Page 9 - Who Was Sapper Brown

Foreword by Major General Cripwell,

Commander British Forces Cyprus

It should, I hope, be self-evident that graveyards and gravestones don’t just tell us about death but also tell
us about life. A grave marker doesn’t just tell us the bare facts about an individual, but also, particularly

for servicemen and women, poses the question of why they were in a certain place at a certain time.
The Commonwealth War Graves in Lemnos in the Aegean seem strangely placed until one realises that

Lemnos was the location for hospital ships from Gallipoli. And I defy anyone not to be moved by the
graves of the Pals Battalions in Northern France which mark out with appalling accuracy the locations of

where men died in one morning; from the Regimental Aid Post up to the furthest the Battalion advanced
that day – some 100 metres.

This is an important and timely work by Colonel David Vassallo, not just because it is being written to
meet important anniversaries of the First and Second World Wars, but because it tells us something about

ourselves and the history of the Services in Cyprus. We learn not just that an individual is in a certain
place, but also the context of why that person is there. We can learn about where British Forces have

served and what regiments, ships and aircraft have been here. There are stories of bravery and accidents,
of illness and insurgency and of service to the crown from across the globe. There is a Dambuster, a VC

winner, a GC winner and a Knight. There are graves on their own and a most beautiful Commonwealth
War Graves Commission cemetery in Nicosia and if it is stuck in the UN buffer zone it too is playing

a small part in telling us about our history. Of course this book is not just about service graves but the
whole of our community and the graves of wives, husbands and children tell their own stories. And there

is even room for our enemies of long ago, as there should be.

This is the second history of service life on Cyprus that David has written and I thank him warmly for

the passion, tenacity and care that he has given to this work. I hope my appreciation is self-evident, but
we should all be grateful that he has given so much to a project that ultimately tells us a great deal about

who we are. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it inspires you to follow in David’s footsteps and those who
have gone before us.

RICHARD CRIPWELL

vii