Sunday 7 July 2013

Forgotten War Graves Remembered 4

A beautifully sunny day here in Birmingham. Clear blue skies and high temperatures: is summer here at last? Today is also the 70th anniversary of the death of FG Hawkes a Royal Navy motor mechanic. As usual I tidied up the grave, the church's grass cutting programme leaves something to be desired, and left a simple floral tribute.

His headstone inscription is in the first stages of wearing away so I'm glad I was able to record his details. There is also an inscription at the base of the headstone from his parents.

C/MX125272
Motor Mechanic
FG HAWKES
21 years old
Royal Navy
HMS Pembroke

According to wiki HMS Pembroke, as far Hawkes is concerned, could have been any one of four shore establishments:

HMS Pembroke II: an accounting base at Chatham between 1940 - 1957
HMS Pembroke III: an accounting base in London between 1942 -1952
HMS Pembroke IV: an accounting base at The Nore between 1939 - 1961
HMS Pembroke V: a secret base at Bletchley Park between 1941 - 1945

As always any input, comments or help will be gladly received and acknowledged.

All the best.

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4 comments:

  1. Fraxinus7 July 2013 at 22:57

    Most impressed with your care of these war graves my family have looked after PO Michael Mudies grave 615 Sqd killed in the early stages of the Battle of Britain on 14 July 1940 for over 20 years now. The War Graves Commission do repair the inscriptions if its getting bad contact them so they can re engrave it.

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    1. The Dancing Cake Tin8 July 2013 at 00:22

      That's great to hear, Fraxinus. I'd encourage everyone to do the same for local CWGC graves. They tend to get overlooked and, as time passes, few if any of the original family are available to care for them.

      Thanks for the heads up on repair aslo!

      All the best
      James

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  2. Paul8 July 2013 at 12:58

    You are a good man James.Its a fine thing to do.

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    1. The Dancing Cake Tin8 July 2013 at 15:58

      Kind of you to say that, Paul. It needs doing: the church doesn't care, despite getting money off CWGC for the graves' upkeep. Most if not all of their relatives are either dead or don't know. I'd urge everyone to just adopt a local churchyard with CWGC graves and just do what you can.

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