Lybster is a village on the A 99 in Caithness about 13 miles south of Wick.

Its War Memorial is a granite obelisk situated on the east side of the road. Dedicated to “the men of Lybster and Swiney who fell in the Great European War and the Great World War”:-

Reverse of Lybster War Memorial. World War 2 dedication. Upper list is of World War 2 names, the lower is for the Great War:-

Close-up on names. The obelisk is aslo inscribed with the names of Great War battle scenes, Paschendaele, Beaumont Hamel, Ostend, Festubert, Vimy, Neuve Chapelle, Somme, Zeebrugge, Cambrai, Peronne, Jutland, Marne, Mons, Ypres, Loos.

On the wall behind the memorial is a plaque commemorating the village’s founder:-

Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes (very near) is famous for the codebreaking efforts of its occupants during World War 2.

As a museum though it is so much more. It is one of the best I have ever visited. We spent nearly the whole day there.

And it is not devoted merely to the breaking of the Enigma (and related) WW2 codes.

The recommended route through on our (Covid distanced) trip took us first into the section covering Bletchley Park’s Great War predecessor – the famous Admiralty Room 40.

An amusing exhibit was this one of a magazine Room 40’s denizens produced for themselves to document their activities:-

Room 40’s workers were the “brightest and best”:-

This exhibit lists the members of Room 40 who went on to the Government Code and Cypher School, Bletchley Park’s predecessor:-

I also liked the cover of this book on the Battle of Jutland:-

These document the German Naval bombardment of Scarborough:-

Room 40’s greatest achievement was the decoding of the Zimmerman Telegram:-

Its contents, with its invitation to Mexico to invade the US and promise to reward it with US territory, were the major reason the US entered the war against Germany.

Stonehaven War Memorial sits prominently on Black Hill to the south of the town and is also visible from Dunnottar Castle. The winding path from the castle takes you towards Stonehaven and partly up Black Hill from where you can access the Memorial grounds.

View of Memorial from path leading from Dunnittar Castle:-

Stonehaven from Stonehaven War Memorial:-

Memorial from west as seen from the road back to Dunnottar Castle:-

An information board says the memorial was deliberately designed to look like a ruin to symbolise the lives cut short by the Great War:-

Stonehaven War Memorial from north:-

The external lintels are inscribed with the names of Great War battles, here Jutland, Mons, Ypres:-

From south, Zeebrugge, Gallipoli, Jutland:-

From southwest, Marne, Zeebrugge:-

From west, Vimy, Somme, Marne:-

From northwest, Mons, Ypres:-

This isn’t the sort of view normally associated with fjords. The word usually conjures up images of steep, almost mountainous sides and a narrow waterway.

This however is the Limfjord, which cuts Jutland in Denmark in two. And the countryside by its banks is flat. I thought that perhaps in Danish the word fjord just means inlet. (It seems it does, if you type ‘fjord’ on the ‘Danish’ side of this link. In all the other Scandinavian languages ‘fjord’ translates as ‘fjord’.)

We sailed up the easternmost bit of the Limfjord on our approach to the last stop on the trip, Aalborg, Denmark’s fourth largest city.

A tapering stone obelisk on a square plinth, this War Memorial stands on an expanse of grass by the side of the Firth of Clyde on the south approach to the town. This east facing side of the obelisk is inscribed Maubeuge, 1918, Cambrai, Flanders 1917, Arras.

North face. Column inscribed Somme, Loos, Ypres, Marne, Mons:-

West (sea facing) aspect. Pedestal inscribed with the names of the naval actions at Zeebrugge, Jutland, Falkland, Coronel, Heligoland:-

South face. Inscribed for campaigns outside Europe: Palestine, Salonica, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli, Africa:-

Great War plaque, “The tribute of the poeple of Girvan to those of her sons who gave their lives in defence of their country’s righteous cause in the Great War, 1914 – 1919”

World War 2 plaque, “The tribute of the people of Girvan to those of her sons who gave their lives in defence of their country’s righteous cause in the World-War 1939 – 1945.” Three additional names below:-