Reflecting on Remembrance with the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation

We chatted with some of our team members to find out more about what remembrance means to them.

Remembrance and the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation

What Remembrance Means to Laura Stoker

Laura is our amazing Director of Fundraising here at the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation.

Here, Laura shares a few thoughts on remembrance and commemoration, plus interesting but tragic family connections to the World Wars.

“For me, Remembrance is ensuring the next generation know the stories of those who sacrificed their lives for us.

“It was only when I joined the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation that I learnt that my children’s great-great-grandfather died due to injuries sustained in the First World War. My father-in-law mentioned that he thought his grandfather was cared for by the Commission; a quick search on the CWGC website showed that to be true.

“Private Charles John Stoker was a soldier in the Gloucestershire Regiment. Charles was invalided out of the army after a gas attack and sadly died of his injuries on 27 January 1920, aged just 33 years old. 

Charles' service medals - now an heirloom of the Stoker family (Photo: Laura Stoker)

“His death meant his two children were left orphaned; Violet and Frederick were brought up by family. 

“Frederick went on to serve his country in the Second World War. He was one of the British soldiers that liberated Bergen-Belsen; something he rarely talked about.

“Thanks to the Commission’s website I have been able to tell my father-in-law where his grandad is buried; at the Bristol Greenbank Cemetery. We have somewhere that we, as a family, can go to remember Charles and all those who died fighting for a better future for those left behind.

“Remembrance is not just about preserving the past, but also about passing it on to the next generation; teaching them that each person who died had a story, a future cut short by war.” 

Next, we spoke to Jo Musty about what remembrance means to her. Jo has recently joined us as a Fundraising Administrator at the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation and we’re thrilled to have her aboard!

Read on to learn more about how in her short time with us so far, the work of Commonwealth War Graves has come to shine new light on remembrance for Jo.

“This year Remembrance Day has taken a new meaning for me. When I was at school we learnt about the two World Wars, but it was very generic. We watched movies, that although based on true events we knew they weren’t real; we read poems we couldn’t relate to and those that had died were just another statistic.

“In the six months that I have been at the CWGF, firstly as a volunteer and now as the Foundation Administrator, I’m glad to say that my perspective has changed. 

“The wealth of knowledge that my colleagues have and are willing to share is astounding, to them nobody is a statistic. Every person that we commemorate has a name, and the Commission recently launched a new website, For Evermore, to invite the public to share the stories and memories of these people so that they will not be forgotten. 

“I have found myself occasionally scrolling through the website. With a background in aviation and the ATA having been headquartered at nearby White Waltham airfield, I often find myself drawn to the stories from the air but perhaps the less famous ones, with the ATA not being so well known. I was surprised to find a name that I knew from history but for a completely different reason.

Image: First Officer Amy Johnson (Wikimedia Commons)

“If you search for the top ten female pilots you will likely find First Officer Amy Johnson, CBE. She was a pioneering British pilot and the first British woman to obtain a ground engineer ‘C’ licence. 

“In 1930, one year after learning to fly, she achieved worldwide recognition when she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. 
“In 1931 Johnson and co-pilot Jack Humphreys were the first to fly from London to Moscow in one day, continuing to Tokyo, setting a record time for Britain to Japan. 

“In July 1932, she set a solo record flying from London to Cape Town, breaking her husband’s record. In May 1936 Johnson made her last record-breaking flight, this time from Gravesend to South Africa. 

“In May 1940, Amy Johnson joined the newly formed ATA.

“In short, the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) pilots were civilians who were considered too old or unfit for RAF service, initially consisting only of men, in January 1940 they accepted their first women pilots. One of the main roles was the ferrying of aircraft from factories and stores to front-line squadrons, they were called upon to fly any of 147 different aircraft types, often having not seen that aircraft before and the flights were often undertaken with missing instruments or radar, no radio, no maps and no ammunition.

“On the 5 January 1941, while flying an Airspeed Oxford from Prestwick, via RAF Squires Gate, to RAF Kidlington near Oxford, Johnson went off course in adverse weather conditions. 

“Reportedly out of fuel, she bailed out as her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary near Herne Bay. Due to the nature of her cross-country trip, she was ill-equipped for a sea ditching and despite an heroic attempt to rescue her, she was never found.

“First Officer Amy Johnson, CBE has no known grave and is commemorated on the CWGC Runnymede Memorial, panel 288.”

Help the Foundation keep the memories of our war dead alive during this time of remembrance

Remembrance is at the core of what we do at the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation.

Keeping the stories and memories of the Commonwealth’s war dead is our mission.

As we think about remembrance and commemoration at this time of year, please consider donating to the Foundation or becoming a member to support our work. Thank you.