HEROES KNOWN AND UNKNOWN

 Here we are at the end of March! I worked diligently on my latest book until 24th February, when the horror of war interrupted my flow, and for some reason I’ve been unable to revisit the manuscript or update my Blog – until now. 

Let me share with you a few lines from Rudyard Kipling which seem to have found new meaning in the last few weeks. They come from his famous poem ‘If’.

‘If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone.
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’’

These words, written in 1895, so accurately reflect our ability to endure suffering, especially under the terrible cloak of war. There will be many heroes, both recognised and lost, when this 21st century conflict ends.

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'THE FELLING OF THE FAMOUS YEW TREE'

For no particular reason I happened to be browsing through some of my late father’s old photographs, and this one caught my attention. A very special day for my eight-year-old father and his young brother Paul (five) is taking place in the garden of their Rectory home. An old yew tree has been cut down by my grandfather (with other help, I’m sure), and two special visitors have come to enjoy the event, one of whom is an aviator and WWI hero. I estimate the date to be 1918 or 1919, so it’s over 100 years old, a matte black and white affair, just an old family snap. Or so I thought, until I turned it over. On the back my father has written everything he wanted to remember about the occasion, in his careful best handwriting. You will forgive his mis-spelling of ‘Yew’!

The lady on the far right, ‘Mrs Learmount’ and her dog ‘Pongo’ struck me as interesting, because I had never heard anyone in the family mention them – and yet she appears to be enjoying her day with my grandparents and the two small boys (and their nanny), so much so that her husband (the hero) has set up a camera and taken the photograph. Further on in the collection I found another: same day, same people, but no handwriting on the back. 

In the light of the information that Major Learmount must be a hero about whom I should know more, I set to searching for him on the internet. Believe it or not, I did not have to look far to find him! Their grandson David Learmount has a website with an entire section devoted to the history of this remarkable man. He was indeed a First World War hero, and you can imagine how excited those two boys must have been to meet him. To quote David: 'Aviation was so new, and most people had never – or hardly ever – seen an aeroplane. It was only ten years earlier that Louis Bleriot had flown the channel and crashed on grass near Dover Castle, but having completed that simple flight he achieved absolute rock-star status in Britain, let alone France.'

I contacted David and we are now exchanging ideas about the possible connection between our families. The website is most interesting and I am adding a link to it at the end of this post – it’s well worth a look. Incidentally, neither David nor his family had ever seen or known about the photographs, but he was able to add the information that his grandparents married in May, 1918 so we estimate the date of the photos to be perhaps a few months after then or early in 1919. 

There is a lesson to be learnt from this: always label your photographs! My father began doing so at a young age, and continued the habit throughout his life, even making odd notes on the card surrounds of slides.

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Our pear tree is in full bloom and the garden has benefited from a couple of weeks of warm, dry weather. This has enabled us to carry out many of the tasks which sometimes get overlooked at this time of year because of bad weather. I just hope the pear blossom survives the cold which has been forecast for later this week, or it will suffer the same fate as last year when it was all burnt off by the frost. I think you will agree, though, that the tree is worth having for the beauty of its blossom alone, and forget about the pears!

I have read a number of books over the past couple of months, some of which were fairly mediocre and do not deserve recommendation. Two others stand out. I’ve just finished ‘The Man in the Bunker’ by Rory Clements (who usually sets his books in Tudor times) – an interesting take on Hitler’s possible survival in 1945, not for the faint-hearted, but a good and enjoyable ‘yarn’. I am now reading an old book: Margery Allingham’s thriller ‘The Tiger in the Smoke’ published in 1952. It’s not the easiest of reads: the style takes some getting used to, but her descriptive narrative is breath-taking and (for an author) enviable. I am only one third of the way through, but captivated by the whole thing.

All for now. Let me know if you have found any good books to recommend, as I’m always on the look-out. Take care of yourselves, stay cheerful and enjoy the Spring weather - when you can!

Here is the link to David Learmount’s website. This link takes you straight to the section about his grandfather, which you need to follow through a number of 'episodes' to reach a photograph of him and his bride, who you will recognise from my photos above. The rest of the website is also extremely interesting for those keen on aviation. https://davidlearmount.com/2021/03/05/leonards-war/