Staffordshire 7 - Alrewas/the National Arboretum/ General Slim and the Forgotten army/The Burma Star/shot at dawn

---

Life's a funny old thing isn't it? My thought of the day said something like " Feel good, be good and do good" All laudable things to do. Do I feel good? Yes I suppose I do. The first day of official Spring has arrived and with it better weather . It is hard not to feel good when the sun has started to shine, the clocks have changed to British Summer Time and the hedgerows are starting to colour up with that fresh Springlike lime green. The snowdrops have gone over and been replaced by the pale mauves of the crocus; they in turn have given over to nodding yellow daffodils and thick white buds on the magnolia. It is hard to feel anything but happy. The new Sally Sat Nag seems to be the bees knees and works far more efficiently than her older relative. Suzy was taken for her fridge repair last week. Not the best of experiences due to the time we had to wait to take her in, the time it took to get to Derby in the early morning traffic and the fiasco of getting time off work and having to rearrange a service and MOT on my car. In the end the service centre found nothing wrong with the fridge. The freezer registered minus 5 and the fridge a tad warmer so it seems it is working. The whole thing meant our long awaited trip out in her had to be put on hold. We had planned to go somewhere - Heads we planned to go North to Northumberland. Glenn had been before. I had travelled through but never really stayed over. Tails it was Norfolk. Both of us had been to Kings Lynne and I had stayed on the Broads for a week. In the end we had to give up and instead clean her out, throw away the last of the soft biscuits long forgotten in the cupboard and put the new Crit Aire ticket on her windscreen.

The butterflies in my stomach have become great big stonking hornets buzzing about . Less than 24 days to go and we find ourselves going over our plans . Plan A sorted . Change of mind - resort to Plan B. After consulting the Michelin maps it seems we would be better to travel via Switzerland as this would cost £80 less than the route we had in mind. To do this though we needed a Swiss vignette. Ordered Sunday - arrived Tuesday. Feeling good. We will still stay at Guines and have a meal but our second day might be spent on an aire at Les Islettes . That is assuming we can find space . Third day somewhere in the near to the Swiss border and the next night in Switzerland itself before we head down to Ancona. The hornets are made worse by the worry we might oversleep. We never do. We might get tied up in roadworks or breakdown. It has never happened for some while . We might miss the train. Definately not happened yet but if it did what's the problem? There is always another one. We ordered our italian go box but instead of it being delivered a week earlier to our home address we are trying out the facility to have it waiting for us at Stop 24 the last stop before the Channel Tunnel.

So what of " Be Good and do good"? Well I try my best but sometimes that is not good enough. Good seems to be something that is in short supply .The terrorist attack in London was horrendous. The triggering of Article 50 has sent the EU into overdrive ordering us to pay 50 billions to come out of Europe. Power sharing is in a mess in Northern Ireland. Where we chose to go to today was a strange choice but one that made us think deeply about doing good in our lives.

After the first world war it seemed that every city, town and village lost a large proportion of its young men. Not many families were spared the trauma of losing sons, brothers, uncles and nephews or even friends and work colleagues. In each of those cities , towns and villages cenotaphs and war memorials were erected and the names of the dead carved into them or etched into brass. For many families these became the places they went to where they could grieve for a lost generation. The battlefields of France and Belgium might as well have been on the moon for all the chance they had of visited the actual graves of their loved ones assuming of course that there was a grave to visit. The second world war came round and names were added to the memorials but there was nothing to commemorate or remember the dead from the conflicts in Europe and Asia. The Suez crisis, Palestine, the Falklands, the Gulf Wars and war in Afghanistan came and went and some continue but it seems that names no longer are added to war memorials. No new ones erected and any that are seem to offend some folk . Our visit today was to the National Arboretum an area of what will become forest and woodland filled with memorials set in the heart of England. A large area devoted to remembering the sacrifice of giving of your life for your country and for what you believe is freedom.

