Stranton Cemetery Remembrance Day Saturday 8th November 2014
Photographs taken by Andrew Henderson
Copyright Anna McCarthy
PASSAGE DONATED BY PAUL MOORE SNR.
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, ...
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, ...
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
PHOTOGRAPHS DONATED BY PAUL MOORE SNR
PASSAGE AND PHOTOGRAPH DONATED BY IAN MALCOLMSON
The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass He hoped his shoes were shining, Just as brightly as his brass. ... 'Step forward now, you soldier, How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other cheek? To My Church have you been true?' The soldier squared his shoulders and said, 'No Lord, I guess I ain't. Because those of us who carry guns, Can't always be a saint. I've had to work most Sundays, And at times my talk was tough. And sometimes I've been violent, Because the world is really rough. But, I never took a penny, That wasn't mine to keep Though I worked a lot of overtime, When the bills got just too steep. And I never passed a cry for help, Though at times I shook with fear. And sometimes, God, forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears. I know I don't deserve a place, Among the people here. They never wanted me around, Except to calm their fears. If you've a place for me here, Lord, It needn't be so grand. I never expected or had too much, But if you don't, I'll understand. There was a silence all around the throne, Where the saints had often trod. As the soldier waited quietly, For the judgment of his God. 'Step forward now, you soldier, You've borne your burdens well. Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets, You've done your time in Hell.' Author Unknown~ |
Copyright Iain Doherty
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Many thanks to George Ford Many thanks to Gerald Oliver
I hope you don't mind me posting this since it is from Thiepval and not Hartlepool but it has a great significance for me. There were French as well as British graves and the names of many thousands who gave their lives during that awful battle which produced 64,000 British casualties on the FIRST day. Many of the graves had no names. There was one significant difference between the French graves of unknown soldiers and those of the British. The French graves had simply one word, inconnu - unknown. The British said 'Known unto God'. On that cold, wet October day when I visited Thiepval it just seemed to me, as a practising Christian,that there was something comforting and hopeful about those warriors being known to God. They are not forgotten or unknown to Him.
Many thanks to Ray Trench for the passage and the photographs above
Many thanks to Stephen Parker copyrighted
Many thanks to Tony Wascoe
Many thanks to Jim Robson for the following 4 photographs captured Sunday 9th November
Added by Gary C. Bradshaw November 9th 2014Added by Iain Doherty Nov 9th 2014Added by Helen Guerin Butler Nov 9th 2014Added by Michael Evans 9th November 2014As its remembrance weekend I thought it be nice to share or images of family and history of people from the town.
This is my Great Great Grand farther Barton Grainger Holdforth. Holdforth Road opposite the hospital was named after him. Added by Darren Bushnall 9th November 2014Added by Alan Welford 9th November 2014
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