Portland stone headstones but not usual Commonwealth War Graves Commission shape.

Squadron Leader M E Le Gallez, RAF, 22/4/1962, aged 41 – outwith wartime and Charles Arthur Coatman, 17/7/1942, Lands Officer, Air Ministry – wartime but not in military:-

More non-war graves:-

But one of them, Sergeant J Lowe, RAF, has an inscription relating to the Battle of Britain. He died on 8/10/1973, aged 53:-

Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth graves:-

Jan Machalek, CET Sergeant, Royal Air Force, 3/8/1921 – 26/10/1942:-

These were in Hawarden cemetery No 2.

J Arcimowicz, Polish Forces, 3/1/1945, aged 19 and S Y J Przybylowic, Polish Forces 6/5/1943.

F Wares, Polish Forces, 19/5/1944, age 26 with, behind, S Sowinski, 1/2/1945, age 27 and W W Jaros, 3/11/1943, age 25.

L A Zozoniuk, Polish Forces, 14/10/1942, age 36, E Novakowski, Polish Forces, 11/8/1946, age 43. In background, to left, R Susalski, Polish Forces, 24/1/1942 age 24. (the above named S Sowinski is behind to right):-

Proof, if it were needed, that we did not stand alone from mid-1940 onward.

These graves were in Hawarden Cemetery no 2, across Crosstree Lane from the previous graves in Hawarden I have featured.

Kingdom of the Netherlands. H W Pronk, 2nd Lieutenant GED RAF, 14/11/1917-2/11/1941:-

Kingdom of the Netherlands. P J Van Boxtel, Sergt, VLG.ML.GED. RAF, 26/1/1921-28/10/1941:-

Towards the bottom of the hill going down from St Deiniol’s Churchyard and bordering on Crosstree Lane are two collections of Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones. All commemorate World War 2, as I recall.

The first is a stitch of two photos to show the layout:-

The second lies beyond the lychgate seen in the first:-

On the way downhill from St Deiniol’s Churchyard, Hawarden I spotted two graves that at first appeared to be of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission type. They were certainly made of Portland stone and had military insignia inscribed on them but their tops were more domed than is usual. Closer inspection revealed that the deaths commemorated lay outside the war years, leading to the thought that deaths in military service outwith wartime may be marked by this slightly different headstone.

Flight Lieutenant M M Restell-Little, RAF, 19/5/1933, aged 33, may still have been killed in service. Alternatively he succumbed to his wounds many years after they were inflicted:-

Sergeant L Foster, RAF, 9/11/1948, aged 45. Below, “Dearest Wife, Ethel, died 23rd June 1988. (Related to the above thought, it is unusual for non-military personnel to be mentioned on a Commonwealth War Grave stone. In fact I think it may be prohibited. It’s not on the stone though, and the grave isn’t in a CWGC cemetery.):-

Moving further away from St Deiniol’s itself, slightly downhill, we found scattered among other graves the distinctive shape of Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones. Usually Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves are well kept – even those in “normal” cemeteries. The ones here were a bit overgrown though.

The lower portion of the above stone commemorates Sub-Lieutenant Parish’s brother, David, Pilot Officer, RAF, lost on operations from Malta, February, 1942:-

Signalman J Dutton, Royal Signals, 14/12/1916, aged 29:-

In St Deiniol’s churchyard, Hawarden, I noticed a sign pointing to a Crimean War grave. Naturally I made my way to it.

Not only was Thomas Ryan, “a native of Kilkenny and late Troop Sergeant Major in HM XVIII Lancers,” present at the Battles of Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol* he was at Balaklava* and was no less than a survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade!

Whom – as his gravestone has it – “God’s high grace saved from death in the memorable light cavalry charge at Balaklava.”

Strictly speaking this is not a war grave as Ryan came back from Crimea and, “took his final discharge on October 20^th 1908, aged 88 years.”

A wonderful thing to come on out of the blue, though.

*As the spellings were then.