Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON
Former RAF man Terry Fletcher, now settled in Portugal and the webmaster and brains trust of the excellent Anglo-Indian Portal, posted this memorable comment today, apropos my photograph of the poppies, but it is such a great story that I've decided to include it here, rather than leaving it in the often-underrated Comments section of a weblog. I've included another photograph of Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance as well - this shot shows poppies with personal hand-written notes honouring the fallen, in the forecourt, with the Shrine in the background.
What follows is Terry's story, in his own inimitable words .....
Singapore '71 or '72, yours truly chosen from a cast of thousands to line the graves at the Kranji War Memorial Cemetery as a guard of honour for HM the Queen. On the day, smartly turned out in the best tropical No. 1 uniforms tailored in the UK (despite having the finest and fastest tailors in the Far East at Changi - but that's another story!), HM and Philip turned up, on time, to regally walk between the ranks of grave airmen (sorry, couldn't resist that!) whilst we stood rigidly to attention and eyes to the front.
The spectators were abuzz, cameras clicked and flashlights flashed, and there was the usual jostling to get to the front. One little Aussie sprog shoulder-charged his way to the front of the scrimmage, dragging his distressed mother with him. "Muuuum!", he shouted (imagine this with an Aussie accent). "Shush", replied his mother. "Muuuum, muuuum!", he wasn't going to be 'shushed' that easily. "Shush", responded his mother.
"Muuuum, I've seen the bloody Queen, muuuum!"
Much suppressed mirth amongst the grave-fellas, and HM even allowed the corners of her mouth to twitch a little bit. Actually, we couldn't be sure whether it was a smirk at the comment she'd overheard, or whether she was chuckling at the antics of her Prince Consort who was doubled up with mirthful agony, kicking lumps out of the turf with the toe of one highly polished boot.
A solemn occassion irretrievably lost, but somehow I don't think the ones to whom we were paying homage minded one little bit.
Thanks for sharing it with us, Terry. That, my good friend, is the sort of story that will immediately be spread across the internet connections of the world. Some years ago, it would have been recounted in aerogrammes and letters, but thanks to Tim Berners-Lee and the worldwide web, it will hopefully be shared around the furthest corners of the world - before the weekend.
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