Peace garden vandalism shocks veterans
Veterans of the Normandy D-Day landings have been left shocked and disgusted after the Normandy Garden of Peace in Castle Park was vandalised.
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Two plaques marking the Omaha and Utah beaches are currently missing and one of the five trees has been partly stripped of its bark.
Stan Jarvis from the Normandy Veterans Association (NVA) said: “I’m disgusted with the people who did this. They cannot accept the memories that we cherish. This is such a stupid thing to do.”
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Mr Jarvis, 84, from Bedminster, is the former secretary of the Bristol branch of the NVA. He is now a member of the association’s national council.
The Normandy Garden of Peace was opened on November 5, 1995 and commemorates the Normandy Landings of 1944, when 130,000 allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy – codenamed Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah – at the start of Operation Overlord.
The garden in Castle Park has five silver birch trees to mark the five beaches and five plaques used to sit underneath each tree until two were forcibly removed.
Mr Jarvis, who landed on Sword beach, said that he would like to see the trees replaced with stone to make a more permanent memorial.
He said: “This is the second time that the garden has been damaged and people are sadly likely to do so again.
“We are continuing to meet there twice a year on the anniversary of the landings, and on Remembrance Day, and will continue to meet there, but let’s face it, we are not getting any younger. I think something more permanent such as five stones would be much better.”
There are 140 members in the Bristol branch of the NVA, who meet up regularly and also travel to Normandy to the site of the landings.
“Our memories are still very strong,” Mr Jarvis added. “I have been to Normandy many times in the last few years and I still see grown men cry, remembering the people we left behind.”
One of the vandalised plaques has been recovered by park keeper David Trigger but the other is still missing and he said only the beaches that American forces landed on are vandalised.
Two other memorial plaques and trees in the park, one marking the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks and the other to Ann Frank, have also been vandalised in recent years.
Comments
by Lisa, Bristol
Thursday, December 11 2008, 4:28PM
“I don't think it has anything to do with what they are or arn't taught in schools. Look at society today, its a shambles. Kids have no respect for themselves or anyone else for that matter. Alot of this starts at home. Things like this didn't happen 20 yrs ago. Kids are neglected, bored and left to their own devices. Come on parents, do you really know what your sons and daughters are up to right now?
Bring back conscription.”
by Bert, Bristol
Thursday, December 11 2008, 3:04PM
“Kids used to learn discipline and respect in school if not in the home.
Bring back the cane!”
by Ian, Bristol
Thursday, December 11 2008, 12:32PM
“They do it simply because they have no fear of, or respect for the joke of a justice system we have.”
by Steven, North Bristol
Thursday, December 11 2008, 11:19AM
“I don't believe that any perceived lack of history lessons in schools is to blame. The yobs who partake in vandalism are more likely to be those who pay scant attention in school and have feckless parents who should never have been allowed to have children in the first place.
The chances are that these thugs will end up leeching off the dole for the rest of their lives or, at best, flipping burgers or working as a shop assistants.”
by MendipMan, Wurzel Country
Thursday, December 11 2008, 10:55AM
“There is something peculiarly British about this. I can't see it happening in any other country where people have much more respect for their country and revered sites such as this one.
We may not lead the world in many things now but we certainly do in yobbish and boorish behaviour.
Bert's comments are certainly pertinent to this.”
by MikeMSN, Midsomer Norton
Thursday, December 11 2008, 10:12AM
“Unfortunately the only surprising thing here is the expression of surprise.”
by Bert, Bristol
Thursday, December 11 2008, 9:19AM
“If kids were taught more in school about English and British history perhaps they might show more respect and have more pride in their own national identity.”