This is for my husbands Grandfather Roland Kenneth Palmer, Abergavenny Regiment and later The Machine Gun Corps WWI.  This is for the same man in WWII, a Ship’s Captain for Elder Dempster and running the gauntlet of German submarines to get parts and raw materials in and out of the beleaguered UK ports.  Torpedoed and ship wrecked off the coast of West Africa in 1942.

[Roland Kenneth Palmer 1899 – 1977]

This is for my husbands Gt Uncle, Ernest William Palmer, Signalman RN, WWI, who’s three WWI medals and his Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal awarded in 1928, are my most treasured family history posessions.

[Ernest William Royal Naval cadet standing top left, Roland Kenneth standing top right]

This is for my husbands Gt, Gt Grandfather James Clark RN for his efforts on board HMS Edinburgh during the Crimean War.  And for four generations of the Clark family and three generations of the Grant family for their Royal Naval/Coastguard duties in protecting the shores of the UK from 1810 – 1891

This is for my Grandmother’s first husband, William Dobson Donaldson, fallen at Ypres in 1917.

For my own two brothers for their time spent in The Royal Airforce in the 1980’s.

And for countless generations of my family before me for their for their sacrifices in the coal mines of Durham, Northumberland and Lancashire helping to build the Empire and fueling the nation during times of strife.

 

“Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth; Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust; Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace; Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe” – Satish Kumar