Today is Remembrance Day in the UK, and yesterday was Armistice Day, both falling on the same Weekend.
A time for reflection, and a time to remember those who gave their lives so that we can live the lives we live today.
But this year is special in a number of ways; it is 100 years since women joined the armed forces, it is 100 years since the battle of Passchendaele, and on a more personal level, it is the first Remembrance Day Parade that my eldest daughter has attended as a member of The Brownies. Today, she marched as part of the units commemorating the fallen at the Stoke Remembrance Parade at Stoke Minster. My youngest daughter was there too, "marching" in the crowd, but as a member of The Rainbows, and too young to participate, her time will come.
Click on the photos below to reveal a Slideshow of the images:-
WHO are The Heasman household remembering?
Today, we are remembering Grandad Melton and Grandad Heasman.
Grandad Melton was a driver in the British army, serving in the Far East during WW2. He was captured by the Japanese during the Fall of Singapore, and served-out the rest of the war as a POW at the infamous Changi POW Camp, from where slave labour was supplied to build the Burma Railway. He survived the ordeals that he faced, returning to the UK, but died when I was 2 years old. I have visited Changi during the "Orient 92" deployment aboard HMS Invincible, details of which can be read in my book, "Beyond the Waves: My Royal Navy Adventures."
Grandad Heasman served in the army during WW1 (2/24th County of London Battalion - The Queens). Initially fighting in Greece, he was deployed to the lesser known battlefields of Egypt, Palestine and Gaza, capturing and defending Jerusalem (not on his own though - others helped). Towards the latter stages of WW1, he was sent to the battlefields of northern France and Belgium, where he was awarded The Military Medal. I do not know the exact details, but word is, he ran into "No-Man's-Land" under fire to rescue a fallen Officer.
During WW2, he served as a Firefighter in and around the Ruislip area, also covering central London during The Blitz. Between wars, he also found time to play Rugby Union for The Wasps team (originally from north London, nowadays based near Coventry).
We remember you, and ALL who fell for our futures, on this SPECIAL DAY.
"Beyond the Waves: My Royal Navy Adventures" on sale NOW.
SPECIAL OFFER ending at 2300Hrs today (12th November 2017) - Kindle format - ONLY 99p.