Regular readers will know of my interest in the Great War.

As a result I could not resist the opportunity to request a book with the title No Man’s Land from ParSec’s latest list for review.

It is written by Richard Morgan, whose work from Altered Carbon onwards I have usually find very good.

From the ARC’s blurb it would appear that this book does indeed take the Great War as its starting point, but being a fantasy will no doubt diverge from there quite quickly.

Barrow’s War Memorial is a cenotaph standing on a hill in Barrow Park.

View uphill from the memorial to a VC winner:-

Closer view:-

Poppy detail by side of steps up to the Memorial:-

Upper detail; crest and inscription “AD 1914-1919”:-

Barrow War memorial plaques. Upper plaque reads, “To the glory of God and in honoured memory of the men of Barrow-in-Furness who fell in the Great War.” Lower plaque reads, “To the men and women of Barrow-in-Furness who died as a result of enemy action 1939-45.”:-

Great War names B W Adams – W Glover:-

Great War names W Gott – JJ Nicholls plus plaque reading, “In memory of those who died in the struggle for freedom.”

The Second World War names are set into the railings surrounding the memorial plinth:-

A photograph of the opening ceremony and details of the figurative cartouches at the corners of the memorial are on this Facebook page.

By the side of the memorial is a Second World War Memorial Bench:-

Just inside the entrance to Barrow Park lies a memorial to William Thomas Forshaw, of the Manchester Regiment, who was awarded a Victoria Cross for his bravery in action during the Gallipoli campaign for over forty hours between the 7^th and 9^th August 1915.

Information board:-

The plaque at Dumbarton Central railway station commemorating the employees of the Dumbarton and Balloch Joint line who were killed during the Great War.

There also used to be a Great War Memorial plaque at Dumbarton East Station but since the station buildings were demolished some while back I have no idea what happened to it.

A memorial in Barrow to the men of two submarines of the Royal Australian Navy, built in Barrow-in-Furness and lost in the Great War.

Submarine AE 1 was lost off Papua New Guinea in September 1914, with all hands.

AE 2 was the first submarine to penetrate the Sea of Marmara in the Dardanelles campaign, where she  was damaged by a Turkish torpedo boat and scuttled by her crew, who were captured. Four died as POWs.

I published my photo of the War Memorial at Fulwell here.

Recently I received a comment on that post from Phil Cockton saying “Look at it now,” so I made a search on the internet.

I found this BBC news page.

I have taken the liberty of copying the photo from it.

The King’s Royal Rifle Corps Memorial on Menin Road, near Ypres (Ieper) Belgium:-

Last Post at Menin Gate, May 2017:-

Thornhill is a village in Stirlingshire.

Its war memorial, dedicated to the men of the Parish of Norrieston, stands on the corner of Main Street and Kippen Road.

Reverse view:-

Dedication plaques:-

A Celtic Cross sited near the Clunie Water:-

Closer view:-

Dedication and names:-

By the time we got to Balmoral it was far too late in the day for a visit. So we just scouted the outside.

Gates to Balmoral Estate. With monograms GR for George V and MR for Queen Mary:-

On the appraoch road from the car park lies a War Memorial unveiled by King George V in 1922.

Note the swastikas (or fylfots) at base of the inscription. These are in a different orientation to the later German swastikas and were good luck symbols.
The names on the upper block are of Balmoral estate employees, the lower ones are for men from the nearby village of Crathie.

Dedication plaque:-