By Mal Butler
The graves of Victoria Cross recipients across the Island were restored by a group of volunteers this week. Four volunteers from the Victoria Cross Trust have spent the last few days on the Island visiting graves and memorials at Ryde, Carisbrooke, Brighstone, Brook, Shorwell, Newport, Chale and Niton.
Among the gravestones which were expertly cleaned were the three recipients of the medal who are buried on the Island, Quartermaster William Thomas Rickard (buried at Ryde), Colonel Henry Gore-Brown (St Mary the Virgin Church, Brooke) and Major General Sir Henry Tombs (Carisbrooke).
The gravestones of a variety of other veterans were also cleaned and, in some cases, up-righted, after the memorials had succumbed to years of battering from the weather.
Keith Lumley, a retired police officer, was part of the team, who were put up at the Veterans Hotel, Ryde, free of charge for their stay.
He said: “We use low-pressure, high-temperature heritage approved equipment to clean the gravestones – it is not a pressure washer. Pressure washers can strip off the lettering on a gravestone, while our equipment is specially designed to do the job properly.
“This particular trip has been 18 months in the making because we have to get permission from the families and the various councils which are involved.
“The Island has a proud military history with three of the five referenced VC recipients buried here. There have been just over 1,300 Victoria Crosses awarded, it’s the highest honour of bravery in the British Armed Forces.
“We have a map of where all our VC winners are buried, mainly in this country, Europe, Africa and the Middle East where we have fought campaigns.
“There are just 10 of us representing the Trust and we travel across the country making sure the gravestones are kept clean. While we are at a cemetery, we will always ask if there are any other service graves which need looking after and we help to tidy these up as well.”
The IW Observer was at Carisbrooke Cemetery to see the men in action tackling the gravestone of Major General Sir Henry Tombs.
Sir Henry won his VC on July 19, 1857, aged 31. At the time he was serving in the Bengal Horse Artillery, Bengal Army during the Indian Mutiny, twice coming to his Lieutenant’s rescue killing enemy attackers on each occasion.
While the group were there, they cleaned up several other graves including the family tombstone of Henry William Taylor, which is also a memorial to his son Corporal Alfred Edgar Taylor who died at Gaza in 1917.
One of the Trust’s patrons is Rusty Firmin is a former SAS soldier who played a significant role in the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege in London. Islanders who would like to make a donation to the charity can use the QR code.
Isle of Wight Observer