Ripon’s younger generation keeps Remembrance aliveGallery: Tears amid military decorations as Ripon gets ready for D-Day 80th anniversary

Lt Col. Perry Bishop, the commanding officer of the Ripon-based 21 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers, admitted to having an emotional moment when he saw knitted soldiers adorning the bollards in Ripon city centre.

He told a large crowd of civic dignitaries, volunteers, schoolchildren and members of the public, who gattered this morning  on the lawns of Ripon Inn for the launch of the city’s D-Day 80th anniversary commemoration and celebration events:

“In my 20 years of army service, I’ve never known a town or city whose people have such a close affinity with the corps of soldiers who are based here.”

Lt. Col Bishop, who is coming to the end of his two-and-a-half year posting in Ripon in the next month, added:

“I must admit, that when I saw the knitted figures of sappers on the bollards around the Market Square, I had tears of pride in my eyes and I could not have a better send off than being here today to unveil this incredible tank made of wool and wood.

“It’s a manifestation of the respect that the people of Ripon have for the Royal Engineers and in return the respect that we have for the citizens of this wonderful city.”

The Mayor and Mayoress of Ripon, Councillor Sid Hawke and his wife Linda, along with the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson, were among those present for this morning’s launch

Today’s unveiling of the replica Churchill bunker buster tank signalled the start of D-Day anniversary events in the city

The badge of the Royal Engineers has been faithfully reproduced in wool by the knitters of Ripon Community Project

 

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For a community proudly wrapped in rich military history, where the Royal Engineers have enjoyed Freedom of the City for 75 years, the countdown to the 80th anniversary, which marks the D-Day landings on five Normandy beaches, have a very special meaning.

On June 6 1944, one in four servicemen involved in Operation Overlord — the code name for the huge military operation that paved the way to the liberation of western Europe — were Royal Engineers, many of whom were trained in Ripon in readiness for their key role in clearing the way for troops who followed on behind them,

Among the weapons at their disposal was the Churchill Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) tank which was used with terrifying effect to blast enemy bunkers with huge and uncompromising shells

The life-size replica, which is 24 feet long, nine feet wide and seven feet high,  has been created through a collaboration between Ripon Community Poppy Project and the city’s Men’s Shed who worked together in a hangar provided by the Engineers at Claro Barracks.

The tank, is a striking and symbolic centrepiece that will be seen at selected locations around the city between now and June 6, when an anniversary concert will be held at Ripon Cathedral, before Jack Churchill the great-grandson of war-time leader Sir Winston Churchill lights a beacon on the cathedral’s piazza,

Five of the people involved in creating the replica tank are pictured here, from the left: Carol Dunkley, Hazel Barker, Stuart Martin (Ripon Community Poppy Project) and Richard Thomson and Gordon Woods of Ripon Men’s Shed,

Hazel Barker, who was joint-founder of the poppy project with former mayor of Ripon Stuart Martin, told the Stray Ferret,

“We hope that the tank and D–Day anniversary decorations, which have taken tens of thousands of stitches from our tireless team of non-stop knitters, will remind local residents and visitors of the crucial part that the Royal Engineers played in securing allied victory in World War Two.”

Pictured above are some of the knitted servicemen that brought tears to the eyes of Lt Col Bishop, while a silhouette of a lone soldier can be seen below with other displays in Spa Gardens.

The D-Day heroes are remembered in this display (below) on railings in Ripon city centre

Main image: Lt Col Perry Bishop (pictured left) with Hazel Barker and Stuart Martin of Ripon Community Poppy Project

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Troops rallied in fight to save Ripon’s priceless military heritage

‘Heritage Worth Fighting For’ is the battlecry of Ripon Military Heritage Trust, as it steps up its campaign to save priceless elements of the city’s world war history from the bulldozer.

The trust, which was established last year, has created a website to raise awareness of its work and attract support from the public and interested parties locally, nationally and internationally.

The heritage items that they are fighting to save include buildings, bridges and other structures that help to tell the story of the strategic role that Ripon played in two world wars and other conflicts.

Each of the heritage assets are located on the Ripon barracks site, where the 1,300-home Clotherholme development led by Homes England – the government’s housing and regeneration agency – is due to begin in 2026, when the Royal Engineers vacate the base that has been their home for decades.

Guy Wilson (fourth from left) is pictured with fellow trustees Lt Col (Retd) Bob Lisle, Jane Furse, Stuart Martin and Michael Furse. Picture RMHT

Chairman of trustees Guy Wilson is, along with fellow trustees, using the website to make a passionate rallying call.

