Megan These photos were taken at the ceremony to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Great Escape on Monday, March 24th, 2014. The ceremony was held on the site of Stulag Luft 3, Zagan next to the exit of the tunnel (called Harry) used in the escape.
Alexander Gibbons was born in January 1853 in Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland to Margaret Sharp and an unknown father. When he died on 1st December, 1910 in Methven, Perthshire, Scotland he was a well-known business owner, respected member of the Methven community and the father of four. Family lore says that Alexander’s father was a wealthy … Read more Alexander Gibbons – From Rags to Clothier
I was priviliged to attend the ceremonies commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Great Escape in Zagan, Poland on Monday, March 24, 2014. I attanded the ceremonies with my sister and one of my brothers. Our uncle, John Edwin Ashley Williams, was one of the 50 Allied Airmen who were murdered by the Germans after … Read more Great Escape 70th Anniversary
Edwin Williams and his family (wife Sarah and children Susanna, Fanny and John) sailed to Australia aboard the S.S. Liguria in 1882. Details of the voyage are as follows: SMH (Sydney Morning Herald), Monday August 28, 1882 – “LONDON August 26 – The Orient Steam Navigation Company’s s.s. Liguria sailed from Plymouth to-day at 3pm … Read more S. S. Liguria
The following text appeared on page 12 of the Sydney Morning Herald (newspaper published in Sydney, Australia) on December 31st, 1904: “Mr. Edwin Williams has had made in Sydney a stained-glass window, which is to be erected in Dinting Anglican Church, near Manchester, England. The window is executed in antique glass, and is rich and … Read more Edwin Williams and Holy Trinity Church
In October 1906 the HMS Sparrow was stripped of her armament and commissioned as the Training Ship Amokura (a red-tailed tropical bird), she was no longer a warship but a New Zealand government funded training vessel. In February 1907 she was transferred to the Marine Department to prepare young New Zealanders for either the naval … Read more Angus John McKenzie and the “Amokura”