FINAL MEMORIES



 

When I carried out the research of the War Memorial names in 2014, I was surprised to learn that Katherine had a surviving brother living in Sudbury.
This turned out to be Cameron Carr.
I visited Cameron on several occasions and we spent quite some time talking about Katherine and his very fond memories of her.

He recalled when War was declared in 1939, Katherine was very eager to enlist in the Armed Forces to protect her country.
Cameron who was aged 9 at the time, vividly remembers on one occasion walking to Wormingford with this sister to catch the bus to
Colchester.
On their arrival, Katherine treated him to a cup of tea and then took him to the Cinema.
They both returned home later in the day.

The next day, she walked alone to Wormingford to catch the bus to Colchester Barracks
That is the last time Cameron ever saw his sister.

However, after enlisting she must have returned home at some point, for the photograph to be taken in her uniform

Then in 1942, his father and mother took all the children into the living room and broke the devastating news, that Katherine has passed away.

Cameron vividly remembered the day at OverHall Farm when the entire family lined up outside the farmhouse waiting for the Army cortege to return Katherine's body to her parents.
Along the Arger Fen road, an Army jeep led the way followed by a large lorry both with Union Jacks flying on their front wings, finally turning into the drive leading down to the farmhouse.

A Military Guard of Honour formed by solddiers from the Colchester Garrison, then lifted Katherine from the lorry and escorted her to rest inside the farmhouse living room.
It was a very traumatic moment for all the family to see their daughter and sister to their children, being taken into the house in a coffin
There she was laid to rest, draped in the Union Jack.

I don't think words can convey, the terrible sense of loss that the family must have felt.
Talking to Cameron, he found it extremely emotional talking about her final journey to OverHall, as he was obviously very close to his sister.
Later in the week, a full church service was held at St Marys where once again Katherine was taken into the church escorted by the local Home Guard.
She was then taken to the cemetery along Cuckoo Hill to her final resting place.

Considering Katherine died on the 28th Oct and the service was on the 1st November, that left only five days between her death and funeral service at St Mary`s.

RIP

For decades Cameron attended the grave, to make sure his sister would never be forgotten.

Although there are numerous WW2 names on the War Memorial who sacrificed their lives,
Katherine is the only "Killed in Action" person we have buried in our community.

Since 2014, I have taken upon it myself to lay a wreath in her grave on
Remembrance Day each year, in memory of the ultimate sacrifice she gave to her country.

Unfortunately by 2016 with Cameron now in his later years, he was no longer able to make the journey to maintain its upkeep.
Consequently, I carried on his work, but we required a long term solution.

In 2020, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission agreed take on responsibility of maintaining the grave.

The grave can be found on the left side of the cemetery as enter the driveway




However, we mustn`t forget, that Katherine's two other sisters, also joined the War effort

Link to her sisters