NORTHUMBRIA REFLECTS WW1 19
Exercise Knott Reflection
In September, a party of cadets and adults embarked on a weekend
battlefield study to understand the sacrifices made by a generation
100 years previously. Representatives from County HQ and all four
companies travelled via the Channel Tunnel to Ypres (Belgium). Days
were long and very busy, visiting many museums and cemeteries, e.g.
Passchendaele, Hooge Crater, Sanctuary Wood and the humbling
experience of Tyne Cot. On the Sunday evening the group paraded in
uniform and laid a wreath at the Menin Gate Ceremony, an experience for
all to remember. Then early on the morning of departure a wreath was laid
at the graves of the Knott brothers.
Sir James Knott was a self-made man, who worked his way up from ships’
clerk to one of the wealthiest men in England. His two sons, James and Basil
like so many followed the call to arms at the outbreak of war in 1914.
Tragically both were killed and were buried close to where they fell. Sir
James with his influence managed to arrange for their bodies to be exhumed
and both be moved to their final resting place, side by side, at Ypres
Reservoir Cemetery, a quiet spot on a suburban residential street. Their
memory lives on in their father’s trust fund (Sir James Knott Trust), the
church in Fenham, built in both their names, the flats built in North
Tyneside, the park in Heddon-on-the-Wall….and the list goes on. They have
not been forgotten. Northumbria ACF have been grateful to receive funding
from the Trust for numerous projects. It provides to many organisations
and charities in our Region. We were so very privileged to visit their graves
and pay our respects.
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