|
Contributed by Dennis Williams ex 17 Fld Sqdn R.E. Palestine 1948 was responsible for it, and it now stands in The National Aboretum, Alrewas, Staffs |
| I am sending this on behalf of
Mr G.Webb secretary of Palestine Pals Association.20 Mill Houses.Kings
Lynn.Norfolk.PE30 2BN. (of which I am a
member) as he does not have accesss to the internet,and wishes to bring
to your attention the following details in respect as to how the
Memorial came into being. In Novenber 1997,after several unsuccessful years of trying to find my old mates from the 41st Fld Regt.R.A. I placed an advert in the Gunner Magezine.I received about 6 replies,but unfortunatly still not any from the 41st that I remembered.There was one though, and that was Gerry Burr who was a L/Bdr in 135 Bty, I was in 105, we swapped letters for a short while before he decided to take it a step further,He was not satisfied with just looking for Gunners.He wanted to involve all Palestine Veterans. He set his heart on having a reunion for all us all.He advertised in every paper that he could and went on Radio.I did the same around Norfolk and in July 1998 I travelled down to Bath Abbey in the company of a Sapper and a Royal Sigals chap.We were astounded to find about 1200 people gathrered there.Veterans and guests mixed together and watching faces as they met for the first time in 50 years was fantastic.This was all down to one man`s determination - Gerry Burr.We had a beautiful Sevice in the Abby,conducted strangely enough by the Rector of the Abby,Richard Askew,who had allso served in the 41st but later than us.Having achieved that,Gerry set his heart on two things.One to find a site where we could have a Memorial Stone erected,and two, to find a venue for another reunion.We dicussed what title we adopt,and after many phone calls we settled for Palestine Veterans Association,despite the connotation of its acronym with a well know glue {PVA} this we agreed on.Now to find a site and a venue. I organised a reunion in 1999 for my Gunners Association at Peterborough(many of whom I had met at Bath),and it was there that Gerry met Alan Thomson ex -39th Medium who told him about the Museum at Malton.Gerry wasted no time and was soon on his way up North.The result of that journey we witness every year,and the PVA gets stronger every week according to Nick Hill.Where we now have our own hut(13)dedicated to Palestine. Gerry still searched incessantly for a site to erect a stone, but to no avail.And then out of the blue,I as Secretary of the PPA, received an appeal from the Friends of War Memorial Fund for a donation.I immediately replied stating that it would be great if we Paslestine Veterans had a Memorial of our own.I received a reply from their Director General,Sir Donald Thompson,advising me to get in touch with the National Memorial Arboretum,Alrewas.I wrote off straight away and was pleased to be informed by their Director(Commander David Childs) that he could reserve a site for us between North Africa and Italy,very appropriate.He also sent me some photographs of existing stones for other Regiments.Now we just needed the finance.So armed with these photo`s I attended Eden Camp and,at a meeting called to decide on the future of the PVA,I rather nervously,asked for donations, to my amazement,from a group of about 25 veterans I was handed £150.!! On my return home I sat down to write to the Benevolent Committees of every Regiment and Corps,whom I knew to have been in Palestine.Their response was slow,some requiring more detail, and some were not even aware that their Regiment had lost men out there.It was at this point I decided I needed a committee to make my association look more official. So I asked Lt Col,Vernon Newton OBE to be our President,which he immediateky agreed.Gerry,who served with Lt Newton in 135 Bty,agreed to become Vice - President,I then asked Dr Hugh Davies to become Chairman,which he was delighted to do.I of course remained as Secretary.Steadily the donations rolled in and at the same time Gerry said if we wanted the finest English stone,then Somerset was the place to get it,To go with the stone we needed a plaque.David Childs of the NMA quoted an approximate cost of £122 (this was later changed to £350) for a plaque with the figure of 450 lives lost on it.Gerry had not only found a stone he had also found a lady stonemoson who was prepared to engrave it pictorially. As Gerry and I had been informed that in 1948 alone,the number of those killed was 174, the total of our estimate of 450 for the period 1945 - 1948 inclusive did not seem to be right.Having raised sufficient funds I requested a date from Cdr Childs to dedicate our stone.We both agreed on May 19th 2001.Now we needed the stone brought up from Somerset.Gerry said "Leave it to me"and he and Don Cribb (ex 12th Anti-Tank) and lives at Glastonbury,borrowed a lorry from Don`s son and soon our stone was on it`s way.Both Gerry and Don refused any recompense.On arriving at the NMA they could find no one to help them,and these two,70 odd years of age,unloaded the stone themselves.The area was flooded and so they laid their precious cargo on the ground,propping it up as best they could.It was still not upright on its plinth at the time of the ceremony,due to the condition of the site.I continued to make the necessary arrangements with the NMA.Hiring a Trumpeter (courtesy of Captain Rochford,North Staffs) and a Reverend to dedicate our stone.Derek Windmill,who is now our PPA Chairman,and lives at Ilkeston obtained a suitable wreath for us.The dedication and sevice was attended by approximately 250-300..Back to the stone and the number on the plaque. During my many conversations with senior officers in charge of their respective Regimental Funds.I was advised by a Lt Colonel of the RAEC to contact the Commonweath War Graves Commissioon for a true figure.This I did,and after paying a fee of £20,I was sent a copy of their records for the period 1945-1948 in Palestine.There were 61 pages containing 1120 names,including Foreign Nationals and Palestine Police. It took Kathy and I a week to compile a Roll of Honour, which resulted in a final figure of 784 British and Danish soldiers who are now buried in Israel.I wrote to David Childs,and requested that he hired a firm to change the number for us.As he felt that owing to the vast discrepancy between this new figure,and that of the MOD(231) that we should wait until we heard from them.I replied,rather sharply, that my authority was the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,and not the MOD.He immediately agreed to have it changed but it would cost further £122. When I explained this to one of our members,he immediatly sent a cheque on condition that he remained anonyous,which I agreed.As you can see,the Palestine stone now uprhight and proud on it`s plinth with an adjacent bench seat,(soon to have a counterpart by the Palestine Police) is not the work of one man,although many seem to think it is. |
Museum
Curator : Peter Jordan
© 2002 James Paul & Martin Spirit. All rights reserved. Copyright Disclaimer