The US land forever leased to England
Every May, the US Coast Guard and the Royal Navy hold a ceremony on a sliver of North Carolina land where four English World War Two soldiers are buried.
By Brian Carlton BBC 12 July 2019
“If I should die, think only this of me/ That there’s some corner of a foreign field/ That is forever England.”
..."For two months, the Bedfordshire patrolled the Outer Banks, helping with salvage operations and searching for U-boats. Then, on 11 May 1942, the hunter became the hunted. Bedfordshire and fellow trawler HMT St Loman, also part of the Outer Banks patrol, U-boat found them first. U-558 fired torpedoes at both ships and hit the Bedfordshire, sinking the ship with all crew lost.
Because it happened so fast, there was no time to send out a distress call. In fact, it would be days before anyone knew what happened to the Bedfordshire, when the bodies of four men washed up on Ocracoke on 14 May. Out of those four, only Cunningham and Craig could be identified.
This memorial and gravesite in North Carolina will forever be considered British soil
Normally during wartime, a soldier's body is shipped home to his family. Due to the island's isolation, however, there were limited supplies on Ocracoke in 1942, including a lack of materials needed to preserve bodies. As a result, all four men had to be buried quickly on the island. To pay respect to the Bedfordshire's crew, Ocracoke residents also built a monument as part of the cemetery, giving all four men full military honours.
“The cemetery on Ocracoke is the only one in deeded to the British,” Dr Schwarzer said. “The island residents (and North Carolina) said let’s give this land in perpetuity to Britain.”
The land was leased to England’s Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which keeps track of and maintains all graves of soldiers who died in either of the two World Wars. And since it was granted ‘in perpetuity’, this memorial and gravesite in North Carolina will forever be considered British soil.
At the ceremony, I watched as wreaths were placed on the memorial to honour the sacrifice of the Bedfordshire’s men, while the US Coast Guard Pipe Band played. The American and British Royal Legion Riders, veterans who hold motorbike rides to raise money for wounded soldiers and other charity projects, conducted a special tradition as they do every year: each group brought a container of water, one from the Outer Banks and another from England, and blended them together to symbolise how Ocracoke and England are linked. Afterwards, the names of each member of Bedfordshire’s crew was read out, before a 21-gun salute closed the ceremony out.
I took off my baseball cap as I stood by the graves, reflecting on history. Thirty-seven men left home to defend people in another country, giving their lives to do so. That truly deserves respect and honour. It seems fitting that the Bedfordshire’s crew is not forgotten, but honoured in ‘some corner of a foreign field that is forever England’.".
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/2019...sed-to-england