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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Memorial for Sale


hmsk212

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Isn’t that the image Kentishwolf posted today, 11:33 AM, post 21?

Kath.

To be fair to Doug, He did say he was away from home so probably is relying on his phone for info and not a pc.

Dave

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Hi Kath

I'm away with my wife celebrating our wedding anniversary so was trying to deal with a number of texts and emails about this memorial without as you will understand upsetting my wife :-) .I was not fully concentrating and as Dave commented is a bit more difficult by phone. So as I said in my previous post felt a little bit of a numpty when I realised which one it was.

Regards Doug

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If any interest comes from the media or Police can you give them my email address - drew5233(at)hotmail.com. I'm not a frequent user of this forum so may miss any future posts. I'm still in contact with the seller.

Edited by Drew5233
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Awww {{ :) }}

(Does your Missus come on here :excl: )

Kath.

No Kath.

Regards Doug

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Congratulations, Doug! :thumbsup:

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If any interest comes from the media or Police can you give them my email address - drew5233(at)hotmail.com. I'm not a frequent user of this forum so may miss any future posts. I'm still in contact with the seller.

Has the seller indicated to you what has happened to the memorial plaque, Has he sold it 'off line' or has he still got it.

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[Has the seller indicated to you what has happened to the memorial plaque, Has he sold it 'off line' or has he still got it.]

If he's been asked to remove it from eBay, and is 'desperate' to get rid of it, I suppose there's a chance it might appear in the Express & Star 'for sale' ads?

Hopefully he's not desperate enough to sell it off for 'scrap' value!

Andy.

Edited by arboskittler
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I'm sure if it came up in the Express & Star ads one of the Staffordshire based Members will notice it.

Also Kirky says he has been in touch with the local paper and that would I presume be the Express & Star.

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I emailed the Express and Star yesterday afternoon raising the issue of the memorial.

Doug.

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I'm not sure the reaction some of those here is helpful if they seek to "save" the memorial. (Is "save" the right word, as nothing suggest it is any actual danger?)

Please point me to it if I have missed it, but I have seen no evidence that suggests the seller is anything other than the legal owner of the memorial. Yet several posters have suggested it is stolen and talked of involving the police.

Other posters seem to think that pressuring him into giving it away for free, and enlisting other bodies to help achieve this.

a ) For all they know the seller may already have done this, as we have considerable evidence over the years that many councils, museums etc are not interested in having these things and if they are many won't display them and some will even sell them themselves.

b ) Why should he? Many people here own memorials (and have contributed to this thread), medals or other such items? Should they have to given them away if someone comes along and asks for them?

So if I were the seller (who it's hardly a great leap may find this thread if he is wondering what he has) and it was being publicly hinted I was thief and that I should give away my property for free (possibly even to the people who threw it away or sold it to me in the first place) then I can't see I'd be very co-operative either.

It is a fact of life that many buildings containing memorials will be demolished or fall out of use. For people not interested in history or the Great War, one of the few reasons they may have to fish them out the skip is that they might think they can get a few quid on eBay. If everyone who does so is going to be called a thief then how many more are going to end up in landfill or melted down?

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Before anyone forgets, a big "Thank you" to K212 for bringing this to our attention! :thumbsup:

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Well said post 61 , have seen 2 Great War memorials turn up in a South London auction one was carved wood ,had been stored in a shed for 30 years it was only the house Clarence lad who realised it may be of value that saved it from the bonfire , now been rescued and with a Great War collector , at least the e bay seller saw some value outside its base scrap value .

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I think it is important to respect the points made in posts 61 and 63. There should be no imputation of dishonesty unless the poster has evidence to support it. memorials from buildings are often abandoned to demolition contractors, and disposal legally becomes a matter for them.

Keith

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All, I Have been in touch with the seller and he still has the memorial (It was removed from #-##y due to a listing error) he has given me his phone number (Which I am not going to give out)

I will contact him to see if we can come to an arrangement on what happens next, if we can keep this memorial in Wolverhampton one way or another that would be superb.

Dave

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It's not only buildings that are destroyed and then memorials lost , I have a large wood plaque from the cross channel paddle steamer Princess Elizabeth ,detailing its exploits during the Dunkirk evacuation it lists all the awards for the operation and the crossings ,the plaque was skipped during restoration in the late 1970s , yet again someone thought it might be worth a few bob so it was retrieved and sold at a general auction, after being left in a shed for many years .

