rorkesdriftvc.com :: View topic

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:09 pm

Dear Forum,
well done to those who had a hand in the organisation
of the 964 Pte James Marshall re-dedication today at Ruddington.
Well done to Kris Wheatley for an event that was professional
and well presented, The 1879 Group for a truly sensational display,
the Ibuthu members I met up with plus all the descendants who
attended. The Zulu performers topped the event off with a great
day for all to remember.
Great to see Alan there and to meet up with some of the
contributors to the discussion forum such as Andy Lee.

Tony.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:53 am

I should lik to add my thanks to all who made the event so memorable. Kris Wheatley had done a marvellous job despite immense difficulties. The sun really did shine down on us all.

As well as Kris, Neil Aspinshaw was there with his son, Both in full uniform. He can quote all the Zulu regiments involved and he's only about twelve. Neil had arranged a fine display in the village hall for viewing during the buffet.

The service attracted around 500 people and these included Martin Everett, Tony Jones, Colin Fielding, Sandra Barker (Pte. Hitch), Tony Camp. I also met Andy Lee. Always nice to put a faces to a name.

The service at the grave was really well arranged with seating for the invited guests including relatives of Pte. Marshall. There was a local brass band whose trumpeter sounded the last post. The 1879 Group provided the escort and fired volleys over the renovated grave. Within a hundred yards of James Marshall's grave were the two recently replaced gravestones of Caleb and Wood. Amazing to have three RD defenders buried in the same village graveyard. Two of them weren't even born in the area.

The ceremony was rounded off by five Zulu dancers who performed for us all. The dedication of them and the 1879 never ceases to humble me.

In all, a great day. Not to have been missed. I shall put photos in the News section as soon as I sort them.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:28 am

Yes Alan I agree it was a very moving tribute to James Marshall. I was there and also met Andy Lee would like to have met you.
When I spoke to Kris she told me she did not expect the turn that took place. The whole service was without fault from start to finish.

The display back at the village hall was very interesting and I believe was contributed by Martin Everett. It was good to be at a part of history that will never be repeated.

Well done to Kris Wheatley. And I would like to personally thank her for signing the five volumes of her books Legacy.
I have it on good authority that Volume 6 is about to be released. Good luck with that one Kris. Look forward to Volume 7

Andy Lee it was a pleasure to have met you.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:23 am

The display was put on by Neil and Kris Wheatley. My own contribution was to be there. It was an excellent day and very well organised.

You could visit:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/England/nottinghamshire/7504338.stm

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:32 am

Peter
Kris had done a great job on the displays, you should have come over and said hello at our table of goodies, myself and vince never had chance to leave our display of weaponary!

It was nice to Chat to Alan, Martin et al. There is a nice piece on it go to central news http://www.itvlocal.com/central/news/ go to latest bulletins then to central news east, its about halfway thorught the bulletin
Neil

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:38 pm

Dear Neil,
shows you how well attended this event was. Somebody asked me if had I bumped into you yet. We had time to chat at Roger Lane's funeral but there was just too many people to get round at this one. For example, people kept saying I haven't seen so and so yet and I say they're over there only for them to comeback and say they couldn't find them.
Once again, thanks for your hand in a great display as I didn't have time to thank you personally at the event.

Tony.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:25 pm

Neil It might be a good idea to wear nametags next time.
I did take a long look at the display of weaponary.

Did you see Jones�s great-great son he was the spitting imagine of Jones, Manage to get a phone of him holding up a picture of Jones.

Anyway sorry we never spoke hope to speak to you next time.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:20 pm

Dear Peter,
I didn't realize you were one of the gents taking the photos. I am going to look into mimicking exactly that (Windsor) photo when I locate the same furniture. I've had a goattee made by Phillipa Devon at BBC wigs and beards modelled on the photo I was holding up and the same uniform featured in the photo made by Sutlers. I'm around the same age as what William was in the photo so it should make for some good shoots. As they say, an apple never falls far from it's tree (even after 5 generations).
There's quite a number of people on this branch of the family that you could quite easily identify as 'William's clan'. Glad you liked the similarity, 593's image remains intact for the meantime. Due to the number of claims that have surfaced in relation 593 (as discussed with Andy Lee yesterday), which remain unconfirmed, we've looked into 'e-fitting' with the local police to be able to identify 'Jones traits'. In addition to that measure we've also conducted DNA tests with 593's brother's branch (Thomas Jones) so that we can keep the genetic data of 593 intact for the future.
It's good that people can see that they are getting a facet of the 'genuine article' and this is why I turn up at events working away on 593's behalf to keep his memory alive. In most intances people identified me even without reference to the photo.

Tony.

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:20 am

Good morning Gents,

Councillor Peter McGowan (the driving force behind this rededication service) and myself, as his co-organiser, would like to thank you all for making the long journey to Ruddington to attend the service for James Marshall, and all helping to make the day just perfect. Special thanks to Neil for the outstanding memorabilia display which I'm sure will have sparked off the imaginations of many of the children present, (tomorrow's enthusiasts). It was good to meet so many of the relatives and the contributors to this site, all in one place at one time, for those interested in numbers, there were over 80 descendants of different RD families present at the service.

Pete, it was a pleasure to sign your books for you sorry about the queue that formed thinking I was selling them, I saw the worried look on your face.

Martin, thanks for being the "courier" on your return journey.

Best regards to you all and many thanks for supporting the Marshall family on their special day.

Kris

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:00 pm

Tony I was the gent in the Dark suit sweating buckets and yes taking photo's

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:12 pm

Dear Peter,
ah yes, I remember.We had to leave then to get back to London. An interesting point with the photo I produced from my file is that a few years ago myself and Alan (Critchley) contacted Windsor archive with a view to placing the photo on this site. The amount they wanted per year plus costs was well out of proportion to the purpose and scope of this site and our finances.
However, there's no reason why we can't mimic the photo and will at some stage embark on a project to take such photos to take advantage of the likeness between 593 and myself so that we can maybe produce some photos that are affordable plus fill in the gap of situations that 593 found himself in that have been lost in the midst of time that bring the past into the present.

Tony.

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:39 am

I've now added some images of the service in the News section.

http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/news.php

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:15 pm

Dear Alan,
great photos. It occured to me on the way back to London on Sunday that the Marshall re-dedication was of a manner and type that befits a hero of this stature. This is how the ceremony for 593 should have been conducted last November in Philip's Park cemetery. 593 was worth more than the 'low-key' event afforded him with not one blood descendant there to represent him and a 'minor cast' of attendees.

Tony.

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:53 am

Kris

Another success and fitting tribute - Thanks for all your hard work

Peter, Tony and Alan - So good to meet you all.

Now what can we task Kris with next Smile

only joking Kris

Great day - Thanks

Andy Very Happy

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:43 am

Dear Andy,
dare I say it. But I would choose Joshua Lodge's grave in Philip's Park cemetery Manchester. Unfortunetly it's quite a way out of Kris's territory but I'm sure it would be a good re-dedication. As I have mentioned before, the Lodge grave should have been the preferable re-dedication over recent times or should have at least as much attention lavished on it as 593's grave had last November.
It was great meeting up with you at the Ruddington event Andy. I've spent the rest of the week sending mailings out to people I met at the event who was in the 'I was there' category. I sent a file of photos to Kris this evening for the Marshall family. Here's to the next re-dedication.

Tony.