Czechoslovak Soldiers' Memorial at Ightfield

Sally Jowitt contacted us about a ceremony taking place at St John the Baptist on Sunday at 2pm. The details are :

As a group we have been campaigning for some time for a memorial for two Czechoslovak soldiers, who, during the Second World War, while training, were based at Cholmondeley Castle, and befriended the local Ellison family who lived in Ightfield.

The two soldiers, Jan Kubis and Jozef Gabcik, were later flown back into Czechoslovakia, where they were instrumental in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. Operation Anthropoid was planned by the SOE along with the Czech government-in-exile.

Our founder member, Mr John Martin has spent years trying to organize some kind of memorial. He was a special advisor in the making of the recent film Anthropoid, has written a book on the subject, gives tours in Prague and gives talks on the subject here in the UK.

After many setbacks, we have finally been given permission for the placing of a memorial stone at the church. It will be placed at the foot of the Ellison family headstone. A full church service will take place followed by the unveiling. There will be family members and ambassadors in attendance.

Would you be so kind as to pass on the information in case anyone would be interested in attending.

Sally

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