WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO

[ralphjd]

Just put on the local Ceefax and read that all the bronze panels in Philips Park Cemetery Manchester have been prised off the wall and stolen. Cannot believe it I feel sick to my stomach I really do, my Mum is buried in this cemetery and I have often read with great pride the many names on these panels. Words fail me. What I wouldnt do to these utter contemptible scum bags who stole these plaques is not printable. A very upset Ralph.

[Salfordian]

This is the front Page story on the Manchester Evening News:

SICK thieves have stolen bronze plaques honouring soldiers who lost their lives for their country - just days before Remembrance Sunday.

It is thought the five panels, which were ripped off the war memorial at Philips Park, in the Bradford area of east Manchester, will be sold as scrap - they will cost £10,000 to replace.

Veterans have reacted with fury.

Alf Heywood, 88, from Middleton, served with 2nd Battalion The Lancashire Fusiliers in the Second World War.

He said: "It's a disgrace. If these vandals experienced what we did out on the battlefields they would not be getting themselves into this kind of trouble and they would have far more respect for what those plaques represent.”

Peter Francis, of the War Graves Commission, said: “It beggars belief to be honest.

"The fact these panels pay tribute to people from Manchester who gave their lives for this country means nothing to the people who took them.

“The scrap value of these panels will be no more than £200 each. But the distress caused to the families of these men will be enormous. We can only hope that if anyone comes across them they have the decency to let us know.”

Made by master craftsmen in Australia, each plaque will take about 18 months to replace.

Distress

They list soldiers from regiments including the Manchester Regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Cheshire Regiment.

The War Graves Commission is looking through its records to try and identify the names on the missing plaques.

John Clarke, 85, from Chorlton, who is fronting a campaign to make Veterans’ Day a national holiday, fought alongside men from the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Manchester Regiment at the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy in 1944.

He told the M.E.N: “Old soldiers are part of a brotherhood that means as much as any family.

“This is very upsetting – you can’t describe the type of person who would do this. You would hope that any scrap merchant who is offered these plaques has the conscience to do the right thing.”

Philips Park cemetery has the graves of 272 First World War burials and 174 from the Second World War. The war memorial bears the names of casualties whose graves could not be marked individually.

The theft has been reported to Greater Manchester Police.

Mr Francis added: “Thefts of this nature have sadly been on the increase because of the global increase in price of raw materials.

“However, it absolutely beggars belief that as we approach Remembrance Day, someone could stoop so low as to steal a memorial commemorating those brave men and women who gave their lives for us during two world wars.

"The Commission is deeply shocked and distressed by this news.

“If anyone has any information which might lead to the recovery of the panels, I would urge them to come forward and speak to the authorities.”

[bantamforgot]

I share your views Ralph, alas if the culprits are caught it will be a slap on the wrist thanks to decades of success by the bleeding hearts.

Colin

[bruce]

There are times when my Liberalism goes out the window.

Bring back hanging, drawing and quartering for those responsible!

[Peter Bennett]

This is going to get worse in the present and future economic climate.

These Scummers need quick money for their drugs, fags and booze.

[irishmen1916]

There are times when my Liberalism goes out the window.

Bring back hanging, drawing and quartering for those responsible!

That might be going a bit to far Bruce, but a good seeing to with the birch may

be in order.

Did the same thing not happen down south a few months ago ?

[bruce]

Yes....maybe...with hindsight....it may be a little too far!

I still can't get my mind around the idea of stealing these plaques. You have got to be pretty desperate to do something as low as that.

[ralphjd]

Personnally I dont think desperation comes into it with these low lifes Bruce they just see money in anything thievable, be it screwed down or not, cars, peoples property, old ladies handbags, knock on the door"from the water board" pinch anything to hand, NOTHING is sacrosanct anymore. Absolute s**t bags and I have never used that word in my life. From a still very upset Ralph.

[Mr_Sunray]

This is going to get worse in the present and future economic climate.

These Scummers need quick money for their drugs, fags and booze.

I think it's unfair to label all City Financiers as criminals!

Steve

[robertsim]

I know how I would feel if it was anything to do with my kith or kin and if I they are caught I would like to see proper justice, but it's maybe worth reflecting that some of those who fought/died/survived in warfare would - or did - carry out similar acts or possibly worse.

Life and people are never straightforward.

[stiletto_33853]

Unfortunately this sort of activity seems to be on the increase, and as Peter has said it might well get a lot worse with the economic downturn.

It really needs for one such group to be caught and made an example of with heavy sentences. As to the chance of this really happening?????

Andy

[NigelS]

Did the same thing not happen down south a few months ago ?

Yes it did, it was the Naval Memorial on Plymouth Hoe see: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...amp;hl=plymouth (if I remember correctly, this was one of several threads running at the time)

Maybe a lengthy spell in a realistic and sodden reconstruction of a WWI trench during the winter months might make the perpetrators - if and when they're caught - see the error of their ways.

