Daily Mail

Anne salutes the charity making sure our VC heroes don’t fade into history

- By Robert Hardman

ONE saved an officer’s life by fighting off the enemy, despite losing his horse during the charge of the light Brigade. Another swam to the rescue of his men, while severely wounded and under enemy fire.

The former was buried in a pauper’s grave. The latter, buried just yards away, was honoured with a grand memorial.

Both, though, belong to the most exalted club on earth: those awarded the victoria cross (vc). And both have long since faded from view, their graves overgrown and untended. Until now, that is.

For their headstones and memorials are the latest restoratio­n targets for a new and gloriously unfashiona­ble charity, backed by Daily mail readers – and royalty too.

yesterday, the princess Royal, now the proud patron of The Remembranc­e Trust, came to Brompton cemetery in west london to inspect its latest work – and, in the process, even stumbled across a distant cousin lying next to a vc recipient.

It is a year since this newspaper first highlighte­d the trust’s fine work in restoring the graves of all those who fell in the service of this nation – back in the days before the state had any responsibi­lity for them. Since then, aided by the generosity of mail readers, the charity has done justice to hundreds of bygone heroes.

Given that all the graves and memorials honour those who were in the service of the British Empire and its colonial masters, this is certainly a charity which flies in the face of the woke.

However, it has been establishe­d by an old soldier who feels a simple debt of honour to those, like himself, who were just serving King or Queen and country.

‘It’s a slow process and doing any work outside Europe seems exorbitant­ly expensive,’ said Algy cluff, author, entreprene­ur and former Grenadier Guards officer.

‘But we are doing what we can and we are making progress. The whole point is to help future generation­s understand the past.’

Having worked on everything from vandalised graves of British troops killed in France during the Napoleonic wars to the overgrown headstones of Royal Navy sailors who died fighting the slave trade in Africa, the trust is now focusing on those closer to home.

Dozens of faded headstones in Hove cemetery in East Sussex, for example, have just been restored to their former glory, including that of George westphal who was shot and wounded serving alongside Horatio Nelson on HmS victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Unlike Nelson, westphal miraculous­ly sailed on for another seventy years.

The trust’s latest project is to restore the graves of a dozen vc holders who lie in Brompton cemetery. As the princess observed during yesterday’s visit: ‘what a very interestin­g range.’ For they include very senior officers with lavish memorials and also heroes who died in penury. All are now to receive equal treatment.

She had to bend down to view the faded grey slab marking the resting place of private Samuel parkes, that hero of the charge of the light Brigade, who was given a pauper’s funeral. The Royal parks, which looks after the cemetery – a final resting place of more than 200,000, has now spruced up the areas around the vc holders’ graves. However, the stonework technicall­y belongs to the family or individual who erected it, making approvals a very laborious process. ‘let’s just say there’s a lot of red tape,’ said volunteer grave restorer, Steve Davies, 64, who served in the Royal Green Jackets. The princess gave him a knowing smile.

As she inspected the grave of colonel Richard wadeson vc – a thoroughly unwoke hero who killed two Indian mutineers who were about to kill two of his men – the princess’s eye was diverted. ‘Ah, Royal Navy,’ she remarked, spotting the adjacent grave of captain

the Hon John carnegie, brother of the Earl of Southesk. whereupon someone pointed out the royal connection – carnegie’s great nephew married Edward vII’s granddaugh­ter. The princess remarked with a smile: ‘I think we were quite a long way out.’

She was more concerned by the practicali­ties of cemetery maintenanc­e. Noting the knee-high grass, she had a suggestion. ‘what you need is sheep,’ she said, before adding: ‘Though that might not be such a good idea round here.’

■ If you wish to donate to the charity, visit www.theremembr­ancetrust.com/donate or send a cheque to The Remembranc­e Trust, 1- 3 Waterloo Crescent, Dover, Kent, CT16 1LA

 ?? ?? Spruced up: A grave at Hove Cemetery in East Sussex is restored
Spruced up: A grave at Hove Cemetery in East Sussex is restored
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 ?? ?? Patron: Princess Anne is shown war graves in Brompton Cemetery, west London, by The Remembranc­e Trust
Patron: Princess Anne is shown war graves in Brompton Cemetery, west London, by The Remembranc­e Trust
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