We parked out and paid our parking fee of £3 before going in to the shop and the cafe. We sat for a while thinking as you do in a place such as this. The site was first conceived in the 1980's as somewhere people could come to to reflect on the sacrifice made by human beings in a vain attempt to make the world a better place to live in. It was built to commemorate the great sacrifices made by men and women to make the world a free place. It is a charity and set in old gravel workings. It reminded me a touch of the Eden project and long after I have passed on it will continue to grow. The trees will mature and more and more memorials will find their way there. It was peaceful , Birds were singing. It felt a strange place to be. A place without bodies - We are used to cemeteries in France with rows and rows of white grave markers. Here the memorials were empty which made it a different experience but an experience nevertheless.

The first memorial you see is the largest. A white circular quite plain structure set upon a mound. Given the name the Armed Forces Memorial it is a tribute to over 16,000 of service personnel who lost their lives in conflicts or as acts of terrorism since the Second World War. Inside the walls are inscribed with name after name of the dead. More being added each year. Inside are two statues showing aspects of war . At 11 am on 11 November each year the sun shines through two slits in the outer and inner walls of the memorial, casting a shaft of light across a wreath in the centre. The space reminded me of the Menin Gate and other similar large memorials on the continent full of names of the dead. Whatever you think of war it is a place to make you think. From this high vantage point it is possible to see over the site. In every direction monuments stand and invite you to walk around them and see who they represent.

It was a dull day shrouded in mist. A day suitable to walk around such a sombre place. Our second stop was the Polar Bear memorial . The Polar Bear Association Memorial was the first monument and sculpture to be erected at the National Memorial Arboretum. It is a tribute to the 49th Infantry West Riding Division It commemorates the campaign which was fought in the snow The bear was created by the Essex Woodcarvers and took six men a year to carve. Inside the bear is a capsule containing the names of the members of the 49th Division who died, together with relevant letters and documents. Around were many other smaller monuments commemorating different regiments.

In a clearing in the trees was one of the most poignant of monuments entitled Shot at Dawn . During the First World War some 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were shot for desertion or cowardice; the real cause for their offences was often a psychological reaction to the stresses of war which today would be diagnosed as post traumatic stress Shot at Dawn was modelled on Private Herbert Burden, of the 1st Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers who was shot at Ypres in 1915 aged 17. Around his statue were wooden posts. EAch with the name of a soldier shot at dawn.

Walking round we passed the Basra Wall brought back bit by bit from Afghanistan. A monument that seemed to interest many folk who stood in front of it looking at the brass plaques with the names of recent dead. A winged horse Pegasus, memorials to those who died at sea. Memorials to the Royal Air force were hidden amongst the daffodils. A memorial to the Tank Regiment to the paratroopers and the Land Army. Everywhere we looked were small and large memorials to battles we had forgotten about. The Cyprus conflict. The battles for Suez and the Middle East. Many monuments old fashioned in design harking back to previous war styles for monuments. Others starkly modern. Some tiny but other large . Our final stop was the area dedicated to the war in the Far East. This was what I really wanted to see . My father had fought in Burma and had been awarded like many others the Burma Star. A museum told the story of a war set in a forgotten land. Forgotten soldiers and a forgotten leader General Slim. Dad spoke of him with affection. He led his men through fly infested jungles. His men including my dad suffered from malaria and were never the same again. A piece of wall brought back from Changi. Railroad sleepers from the infamous Burma railway. The Burma Star association monument stood at the head of the site.

Walking back we noticed things that we missed on the way round. This is what happens as we walk. Our last stop was the shop where I bought a rather pretty enamel and red poppy which I shall wear with pride . I didnt imagine when I woke this morning that I would be wandering through reminder after reminder of war from 1939 right up to date. Everyone should go and pay respects to thos ewho in their own words gave their todays so we could have our tomorrows.

---

Comments

[Ake Och Emma]

I've seen a few sections of Burma Railway
When I was in Thailand I saw the bridge over River Kwai and Hellfire Pass, both sections of Burma Railway. /Ake

[JenGog]

Burma
Gosh I am seriously impressed . I would love to go to India and Burma - I have photos dating back to about 1941 ish when dad was in Calcutta .