The 902

 

All the graffiti you find has a story to it, rarely though is it revealled to us. If you're lucky there may be clues which could hint to their possible origins. Take this boxed 902 on a beech in the Ocknell enclosure, what could its story be? Ocknell is on the edge of Stoney Cross plain, the site of one of the forests major World War Two airfeilds. So. Could there be a connection between the airfeild and 902? Possibly. The site was used by the USAAF 9th Air force and 387th bomber group, and there are other examples of Second World War American grafitti in the enclosure. The 902 could refer to the 902 Military Police Company (Aviation), a guard squadron which would have been present where the USAAF were stationed.  I reckon it's as good a thesis as any.

MM 1944

 

There are those in the nature loving and pagan communities who'd pour scorn on folk who'd scar and mark trees, and in some circumstances I've got a degree of sympathy for that. Though I have to say that for the most part I enjoy graffiti. Be it profane or mundane or profound, someone had been moved enough to spend time and effort on it's carving. Fair play. One type of graffiti that never fails to move me is wartime graffiti, and particularly that of American servicemen here only fleetingly during World War Two. I've often wondered the fates of the carvers. To me the imagine of young men thousands of miles from home, fully cognisant of the possibilities ahead on the eve of the unknown wishing to leave some mark before they go, no matter how ephemeral, is a powerful image. MM did just that in 1944, no doubt just before D-Day. There used to be ten or so pieces of American WW2 graffiti I knew of in Burley Old, though as the years go by they're slowly being reduced by time and the elements. 

Remembering history

Maybe it was the same when I was a kid, though I really don't remember it being so, that remembering D-Day was such a politicized event. The act of remembering almost overshadowed by the rhetoric and jingoism of today’s political agendas, politicians and media commentators falling over themselves to lord the sacrifice of the Second World War generation, whilst conspiring to systematically dismantle and sell their legacy to the highest bidder. I despise it, it's an ugly spectacle. Even more so in our current political climate as we, and many more countries, flirt with the ideology that this wartime generation fought and died to thwart. I have deep respect for the elders of that generation, indeed my father was one of them (Burma), but little time for remembrance in its current weaponized form. Still, the gravity of the days history is not lost on me and I sought to recognize it, and them, through some ephemeral monuments left in the forest. The forest was heavily utilized throughout the war, and especially during the build up to D-Day, as a consequence over the years I've come across many examples of World War Two graffiti, with the majority of it being American graffiti...testament to the D-Day build up in the area. In Burley Old enclosure there are a cluster of pieces, there used to be more of them, although in recent years a couple have succumbed to time and the elements, whilst others I remember disappeared before I started to record them. I have no idea what units they represent nor how long they hung about, although one tree has 714th carved in it, and that was a American Tank Battalion... and parts of the enclosure show historic mauling by tracked vehicles. Anyway, that's all supposition. Today I visited a few of the remaining pieces to say hello and pay my respects, and one example in particular, carved in a veteran Beech beside a broad shallow ditched forestry track, it reads 'O.K.Reel, 1944, OC'. I've passed O.K.Reel frequently over the last 30 years and often wondered how he fared. I like to think Reel survived the war and went on to have a long a fulfilling life, maybe he's still going, I hope so. War looks shit.

Burley Old

These views from the gate show you how the forest is changing, top one's the 30th March, the one below is today. Bit by bit the canopy unfurls, ushering the season of dappled light, by far the best kind of light. The enclosure's gates are all now fixed open to allow the ponies seasonal access to the woodland. I do love this woodland, it's the one I've visited the most, for 30 years or so, and I still visit it most frequently. It's wonderfully rewarding visiting a place so frequently, you get to have a deeper relationship with it, understand it more, know it more, you notice the subtle changes as well as the bigger events, and know when others have been there. You know the wood and the wood knows you. I was thinking how it's like a living memory album, I see a tree and it holds a memory, another holds another, and so on, of times and people which come to life in my minds eye. It's not just my memories stored here either, others roam these woods, and to them it's theirs, just like to me it's mine. I get to glimpse their memories too. I see their shelters and dens, I see their art, I've scoured the trees for graffiti, and there's plenty to be found, from the Admiralty marks of old, through a cluster of American wartime graffiti made by those on their way to the beaches in 44', to the usual initials, declarations of love, band names and miscellanea. The wood is steeped in histories. I do love this woodland.

