Page 15 - QARANC Vol 14 No 9 2014

THE GAZETTE QARANC 13
Capt Pete Starling at
Pte VJ Strudwick’s grave
S/N Nellie Spindler
Execution Site
Beverley Sykes, Sonia Cooper and Penny Moody at Menin Gate
(86% of its full strength). Here you can see a great bronze caribou, the emblem of the Newfoundland Regiment.
Our next stop was The Ulster Memorial Tower in memory of 36 (Ulster) Division. Last time I visited the Ulster Memorial Tower a film crew was filming a documentary with Ludovic Kennedy. Imagine my surprise when on this visit, Paul Atterbury (Antiques Roadshow expert) and his wife Chrissie were sitting at a table outside the cafeteria. I sat down next to him and chatted and asked him what he was doing here; he replied that he and his wife organise Battlefield walking tours where they walk 50km in 3 days. How thankful I was that we had a coach to ferry us around!
We then travelled to Theipval, which is an amazing place, we stopped in Albert for lunch where some people chose to visit museums and explore underground tunnels. Delville Wood was our next stop. This is the South African memorial, which has the most amazing etched windows and many bronze panels depicting South Africa’s role in World War 1.
Our final stop was at Guillemont Road Cemetery where we were shown the spot where Noel Chevasse was awarded his first Victoria Cross; his second VC was awarded posthumously whilst fighting at Passchendaele where he died of his wounds.
On Friday after breakfast we left the Hotel Mercure and stopped at Etaples, which became the largest British Military Base with an extensive complex of hospitals. 10,700 personnel are buried here from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK and India. It is the final resting place of 20 women including nurses. By the latter part of war more than 2,500 women were
serving at Etaples Base. It was at this cemetery that QA’s laid wreaths and The Reverend Stephen Cooke read a sermon.
This was a fabulous week and I am sure I speak on behalf of all those who attended that Lt Col (Retd) Marjorie Bandy and Captain Pete Starling did a wonderful job in organising the event and all the hard work which went into it and we thank them both.
Major (Retd) Patsy May
Patsy May, Paul Atterbury and Sue Shrimpton