Community
VC Gallery learn ‘Realities of War’
MEMBERS of The VC Gallery attended Pembroke Dock’s Military Cemetery along with students from Pembrokeshire College on Wednesday (May 17), to learn more about the soldiers buried there as part of a project called ‘Realities of War’.
The group were given names on a piece of paper, and then had to find the graves of the people listed. A photography competition was also held, in order to create something beautiful and peaceful.
The Herald spoke to the founder of The VC Gallery, Barry John MBE, who said that the project encompasses photography and art, to be able to get a ‘flavour’ of the loss that pembrokeshire felt during the war.
He said: “We’ve got a huge mix of both veterans of all different ages, as well as young students who are going off to start their careers, and everyone’s got tasks to be able to find and allocate a male or female soldier, or a navy personnel who has died in the firsty or second world war.”
The Herald asked Mr John if he felt it is important that people understand the history of the First and Second World Wars. He said: “It’s so important. Every year we do an art remembrance exhibition and it’s because we want to keep memories alive, and help people understand sacrifice, selflessness, as well as what we have done as a country to provide to war effort.”
The Herald also spoke to Michael Warley from Pembrokeshire College. He said: “We’re working alongside The VC Gallery to help us understand the realities of war, alongside learning about the military history of the area.
“It’s mainly to aid us for our military training. We have exercises in Normandy and Belgium to help us come to terms with the realities fo the job we will eventually be going into, and the realties of conflict itself.
“This project with The VC Gallery is very important and beneficial to the students it supports.”
When asked if he thought people don’t fully understand what happens when people join the army, he said: “To an extent, but with projects like this – visiting memorials and graves – people who may not understand why people join the army or not understand the risks, can come to terms and understand what happens with the job we will do, the sacrifices, the benefits, and the opportunities that open up alongisde the risks.”
Mr John added: “I feel that understanding history before you join gives you a really good balance before you actually take on that job role. The retention of young people going into different job roles within the armed forces, understanding about where they’ve come from, what they’re going to do, and having an understanding about conflict and history and what they’re going to do is really beneficial to them and their families.”
After the students and veterans had a photography competition among themselves, the group were given a tour around the cemetery, and informed of what each person died of. And, interestingly, not everybody there had died whilst in conflict.
Mr John said: “There were so many war casualties that got discharged from the army because of gas attacks, it went into their lungs and they suffered with severe chest injuries. They came home and came back to the local hospitals or went home to their parents or their wives, and they died and were put into unmarked graves or family plots.”
He explained that this represents that they did in fact contributed to the war effort and they suffer terribly, but didn’t die during conflict and instead came back home.
He said: “All of Great Britain has a massive percentage of unregistered war heroes. There were lot of bombs and casualties, and they couldn’t identify people, but in some cases they didn’t know. But, if they did, they would write it in a diary and make a note of it, but unfortunately the people making the notes sometimes died as well, so the information never made it back home.”
The information about the people who had died had come from a relative of Mr John’s, who had received an intriguing family heirloom, that inspired him to start a project that looked into the lives of those who had died.
Mr John said: “A lot of our reference material that we use is derived from a project called the West Wales Memorial Project, set up many years ago by a relative of mine. He got the inspiration because he was given a family heriloom, which was a Bible with a hole in it.
“It was given to keep a soldier safe during the war. This young man went off to Mamets Wood, where 3,000 Welshmen died taking their position, and this young Haverfordwest soldier put the family Bible across his heart.
“But, the snipers were very good at shooting directly into the heart, so as he approached Mamets, he got shot straight through the Bible and straight into his heart. When my relative was given the Bible, he found out a lot about this story, and it sent him on a path to find information about every single soldier or navel personnel that had died within west Wales – he’s covered every single site!”
If you would like to keep up to date with The VC Gallery, you can do so by visiting www.thevcgallery.com
Community
Mayor of Bergen visits Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre
IT was a Mayoral gathering when the Burgermeisterin of Bergen, in Germany, paid a visit to Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre in the company of Councillor Aden Brinn, the Mayor of Bergen’s twin town, Pembroke.
There to meet Burgermeisterin Claudia Dettmar-Muller and her colleague Silvia Bothe were two former Mayors of Pembroke Dock, Councillors Pam George and Maureen Colgan, and trustees and volunteers who run the Centre. Joining them was Pembroke’s Deputy Mayor, Councillor Ann Mortenson.
Trustee Peter Mitchell and colleagues gave a guided town of the Centre which has extensive displays on Pembroke Dock’s rich maritime and military history spanning just over two centuries, and its connections with RAF flying boats.
Pic By Martin Cavaney.
Community
Wonderful night at Haverfordwest Library for special Poet Laureate event
HAVERFORDWEST Library was delighted to be part of the prestigious Poet Laureate Library Tour for 2024 with a special event on Friday, March 8.
