Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Monday May 11th 2015- Windermere

Today we were picked up by the Car Hire Company at 8.45 am and taken to their depot in Kendal to collect our car.
They could not have been any better with their service and by 9.30 am, facing a somewhat cloudy day, we were on our way with our GPS in full control.

Today was going to be big day of almost 200 kms. (120 miles) but it was our opportunity to discover and re-connect with some of our families history ourselves.

We drove to St Mary's church in Whicham to find the gravesite of my uncle Clifford, whose plane (RAAF No.10 Sunderland Flying Boat Squadron) crashed nearby in the Irish Sea. We found the Church and just as we discovered the gravesite, the sun came out for the first time in three days.
It was so fitting that on the exact day of my father's passing, 5 years ago; we were standing here almost re-united in a sense. It was a proud and moving moment as we stood there just taking in the solitude of the church grounds and thinking about the times of yesteryear.
The sun continued to shine the entire time...how fitting.
We had been so glad to have had such a great experience.

In early June 6th 1984, we were up at Lake Ullswater and from there we went down to Whicham.

We were able to find some nice spring flowers in the village of Penrith and so with these…. plus some from the garden where we were staying we had a nice arrangement.. It was a showery and grey day and the roads had changed a little (no.5092), so we arrived around lunchtime.

The little stone schoolhouse next to the church is being restored as a residence. The surroundings looked more cared for. The new headstone seems to have been made from a synthetic material similar to marble, the inscription and lettering is cut sharp and clear and appears that it will weather well.

I met a lady visiting the church and placing flowers for a friend and she told us that a retired Bank manager and his wife now care for the grounds and cut the grass. She also told me about the Armistice Day crosses and said that she would place a flower when she visited the cemetery.

It was a very windy place at times with the wind blowing in from the sea across Whicham Valley. It is also a very quiet place – farmhands and farm houses here and there, most picturesque.