The Memorial is in red sandstone to match the Cathedral behind. It has a hexagonal base of four steps supporting a plinth bearing a cross.

It is inscribed, “Erected by a grateful city in honour of her sons who gave their lives for their country in the Great War 1914–1918. Their names are engraved on tablets of bronze in the Town Hall and their imperishable memory in the hearts of their fellow citizens.”

Inscribed on third tier here, “1939-1945”:-

Third view:-

(I’ve been away over the weekend and so missed posting about Mac Davis and Helen Reddy. More anon.)

Anyway, here are some more photos from our trip to North Wales last September.

Prestatyn stands below a steep hill at the top of which there is a great view over the North Wales coast, looking over to Rhyl on the left with Prestatyn to the right:-

Halfway up the hill there is a house with a balcony containing statues of two lookouts commemorating an RAF observation post there during the Second World War.

Lookout 1:-

Lookout 2:-

Both lookouts:-

Near the top of the hill is the Eagle & Child Inn (also known as the Bird and Bastard):-

The above is not a badly parked car. It’s half a car:-

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:-

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.

Sub-Lieutenant J N W Parish, Royal Navy, HMS Herron, 17/5/1941, Aged 20:-

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

L Serjeant G E Roberts, Royal Welch Fusiliers, 7/12/1940, aged 22:-

M C Hughes, Able Seaman, RN, “HMS Osprey,” 9/10/1942 aged 21:-

Sapper, W H Clover, Royal Engineers, 17/8/1940, Aged 26:-

Corporal J H Williams, Pioneer Corps, 14/11/1944, aged 34:-

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

Private A Atkiss, Pioneer Corps, 27/7/1943, aged 32:-

Hawarden War Memorial stands at the junction of the B 5125 and the A 550 (Gladstone Way) hard by Gladstone’s Library.

It is in the form of a stone column with crucifix in a recess towards the apex:-

Closer view:-

Dedication, “To the praise of God and the glorious memory of the men of Hawarden who gave their lives for their country in the cause of righteousness and freedom AD 1914-1919. Their name liveth for evermore.” Click photo to zoom in on lower dedication:-

The names for the dead of the Great War are mostly on stone panels behind the memorial. Left side:-

Right side:-

Further names are inscribed below the dedication panels:-

More Great War names on left side pillar, World War 2 names beyond:-

Names for 1939-1945, left side:-

Another name (on the extreme left of the Memorial):-

Right hand pillar, World War 2 names beyond:-

Names for 1939-1945, right side:-

Across Gladstone Way there is a Great War 100^th Anniversary Commemoration. The perspex silhouette represents a dead soldier:-

This meme, originating with Judith, Reader in the Wilderness, has now been taken over by Katrina at Pining for the West.

Back in the days of the Cold War spy fiction was a big thing. The two main purveyors of the form – in the UK anyway – were my (sur)namesake Len Deighton (although he pronounces the “Deigh” part to rhyme with “day” rather than “die”) and John le Carré. I also have a le Carré omnibus of his early works shelved elsewhere.

These, too, are housed in the garage, below the last of my SF paperbacks (see last week’s post.)

I have read all the books by Deighton here. His book Fighter is not on these shelves because it’s a history of the Battle of Britain but then Blitzkrieg is also a history book and it is here. Winter is not a spy novel but reflects Deighton’s knowledge of Germany (specifically Berlin) in the first half of the twentieth century. Goodbye Mickey Mouse is a novel featuring members of the US Air Force which took part in the campaign in World War 2 in the lead up to the invasion of Normandy. SS-GB is an altered history set in a Britain where a German invasion of the UK in 1940 succeeded.

I’ve not read all the le Carrés. Spy fiction lost a lot of its resonance when the Cold War ended whereupon he moved on to other things. I always meant to get round to his later stuff but life (and other books) got in the way.