Event - Exhibition marks custodian's death at Newark Castle

The death of a Newark Castle custodian who swallowed weedkiller after his collection of artefacts was removed is being marked by an exhibition.

John Mountney who died in 1912, was the second custodian of the Nottinghamshire castle and spent years collecting items to illustrate the history of Newark.

In a dispute with the council, the castle's owners, Mr Mountney lost the collection and was left "heartbroken".

The exhibition of photographs is open from 13 to 17 February.

Mr Mountney became the castle's second custodian in 1901 and worked enthusiastically to promote the castle as a tourist attraction.

He turned a room in the south-west tower into a museum, displaying artefacts and curiosities which had been given to him by various people in the town.

The tragic story of Mr Mountney's death unfolded after King Edward VII paid an impromptu visit to Newark Castle in September 1909.

In the absence of civic dignitaries to welcome the King, it was left to Mr Mountney to show him around the castle. On leaving, the King signed the visitors' book.

Mr Mountney then set about producing a commemorative postcard to mark the visit but the borough council deemed it distasteful and ordered Mr Mountney to surrender the page with the signature so it could be displayed at Newark Town Hall.

Relations between Mr Mountney and the council deteriorated and on 12 February 1912, as the council was planning a new museum for the town, council workmen arrived at the castle and removed the exhibits.

The following day, Mr Mountney went to work as usual but when he did not return home for lunch, his wife Elizabeth went to look for him.

She found her husband lying dead in the south-west tower having taken some arsenic-based weedkiller.

'Tragic consequences'

At his inquest, it was revealed Mr Mountney had been offered £2 for his entire collection and left a note which read: "Might is not always right. Broken hearted."

Allan Towler, chairman of the Friends of Newark Castle and Gardens, said: "We couldn't just let the centenary of such a story pass by, a story of unforeseen tragic consequences.

"John held the visitors' book while the King signed it. He was happy and glorious afterwards, quite understandably.

"Perhaps after the council took ownership of the book, the matter should have ended there but it didn't and the rest is history."

Due to present-day conditions in the castle, the actual exhibits cannot be displayed but photos of them all have been taken.

Images include paintings, photographs, models, sculptures as well as fossils, clothes, weaponry and ancient maps.

Mr Mountney is buried in Newark Cemetery.

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-17011301

Book - Permanent reminders of brave airmen who made ultimate sacrifice (Notts)

IT is an odd sort of thing to find in an ancient Vale of Belvoir village churchyard.

Sitting on a slate plinth is the twisted strut of an aircraft propeller, its legend explained on two small brass plaques.

It honours seven British and Canadian airmen who died when their Lancaster bomber crashed in the winter of 1943, just a mile north of St Mary's Church, in Staunton-in-the Vale.

The Lancaster, W4270, had taken off from RAF Syerston, near Newark, on a night training exercise, but it got into difficulties and plunged into the ground despite Canadian pilot Herb Warne's efforts.

The bodies of Warrant Officer Warne's crew were recovered and taken home for burial.

They were Sergeant Robert Preece of Somerset, Sergeant John Coaker, Devon; Sergeant Eddie Loverock, Matlock; Sergeant James Whitehead, Glasgow; Sergeant Thomas Newton, Durham; and Sergeant George Hitchon, Lancashire.

But Herb Warne rests in Notts, in a corner of Newark Cemetery.

The memorial is one of 19 revealed in a new Notts County Council publication celebrating local contributions to aviation.

As well as the memorials, nearly 30 airfields, ranging from major military sites like Hucknall and Newton to recreational strips at Greasley and Lambley, are listed in the guide, which has been produced in conjunction with Newark Air Museum.

Newark Cemetery figures several times in the booklet – the crew of Lancaster L7578 were buried together after they were killed in a crash near Gonalston.

It is also the site of the memorial cross to Polish airmen who flew from airfields in the area.

Among the most interesting can be found in the village of Farnsfield where the heroic crew of Halifax MZ519 of 578 Squadron are remembered.

In the weeks after the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944, the Nazis launched a terrifying new weapon against England – the V1 flying bomb.

On July 6, a squadron of Halifax bombers took off from RAF Burn in Yorkshire on a mission to destroy a V1 site near Dieppe. Despite a blanket of anti-aircraft fire around the target, the bombers did their job but MZ519, piloted by Reginald Parfitt of Cardiff, was fatally damaged.

