ReplyDeleteI really like your old family photo (I have a great love for old photos).
Thanks for the post, we must remember!!
There has never been a time without war somewhere - it's so sad.
DeleteThanks for showing gravestones of both war graves and peace time military graves. I'd forgotten that the shapes are different. I had war graves and peacetime graves in one of "my" churchyards. (There was an airfield.) The Commonwealth War Graves Commission inspects all its graves regularly.
ReplyDeleteApologies for not noticing the different shaped head stones - I was just looking at the names and ages and thinking how young they all were.
DeleteWhat a lovely treasured family photo. Guess farming was in your blood so no wonder you had a smallholding.
ReplyDeleteHow sad so many young men died . The 17 year old must have had a natural aptitude for his job to have a senior position so young.
Sadly sometime after my Grandmother died in 1956 my Grandad moved away from the farm and went into building and demolition work so I think house renovations is more in the blood than farming!
DeleteOur village chapel has a large War Graves section [the RAF camp and airfield nearby was very busy in WW2] Recently in Kent, I was in a Parish church, and as I signed the visitors' book, I noticed that a few days before, there had been a visit by the WGC inspector, who was happy that all was in order!
ReplyDeleteGood to know that they are still being checked and cared for
DeleteA sad reflection on war so many young lives lost. But at least remembered by us and the people who tend the grave yards.
ReplyDeleteIt was all very neat and tidy around these graves. The rest of the graveyard wasn't cut grass
DeleteAll those young men; my grandmother lost both her younger brothers in the First WW. So very very sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd always so young. Tragic losses
DeleteI had two great granduncles who died in Europe during WW1, but from influenza, not really the war. They were buried where they died. Being a military mom myself, I can't even imagine the grief my great grandmother experienced to have lost two sons that way. Thanks for keeping up the remembrance for families who can't visit there.
ReplyDeleteAnother sad story from the time. 'Flu really was a killer back then
DeleteIt is so nice to see the graves looked after. My inquisitive nature got the better of me & I had a look on Ancestry to see if I could find anything about A.A. Bushell . His first name was Anthony ( seems so formal to just put his initials on the gravestone) & his death registered in Debden. Glenda
ReplyDeleteEven more curious as Debden is miles away in North Essex. There was an airfield there but closed after the war.
DeleteThere is no record of his birth & he doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s family tree.
DeleteJust looked again & it says Deben not Debden! If it’s the Deben peninsula then at least we are in the right county!
DeleteStill a mystery as Deben was a registration district for part of Suffolk but wouldn't have covered Wattisham - no birth record is odd too
DeleteMy husband volunteers for the War Graves Commission and the post war headstones are provided by the MoD (Ministry of Defence), the Commission is only concerned with the two World Wars. There is a difference in the headstones as the top edges are slightly different shapes. He is a bit of an anorak! Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteI have to apologise for not noticing the different shaped headstones, I was looking at all the names. It's good to hear about the graves being cared for still
DeleteWar graves are sobering reminders of young lives lost and families torn apart.
ReplyDeleteSo many and so young .
DeleteThose poor overseas families learning first that their son would not come home alive and then not come home to be buried!
ReplyDeleteThat is a very sad thought - probably never able to visit the grave either
DeleteVery moving
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
More war graves here than anywhere else I've visited
DeleteIn Manitoba there were many Commonwealth air training sites across the province, where young men who had signed up were trained to fly before being sent overseas. We have a museum with aircraft from the time, that is dedicated to telling the story of these young men. Many years ago I came across a grave in a cemetery and after doing research found that the young man, David Renfrew Petrie had been killed in a night time air training collision. He was one of nine young men who died when two of the training planes collided near Rivers, Manitoba. It is such a tragedy. So many young men buried in countries where they trained. Jean in Winnipeg
ReplyDeleteMany of the old wartime airfields in Suffolk have museums too. My Son did his uni dissertation about the airfields and the land use
DeleteAn interesting topic that your son chose. Jean in Winnipeg
DeleteHow sad to think of all of the young lives lost and still being lost in wars today. When will we ever learn?...
ReplyDeleteThere would be fewer wars if the world was run by women!
DeleteThank you for posting about wartime grave sites. So many young people are lost in the war. Remembering they fought for liberty, peace and justice is important. The grave sites are beautifully maintained and that is good to see.
ReplyDeleteThere were so many airfields in Suffolk during the war and then many USAF airbases afterwards too and now so many graves and memorials
DeleteThey were all so young weren't they, what a terrible waste of young lives. We always stop and read the names on war graves, cenotaphs and village plaques even though it brings tears to Alan's eyes.
ReplyDeleteSo sad to read all the names and ages , it's good they are cared for and war memorials are usually well looked after too.
DeleteJohn Duncan Broadley, born at Port Chalmers (the port of Otago) South Island of New Zealand. He was married - the poor widow. I wonder if there was a child who was left fatherless. They "poured out the red sweet wine of youth." Roderick
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence! Yesterday the CWGC installed a sign indicating “War Grave” on the gate of my local church. The only trouble is there are two graves in there - one in the churchyard part and one in the cemetery part which is run by the Parish Council. It was agreed by the PC and the PCC that there should be a sign showing there were war graves. The necessary resolutions were passed, approval from the diocese was obtained, photographs were taken, CWGC was asked to install a notice inside the graveyard as it would be unsightly on the fence.
ReplyDeleteI drafted a letter to them this am and have now just read your blog.
So many deaths at such young ages. I do so hope we never have to go through this again.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Poignant to see a New Zealand airman amongst the graves. My uncle Charles Gallagher was training as a pilot in '39 or '40 and died after graduating but before he'd seen active service. His three brothers survived the war, in infantry regiments. He'd been a crack marksman and athlete, and done brilliantly academically, so the write ups in the local (NZ) newspapers were fulsome. Of course, within months, the death count was such that no-one got newspaper write-ups! War is not 'glorious'.
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