More ''44''

I do like a nice piece of graffiti, and have a particular fondness for war period graffiti, especially American, so far from home, and all that.  I came a cross two examples today whilst walking one side of the Beech avenue which runs past Badbury Rings, one merely said 'USA' and then this one USA ''44''. If there's a date ascribed to American wartime graffiti I've come across it'll always be ''44''. The American army first arrived in 1942, though it was late 1943 into early 1944 that huge numbers massed in preparation for DDay.  Dorset having two embarkation harbours, one being Weymouth, where the Americans embarked for Omaha Beach saw huge numbers pass through in early 1944. Was the scribe in this case one of those who crashed on to 'Bloody Omaha', and did he survive the war? Did he return home with fond memories of the England he visited?

More '44

I spent 2 hours yesterday, and an hour today wandering to and fro through Ocknell enclosure looking for a certain piece of graffiti, though with not luck. I think the trees are playing a game, the forest has a sense of humour, musical trees or some such. Though I did discover another great piece of graffiti 'H.D U.S.A 1944'. I love graffiti, all those stories you get to imagine; of course you'll never know the truth, still. And, I have a special affection for Second World War graffiti, it's so emotive, and non more so that the American stuff. I think I've discovered about 15 pieces so far around the forest, all from '44 (when dated that is, as several were just initials with US or USA); a period which saw the forest fill with Americans in preparation for D-Day.  With so little to go on it's impossible to identify individuals or units, not enough information usually, though by association with other graffiti in the wood I can make some reasonable assumptions about this one. I'm determined to find the other Ocknell graffiti I'm looking for, it's another American one, though this time with greater provenance which will illuminate this piece too.

Is it?

Whilst checking out the Second World War archaeological remains at Warmell, on a mature Beech tree, we came across this interesting piece of graffiti, it reads 'Floyd Elin of OC'. I remember coming across wartime graffiti on my previous visit, could this be an example? Floyd's not really a British name, American maybe? The American USSAF were stationed here during the war.  And, 'of OC' could that be Orange County, California? Well, I put 'Floyd Elin of Orange County' into the search engine and got up an obituary of a World War Two veteran of that name, who died in 2013. Was it him? I've contacted the Orange County registration department to see if they can give me any more information on Floyd Elin, and now eagerly await their reply. I've found out that 474th Fighter group (comprising of the 428th, 429th and 430th fighter squadrons) of the American 9th Air Force arrived here in 1944 from Oxnard Flight Strip in California. Coincidence? Or was Floyd Elin a member of the 474th Fighter group? I'll post more when I know. 

Man, it would so cool if I could connect a piece of graffiti to its creator, and find out more about him. It's something I strove for, but as yet not achieved. If I could link the graffiti to the person, I'd love to send the family photos of it, of the World War Two remains of the area and some of the surrounding countryside in order to show the family where Floyd served during the war.

Grovely Wood WW2 (update)

*In advance, this is a shameless post bigging me up*

Last week I posted about some features I'd come across whilst walking in Grovely Wood, west of Salisbury in Wiltshire (14th March, Grovely Wood World War 2 and Grovely Wood).  I mused on what they may have represented, I knew they were military, WW2, thought they may have represented storage rather than occupation and that their may be more to find amongst the undergrowth. Also, after finding a piece of American graffiti in the area, suggested maybe an American site. 

