We went to breakfast earlier than usual so that we could catch a train to London. When we arrived at Windsor and Eton Riverside station, we had to wait several minutes whilst the ticket office assistant was on the telephone. When she had finished her call she informed that there was a reduced service during the summer months and this was advertised on the platform. At this stage we hadn’t got as far as the platform! We were further told us that the next train wouldn’t be for 45 minutes. We decided not to wait and walked to Windsor’s other station, Windsor and Eton Central, where there would be more options. We purchased our tickets which included the London Underground and as soon as we got onto on the platform a train arrived.

We arrived in London next to Tower Hill and the Tower of London without any delays. I purchased a Historic Royal Palaces season ticket for Mr C’s birthday present. We planned to visit Hampton Palace later during our stay so this option provided good value for money. Scaffolding was surrounding the main entrance to the Tower of London so visitors were directed to a temporary entrance.

Once inside the Tower, we walked round the outside of the White Tower to see the ceramic poppy display that had, once again, been installed at the Tower. On this occasion the poppies on display mark 80 years since VE day and the end of the Second World War.

At one stage the Tower’s resident squirrel scuttled through the poppies right to my feet probably expecting a tasty snack. He left disappointed, he needs to see the Yeoman Warders for those. Speaking of Yeoman Warders, we made our way from the poppies to the meeting point for a Yeoman Warder talk. Our guide tuned out to be John, the Yeoman Gaoler.  The talk was excellent, bringing the Tower and its history to life. One part of the tour wasn’t possible, The Church of St Peter ad Vincula, which was cordoned off for restoration and repairs.

Next we had some lunch in the busy café where we were lucky enough to find a seat. We left the café to find that there was no longer a queue to visit the Crown Jewels so we took the opportunity to see them next as they are always worth a visit. When we had finished in the Jewel House we found that there was no queue to enter the White Tower which is home to the Royal Armouries so we went in.

It was an unexpected bonus be able to do both, we had thought the queues to get in would be too long and we would only have time to visit one of them. As we were leaving the White Tower, I purchased a couple of books about the Tower of London and a book about the Crown Jewels. It was now time to catch the train back to Windsor. The trains ran smoothly and we arrived back in Windsor at 6pm. We were able to book a table in the Giggling Squid for later in the evening after we had freshened up after our days adventure. The food and service were excellent and we got chatting to a couple of ladies on a nearby table. We returning to the George Inn for a nightcap before turning in for the night.

Thornflower has its roots deep in the artist’s childhood in Prague (which she left in 1939) in happy memories of her grandmothers’ home “Das Rosel Haus (the house of rose)” and in the death of her grandmother in Treblinka in 1942.

It is a reflection not only on the Nazi Holocaust but on “man’s inhumanity” across history, representing, in Charlotte Mayer’s own words “an urgent wish to make a sculpture uniting opposing elements of thorns and flowers, to speak of reconciliation, peace and oneness”.

Roses and thorns are never far apart in life, but it is the beauty of the rose that we remember.*

*from a signboard next to the artwork

The reflection of the ruined Cathedral Church of St Michael is reflected in the glass that surrounds the entrance to the new Cathedral in Coventry.

On 23rd March 1956. Her Majesty the Queen (Elizabeth II) laid the foundation stone for the New Cathedral.

*The ruined Cathedral Church of St Michael dates from 1300AD. One of the largest parish churches in England, built originally for the Earl’s half of Coventry, it became ‘The Cathedral’ of the diocese of Coventry in 1918.

The magnificent west tower and spire built 1374-1450 is 295 feet high. It dominates the city centre and survived the air raid of 14 November 1940 which destroyed the remainder of the church.*

*information from a plaque within the ruined church

The Abbey of Montecassino was founded by St Benedict around 529 AD on what remained of a Roman fortification.

The Abbey has been destroyed and rebuilt several times; The Longobards of Zotone destroyed the Abbey in 577 AD, Saracens invaded and destroyed the monastery by fire in 883, it was destroyed in 1349 by an earthquake and the most recent destruction was during the later stages of WWII when once again it was raised to the ground.

The destruction of the Abbey during the allied bombing in WWII left a few interesting artifacts still standing.

The statue of St Benedict that stands at the foot of the access staircase to the Abbey Church survived. The statue was sculpted in 1736 and bears the inscription “Benetictus qui venit in nomine Domini” (Blessed be he who came in the Name of the Lord). The sister statue of St Scolastica standing on the same steps was destroyed and what we see today is a copy of the original.