Parfitt, aged 22, nursed his stricken plane back to England but, as it flew over Nottingham, witnesses saw at least one engine on fire and the Halifax came down on the outskirts of Farnsfield, killing all on board.

Parfitt's crew who perished were navigator Brian Turnidge, 24, from Bristol; Sergeant Thomas Hill, air gunner, 21, Staffordshire; Sergeant Leonard Leatham, air gunner, 20, Staffs; Sergeant Thomas Pitts, wireless operator, 22, Cheshire; Sergeant Raymond Rolph, flight engineer, 23, Essex; and Flight Sergeant John Godin, bomb aimer, 20, Ontario, Canada.

In 1994, relatives, friends and villagers unveiled a memorial to the fallen.

A second memorial was later unveiled to Pilot Officer Parfitt after a new road in the village was named in his honour.

Not much remains of the 17 airfields operating during the Second World War – apart from Hucknall, Tollerton and Langar – but some fascinating history is recorded.

Wing Commander Guy Gibson was based at RAF Syerston with 106 Squadron before being given the job of leading the famous Dambusters of 617 Squadron.

And Flight Lieutenant Bill Reid won his Victoria Cross with 61 Squadron when he pressed on with a bombing raid on Dusseldorf despite being severely wounded, his aircraft shot up, his navigator and wireless operator killed before bringing the stricken aircraft back to England for a belly-landing in Norfolk.

The booklet Airfields and Memorials is available from Newark Air Museum.

Call the museum on 01636 707 170, e-mail enquire@newarkairmuseum.org or visit www.newarkairmuseum.org

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Permanent-reminders-brave-airmen-ultimate/story-13111521-detail/story.html

News - Pictorial project to honour war dead (Newarl/Balderton)

A project has been launched to match photographs to all the names on the Newark and Balderton war memorials.

It is hoped it will be completed in time for the 100th anniversary of the start of the first world war in 2014.

The project mirrors a much bigger one to find photographs of as many of the 72,000 British and Commonwealth casualties of the Battle of The Somme who have no known resting place and whose names are commemorated on the French Thiepval memorial to the missing.

There are 603 names on Newark’s Memorial To The Fallen at Newark Cemetery, of whom 456 are first world war casualties.

Another 144 are from the second world war, one died in West Africa in 1961, one in Malaya in 1952 and one in Afghanistan in 2007.

There are 45 names from the first world war on the memorial in St Giles’ Church, Balderton, and a further 13 from the second world war.

Mr Pete Stevens, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission stonemason, is behind the idea to match photographs with the names.

He suggested it at a meeting in Leicester about restoring war memorials there.

Mr Stevens, of Coleman Avenue, Balderton, said completing the project in time for 2014 would be a fitting testament to the memory of those who died.

He said: “If we could achieve this it would fantastic.

“It would be the perfect way to ensure that the memory of these men lives on for the next generation, and wonderful to have a gallery completed in time for August 4, 2014, which is the 100th anniversary of the declaration of war by Great Britain on Germany and her allies.

“A number of very special events are being planned nationally and this one I hope will capture the imagination.”

Mr Stevens plans to create a website where people can upload pictures of their relatives, along with items such as letters from the Front to create a more detailed insight into their lives.

Mr Stevens has already found some photographs of the dead through his work and through genealogy websites.

He has discovered the name of Private Levi Sibcy from 2/8th Sherwood Foresters, who was killed on January 15, 1915, aged 16, and is the youngest soldier recorded on either memorial.

He wants to know more about the six soldiers, also from 2/8th, who died of wounds sustained in the Irish uprising of 1916 and are on the Balderton memorial.

Mr Stevens wants people to trawl though family archives for pictures.

He plans to contact schools in the hope teachers will make research part of history lessons, and pupils will take news of the project home to their parents.

He hopes a home can be found for the gallery, possibly in Newark’s planned new museum which, subject to Lottery funding, would be created at the Old Magnus Buildings, Appletongate.

Any relative of one of the fallen featured on either memorial and who has a photograph of them or who can help in any kind of way can contact Mr Stevens via Petejstevens@hotmail.co.uk or contact the Advertiser newsdesk on 01636 681234.

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Pictorial-project-to-honour-war-dead