BNTVA Memorial visit on the 65th Anniversary of Operation Grapple.

I wrote a short bit on the London memorial in Campaign magazine but it has been my mission to visit all of the memorials across the country. This one has been on my list for a while as I often come down to London but normally I haven't had time to get across to West Ham.

I Jumped on to the Hammersmith & City tube to West Ham and walked up the road to the church.
(in hindsight I should of jumped on the bus, its not a short walk!)

As you come you come up the road the first this you see is this wonderful bell tower.
The church is a grade I listed medieval church with some parts dating back to the 12th century.

My plan was successful and I managed to get in. I was welcomed by some of the lovely people in the church, and met with Pastor Si.
They were fascinated to learn more about the memorial in their church and I explained how today was the 65th anniversary of Operation Grapple. I went on to  highlight some of the other anniversaries that are happening this year.

Our memorial was very easy to find and in very good order.
(This is actually one of the best I've seen so far)

Here is some of the standards which are laid up above our memorial.

One last little treat for myself was I also discovered that they have some nice medieval wall painting which has suvived.

I would like to thank Pastor Si, his team and congregation for being so welcoming an to unexpected visitor and allowing me to share their beautiful church with you.

If you follow the link below it will take you to the website for the church.

I have now found the original article for the dedication of this memorial from Campaign June 2005.