I was born in 1964 it was a decade of peace, this peace was brought through the bravery and gallantry of others before me. My uncle was in The Royal Navy and my father was in the Royal Air Force. My granddad was in the Home Guard. My great grandfather was in the Middlesex Infantry Regiment. I would like to focus on my great grandfather, I have heard him spoken of and referred to as Mr Banks senior so I will honour the way he was referred to.

Mr Banks senior was as I am a born and bread Londoner. He served in the ‘Great war’ to my knowledge every last man who served in the Great War has passed away and gone to a better place now. Mr Banks senior was a remarkable man, I do not say this as a boast. He served in the French trench warfare from 1914-1918 he returned alive in 1919. Mr Banks senior passed away before I was born into a decade of peace for Great Britain.

His son Lawrence Victor Banks I knew very well we spent many a school holiday together and spoke of Mr Banks senior on many occasions I remember his memory through his son and grandson my father Donald Lawrence Banks. It was one hot July day and my Granddad said to me,

“You sit tight and I will tell you about My father then show you something?”

I learned about the Great War through my granddad’s eyes and his father‘s memories. I learned of the horrid conditions of trench warfare I learned of the almost unspeakable loss of lives on both side of the Great War. Mr Banks senior volunteered to defend his country at the outbreak of war. After basic training he was sent by ship to France then dispatched with the Middlesex Infantry Regiment to the western front!

I have as an adult researched the Great War, it is one of the great tragedies of modern life. Millions of men regardless as to which side they fought lost their lives. Mr Banks Senior took part in The ‘Battle of The Somme’ he left his trench and walked slowly towards the German lines of defence the British soldiers were not allowed to even run! Wave after wave of British infantry were cut to pieces by heavy calibre machine gun fire!

The Battle of the Somme was a defeat for the French and British troops thousands of men died in one morning! I was told as is common with veterans of combat Mr Banks Senior would not speak of his war experiences very often all he said was,

“I was there so you don’t have to be there, now lets leave it at that”

I truly believe the memories were so horrific he would not go into detail to save his family the awful bloody experience. My granddad then went to a locked drawer and brought out a leather pouch and told me to open it. Inside this leather pouch was three medals they were Mr Banks senior’s medals from the Great War of civilisation, one medal clearly says 1914-1919, the odds of surviving almost five years of the Great War was around 5/1 !

My granddad then said to me,

“David I will pass these medals to your dad Donald in my will on the proviso that he will leave you the medals in his will”

At the time being only a school boy the thought of losing my beloved granddad let alone my own father was unthinkable my granddad died in 1987.  Time does go on and unfortunately my father passed a way in 1994 and true to his word my father left me Mr Banks senior’s war medals. They sit proudly on my mantle peace on display, I clean them with non destructive cleaners every fourth Sunday of every month without fail.

I do this as a mark of respect for Mr Banks senior and all the men in my family that have served and fought so that I may enjoy the peace that they gave so much to achieve. My uncle served on a motor torpedo boat during World War two in the Royal Navy. His craft struck a German mine in 1942 and he was badly injured and forced to retire from the Royal Navy, he limped for the rest of his life a memory he could never forget!

So as you go forward in life never forget to look back and respect the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice so you may enjoy your life.

Lord Banks

In a bad dream or in a movie you can at least say, as disturbing as it could be, that it was only a movie, or only a dream.  With 911 some of us can feel, inside, the magnitude of the victims distress, despair and fatal heroism as these planes evilly piloted by those willing to die to for a cause to kill, ram into the Twin Towards, the Pentagon……..No, we only think we could feel it and shudder at the thought that just maybe it could have been any of us.  To me, there were plenty of messages in those ominous, deadly maneuvers.  The Twin Towers represented the Financial District of America.  And just think about the Pentagon and what it means…….

What valiant people they must have been, the people in those planes for some really, really tried to save others and live too.  How efficiently evil were these killers?  They were quite cost effective in their mission too.  Pilot lessons don’t cost a fortune, planes don’t either.  The cost of human lives, priceless.  The message that they sent to us: Pure Evil.   I have not been back to New York as I was there in August 2001.  I have flown, but it is not the same for me mentally.  I don’t know all there is to know but after watching Fahrenheit 911 by Michael Moore, I felt like I knew the maneuvers better and some of the reasons behind them.  But by reading the Holy Word, I do know. Wars are often time based on religion.  Read the Book of Genesis and get a clear picture of what has always existed in the Middle East concerning the Palestinians and the Israelites.  But our free-wielding country has been in the middle of it.  There is no mistake that the continual method and  processes of evil will destroy the world.  Period.  It’s not political to me, it’s prophetic.

