November’s Sunday Remembrance Parade may be cancelled but we have, in Retford, over the years had an amazing turnout for the Remembrance Parade, and the number of public attending seems to grow every year. This year, will we do something different to pay our respects and honour the fallen service personnel?
Over the past months, a project was set up to find and map the graves of service personnel in Retford cemetery and make a permanent record of their location on a map of the cemetery for schools and the public to have access to.
With the help of Tony and Judith Goodall from the Retford branch of the Royal British Legion, a total of 47 service personnel in Retford Cemetery have been located, and a map is being put online with information about veterans, to encourage our generation to seek out and honour them as we visit the cemetery.
The project, led by Michael and Elizabeth Szarelis, is trying to secure funding with the hope to erect two signposts with these ‘Maps of the Fallen’ into the cemetery. One would be at the North Road entrance and the other near the Babworth Road entrance.
The cost for the manufacturing of the two signs onto posts and installation into the cemetery is around £2,600. The maps sign posted in the cemetery will aid the older generations, should they wish to find a grave, as they may not have access to some devices we take for granted to view these maps and the relevant information which will be going online.
Councillor Garry Clarkson is helping to try a secure funding and, along with his fellow councillor Jim Anderson, is hoping to get the project online before Remembrance Sunday.
If the map is not online or in the cemetery by November, a copy of this map can be emailed to you if you so wish to view and use to pay your respects. If you email michael.szarelis@btinternet.com a copy will be sent to you for your personal use.