The high altar in the Abbey Church also survived intact after an anti-aircraft artillery shell lodged itself between two steps that lead up to the high altar without exploding and leaving the altar intact.

At the back of the high altar an inscription on black marble reads “St Benedict and St. Scolastica were never separated in the spirit during their life nor are their bodies separated in their death”. A bronze urn containing their earthly remains is located in this location, chosen by St Benedict for his sister Scolastica and for himself.

In the run up to the 80th anniversary of VE day I took part in a virtual challenge, walking 80km along the Normandy Beaches.

I decided to have my medal presented to me by the Cassino War Memorial in the Commonwealth War Cemetery during our recent visit to Cassino just a few days before VE day.

The medal is a double sided gold chrome star, the front  side, along with the ribbon, is a faithful recreation of the ‘1939-1945 Star’ that was awarded to all operational service during the Second world War. The reverse carries the 80th anniversary VE day logo.

The main reason for travelling to Cassino was to visit the Commonwealth War Cemetery where Mr C’s grandfather is listed on one of the large tablets that commemorates soldiers with no known grave. Mr C’s grandfather took part in the invasion of Sicily in 1943 but the glider he was in was one of many that fell short of land and ditched into the Mediterranean and he was drowned.

We stayed in the Hotel La Pace (which translates as the Peace Hotel) where the hotelier, Pino, hosts talks on the battles of Monte Cassino and the Italian campaign of 1943-1944. Pino wishes to educate young people about what happened in Cassino so that those events are not forgotten by the younger generation.

Pino has undertaken extensive research into the battles of Monte Cassino and has produced videos that tell the story using a mixture of maps and diagrams, archive footage and footage from war films.

For our talk, in English, we were joined by Mauro, an English-speaking Italian. Each of the three men had a connection to the Italian campaign. Mr C told his grandfather’s story. Mauro told the story of his father who was disarmed by the Bersaglieri (Italian military police) and interned by them at the time of Italy’s surrender. Pino told the story of his grandfather who, aged 8, was sheltering inside the abbey of Monte Cassino when it was bombed during the battle.

The bombing of Monte Cassino abbey remains controversial to this day. The campaign was led by an American general, Mark Clark, in his first command of as overall commander of a battlefront. Clark was a cautious commander and had already missed opportunities to shorten the war in Italy. The Allied generals were convinced that the abbey was a German strongpoint and didn’t know that monks and villagers were sheltering there. Debate raged until Clark agreed to the razing of the abbey. Permission was sought and obtained from Pope Pius XII and the bombing was planned for 16 February 1944. The idea was that the bombing would force the German defenders to take cover allowing the Allied infantry to gain ground unopposed and in doing so, break through the German’s Gustav Line and open the road to Rome.

The United States Air Force (USAF) was tasked with bombing the abbey and chose to try out a new technique for bombing targets. In order to evaluate this new technique, several camera crews were brought in to film the bombing and its effectiveness. Because of weather reports, the USAF moved the bombing forward a day but failed to notify the ground troops, negating the reason for bombing the abbey in the first place. After the dust had settled, the Germans occupied the ruins, taking advantage of the extra cover they provided. The Germans had not previously stationed troops inside the abbey.

Pino showed some of the archive footage taken that day. It was shocking to watch, especially knowing that it was a useless act. Both he and Mauro were very critical of Italy’s King Victor Emmanuel III and Marshal Badoglio, who took over leadership of the Italian Government after Mussolini was deposed. The conversation between Pino, Mauro and Mr C was interesting because each of them had very different knowledge about, and perspectives on, the events that took place. One slightly odd thing that came out is that in 1946, the Italians made a movie about the bombing of the abbey which featured extras drawn from the townsfolk, a number of whom had been inside the abbey at the time it was bombed.

The battle of Monte Cassino was multi-national and the town has three war cemeteries, one for the Germans, one for the Poles, who were heavily engaged in the battle and lost many casualties, and one for the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth cemetery contains the remains of more than 5,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

• Acknowledgement is given to the Armchair General for his contributions to this post

“VE Day stands for Victory in Europe day, a key event at the end of WW2.

On 8 May 1945 people all over the world celebrated Germany’s surrender, which had been agreed the previous day.

It comes ahead of VJ Day – Victory in Japan Day – on 15 August which commemorates the end of the war.”

After a difficult meeting with mum and her social worker (mum was having a delusion) the sunny afternoon beckoned me out for a walk.

A window of opportunity for an afternoon walk in the sunshine with plenty of opportunities to sit and ‘rest a while’.