As I mentioned before Hebburn Cemetery contains 41 War Graves, from both World Wars.

Serjeant W W Norrie, Corps of Military Police, 27/2/1945, aged 42:-

Lance Corporal W G Nicholson, Royal Engineers, 4/3/1941, aged 30:-

Private J Adair, Durham Light Infantry, 29/9/1942, aged 32:-

Able Seaman A Cottrell, Royal Navy, HMS “President III”, 14/5/1942:-

Private O Ward, The Border Rgiment, 2/12/1940, aged 25:-

J Wilson, Stoker, Petty Officer, Royal Navy, HMS Zephyr, 31/12/1944, aged 27:-

Hebburn, in Tyne and Wear, is a kind of ancestral home for me. My maternal grandmother was brought up there before her parents moved to Glasgow where she met my grandfather.

It’s a fairly typical north of England post-industrial town. I didn’t spot any Art Deco there, though.

We did pass a cemetery with the Commonwealth War Graves sign. This was Hebburn Cemetery. At the centre of the cemetery is a chapel in front of which lies a war memorial:-

The war memorial is a Cross of Sacrifice on an octagonal plinth. Inscribed round the base of the upper plinth, “Their name liveth for evermore.”

To the left of the memorial as you approach it up the drive is a sculpture named “Poppies in steel,” with a sign saying, “You have done your duty, to honour you is ours” – Friends of Hebburn Cemetery, September 2019.

A war memorial bench is nearby:-

I gather Hebburn’s main War Memorial is elsewhere. Looking at the aerial view in the link I see it’s actually close to the cemetery. Maybe next time we’re down there.

Our friend, who grew up in Roker, (yes where the famous stadium was situated) took us to local landmark St Peter’s Church, Monkwearmouth, one of the oldest in England, which is associated with the Venerable Bede of whom I read once that he astonished his contemporaries by being able to read without sounding out the words. (Or was that St Augustine?)

West Door (now not used):-

Side view. The stone courses on the ground mark out the original extent of the church buildings:-

Model of St Peter’s Church, Monkwearmouth, plus Viking Longship:-

Ceiling above chancel:-

Stained glass window, and altar:-

Roll of Honour:-

Effigy of Baron William, builder of nearby Hylton Castle. The Hyltons were one of the Great Families of the Parish as in the notice:-

The Hilton effigy information:-

In Sunderland City Library and Art Centre were two war memorial items.

125th Tank Regiment Roll of Honour:-

A Great War memorial bowl inscribed for Private G W Micklin, Durham Light Infantry, missing 26/9/1915, and, “He answered his duty,” with some Sunderland lustre ware behind:-

Just behind the Memorial Wall in Sunderland’s Mowbray Park lies a Veterans’ Walk.

Veteran’s Walk Plaque:-

Veteran’s Walk information notice:-

An additional curiosity in the park is this statue of a walrus beside the pond:-

Between Sunderland War Memorial and Mowbray Park a memorial wall has been erected to commemorate those who have served in conflicts since the Second World War and to honour Sunderland’s post-World War 2 fallen.

The first section commemorates non-combat deaths in war:-

The rest of the wall is a sobering reminder of the many conflicts in which British soldiers have lost their lives since 1945.

Palestine and India:-

Malaya and the Cold War:-

Korea and the Canal Zone:-

Kenya and Cyprus:-

Aden, Radfan and Suez:-

Borneo, Northern Ireland and Oman Dhofar:-

Falkland Islands and Gulf War:-

Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone:-

Afghanistan and Iraq, plus Ode of Remembrance:-

Sunderland’s War Memorial lies just off the road which runs past Mowbray Park. It’s a granite column topped by a bronze figure of Victory. The dedication is, “”A tribute to our glorious dead.”

Its west aspect bears the Great War dedication, 1914-1918:-

From north:-

From east. Second World War dedication, 1939-1945:-

In the Park, near to the Memorial is a Memorial bench:-

Our friend in the North(east) – well it’s actually well south of Son of the Rock Acres – lives just north of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in a village called Whitburn whose War Memorial I featured here. That itself is just north of Fulwell, which I gather is part of Sunderland and where his friend (who now lives in Markinch and through whom we got to know him) used to live.

Since she is well aware of my interest in War Memorials she made a point of taking us to see the one in Fullwell. She remembered it as being upright but it is now set on the ground inside a stone enclosure in a small park area. It bears only Great War names.

Plaque with dedication, “To perpetuate the memory of the men of Fullwell who fell in the Great War 1914 – 1918.”:-

Bishop Auckland‘s War Memorial lies in Market Place, a very short walk from Auckland Castle. It is inscribed, “1914 – 1919. To the men of Bishop Auckland who fought and fell in the Great War their fellow citizens have erected this memorial,” with below, “1939 – 1945. In memory of those who in a later generation made the same sacrifice as those to whom this memorial was erected.”

Bishop Auckland War Memorial from west (Auckland Tower – part of the Auckland Project – behind. Unfortunately it was too windy that day for us to be allowed access to all of the Tower but it is possible when conditions are calmer.) This side of the Memorial is inscribed, “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends,” with the additional dedication below, “1950 – 1953. In memory of those who gave their lives in the Korean War.”

From North. The inscriptions read, “God made trial of them and found them worthy of himself,” and, “2001 – 2004. In remembrance of those who gave their lives in the Afghanistan conflict.”

War Memorial from east. Inscribed, “The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God,” with, below, “1982. In remembrance of those who gave their lives in the Falklands conflict.” The entrance to Bishop Auckland’s magnificent Mining Art Gallery – also part of the Auckland Project – can be seen to the right here:-