War Memorials - Grafton Underwood

  

The village of Grafton Underwood is charming, quiet and small – it has less than 150 inhabitants. But it was not always like this. Back in 1944 Grafton Underwood was the home of a massive American military base. Thousands of servicemen lived here, belonging to the 384^th Bombardment Wing of the 8^th Air Force of the United States Army Air Force. I had been told that there was a fine memorial to the Americans, and knowing from experience that the American military tend to do things in style, I drove into Grafton Underwood with high hopes. They were not to be disappointed.

A signpost in the village pointed towards the American monument. When I pulled up, I found it was a great stone obelisk standing beside the road. A helpful parking layby had been provided. The obelisk records the fact that the first and last bombs dropped during the Second World War were dropped by aircraft flying from Grafton Underwood. Squadron names and badges emblazon the obelisk and the stone pillars nearby, as do pictures of B17 bombers. Impressive as this is, it is only a tiny part of the memorial. The monument is backed by trees. There are hundreds of them, lining the route of the old runway. Each tree was planted to commemorate one of the men who died flying from this base. It is humbling to see them stretching off into the distance.

Having paid my respects there, I returned to the village church to find the stained glass window that also shows one of the B17 bombers. These were the famous “Flying Fortresses”, or “Forts” that equipped most of the American bomber squadrons flying out of England to bomb the German Reich. Far too many of them failed to return. Grafton Underwood is a fitting tribute to those brave men.

 

 

 

 

Brockenhurst War Memorial

Nestled in the New Forest, Brockenhurst as a touching war memorial. The village first erected a temporary shrine for their war dead. When the campaign to build stone war memorials gathered pace, this was replaced by an obelisk in 1921. 

Meanwhile, a large house in the area had been commandeered for use as a war hospital for the Indian troops of the Lahore and Meerut Divisions. In 1916 it was moved to care for New Zealand troops. 

Writing a few years after the First World War in 1923, Lt-Col Myers of the New Zealand Medical Corps described “the delight [patients] exhibited when they found that they were in a hospital which bore the name of their own country, was officered and run by New Zealanders, and above all else, had a New Zealed “atmosphere” permeating its wards and surroundings… The delight of our lads in meeting their old friends in New Zealand hospitals was always evident”.

The hospital consisted of a main tented and hutted section, known as “Tin Town”, together minor medical sections at Balmer Lawn and Forest Park and several auxiliary hospitals in and around Brockenhurst.

Over 21,000 (predominantly) New Zealand casualties were treated at No.1 New Zealand General Hospital between 1916 and its closure at the end of January 1919.  

Sadly all too many of the Indians and Kiwis succumbed to their wounds and were buried in the churchyard, so many thousands of miles from home. There are now 93 New Zealand graves and 6 Indian. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the gravestones and has erected a large stone cross to mark the site.