Thank you to the visitors who attended a special memorial event at the historic home of Emmaus Dover to mark the lives of four servicemen who died in 1945 and 1944 clearing mines left on Shakespeare Beach during WW2.
People supported by Emmaus Dover, our companions, volunteers and staff joined more than 60 visitors at a ceremony organised by local historian Phil Eyden at the charity’s community home at Archcliffe Fort, which overlooks the beach, on Saturday 31 August.
A bugler played The Last Post and the Queens Regiment Corp of Drummers conducted a performance, which was followed by a two minutes’ silence on what was almost a year to the day Sapper George Young and Private Joseph Hayes lost their lives on September 3 1945 following the tragedy that claimed the lives of Corporal Charles Easton and Sapper Frank Fibbens on 24 March 1944.
George Young’s grandchildren, Jamie Young and Lisa Yuill, travelled from Scotland, and Frank Fibbens great nephew Adrian Fibbens attended with his wife and daughters from Margate to unveil a plaque in memory of the men. The families told BBC News South East the event was about “thanking God for their relatives lives and not mourning their deaths”.
You can watch their interview here:
Emmaus companion Lawrence said: “The event was very poignant considering the history of the Fort and it was nice to hear from the people who spoke, and obviously to have a local MP here was very special.
“It was important to be there to pay our respects. We were glad to have been able to be present.”
Tony, who is also a companion at Emmaus Dover, took photos and video at the event. You can see Tony’s Facebook post here.
Emmaus Dover Chief Executive Officer, Debbie Stevenson, said: “We were privileged to host this special event. The drummers and the bugler were amazing and there was a two minutes’ silence, so we could all pay our respects.”
Phil Eyden, a local historian, organised the event to mark the lives of these servicemen upon finding their full names when he discovered reports about the tragedies in local newspaper archives.
Phil said: “The event was a fitting tribute. The Queens Regiment Corps of Drummers, who are dotted all over Kent, received a wonderful reception. Thank you to Debbie Stevenson and the wonderful team at Emmaus Dover for hosting.”
MP Mike Tapp attended the remembrance event and purchased a coffee table from Emmaus Dover as well as a copy of Phil Eyden’s book ‘Archcliffe Fort in the First World War’ from Emmaus Dover’s Archcliffe Fort Charity Shop.
Anyone who would like to come to Emmaus Dover to see the plaque is welcome, during our charity shop opening hours. Please see Our Shops page for details.