War Memorial Refurbishment

The Burghwallis war memorial marks the names of the 10 brave souls who lost their lives during World Wars I and II has been transformed during a cleaning process to restore its original appearance.

A life lost in war is a tragedy to family, friends and communities their gravestones often bearing limited details, but perhaps a more succinct oversight is that concerning the graves of those who were awarded the Victoria Cross.

Since the introduction of the award introduced in 1856 by Queen Victoria there have been 1365 awards made - with three people being awarded twice. Of particular note there have been 7 VC's awarded to Donacster men, the highest number for a town.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) only takes responsibility for graves of Victoria Cross recipients killed in action during World War I and II. Many more VCs were laid to rest without civic recognition and without continued maintenance to their graves. The Victoria Cross Trust charity works with families and relatives of those brave men whose graves fall outside the remit of the CWGC, to provide the same level of care and maintenance to their graves. They take steps to ensure these important sites are restored, maintained and protected for the long term with an ‘aftercare plan’, using volunteers to tend a grave and keep it clean and tidy. An application for listing is considered and in some cases they take over the ownership of the grave.

The Victoria Cross Trust's main aim is to clean and restore the graves of many forgotten heroes of yesteryear. These men may have fought in Crimea, India, Africa, Japan… in fact, all corners of the British Empire where they became recipients of the Victoria Cross, the highest military award for bravery. They survived their wars and many lived to a ripe old age, died, and were buried in cemeteries and churchyards across the United Kingdom.

Sadly, as time moved on and generation followed generation, most times, these brave men were forgotten and their burial plots fell into dilapidation, some almost swallowed up by nature. Only a sharp eye might realise that a brave man that lay buried beneath.were unmarked, without headstones or had fallen into disrepair, without any living family members to maintain or look after them.

The Victoria Cross Trust attempts to identify any Victoria Cross graves that require attention. These men are both part of our national story and are military heroes.

At the very heart of everything they do is respect for the the servicemen awarded the Victoria Cross and the wishes of their families. They do not take this responsibility lightly and at all times endeavour to live up to public expectation whilst maintaining an appropriate and dignified approach to their work.

In addition to the actions to maintain the graves of VC’s the trust has expanded it’s role to include War Memorials, and the Burghwallis war memorial is one of 80 that have recently had specialist spring clean courtesy of the Vicitoria Cross Trust volunteers who are inevitable ex servicemen. They have an exacting eye to the process using the utilising the Doff specialist stone cleaning equipment approved by Heritage England. The cleaning process has transformed the Burghwallis memorial from a weathered grey to its original sandstone appearance.

As well as their website the trust, which operates as a charity runs two shops selling a wide range of militaria and conventional gifts on the ground floor in Doncaster Frenchgate ( opposite TXMaxx) profits from these shops go to support the Trusts activities.

If you would like to support this worthy cause they have a gofundme donation page and if you are a veteran and want to help as a volunteer you can find details here.