Day 180 - Where never lark or even eagle flew

Our time in Moreton in Marsh is winding down. We have a few things on our to-do list: places yet to be seen and walks yet to be taken. We just won't have time to get to them all. But, we know that the Cotswolds aren't going anywhere, so we will be back.

It's the last Sunday we'll have in town, as we'll be travelling next weekend before coming back to wrap up the place and then move on. One thing on our list was a last Sunday roast at The Bell pub. We worked away most of the day, but took time just before 2:00 p.m. to enjoy what has become our favourite place in the area when we want to treat ourselves to a roast. It didn't disappoint.

Before we went back to work (even here, we can't get away from doing those Canadian taxes), we had one task we most definitely had to complete. If you've been reading along, you may remember that back in November we visited the Commonwealth graves that are in the local Moreton cemetery in order to place poppies on the graves of the 12 Canadian servicemen who were buried or remembered there for their part in the Second World War. We wanted to visit again and place Canadian flags on each grave. We'd manage to find some flags on our trip home for Easter and brought them back with us.

As we exited The Bell from our lunch, a drizzly rain had started. It suited the somberness of what we were about to do. We stopped at the flat to pick up the flags and our umbrellas...suitably emblazoned with the Union Jack on the inside.

The cemetery is about a 10-minute walk from where we live, and the rain got heavier as we approached the site. As we entered the gate, I reached into my bag for the flags, only to find I now only had four. Somewhere along the route, I had dropped eight of them. I handed Phil the flags I still had and raced back to retrace our steps. I found all eight flags scattered in two separate spots about a block away. I'm sure anyone walking along the street would have wondered at the Canadian flags dropped along their path. After flying these flags from Canada, I would have hated to lose them now.

We placed the flags in the ground in front of each stone and re-read the information provided on the Canadian and all other servicemen's stones. All of them were pilots or held other roles in the airforce. One young man had come to Canada from Texas to join the Royal Canadian Airforce. Some stones
include inscriptions at the bottom provided by family members. I admit that the tears welled up in my eyes several times. It is particularly poignant to read about young men who are close to the ages of my own children.

Several stones included inscriptions from their mothers. I can't even begin to imagine the heartache or how they managed to go on.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of --Wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air...

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark or even eagle flew --

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.