John Sheldon's photos with the keyword: Memorial

Portsmouth & Southsea, 2010. The loneliness, isolation and exhaustion of a soldier returning home has been captured well by this sculptor. I resisted the temptation to subdue the tones of the base plinth: I think that its intrusiveness reflects the sense of aloneness. "Decades of easy peace may go their way, And Tide and Time may drift us far apart, But you who shared our Savage Yesterday Will hold the highest places in our heart."

Chronicle Of Vital Individual Distancing, day 4. Planting in our local park, in memory of a local couple.

The Major Richard Winters Memorial at Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy. Major Winters inspired a TV series, Band of Brothers. He served in the 101st Airborne Division (the ‘Screaming Eagles’) and was noted for his exceptional leadership when American forces parachuted into Normandy for the D-Day invasion on 6 June 1944. He led ‘Easy Company’ a name that sits strangely with his motto ‘Hang Tough’. On the plinth: "Wars do not make men great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men. Les guerres ne font pas les grands hommes, mais elles révélent la grandeur des hommes justes;" and “In honour of Dick Winters and all those American junior officers who led the way on D-Day, June 6, 1944. May we never forget their leadership under fire.”

A partial record of American lives lost in the D-Day invasion on 6 June 1944, that forms part of the 101st Airborne Division (U.S Army) memorial at Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy. This picture has been slightly modified in order to remove some colours patches which were detracting from its impact.

The pebbles placed on top of this memorial stone and the candle indicate that this grave is still visited.

Memorial stone for an unidentified German soldier killed in Normandy, probably in 1944. Someone has left an 'In remembrance' token. When I saw this it reminded me of this Babylonian text from 3 or 4 thousand years ago: "You, ghost belonging to nobody, who have nobody to bury you or speak your name, whose name nobody knows ... before Shamash, Gilgamesh, the Annunaki and the ghosts of my family you hereby receive a present, you are honoured with a gift." [Myths from Mesopotamia, Stephanie Dalley, Oxford Worlds Classics]

Scene at the Ranville War Cemetery in Normandy.

At Gavinana, Tuscany, Italy.

At Gavinana, Tuscany, Italy. In 1530 Ferrucci took Florentine troops into battle against Emperor Charles 5th's forces in an attempt to rid the town of Gavinana of the imperial invaders. Ferrucci was captured and executed by Fabrizio Maramaldo. A 'maramaldo' has since become a term applied to a cowardly and despicable person.

At Gavinana, Tuscany, Italy. In 1530 Ferrucci took Florentine troops into battle against Emperor Charles 5th's forces in an attempt to rid the town of Gavinana of the imperial invaders. Ferrucci was captured and executed by Fabrizio Maramaldo. A 'maramaldo' has since become a term applied to a cowardly and despicable person.

The graveyard features this large plaque in Greek, which was placed here after the last surviving members of the leper community left. The wording urges respect for those who are buried on the island. Spinalonga is a small island just off the coast of northern Crete. The island was occupied by a community of leprosy sufferers from 1903 to 1957, and was one of the last active 'leper colonies' in Europe. A hospital was built, and once on the island the leprosy sufferers received food, water, medical attention and social security payments. Previously, such amenities had been unavailable to them, as they had mostly lived in the area's caves, away from the towns and villages. The community's buildings are now mostly in a state of ruin, notable exceptions being two church buildings, St George and St Pantalion, and a Venetian fortress. The fortress dates from the Venetian occupation of the island, from c1550 to 1715.