War memorials & military graves

This grave, in common with several others, records a death shortly after the end of World War 1. Newhaven had a military hospital and these deaths may have been of men wounded or who had become sick during the war and who succumbed to their wounds or illnesses after the Armistice.

These figures stand at the back of the wooded cemetery. They are very simple shapes, bare-headed and holding their helmets. Beyond them is one of the many fields of maize, common in the Belgium countryside. The bright sunshine was coming from behind them as they faced into the wooded cemetery, so the resulting photos are not so good. This group of photos was scanned from negatives, with a budget scanner.

In World War 1 this landscape was soon turned into a sea of mud, with the trees reduced to shattered stumps. The strange thing to me was that my mind went back to an earlier conflict on Belgium soil - the Battle of Waterloo. The neat ranks of the ripening maize reminded me of the columns of French infantry toiling up another hill, around La Haye Sainte farm, against the fire of the British artillery.

The inscription tells us that he died at Brighton in 1918. The bottom line says 'France Now here - at rest' which seems to imply that having served in France, he was wounded and died of his wounds in Brighton. The badge at the foot of the cross appears to include a Canadian Maple leaf.

This is a family memorial on the south edge of the cemetery, with the inscription on the right dedicated to the memory of a nineteen year old member.

These two Next of Kin Memorial Plaques were among the possessions of someone who died in Southwark Borough. Without anyone to look after their estate the Plaques passed into the hands of the local authority for disposal. I offered to care for them. The deceased share the surname Davies, but their relationship is not known. It is assumed that there are two poppies, among those around the Tower of London, to remember their sacrifices. If their family recognises their names and can supply details to confirm their relationship, I shall be very pleased to return them to the family.

The survivors of the sinking of HMS Brazen, in a storm off Newhaven, were a party of sailors and marines, who had been put in charge of a captured enemy ship, and so were not on the Brazen when it sunk.

Although the 1939 - 1945 is very prominent, I think it was a later addition, as the top line of the inscription reads 'In thankfulness to God for victory in the Great War'. The lettering style is a little quirky with some of the letters smaller than others and the 'legs' cross over their neighbours.