I got this message via a friend in Norway , news of a project she has been part of so I hope it may be of interest to folks here. Dear James I'm friend of Kjersti Meyer. Yesterday she postet a beautiful picture of the tombstone of Robbins on my wall that you have shot. I have a few years collecting images of war graves and memorials. I have also participated to the book on Sola wargraves, Leaving Facebook... | Facebook. The book is in Norwegian and English, and is about memories from the war. Quoted from the introduction: “This book is about human beings who have loved and have been loved. It is about young men who lie buried in Sola Church Yard: young men who lost their lives in armed combat which took place from the outbreak of the Second World War almost until it came to an end. It is also about those who survived them to live on with a sense of loss and grief. In this way, this book is about both the suffering that took place then, and the suffering that we carry with us. It is about feelings that persist to this day.The book is also based on historical recollections, and not simply on historical facts. It is about use of history: not simply the way we recount it. It is about “use of history in our day” (Bøe 2006:16). We tell about who these young men were, where they came from, what their missions were, and about how we can best look after their memorials and interpret the messages they convey. The book is in two parts.The first part of the book describes the hostilities and aerial engagements that took place over and near Sola between 1940 and 1945. These historical accounts place local hostilities in a European context. At the same time, they tell the stories of young men who came from countries in the British Commonwealth and who died in Norway. The events described show why and how these young men died in or near Sola. They paint a picture of young men who were struggling against an adversary and against the forces of Nature, using equipment that suffered from the technical limitations of the time. In this way, we can form a picture of who these young men were, and of the circumstances in which they died. The fate of individuals brings the war alive to us. This part of the book helps to show the human face of a war, accounts of which are often confined to military facts, forgetting that behind the statistics and military strategies there are human beings who loved and were loved.The second part of the book is about the ways the war memorials express their message, about communication and interpretation. We see how the memorials are able to affect us across time and space. Both internal and external processes determine what these memorials express and how we experience and use them.The war graves of men and women from Commonwealth countries are personified in many ways because next of kin are given the opportunity of having commemorative words inscribed on the gravestones. These words are important manifestations of a post Second World War cultural history. They tell us about how people coped with losing someone dear to them, how they wished the deceased to be commemorated, about what people at the time typically felt was appropriate. They invite us to continue to reflect. The book about Sola is the first part of a wider project initiated by the research group, “Memory Studies” at the University of Stavanger, which is working with European war memorials across national boundaries and cultures. As such, it represents a contribution to a European and comparative perspective of what happened in the war.” I want to send you a copy so you know that it exists and I would be grateful if you can make it known among your friends. Perhaps you also meet relatives who are interested in this topic? In these days we will complete the book about those who fell in the "Freshman operation" and those who are buried in Eiganes in Stavanger. This book should be published on Remembrance Day 2011. Ion Drew is editor and has done the most, Helge Songli, Hans-Jørgen Wallin Weihe and I are co-authors. Best wishes marie PsykOpp www.psykopp.no ISBN: 9788282170062Forfattere/editors: Alexandre Dessingué, Marie Smith-Solbakken og Hans-Jørgen W PsykOpp nettbutikk
Sounds interesting James. Look forward to the result. I must admit I was quite surprised that there were 28 Aussies buried in Norway. Only a couple in Sola but spread around. I am assuming they already have all the details on these lads. ARENDAL HOGEDAL CEMETERY BERGEN (MOLLENDAL) CHURCH CEMETERY EGERSUND (OR EKERSUND) CHURCHYARD STAVANGER (EIGANES) CHURCHYARD HAUGESUND (ROSSEBO) VAR FRELSERS CEMETERY KRISTIANSAND CIVIL CEMETERY LARVIK CIVIL CEMETERY NARVIK NEW CEMETERY OSLO WESTERN CIVIL CEMETERY RISOR CIVIL CEMETERY SANDE IN VESTFOLD CEMETERY SOLA CHURCHYARD SYLLING CHURCHYARD EGERSUND (OR EKERSUND) CHURCHYARD TRONDHEIM (STAVNE) CEMETERY EIKEN CHURCHYARD Cheers Geoff
Yes it's quite a nice and timely book. I helped them a little bit on their first book, the one about the graves at Sola graveyard. Most of those stories, except the one about a stoker from the submarine Shark, are of airmen. The amazing picture on the front cover is of Jack Henry Hall and his crew onboard a rowing boat, after beein rescued by locals December 23 1941. Jack and Stanley Price from Isle of Wright survived, while Harold Hamer and Henry David Christopher Henderson died. They are both buried at the graveyard at Sola. That book is in both norwegian and english. Have not yet read the book about Eiganes, but the stories of the Fresham victims are well known. Recently the same project also published the book ”Dunkerque, ville-memoire - Dunkirk, City of Memories”, a cooperation between the university in Stavanger and historians of Dunkirk.