Pembrokeshire County Council Chairman, Cllr Thomas Tudor extended a special welcome to the guests of honour: Poet Laureate Simon Armitage; his guests Owen Sheers and Bethany Handley; plus the winners of the recent library Poetry Competition.
The poetry began with writer, poet and disabled activist, Bethany Handley. Bethany campaigns for better access to nature for disabled people, and her work explores nature and disability, challenging the barriers that disabled people experience.
Bethany’s first poem was heartfelt and humorous about her experience of visiting a beach in her wheelchair. Her final poem also drew on her experiences, being a compilation poem of many well-intentioned, yet impractical or inappropriate, advice that she has received as a wheelchair user.
Owen Sheers is an award winning Welsh poet, author and playwright. He has twice won the Wales Book of the Year as well as the Hay Festival Poetry Medal.
His film-poem, the Green Hollow, about the Aberfan disaster, was BAFTA and Grierson nominated and won three BAFTA Cymru awards, including best writer.
Owen read an extract from the Green Hollow, bringing the horror of the disaster to life. He also read poems about parenthood and his experiences as a son and as a father.
The Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
Simon launched into a poem about humanity, the universe and working as one. He then used his back catalogue of poems written for music. His poems covered some unusually random themes, particularly those he crafted during the Covid pandemic.
He said that he’d even written a poem inspired by a Velux window and read a beautiful poem about laying in a hammock watching a pair of newly-weds sail overhead in a hot air balloon.
His performances were engaging, humorous and moving and he brought the words to life.
Simon also spoke warmly about the importance of libraries as a child but also as an adult travelling about the country, with libraries always offering a warm welcome.
Ashok Ahir, President of the National Library of Wales thanked the three poets and introduced the new exhibition in the gallery, Dylan: The Lyrical Life of Dylan Thomas.
The exhibition is open to the public until 14th September 2024. Further information can be seen online.
The event drew to a close as Cllr Tudor issued the prizes to the winners of the recent poetry eisteddfod competition. The competition celebrated the language, culture, heritage and literature of Wales.
The theme was Dylan Thomas. Entries could draw inspiration from any of his works or seek inspiration from a specific quote: “from where you are, you can hear their dreams”.
Entries received were of a high standard and were judged by Wendy Morse (leader of the Haverfordwest Library Poetry Group, who would welcome new members, contact Haverfordwest Library for more information); representatives from the Library staff and the National Library of Wales staff. The poems will be on display at Haverfordwest Library until the end of the Easter Holidays.
Prizes have been awarded to:
• Sian Davies: Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, adult written poem category
• James Purchase: I Shall go Gentle into that Good Night, adult written poem category
• Philippa Davies: Dylan is in the Library, adult spoken word category
• Tony Potts: Windfall, adult illustrated poem category
• John Matthews: Dylan Cwmdonkin, adult Welsh language category
• Ellie McGrath: It was all a Dream, 11-14 age category
• Skye-Lea Jones: Are you Listening?,11-14 age category
Thanks to the judges of the poetry competition and to Faber & Faber, who donated the book prizes in support of the Poet Laureate’s Library Tour.
Cllr Thomas Tudor said: “The Riverside opened its doors in December 2018 and has enjoyed many fascinating exhibitions since thanks to the continued partnership with the National Library of Wales.
“The Riverside was one of just six libraries to host this Poet Laureate Library Tour for 2024.
“It is a fantastic achievement for Haverfordwest Library to be a part of these significant events, helping to raise the profile and regeneration of the County Town and I thank everyone who has worked hard to make the event a success.”
The event would not have been possible without the continued support from The National Library of Wales and Haverfordwest Town Council. The President of the National Library of Wales and the Mayor, Sheriff and Clerk of Haverfordwest Town Council were all present.
Charity
Bags of Books returns to Milford Haven and surrounding areas this Easter
THE INFAMOUS Bags of Books is set to return to Milford Haven and surrounding areas over the Easter holidays.
Milford Haven School who launched the project with Milford Youth Matters over 3 years ago are continuing in their bid to improve literacy skills and encourage a love of reading for pleasure by giving away over 700 books.
Thanks to funding from the South Hook LNG Community grant they have purchased books for young people of all ages and reading abilities and will be hanging them on the fences of the schools in their catchment area.
The community are invited to come and choose a book from the following locations over the Easter holidays:
- Neyland Community Primary School – Monday 25th March
- Johnston Community Primary School – Tuesday 26th March
- Coastlands Primary School – Wednesday 27th March
- Gelliswick Primary School – Tuesday 2nd April
- Milford Haven Community Primary – Wednesday 3rd April
- St Francis Community Primary – Wednesday 3rd April
Milford Haven Secondary School will also hang over 150 books on their fence after the Easter Holidays on Wednesday 10th April for those in our community who cannot attend the other locations.
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