Well, I did some online research and guess what? Grovely Wood was a massive USAF open bomb/munition storage area, one of 3 in the region.  It became active on 2nd September 1943, the site being chosen for its cover and easy access to nearby rail links.  As I say, it was a massive site with a 20,000 ton capacity, hence I suppose the need for metalled trackways, that's a lot of ordinance to move about. The cluster of building platforms at the western end of the wood must represent the operation/accommodation area, and I know see the 3 shelters and associated building platforms spread along the main track as on site offices and the shelters to offer the necessary protection for those working on site if the munitions were attacked. Although the scale of the munitions stored here, makes me think even with the shelters you'd be lucky to survive a large attack. The main woodland on either side of the central track saw the larger munitions, the bombs and such like, stored in the open, with the smaller munitions stored in dispersed buildings. I'll be visiting again for a more detailed investigation, with the hope of finding more features and building a better picture of the site as a whole.

Which only leaves me to say, I am *brilliant! (I did say it was shameless)

*Clearly, this is said tongue in cheek

Grovely Wood

As I previously mentioned Grovely Wood is one of the, if not the, largest woodlands in southern Wiltshire. Like so many expansive woodlands, it's a mosaic of coniferous plantation, deciduous plantation, ancient woodland and neglected and managed coppice woodland. The more modern coniferous parts are what they are. But the ancient areas are fantastic. I only had a small opportunity to explore these areas though, as I'd entered from the west, whereas most of the deciduous and ancient sections are to the center and east, and by the time I got to there I was on the clock to start my return. Although in my brief exploration of the older woodland and mature avenue trees, I did come across an interesting piece of American graffiti. Is this connected with the military features? It appears to be the right age. 

I think of this as a reccon mission, exploration of Grovely will take a while.

American graffiti

More American graffiti amongst the stands of Cranborne Chase, the nature of which leads me to believe it to have been cut during the war years 1941-1945 and is testament to US service personnel being stationed in the region, probably in the lead up to the D-Day invasion. 

Wartime Graffiti

Of course graffiti is usually done with the intension of leaving ones mark, or memorializing an event or other significant thing, but I feel there's something very special about wartime graffiti. It's the context in which it's created, a period when permanence and longevity must have appeared like luxuries, things that those of the time must have wished and longed for, being always surrounded by the evidence of lifes fragility. What must have been going through the minds of those who carve what could be their last mark in this world. When I come across wartime graffiti I'm always led to wonder whether of not the carver survived, hoping that they did, though treating their marks with reverence as if they may not have.

These two pieces were on adjacent trees, a prominent clump of Beeches clustered near the brow of a hill, set on the corner of a minor road: BENNETT 29. 4. 44 and ME???Y US ARMY I believe are contemporary with each other, the letters above FM ???, ????, MG may or may not be contemporary. Even more poignant as these carvers came a great distance to find themselves in another land waiting to go to war; the date 29th April 1944 is only weeks from D Day, a hard day for the American Army; were these guys part of that and how did they fare? I'd love to find out.

A Yank at King Arthurs court

 'A YANK 5/5/44'. Apparently a Yank was here in the spring of '44, no surprise as the forest was full of billeted allied troops preparing for invasion or, as this graffiti was found deep in Ocknell enclosure (1775), close to wartime Stoney Cross airfield, there's a good chance it was American aircrew. The 367th group of the US 9th Air force flew out of Stoney Cross from May to July of '44 in P38 Lightings, attacking strategic targets in advance of invasion and supporting the push from the beach heads.  In that time they flew 55 missions and 21 P38's were listed missing in action. There's something about this piece, about it's impersonal nature, that makes it a poignant reminder of those thousands of Americans who went into battle from staging post Britain. Every one, 'A Yank'.  Is it a statement on how they felt, just another cog in the military machine? Dehumanized, individuality removed as not required by the collective. The language is strange too, the term 'Yank' was a British term for Americans, not one they'd normally use themselves. Is this then a disgruntled statement from someone having been made to feel unwelcome by the local populous?  Or was it done for humour? A laugh and a joke. So many questions. Of course one being, did they survive the war? This was carved at the beginning of the 367th's tour of duty from Stoney Cross, previously the group had had very few loses.  Who were they?  Where were they from?  This is the best piece of graffiti I've found in a while.