Monday Mourning ~ A Pair of Angels

For King and Country

Here are two war grave markers from the same family and they span both the First and Second World Wars, the main headstone would have been chosen by the family and depicts a fallen soldier, the crown above it can symbolise the sovereignty of the Lord and may also denote a Christian Martyr. The two letters at either side of the relief are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Omega - the Beginning and the End.

The front headstone has come from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and this uniform shape and style, ensured that all those who gave their life for their country, would be remembered equally.

  

Main headstone

Greater Love hath no man than this

that a man lay down his life for his friends

To the memory of 

Alan Tweedie-Smith Lieut. 1st Queens Royal West Surreys

who was killed at the battle of Loos, France

on the 13th October 1915

aged 21 years

and of

Douglas Tweedie-Smith Lieut. Royal Flying Corps

who died on 10th day of April 1916

after an aeroplane accident at St. Omer, France

aged 19 years

Front headstone

Captain J. P. Tweedie-Smith

'Val'

The Essex Regiment

7th February 1940 age 32

~ the J.P. stand for John Percival ~  

Dancers

Southend-on-Sea, Essex

Chelmsford, Essex

Monday Mourning

Southend-on-Sea

To My Dear Ones.

In loving memory of my all.

My darling daughter

Enid Marjorie Griffin

aged 20 who passed away Jan. 1st 1920

and my dearly beloved husband

George Hudson-Griffin

aged 53 who passed away Jan 6th 1920

'A little while and we shall meet again'

Anchors

On my recent trip to the cemetery at Southend-on-Sea, I noticed quite a few Anchor memorials, in fact I noticed more here than perhaps you would see elsewhere.
At the time, I just assumed that as we were by the coast, there would for obvious reasons, be a larger number of sea-faring folk buried here and the Anchor would represent their connection with the sea.
I have since found out, that the Anchor is a symbol of Hope and assurance that the person awaits safely in heaven.


However, I did find a Master Mariners grave........

that belongs to Master Mariner John Page, whose headstone says that he died 'of pneumonia after only three days of illness' at the age of 55 years on 2nd April 1900.

The Anchor above is in memory of Ronald James Hockley, who lost his life on board P&O S.S. Baradine in Syndey Harbour on 26th Sept 19?? aged 18 years.

The S.S Baradine was a secondary one-class service to Australia via Cape Town and offered departures every two weeks. By 1926, the third class emigrant trade was collapsing, and in 1929 the route via Capetown was abandoned. The ship was scrapped in 1936 after only 15 years in service.

Was poor Ronald a passenger or a member of the crew ?

Another Anchor below is for William George ( Boy ) Chorvil, born 15th Aug. 1915 who died aged 8 years on 21st Jan. 1923 and also his twin sister, Marjorie Florence Chorvil who died aged 17 years on 7th March 1932. Her epitaph says that she 'Attained her desire' - 'God rest their sweet souls'  

Ghostly Trees

The trees lining the avenues in Sutton Road Cemetery, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, appear a ghostly white, with their branches stripped bare of any foliage and incased in a shroud of white caterpillar silk, which has the texture of cling film. The trees look like a snow covered scene from the Chronicles of Narnia, but this is June and the summer sun is shining.     

It's all due to the work of the work of the Bird cherry tree ermine moth, which has cocooned the trees for the protection of the caterpillars ~ known as web worms ~ until they become adult moths.

An entomologist in the area said that it has happened before on a much smaller scale, but this year has obviously had perfect conditions for them and that the overnight spectacle would be a once in a lifetime occurrence. He said the reason they have covered the ground and surrounding monuments and benches, is due to them starving and falling to the ground in search of food once the supply of leaves had run out.

The local authority has decided not to spray the trees with anything, but to monitor the progress and the moths are expected to hatch in July.