For a long time I have watched horror movies and the evil menace  too often derived from the Eastern or the African Culture.  Think about it.  Godzilla, the Mummy, Mothra, King Kong – just to name a very few that my mind can connect to right now.  Science Fiction.  This is why I thought it was Science Fiction at the very start of what I saw that September 11, 2001 day.  And then I think or I wonder why no one investigated why the very same people from one of the very same Continents you based your movies and fears on, were allowed to register in groups to take flight classes.  Would America have shown the same favor to some of its more underprivileged citizens had they wanted to suddenly take these flight classes?  That’s the evil in it. I say absolutely not. Some things just seem inevitable.  But still my heart does not see the difference in people based on where they are from, their race, their nationality, their culture.  America should think about it just a little and maybe if everyone thought about it a little there could be a little change in thinking.  A little change in caring.  911 should have never, ever happened and yet it was still a long time coming……I wish I could say Peace more enthusiastically.  But still, I say Peace.

If you drive along the coast road from the historic South Devon coastal town of Dartmouth, it will lead you through the village of Stoke Fleming, along a narrow and winding stretch of road with tantalising glimpses of Blackpool Sands and on towards the village of Strete. Beyond the village the road becomes straighter as it leads you towards the long stretch of shingle beach known as Slapton Sands. On the other side of the road is Slapton Ley a fresh water lagoon and nature reserve. There is little to remind the casual visitor of the tragedy that took place here almost a lifetime ago until they reach the village of Torcross where a surprising monument, a Sherman Tank stands close to the beach .

In 1943 the residents of Slapton and the surrounding area were forcibly evacuated by the British government. This caused a lot of sadness and resentment because some of the 3000 people had never left their villages before. What was to happen at this remote spot was a closely kept military secret. The area had been chosen for Exercise Tiger a full scale practice for the D Day landings. Slapton Sands was chosen because it was similar to Utah Beach, a shingle beach with a lake behind it. Utah Beach was the code name for one of the planned landing beaches in Normandy.

The exercise was to take place from 22nd to 30th April 1944, it involved 30,000 troops on board nine large tank landing ships. The first practice assaults on 27th April were uneventful, but tragedy struck on 28th April. A German E boat patrol spotted a convoy of 8 large tank landing ships in Lyme Bay, one boat was torpedoed and sank, a second caught fire and was abandoned and a third caught fire but managed to limp back to the coast. 638 military personnel died, 441 were from US army and 187 from US navy. Sadly some of the deaths from drowning were caused because the men were not used to being at sea and when they abandoned ship they did not put their lifebelts on correctly. When they jumped into the sea the weight of their backpacks flipped them onto their backs and forced their heads under water.

The Exercise went on and sadly loss of life continued. General Eisenhower who was the Supreme Allied Commander ordered that the men should experience real battle conditions. So when the remaining boats landed at Slapton Sands they were exposed to live shelling on the beach and 308 men died from friendly fire.

A lot was learned from the ill fated practice at Slapton Sands and changes were made that led to much more successful landings on D Day, with only about 200 fatalities at Utah Beach. However there was considerable official embarrassment about the blunders and everyone involved was sworn to secrecy. It is believed that the bodies were buried in mass graves in the surrounding fields.

Even after the war the graves of these men were not marked and there was no memorial. A local resident called Ken Small felt strongly that there should be a memorial to these men whose lives had been sacrificed in training for what proved to be the turning point of the war, but the UK and US military were unhelpful. He persisted and in 1970’s he was able to buy the rights to a submerged tank that he had located. With local support he was finally able to recover the tank in 1984 and it now stands as a memorial on a plinth provided by the local council. A plaque was erected to commemorate those who died, but there is still no memorial listing the names of the victims. Mr Small who died in 2004 was rather belatedly supported and honoured by the US military, but it took a determined man who refused to be ignored to give the men who perished in Exercise Tiger the recognition they deserved.

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The best thing is one has to accept that life is temporary and we do not live forever ( many will say that I do but in other forms). I won’t get into the spiritual side of this question because I would like to contend with the fact that unless i can prove there is a hereafter, I would  not discuss it when talking about a loss of life. For other people belief in the hereafter is a way of coming to terms with the loss of a friend or loved one and that can be understood. We all have different ways of coping with the hardship of accepting loss and some are more spiritual than others and call upon their spirituality when there is an abrupt loss of life in their family or among their friends.

Getting over loss means having to understand that death occurs once as far as we see it and if there has been no suffering than you could at least say that perhaps the loss was better than years of infirmity. The loss may have been better than a gradual decrease in the quality of life leading to dependence, constant suffering and other ills. In some cultures death is celebrated but in the west that still is not so. People like to think they will go on for good and it will always be the next person who will be hit but we are all touched by this at one time or another. It is better to be resolved not to get depressed about a loss especially if this person would not want you to continue  your life like that. A certain amount of depression is understood and accepted to cope with loss.

Most often a periood of mourning is also a healthy approach at dealing with loss. It allows the person to remember the good times that they shared with the departed.

It was November the 29th, 1929 that this Tsunami struck the Burin peninsula in Newfoundland and brought devastation to the communities and the people that lived there. The Burin Peninsula consists of many small communities so there were a lot of people affected. Waves from the ocean pounced in on these communities, at 40 Km an hour taking homes, stages, flakes and fish out to sea when it receded, besides these things, it took 28 lives.

What caused this Tsunami?