NigelS

[James Blonde]

My usual answer to this situation:-

C.C.T.V. your only man.

Yes and bring back the birch and the stocks for the scum that did this.

Connaught Stranger

[John_Hartley]

but it's maybe worth reflecting that some of those who fought/died/survived in warfare would - or did - carry out similar acts or possibly worse.

I'm currently reading a lot of local newspapers and you're right. There were a lot of complete scumbags in uniform at the time. And many more complete scumbags not yet in uniform (I'm only up to late 1915 in my reading). Nasty, violent criminals who, if it was today, would get long sentences but, then, seemed to get little more than a the proverbial slap on the wrist.

John

[bantamforgot]

So nothing has changed then !

Colin.

[keithmroberts]

Sadly the perpetrators would undoubtedly have no awareness or vision beyond the cash that they expect to gain from their actions.

I regard their actions as appalling, but also feel some regret for lives so limited, which are probably pretty pathetic at best.

Then of course there has to be a dealer willing to accept the proceeds of the crime. The receiver is just as reprehensible - after all, otherwise there would be no point in the theft.

Keith

[ralphjd]

Looks to me as if justification for this abominable act is being sought here. Ralph.

[bantamforgot]

As you say Ralph, justification is used for all manner of crimes & has been for decades , time for a change !!

Colin.

[robertsim]

I'm currently reading a lot of local newspapers and you're right. There were a lot of complete scumbags in uniform at the time. And many more complete scumbags not yet in uniform (I'm only up to late 1915 in my reading). Nasty, violent criminals who, if it was today, would get long sentences but, then, seemed to get little more than a the proverbial slap on the wrist.

John

That's why I mentioned it, having read numerous Glasgow newspapers from 1915/16 there were a lot of nasty characters around.

[Neil Clark]

This kind of shocking incident is happening everyday. Surely Proof indeed that the left wing "Guardian Reading" liberal's have had their day (and failed miserably). It's about time this scum learned what it's like to really suffer. Instead they are booked into government run hotels (at our expense) and TREATED instead of being properly punished. These gallant men gave their lives so that these morons can live in freedom

They probably wouldn't even know what a war memorial is thanks to years of New Labour education!

[NigelS]

The CWGC's announcement

http://www.cwgc.org/news.asp?newsid=101&view=yes

NigelS

[ppc1919]

The damage

Peter Francis is quoted as saying "We are considering an alternative of using slate as the replacement material because thefts of bronze are so commonplace."

[shinglma]

This kind of shocking incident is happening everyday. Surely Proof indeed that the left wing "Guardian Reading" liberal's have had their day (and failed miserably). It's about time this scum learned what it's like to really suffer. Instead they are booked into government run hotels (at our expense) and TREATED instead of being properly punished. These gallant men gave their lives so that these morons can live in freedom

They probably wouldn't even know what a war memorial is thanks to years of New Labour education!

As others have pointed out such acts - whilst despicable - are not new. We tend to forget that at every stage in our history such offensive criminality has always existed and there were those who believed that society was heading towards the abyss.

Mike S

[hillgorilla]

This kind of shocking incident is happening everyday. Surely Proof indeed that the left wing "Guardian Reading" liberal's have had their day (and failed miserably). It's about time this scum learned what it's like to really suffer. Instead they are booked into government run hotels (at our expense) and TREATED instead of being properly punished. These gallant men gave their lives so that these morons can live in freedom

They probably wouldn't even know what a war memorial is thanks to years of New Labour education!

There seems to be an assumption that the perpetrators are from the years from New Labour have been in power. Who knows how old they are, they could be any age - from teenagers to elderly. The problem of people stealing isn't a new one, people have been stealing metal work for years.. The men who died and who were named did give their lives for us, and for our society, and the act is surely unforgivable, though it is not an act limited to the present generation. My grandfathers medals (including an MC) were stolen in the 1960s, in a time when there were many WW1 veterans still about, and also when WW2 veterans were still relatively young. It could be said that the individual who committed this act was a member of the left wing, but that would be wrong, it was actually the village Policeman, who had been linning his pockets through the bravery of others. So you can never judge and attribute acts to a particular group in society. There have always been 'scum', and there always will - and they come frm all aspects of society.

The act of stealing these panels is wrong, and heopefully they will be recovered, and replaced. The individuals should be named and shamed.

[Neil Clark]

New Labour stopped teaching our kids about our proud imperial past and both world wars. My own son spent more time studying the flippin Holocaust than our own history. The situation has become MUCH WORSE in the last 10 years or so. I speak from direct experience. Get Real - The criminals that did this are hardly likely to be youngsters or pensioners, they are on the balance of probability grown men aged between 18 and 45 with a long criminal history (CRO) and quite likely from a traveller background (IC9's). No good merely shaming them either - they have none!