Recap: Senior Blues October Meeting

The Senior Blues sat down at the beginning of the month and heard from CFU Director, Ollie Hill, and Professor Tim Grady, University of Chester.

With one our speakers having to withdraw at the last minute, director, Oliver Hill, stepped up first to give an update on all things Chester Football Club..

Members asked various questions regarding the new outside drinking facilities. They seem to be a popular addition to the football club, and will be monitored before any decision is made to make it a permanent fixture.

The stand extension is still ongoing, planning permission has been given, so it’s now down to applying for grants, and raising the money.

Geoff Leith gave an update on upcoming trips and confirmed the annual Senior Blues Christmas dinner is booked for Friday December 5th.

Our special guest this year is the Lord Mayor of Chester, Councillor Akhtar, who will be attending.

The raffle was drawn, and, thanks to the continued generosity of our members all the prizes were donated, our raffle is still a big part of our income.

After Les came up with Frank Rothwell last month, he came with, yet again, another splendid speaker. This time it was Professor Tim Grady from the University of Chester who came to talk to us about his latest book, “Burying the Enemy”.

This is a follow-up to the Senior Blues members’ fairly recent trip to the German War Cemetery at Cannock Chase.

All German prisoners of war and internees who died in the U.K. during both Wars tended to be buried in local cemeteries and churchyards scattered around the country, including German airmen shot down in the U.K. during both conflicts.

But on October 16th 1959, a decision was made to exhume those who had died and were buried around the country, to move them to one place. This mammoth job was undertaken by the Imperial War Graves Commission. The site was chosen at Cannock Chase. This would make it easier for relatives to visit their fathers, sons, brothers, and cousins who are all resting together in one place.

One example in the book is about Frederick Martin, a German “Enemy Alien” who died in Macclesfield Parkside Asylum during World War One. Another incident in the book is about three Zeppelin airships shot down over the UK, their dead lie in specially marked graves at Cannock Chase.

The book covers so much, also covering those who died on foreign lands fighting for the U.K. Having been to the Somme on a previous Senior Blues trip, I was in awe seeing the work carried out by the Commonwealth Graves Commission in Northern France and elsewhere.

Maybe thought of as a morbid read, Tim’s book is far from it, it’s a fascinating read about an essential part of our wartime history, and can be heartedly recommended.

THE SENIOR BLUES

New members are welcome! Annual membership remains at £10 and renewals will be collected at the meeting. All proceeds from meetings are reinvested in the Club, the principal beneficiary being the Senior Blues Youth Foundation.

Chester FC Senior Blues is a group for older supporters who meet monthly and organise regular social activities.

Formed in 2013, largely through the efforts of the much missed Peter Mitchell and Chairman Chris Courtenay Williams, the Senior Blues meet on the first Friday morning of the month in the Blues Bar from August to May.

New members are very welcome with membership costing only £10 a year.