Clustered round Seaham’s War Memorial on Terrace Green are three benches commemorating those who served in the World Wars:-

Close by the War Memorial is this box for the laying of crosses and poppies in remembrance:-

Seaham was once a mining village. A fourth bench rerpresents scenes from mining life. It has struck me that this may be in memory of the Bevin Boys, men conscripted during World War 2, not into the armed forces but to mine coal. Some of these also died during their service but they are not usually commemorated on war memorials. To my mind they ought to be.

Seaham’s War Memorial is also on Terrace Green, near the statue of Tommy.

It’s a Celtic Cross with the column inscribed, “In grateful memory of our fellow townsmen who fell in the Great War and the World War,” and on the plinth, “for past, present and future conflicts.”

From seaward:-

Inscription on the War Memorial’s base. To, “The immortal dead.”

Underneath the “for past” inscription, “1914-1918” (or “1914-1919”) – the wreath obscured the last number:-

Second World War:-

Burnopfield is a village in County Durham, Northeast England. We passed through it on a trip to see Gibside last year and happened on its War Memorial by the side of the road. A granite obelisk, on first sight the memorial seems to be for the Great War only but there are World War 2 names on it:-

Dedications. “In thankful recognition of the men who gave their services and in grateful memory of those who gave their lives in THE GREAT WAR. Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. Erected by the people of Burnopfield and District.”:-

Whitburn is a small village just to the north of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. The War Memorial – for Marsden District – is a granite obelisk.

Great War Dedication. The names below – obscured by wreaths – will be for World War 2:-

Memorial from east:-

Reverse of Memorial:-

Marsden District Dedication:-

Memorial from west:-

Tynemouth, as its name suggests, lies at the mouth of the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, Northeast England, on the river’s northern bank.

Its War Memorial is situated in a small park-like area between Huntingdon Place and Front Street, Tynemouth’s War memorial has an unusual construction with four curved columns built of granite. The facing column has a downward pointing sword piercing a wreath with, below, the inscription, “To the glory of god and in memory of our fallen 1914 -1918 1939 – 1945.”

West aspect. I assume the upper names are for the Great War and the lower for World War 2:-

North aspect:-

East aspect:-

So, Vera Lynn has died.

I suppose it’s too much to hope that that will mean the Second World War is finally over and will no longer be invoked by those trying to make some spurious point about contempoorary life. It was 75 years ago after all.

Oh, well.

A flavour of this sentiment colours this Pink Floyd Track from The Final Cut.

Pink Floyd: Vera

Perhaps not, then.

Lynn is repeatedly referred to as the Forces’ Sweetheart but I have it on good authority that isn’t quite true – at least for the rank and file. When she was on tour giving concerts she spent most of her time with officers. As a result, more popular among the ordinary soldier was the much lesser heralded Anne Shelton.

Still, print the legend, eh?

But at least Lynn didn’t forget the Fourteenth Army and actually visited Burma.

Most people – not least the BBC – no doubt opted for We’ll Meet Again to mark her passing. This one’s slightly less sentimental.

Vera Lynn: A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square

Vera Margaret Lynch (Vera Lynn;) 20/3/1917 – 18/6/2020. So it goes.

Victory!

Today is Victory Day. In Russia the end of the Second World War in Europe (what Russians call the Great Patriotic War) is celebrated on May 9^th, not the May 8^th VE Day we know. The Soviet Union, as it then was, was the country that both suffered the most in that war (26.6 million dead) and also did the most to defeat Nazi Germany on the ground.

I’ve seen it suggested that the German surrender to the Allies in the West came late in the evening so that it was one day later in Russia. However that surrender to Eisenhower understandably somewhat miffed the Soviet Union which wanted a surrender of its own, which duly happened the day after, to Marshal Zhukov in Berlin. So May 9^th is Victory Day, ДЕНЬ ПОБЕДЫ (DEN’ POBEDY.)

It is celebrated every year but there were special plans for this year’s 75^th anniversary. As elsewhere, coronavirus put a hold on those.

Just off Nevsky Prospekt, St Petersburg, last year, we found this memorial garden:-

Beyond the tulips in front of the protruding wing of the building the Russian word for VICTORY was picked out in hedging beside a red star. ПОБЕДА:-

Beyond the gates and off to the right was this modern building which was displaying Victory Day banners. My reading of Cyrillic is much too insufficient to decipher what sort of exhibition was taking place inside:-

In the centre of Vosstaniya Square, St Petersburg, is the Leningrad Hero City Obelisk erected in 1985 to commemorate the fortieth Anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over German forces in the Great Patriotic War (World War 2.)

Another connection of St Petersburg to the Great Patriotic War is the old trams which still ply the city’s streets along with more modern counterparts. Despite their rattling and rolling the city’s inhabitants venerate the old models as they kept going all through the siege of the city.

St Isaac’s Cathedral, St Petersburg, dominates St Isaac’s Square.

Cathedral from St Isaac’s Square:-

The equestrian statue of Tsar Nicholas 1 which lies in the middle of St Isaac’s Square was shrouded in panelling when we were there, undergoing refurbishment, so I have no photos of my own of that.

Cathedral from west:-

The Cathedral has a pair of massive decorated doors:-

And two decorative friezes:-

I also found this small restrained memorial to the Great Patriotic War (World War 2) by one of the Cathedral’s massive pillars, each of which is a single block:-

I was glad to have gone to St Petersburg in early May. This is the time of year when Russia remembers the great sacrifices it – and the Soviet Union of which it was a part – made during World War 2 (which in Russia is known as the Great Patriotic War.) It is salutary to think that without that sacrifice the war against Germany would have been a much greater struggle for the Western Powers than it was. It is not too great a statement to make that the war in Europe was in fact won by the Soviet Union.

Britain’s contribution to overcoming Nazi Germany is much over-estimated by many in these islands. It really amounted to not losing – or at least not admitting to, and therefore not giving up. From the Normandy landings onwards it was even overshadowed by the US (which of course – British victories at Kohima, Imphal and Burma notwithstanding – won the Pacific War more or less by itself.)

St Petersburg in early May 2019 was covered in banners commemorating the Victory Day in 1945.

1945-2019 Remembrance. (Unfortunately seen through rainy coach windows):-

Corner of Palace Square:-

There are 1941-1945 banners in front of this building in Palace Square:-

Close-up view of banner:-

More banners in Palace Square. (St Isaac’s Cathedral in distance):-

1941-1945 Remembrance Banner, Nevsky Prospekt, St Petersburg:-