Anniversary Gallery

Middlesbrough and Cleveland Iron Trade Jubilee

The Middlesbrough and Cleveland Iron Trade Jubilee in 1881: general view of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. The ILN says, "The fiftieth anniversary of the flourishing town of Middlesbrough-on-Tees, the seat of the great Cleveland iron trade of North Yorkshire, was celebrated... the streets were gaily decorated, and at night there were illuminations and fireworks in the Albert Park. Pasture land and cornfields have given place to numerous ironworks, thousands of houses and shops, and miles of streets." Date: 1881

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Khaki Chums Christmas Truce Cross, St Yvon, Belgium

At Christmas 1914, over the 24th/25th December, a truce was held here between the 1st Battalion the Warwickshire Regiment and the 7th Bavarians in which Bruce Bairnsfaher took part. The Khaki Chums (The Association of Military Remembrance) Cross was placed here on the 85th Anniversary of the truce and in December 2003 it was replaced by the current wooden cross. Since about that time the habit of placing footballs at memorials in the area began. The practice even extended to Messines (Mesen). Date: 2015

© Holts Battlefield Collection / Mary Evans

No 3 Commando & Brigadier Peter Young Memorial

This is at Petiville and was inaugurated on the 50th Anniversary by a delegation of Commandos and veterans. In the Mairie are a picture of the Brigadier and a Commando dagger that were presented the same day. The Commandos liberated the village on 17 August. The Brigadier, as Lieutenant Colonel Peter Young, DSO, MC, Commanded No. 3 Commando, part of 1st Special Service Brigade, which landed in the Ouistreham area with orders to clear the town and to link up with the airborne forces at Pegasus Bridge. This they did by the end of D-Day but were unable to clear the high ground further inland. Date: 2009

© Holts Battlefield Collection / Mary Evans