Page 32 - QARANC Vol 20 No 1 2022

32 The Gazette QARANC Association
A week representing the Royal British Legion
Corporal Gillian McDougall QARANC 208 (Liverpool) Field Hospital reports on Remembrance 2021, which was also the centenary of the Royal British Legion’s founding
The Royal British Legion (RBL) was established to care for those who had suffered as a result of service during the First World War, and they have been helping the armed forces community ever since.
I am a committee member of the Carlisle and Stanwix branch and each year I place 287 wooden poppy crosses at each commonwealth war memorial (CWM) in Carlisle cemetery. I deliver 35 collection boxes to shops, schools and for house collections within the local villages of Dalston and Raughton Head.
The ground has been laid out, and the chapels and lodge erected, according to plans furnished by the Messrs Hay, of Liverpool, in the Elizabethan style – the buildings are of red brick and is situated about a mile from the city centre, and the view from
it commands a circuit of not less than 50 or 60 mountains (of the Pennines and the Lakes district).
In the foreground appear the Cathedral and other churches within the city and the tower of the Castle. People often ask me why I can spend so much time in here. It is tranquil and thought gathering, no two days are the same watching the sun rising over the Pennines to watching the sun setting over the Solway.
In 2021, as the RBL celebrated 100 years I decided I would like to do something special for the RBL at Carlisle cemetery, which has become almost my extended back garden.
With another lockdown and a friend Carl Littleton who I met whilst he was cleaning all 287 CWM with a toothbrush and water, I suggested it would be lovely to have all army personnel who were mentioned on a headstone recorded in some way.
Within weeks my project started to come together. My idea then became a reality and I then realised that my 287 crosses that usually takes me four hours to do was going to take a lot longer than usual. Carl carefully drew maps and marked each headstone I took the photos for easier recognition.
I thought of creating a field of wooden crosses, however when I was informed of the cost, I realised I needed to think of something different and that’s when the wooden tommie’s carved as a tribute to the fallen came into mind. I asked the Men in Sheds workshop at Caldbeck, a village on the edge of the Lake District if they would roll with the idea of 100 tommies for 100 years of the RBL.
The silhouettes were placed round theWW1 memorial in Carlisle Cemetery for 11 November. The figures were made from Plywood and then painted and varnished.
I took annual leave to attend Remembrance Day as the schoolchildren from within Carlisle and surrounding areas were attending the parade and placing wreaths.
It was an honour to be able to represent 208 Field Hospital whilst standing at the cenotaph in the city centre at 11am before speaking to the children over tea and biscuits then onto my home ground for 1.15pm at Carlisle Cemetery. Then on Sunday the RBL were again in the city centre before going to Rickerby park for another service.
Members of the Carlisle and Stanwix branch of RBL were invited to afternoon tea with the Mayoress as a thank you for all that the Legion does. She gave us a history tour of the Civic Centre before photos, and afternoon tea was served.
QARANC dates for your diary
20 May 2022 21 May 2022 10 Jun 2022 10 Nov 2022 13 Nov 2022
Chairs & Secretaries meeting, Cardiff
Reunion Lunch, Cardiff
CPD & Celebratory event (75th) at the National Memorial Arboretum Field of Remembrance, Westminster Abbey
RBL Cenotaph Parade, London