Mr Wilson, who was previously responsible for bringing the Royal Armouries Museum to Leeds in 1988, told the Stray Ferret:

“We need help and support from the public in a number of ways. Most urgent is our need to wake up those in positions of power and influence to the importance of saving Ripon’s unique World War Two heritage.

“Currently the landowners — the Ministry of Defence — and the local planners have taken a Pontius Pilate attitude and washed their hands of any active involvement leaving the trust to deal on its own with the developers — Homes England — who have so far refused to contemplate any change from the submitted development plans.

“If this situation continues the heritage will be lost. Instead ,we need positive engagement and with that we believe that a group of barrack buildings can be saved in a way which would benefit both Ripon and the proposed development.

Mr Wilson added:

“If people want to help they should get in touch with us via our website and be prepared to write letters to their MP, to the planning authority, to the Ministry of Defence and to any relevant contacts they may have. There is also talk locally of organising petitions and other direct actions to show support for the heritage and we expect more to develop on this front soon.”

D-Day for decision makers

Mr Wilson said the forthcoming 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6 presented an opportunity to make the case to a wider audience because of the link between the threatened heritage in Ripon and the success of D-Day.

He added:

“We hope to encourage debate both locally and nationally about the mismatch between the occasional official rhetoric about the debt we owe to the ‘finest hour’ generation and the stark reality of official indifference to the fate of highly significant historic assets that remain to us from that period.

“So we will be encouraging all parts of the news and media world to get involved and to cover the story, we’ll be writing letters to newspapers and journals ourselves, and  we’ll be reporting on our success, or lack of it , in seeking the  engagement of all relevant parties in a proper and constructive process to save Ripon’s military heritage.”

The Royal Engineers’ vital role in the Second World War

During the Second World War, the School of Military Engineering was relocated from Chatham to Ripon. With it came the ancillary training establishments which taught critical skills such as bomb disposal and anti-tank warfare.

Combat engineers, both British and allied, were trained at Ripon in such skills as bridging and mine clearance. US Army Engineers came to the city after Pearl Harbour to learn how to defuse unexploded bombs and then a US section of the School of Military Engineering was established in Ripon so allied forces could be taught the same things.

On D-Day, some 25% of the troops that landed in Normandy were engineers, far more than normal for combat, but essential as the engineers had so much to do to get the troops safely ashore and moving inland.

British and allied forces were taught in Ripon how to install Bailey Bridges, such as this one in Imola, Italy, which is being crossed by a Sherman Firefly tank. Picture: Wikipedia

Mr Wilson said:

“Not all of them were trained in Ripon but what happened in Ripon influenced every one of them. And there is still much we do not understand and need to find out. For instance, there was an organisation called the Experimental Anti-Tank Establishment.

“We know it was testing anti-tank mines at Ripon. And in a lecture given in December1945 Major General Inglis noted that in 1942  “a number of curious devices such as snakes, flails, rollers and ploughs were being developed by the Anti-Tank Experimental Establishment. This suggests that the Experimental Anti-Tank Establishment and thus Ripon may have had a hand in the early development of what became known as ‘Hobart’s funnies’, those altered ‘engineer’ tanks which proved their worth on and after D-Day.”

Funding for the trust’s work

Mr Wilson added:

“Currently the trust is looking to raise only sufficient money to fund our continuing public relations campaign. A modest £5,000 will see us through this year. Beyond that we cannot start any campaign until we know what we are allowed to do.

“The what and where and how has to be agreed before we can cost any project and start fund-raising for it. And currently no one will properly engage with us to produce the first, essential requirement – a thorough assessment of the significance of the Ripon site and its surviving heritage assets.

“We are, therefore, stuck at the starting post and the danger is that, suddenly the development plans will be passed and demolition will begin before we have had tine to develop a proper scheme to save what is most important.”

Support from Ripon City Council

The leader of Ripon City Council, Councillor Andrew Williams, said:

“We are unanimous in our support for all that the trust is doing and fellow North Yorkshire councillor Barbara Brodigan and I have attended a number of meetings that the trust has held with Homes England, to make the city’s feelings known.”

He added:

“The military heritage within the barracks site must be maintained. It not only belongs to the people of Ripon, but to the nation and is a unique reminder of the part that our Royal Engineers played in fighting for our freedom and the liberation of Europe.

“As well as being a means of educating future generations about the horrors of war, the assets on the barracks site are part of Ripon’s wider heritage dating back 1,351 years to the establishment by Wilfrid of the cathedral and can play an important role in our development as a destination for heritage-based tourism.”

What Homes England says

In a previous statement Homes England, said:

“We remain committed to delivering a military heritage strategy as part of our wider proposals for the site and continue to discuss options with the local planning authority and the Ripon Military Heritage Trust.”

The government housebuilding agency added:

 

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