| Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 | |
11 11 11Interest forums / Older Travellers | ||
Unlike last year, when I had the Commonwealth War Cemetery to myself, the British Embassy decided to hold the 2010 Remembrance Ceremony on the correct day. Maybe it was the "moving on" of the previous ambassador and several key members of her entourage (about whom I had complained on various occasions) had something to do with it? But today, I was late. Having tried twice to ascertain from the Embassy the details for the occasion, and then received an automatic "out of office" email from the FCO, an Australian friend gave me the news. The school accepted my need to absent myself and a cover teacher was arranged (did they have any option?). The transport was duly booked for 1030. The 5 minute journey should not prove a problem ..................hmmm,.............; in Sudan? As the official representative of the school I was informed that a wreath would be ready to escort me - nice touch. This morning, as the bell rang to herald a break for 750 screaming kids, I went to the Principal's office to find an enormous circle of mixed lilies, carnations and lilacs awaiting; with not a poppy in sight. It took one of our support staff to get the thing to the bus and we set off, myself and a new driver that I had not yet met, 10 minutes late once he had negotiated the exit. The Khartoum traffic, a mad crush at the best of times, was greatly enhanced by hundreds of city workers preparing to enjoy the biggest celebrations of the Muslim year - Eid al Adha, when every family emulates the belief of Abraham by slaughtering a goat and then pigging out for days on greasy goat meat. We lurched and honked our way, the driver in silent concentration, until he suddenly spoke out above the din: So, I attracted the the complete curiosity from the many supporters on my arrival, as the service had begun. Having almost tripped over the huge wreath I leant it against a handy tree that stood, by the side of a member of the Special Forces (you can't miss them; white shirt, black suit and shades, crewcut and bulge under the armpit): A yound man thrust an order of service in my hand, a pretty lady gave me a chilled bottle of water and I turned to wander along the red carpet to the gathering, arriving in time for the end of the bishop's prayer (nothing missed there, then). Next, a disembodied voice invited us to retire to the cenotaph that stands midfield' and I positioned myself, with retrieved wreath from the smiling member of "The Boys", at the tail end of the several red, white, blue and, from Nigeria, green wreaths. Protected from goodness knows which kind of terrorists might decide to invade Khartoum at 1100 on this day, by several SAS and SBS-types, by dozens of boys sporting the UN blue berets and a hundred of Sudan's finest, we stood to attention as a trio of buglers attempted the Last Post. For their efforts they would have been on permanent jankers in my day. Two minutes of silence was well-acknowledged by the 200 guests from across the globe, and I had the opportunity to ponder the occasion, the sacrifice, the peaceful tranquility of where so many young men lie in eternity. Muffled drum rolls now followed the progress of the dignitaries as they advanced, laid their floral offerings, stood respectfully and then retired to the 4 corners. The final three set off, the other 2 beating me hands down as I fought through the clinging grass to retain my balance and dignity, and to stop the damned circular market garden from collapsing under its own weight. Placement, a step back, a smart naval salute (THAT got them wondering!) and I retired to where I had chucked my bottle. Behind me the colonel in charge of the defence of the small square of Great Britain that is the FCO's outpost, politely offered: While the herd galloped for the coloured liquids in the shade, I turned to a grave whose naval badge I had espied. The poppy, rather battered now from a month in my buttonhole, was eased to its own final resting place in the soil before the stone that announces the death in action against the "Mad" Mahdi, aboard the sloop HMS Dolphin, in May 1888, of one Steward G Borgia . Killed fighting for the Freedom of what he believed to be the greatest Empire on Earth; here, in the Sudanese sun; he is remembered. Have a nice Armistice Day. Dave | ||
Thank you Dave. Much appreciated Rory | 1 | |
Very much appreciated | 2 | |
Thank you Dave. | 3 | |
You seem to have a fair Canuck following here Dave. Today is a pretty important day and I intend to make sure it stays that way. This is our first Remembrance Day without a World War I veteran. An interesting bit of Canadian history: The first canadian to be awarded the Victoria cross was a black man who was awarded the cross for actions in the relief of Khartoum. I'll have to make sure that is correct now but I'm pretty sure it is correct. | 4 | |
Wenceslasz, you might be interested in this: Some Canadian VC Firsts * The first Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross was Alexander Roberts Dunn after his heroic deeds during the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in 1854.The first Canadian Naval Victoria Cross, with a blue ribbon, was awarded to William Hall, serving with the Naval Brigade from HMS Shannon during the Indian Mutiny. Hall was, incidentally, also the first Black to receive a VC.* * The first Canadian Air Force VC was won by Captain William Bishop after an attack on a German airfield in 1917. * The oldest Canadian to win a Victoria Cross was Captain Fred Peters RN, of Charlottetown, PEI who was 53 when he lost his ship attempting to force the boom defenses of Oran Harbour in 1942. * Timothy O’Shea was awarded the only Victoria Cross to be earned in Canada. * The youngest Canadian, and only Newfoundlander, to win the VC was 17 year old Thomas Ricketts who distinguished himself at Ledeghem, Belgium in 1918. * The last Canadian VC was that of Robert Gray from Trail, BC who gave his life to sink a Japanese destroyer in August 1945. * The last surviving Canadian VC recipient was Ernest ‘Smokey’ Smith who earned his Cross fighting Germans along the Savio River in Italy in 1944. He is probably also the only VC winner who had to be kept in jail the night before he received his award. Smokey died in August 2005 at the age of 91 and was accorded a full military funeral. Dave | 5 | |
Nothing at all to be embarrassed about. The great thing is that their names have been brought to public attention once more. Dave | 6 | |
After I posted my two cents I went and realized I should have checked my facts first. So I find myself embarrassed at how wrong I was. It was William Hall I was referring to and I must have read he was "one of the earliest" and not that he was first. Sorry about my inaccuracies. Of some interest was another Canadian pilot in WWI Barker. He had been ordered away from the front and took a last flight, in the air he came across a flight of German planes and in the dogfight that ensued he was wounded multiple times, faced off with a total of 60 German planes, shot down 5, crash landed and lived to tell about it. I have a late photo and autograph from Smokey Smith taken a couple years before he died. He was pretty modest about the award and didn't feel that he had done anything special. | 7 | |