STOP PRESS !!
SCHEME CHANGES
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
As a retirement present for my husband, aged 67
(and for myself 65) I booked a tour of the World
War One battlefields. I worked in a comprehensive
school before retirement and the school organised a
trip every year for students to visit the Somme and
Flanders. It always sounded very interesting and I
know they all found it very moving. I made a mental
note to book if we ever got the chance.
The tour we booked was called “All Quiet on the
Western Front” and meant a packed four days
in Northern France and Belgium visiting sites
associated with WW1. The company we travelled
with uses comfortable coaches to ferry you to Dover
and then you pick up an executive coach (which has
refreshments and comfort facilities on board) to take
you to a hotel and remain with you throughout the
tour. Our hotel was in southern Belgium- a stones
throw away from WW1 sites.
Our first day in Belgium started with lots of
information being given to us as the coach moved
off. One of the things our knowledgeable guide told
us was why it was called the Great War. This was
because all the numbers associated with casualties
and losses were great! Over 1.2 million of our
soldiers killed or wounded; over 120 million shells
fired and cemeteries where up to 12,000 men were
buried littered all over the countryside. One of the
things we were not aware of was that the WW1
trenches were the biggest thing ever built by hand.
Not the pyramids, not the Great Wall of China but
man-made trenches stretching from the Belgian
coast almost to Switzerland. At Hill 60 (Sanctuary
Wood) near Ypres (Flanders) we actually walked in
some of these trenches (ironically with water in the
bottom due to the weather) and could feel what it
was like to be a WW1 soldier.
We then moved on to Passchendaele, seeing the
immaculate white headstones in Tyne Cot cemetery
(the largest British war cemetery in the world),
then on to Hooge to see a WW1 mine crater. Even
today farmers often unearth unexploded bombs and
shells and it was said that the Belgian Bomb squad
realised they would have a job for life after WW1.
The road then led to the Messines Ridge seeing
the New Zealand memorial park with its preserved
German bunkers and the nearby Irish Peace Tower.
We were reminded of the story of the Christmas
Truce in No Mans Land and visited the grave of one
of the youngest soldiers to die in WW1. The day
ended with the Last Post ceremony at the Menin
gate in Ypres. This takes place every day of the year
at 8 o’clock. A very poignant end to the day.
The Battle of the Somme was next on the agenda
and we saw the largest British mine crater on the
Western Front (Lochnagar) at La Boisselle. At
Thiepval we visited the Memorial to the Missing
with its thousands of names inscribed. Here some
of our fellow travellers found names of relatives
killed in WW1 but whose bodies were never found.
At Newfoundland Park we again saw preserved
trenches. Our guide also took us to a German war
cemetery which was quite sombre in comparison to
the British war cemeteries which are looked after by
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who
do a fantastic job of planting and maintenance.
Discovering the stories of tragedy and bravery made
us all feel very humble, and as we listened to our
guide read poetry written by soldiers in the trenches
we were all moved to tears. We feel certain, as it is
the centenary in 2014, that many people will choose
to visit as we did.
Article very kindly sent in by Susan Tanfield
If you have an article that you think would be of
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You may have heard, seen in
the press, or have concerns
about the latest changes to the
LGPS from April 2014. This
short article is to put all our
pensioners’ minds at rest by
saying “YES” the Scheme has
changed from April 2014 but
“NO” it will not affect any of our
members who are already in
receipt of a pension.
For further information
about the new scheme
visit www.lgps2014.org
COMPETITION
WINNER
Thank you all very much for
your response to the PENSION
PUZZLER that we ran in the last
issue of Retirement Insight.
Congratulations go to Graham
Plumtree who successfully
completed all aspects of the
competition and won a £20
Marks & Spencers voucher.
Well done Graham.
Why not try your luck with the
WORDSEARCH competition
in this issue!
6
100
th
Birthdays
We have three pensioner members to
congratulate on becoming centurions in this edition.
Mrs Evelyn Crouch, Mrs Eva Dyson and Mrs Ida Harris.
Congratulations to all three lovely ladies from everyone at South
Yorkshire Pensions Authority.
Mrs
Crouch
Mrs
Harris
M
Dysors
n
Mrs Eva Dyson (born 12/11/1913)
Eva was born in Whiston just prior to WW1.
She was baptised at the Parish Church,
attended Whiston National School, was married
in the Church and then resided in the village all
her married life.
She spent a short time away from home
during the miners strike and while away
developed an interest in sewing and
needlework. She continued with her interests on her return accepting
a job at Muntus Department Store.
After her marriage to Rowland Dyson who worked for Rotherham
Corporation Transport for almost 50 years, she continued to live in