The reason for this disaster lay deep in the Atlantic Ocean. It happened at 5:02 Pm on Monday, November 18th, 1929. It was on the Grand Banks that the earth moved and caused the earthquake that would lead to this disaster. The Grand Banks was, and still is, the prime spot for fishing in Newfoundland. The Burin Peninsula lies approximately 265 km south of the Burin Peninsula and was in the direct path of the Tsunami that was about to happen. The earthquake registered 7.2 on the Richter scale and was so forceful that people in New York and Montreal felt it and some as far away as Portugal. Under the ocean terrible damage had been done as the earthquake had triggered a major landslide, which in turn, set several large waves plummeting across the ocean with speeds of 140 km an hour at first, until it slowed to the 40 km that hit the peninsula. While Newfoundland had no knowledge of what had happened tide gauges in Bermuda, Portugal, the Azores and along the eastern coast, did.

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Why didn’t the people know?

The people along the Burin Peninsula felt the earth quake but there was not much damaged caused so they continued with their daily lives. They felt the ground shake for approximately five minutes and then it settled down. They knew nothing of the wave that would hit them shortly after. To make matters worse the only telegraph line that connected these communities to the outside, had been damaged in an early storm that they had experienced. The people had no reason to fear the ocean in this way as there had never been a Tsunami hit any part of Newfoundland before. At the time there were no seismographs in any part of Newfoundland.

The first indication

It was about 7:30 when the people noticed that the ocean had a very rapid drop in its level. Of course, we know now that is an indication of an oncoming Tsunami, but not very many knew that at that time. As the water drained out of the harbors some could see the ocean floor where there had been plenty of water minutes before. Boats tipped unto their sides but minutes later everything changed.

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The Tsunami hits

Three waves in a row struck the shores of the Burin Peninsula. People watched as the water rose rapidly in some places three to seven meters above the normal swell. Those that lived in the long narrow bays felt the sting of the Tsunami much worse than those that lived high on the banks of a community. In places such as Port au Bras, St. Lawrence and Taylor Bay, had water that hit between 13 and 27 meters high. The devastation was overwhelming. Houses, schooners and other vessels were washed out to sea never to be seen again. 127,000 kilograms of salt fish were washed away. This alone was devastating as that was most of the people’s winter food. In Point au Gaul the giant waves destroyed approximately 100 buildings as well as fishing gear and nets.

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Loss of life

The property damage was not the worst thing that happened, there were 28 lives lost due to this disaster. It is not anything like the number of lives that are taken in these types of disasters today, but back then it was a large amount for the area that the Tsunami hit. At the time this was more loss of life, than any other disasters, that was in Canadian history, up to then. There were six people washed out to sea and never found, 28 drowned due to the waves. These deaths were spread over six communities which were Allen’s island, Kelly’s Cove, Point au Gaul, Lord’s Cove, Taylor’s Bay and Port au Bras. The death toll could have been higher but it was a calm evening and most people were awake. Many of those people saw the waves coming and had time to evacuate their homes and finds higher land.

When it was over

It took thirty minutes for three main waves to bring devastation to these small communities and about two hours for the water to return to normal levels. Most of the people just stumbled around in shock. They started looking for bodies and tried to pick up what was usable. There were a few boats left intact that went out on the ocean looking for those that were lost or trapped in buildings that were floating on the sea. At Taylor’s Bay there were only 17 houses remaining, to help so many that needed a place to stay, after their homes were washed away.

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Arrival of the SS Portia

Three days after the disaster the SS Portia made a scheduled stop at Burin Harbor. As the harbor came into view Captain Westbury Kean could not believe the sight that lay before his eyes. Upon the turn to enter the harbor they had seen a fish store float pass their ship, then a house, and 9 more buildings. They had no idea at the time the devastation these communities had been through. As they came closer to shore the damage that had been caused was evident, everywhere they looked. Captain Kean had a wireless on board of his ship and radioed St. John’s. That was the first time the outside world knew about the Tsunami.

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The ones that survived like all of us in a major disaster helped those that couldn’t help themselves. Those that were lucky enough to escape the waves shared what they had with those that didn’t. They sat and waited for help to arrive and three days later it did in the form of the SS Portia.

Apparently when a government says so…..

Who really understands the necessity of war?  I’m by no means an expert on war, or military issues, religion or even politics. But I do know that taking someone life and destroying families and communities has got to be wrong, not to mention, unavoidable!

As I live a reasonably normal life in a rural village in England, surrounded by my family, I simply couldn’t begin to imagine the terror and trauma that must be experienced by people living under the constant threat of war.

People, who have no control over the country’s situation whatsoever, are left to endure the consequences of the destructive decisions of the powers that be.

Why is it so impossible to sit around a table and at least come to a mutual decision? Why does the rain of missiles appear more appropriate than good argument around a huge table where everyone can let of stream then retire to their rather expensive hotel rooms?

I realise it can’t be as simple as that, but surely communication should be the answer, even if the heads of power are kidnapped and made to sit in the same room until a amicable decision is reached.