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Hi been contacted by Ex and Star who are very interested in running this story. Problem I have is time, my mother passed away last Sunday and got a lot of things to do as well as a trip to The Somme on Wednesday.

Can one of thev local Pals take this up and can I pass on your contact details?

Tony

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I have contacted the seller and can honestly say from the information he gave me that he is the owner of this memorial and saved it from being melted down whilst working on a defunct building that was being converted.

The frame seen in one of the postings had already been broken off and burnt and the plaque was going to be broken up and scraped in when he made an offer to the new owners and brought the plaque to save it.

He has again said that he wants the plaque to stay in Wolverhampton and is willing to hold onto it until I/We (South Staffs Pals) can come up with the money he wants + a permanent home for it in Wolverhampton. (RBL Doug?). He had offers from a number of places Manchester/Liverpool but was unwilling to discuss these as they where from outside Wolverhampton.

So I think we are dealing with a genuine seller and should forget any talk of Police involvement and maybe even forget the press link (Both mentioned in posts) as this could look like pressurising the seller unduly.

Dave

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What a thread... Phew! I really do hope that this is bought from the man who after all, seems to have saved it from the scrap man. He should be applauded for this. Maybe a story in the press could come after it goes back on public display because that would be a fitting end to the story. If the hero of the day wishes to remain anonymous then that should be respected but I'd buy him a pint on the strength of what has been said about his timely intervention.

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Hi been contacted by Ex and Star who are very interested in running this story. Problem I have is time, my mother passed away last Sunday and got a lot of things to do as well as a trip to The Somme on Wednesday.

Can one of thev local Pals take this up and can I pass on your contact details?

Tony

Tony, very sorry to hear about your mother, sincere condolences mate.

I will PM you my office number 1st thing tomorrow (can't use mobiles for security reasons)..

Roy

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So I think we are dealing with a genuine seller and should forget any talk of Police involvement and maybe even forget the press link (Both mentioned in posts) as this could look like pressurising the seller unduly.

Dave

Dave,

If Tony gets the E & S to contact me then I'll put them on hold (with as few details as possible) pending a sucessful conclusion.

Roy

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Dave,

If Tony gets the E & S to contact me then I'll put them on hold (with as few details as possible) pending a sucessful conclusion.

Roy

Thanks for that Roy,

See you Tuesday night ?

Dave

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That's the plan.

Cheers

Roy

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Hanging in the balance whether or not I can make tuesday. On a similar topic there is a shropshire memorial I was offered last year. Seller still has it.

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Guest WarMemorialsTrust

Our ref: WM7583

Dear All,

I am writing on this forum in response to the comments relating to the sale of the Cable Street Mills war memorial.

War Memorials Trust has been contacted by a number of concerned individuals regarding this case, please note that if you have sent an email you will additionally receive an email response from me.

War Memorials Trust strongly believes that memorials should not hold a commercial value. The sale of such items encourages further sales and on some occasions memorials have even been stolen to order. We know that in a number of cases individuals become the custodians of memorials for legitimate reasons. Often because the original site is being demolished or redeveloped and arrangements have not been made for the memorial to be relocated. In such cases War Memorials Trust recommends that a new public location should be found for the memorial within the local community. We can support this through offering advice and approaching relevant bodies as well as offering grants for any repair or relocation costs involved. We know from experience that it can be difficult to identify a new home for memorials and hope that by offering our assistance a new home can be found.

We have unfortunately been involved in a number of cases where such items have been offered for sale through e**y, most recently the Liverpool and District Meat and Allied Trades war memorial. In both instances we have contacted e**y as the sale of war memorials is a breach of their policy. This means that the item can be removed and the seller made aware. We have also contacted the seller directly with our advice and to offer our assistance. You may be interested in our helpsheet on the selling of war memorial which I have attached for convenience.

We hope that through such action a solution may be found which allows the memorial to be returned to the community it commemorates and once again be placed on display for remembrance ensuring that those commemorated are not forgotten.

I hope that this information is of interest to members of this forum. If you have any questions or become aware of any further cases, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards

Ms Emma Nelson

Conservation Officer

War memorials for sale.pdf

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