Joy as war plaque is discovered

An appeal to find a warship's plaque which was given to Aireborough 60 years ago has been solved - thanks to the Wharfedale Observer.

The paper was contacted by a Guiseley resident who had seen last week's appeal to find the plaque. Jeffrey Cooper, of Silverdale Drive , had seen the plaque in St Oswald's Parish Church , Guiseley, and was a choirboy at the memorial service held for the men who had died on HMS Bramble.

Stephen Cannon, the son of a crew member who died aboard the ship, was searching for the plaque, which had been presented to the people Aireborough before the warship sank on December 31, 1942 .

The ship was special to Aireborough because in one week residents raised £140,000 to buy it in 1939 and prior to its sinking the crew members, including Captain Harvey Crombie and Stephen's father Coder Joseph Cannon, visited Aireborough groups and schools.

Mr Cooper was 13 years old when the ship sank and remembers the memorial service well. "The church was absolutely packed, there was no room left," he said. "I sang in the choir. It was a very emotional occasion, not just for me, but for everyone who attended that particular service. The whole of Aireborough had worked very hard to raise the money for the ship and had made a close friendship with the crew. The plaque was rested upon a velvet blanket and the Rev W A Jarvis assisted in the service, in which Captain Crombie spoke."

Mr Cooper has researched the history of the incident for a book he is writing and has recorded the exact words Crombie spoke.

The Captain said: "They had braved difficulties and perils probably unparalleled in the annals of the British Navy, and calls upon their courage and endurance were constant, but they never failed. They would not have us think sadly at this time, but rather that we should praise God that they had remained steadfast to duty to the end."

The Rev Graham Atherton, of Guiseley Parish Church, will be marking the 60th anniversary at one of his Christmas services. "I will be mentioning the anniversary at the Sunday service prior to the anniversary on New Year's Eve," he said.

HMS Bramble was sunk in 1942 at the Battle of Barents Sea, off Norway, by German destroyers as it headed for Murmansk.

Stephen Cannon was two-years-old when his father died and is eager to talk to anybody who was a pupil at one of the Aireborough schools his father gave a speech to on November 25 and 25 in 1942.

Anyone with information can contact him at 40, Lavender Walk, Evesham, Worcs WR11 2JR or telephone (01386) 49066.

Source http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk/bradford__district/archive/2002/11/07/otle_news11.int.html