County Council delegation honours memory of fallen Buckinghamshire soldiers

Cultural and the Arts, Democracy and Local Affairs, History
Netta Glover and Steven Lambert at the Menin Gate, Ypres Graves at Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery Netta Glover and Steven Lambert at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery behind the grave of Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler, the only woman buried amongst 10,000 men at the cemetery. Nellie, originally from Wakefield, lost her life tending to patients in a British evacuation hospital located at Brandhoek when it was shelled on 21 August 1917. She was buried at Lijssenhoek with full military honours. All photos courtesy Buckinghamshire County Council. The BCC delegation by the Caterpillar Mine Crater near Hill 60 close to Zillebeke. From left: Mike Appleyard, Steven Lambert, Martin Tett, Netta Glover, Brian Roberts and Lin Hazell holding the Armed Forces Day flag.

With the sun shining down on the identical rows of gleaming headstones stretching as far as the eye could see, the mood was sombre and contemplative as the delegation of members from Buckinghamshire County Council silently paid their respects to those who lost their lives on the battlegrounds of Belgium during World War I.

The group of councillors comprising Chairman, Netta Glover, Vice Chairman, Brian Roberts, Leader, Martin Tett, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, Lin Hazell, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, Mike Appleyard and Steven Lambert, Leader of the Liberal Democrats had been on a tour of battlefield sites in Belgium during Armed Forces Week, (funded at their own expense).

During the tour Netta Glover and Steven Lambert laid wreaths at the Menin Gate, Ypres. The Chairman also laid a wreath at the Tyne Cot Memorial at a commemoration ceremony for former Buckinghamshire Council Weights and Measures Officer Lance Corporal Arthur Ormerod of Mandeville Road, Aylesbury who was killed during the Battle of the Menin Road on 20 September 1917.

During the tour the group also visited many other sites including Lijssenthoek, Essex Farm, Langemark, Vancouver Corner, Brandhoek, Welsh Memorial, Polygon Wood, Nonne Boschen and Hooge.

Netta Glover and Steven Lambert at the Menin Gate, Ypres
Netta Glover and Steven Lambert at the Menin Gate, Ypres
Graves at Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery
Graves at Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery
Netta Glover and Steven Lambert at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery behind the grave of Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler, the only woman buried amongst 10,000 men at the cemetery. Nellie, originally from Wakefield, lost her life tending to patients in a British evacuation hospital located at Brandhoek when it was shelled on 21 August 1917. She was buried at Lijssenhoek with full military honours. All photos courtesy Buckinghamshire County Council.
Netta Glover and Steven Lambert at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery behind the grave of Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler, the only woman buried amongst 10,000 men at the cemetery. Nellie, originally from Wakefield, lost her life tending to patients in a British evacuation hospital located at Brandhoek when it was shelled on 21 August 1917. She was buried at Lijssenhoek with full military honours. All photos courtesy Buckinghamshire County Council.
The BCC delegation by the Caterpillar Mine Crater near Hill 60 close to Zillebeke. From left: Mike Appleyard, Steven Lambert, Martin Tett, Netta Glover, Brian Roberts and Lin Hazell holding the Armed Forces Day flag.
The BCC delegation by the Caterpillar Mine Crater near Hill 60 close to Zillebeke. From left: Mike Appleyard, Steven Lambert, Martin Tett, Netta Glover, Brian Roberts and Lin Hazell holding the Armed Forces Day flag.