Anne becomes first member of royal family to visit Little Sark
On Little Sark, the princess met residents before travelling by horse and carriage to La Coupee, a narrow walkway connecting Big Sark and Little Sark.
Anne was told about the history of La Coupee and recent erosion and repair work while walking along the path.
The princess then visited la Societe Sercquaise (the Sark Society), an organisation founded in 1975 to study, preserve and enhance Sark's natural environment and cultural heritage, where she met volunteers and viewed archaeological artefacts.
Anne later attended the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Sark celebrations at the Avenue, where she met representatives from the liberated generation before being invited to say a few words.
After planting a silver birch tree to commemorate the 80th anniversary, the princess visited an exhibition on the Second World War at Old Island Hall.
The Second World War exhibition focuses on the island's experiences during the German occupation and life up to the present day. Each display covers a different aspect of the occupation years, including a section on 'The Deportees'; residents of Sark who were deported from Sark by the German occupying forces like Nellie Le Feuvre, who Anne met at the exhibition. Mrs Le Feuvre was deported to Biberach Camp in Germany.
Finally, the princess visited the Sark Observatory, where she met volunteers and viewed the sun through a solar telescope.
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Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Prince Harry's secret letter sends 'painful' message to royals after William 'gut punch'
EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry arranging for a personal letter and tribute to be left at a memorial to mark VJ Day is a painful reminder for the royals, according to an expert Prince Harry's secret letter that was placed at a war memorial sends a huge message to the Royal Family following a 'gut punch", according to a royal expert. It emerged that the Duke of Sussex paid a poignant tribute to his grandfather, Prince Philip, in the letter secretly left at the National Memorial Arboretum on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day. It is said Harry asked a friend to discreetly leave the note and a wreath of red poppies at the Burma Star Memorial following the national commemorations attended by the King and Queen. Notably, the letter was also placed after Charles and Camilla left to avoid distracting from the service, which honoured the sacrifice of Second World War heroes who fought and died in the Pacific and Far East. And according to royal expert and historian Dr Tessa Dunlop, the move shows how Harry has left a "gaping hole" in the Firm. She told the Mirror: "Last week's VJ Day anniversary was heavy with emotion; a sombre recall of the cost of conflict 80 years after the end of the Pacific War beneath the leafy calm of Staffordshire's National Memorial Arboretum. "Thirty-three veterans made the journey and were honoured by King Charles, who assured them they would never be forgotten. A perfect day, but one without mention of his forgotten son, Prince Harry, once the Royal Family's most effective military figurehead. "It was only after the King and Queen had departed that a friend of Harry's discreetly laid the Duke's wreath, dedicated to his late Grandfather, Prince Philip, who fought in the Pacific War and those who served with him. "The letter was thoughtful, detailing the 'unforgiving terrain' and years of endurance 'far from home' that the service personnel endured: it honoured the 'grit, unity and sacrifice' of the 'Forgotten Army'. Its belated discovery at the foot of the Burma Star memorial has served to remind King and country of the gaping hole Harry's absence has left in the commemorative circuit. "With two outstanding tours in Afghanistan - one cruelly cut short - the Duke's easy manner and dashing presence in honorary uniform are much missed. "Women who have lost sons and husbands in Afghanistan speak to the Duke's exceptional presence in their time of grief. No one in the Royal Family was a better fit for this most important commemorative role." After Harry and wife Meghan quit their royal roles, Harry was forced to give up his honorary military titles. He was also prevented from laying a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday several years ago. And Tessa explained how this latest letter and wreath is a quiet reminder for the royals. She added: "There is much talk of the Sussexes' new life in Montecito, of Meghan's influencer success, of Harry's difficulties outside the Royal Family, far less attention is paid to his leave of absence from that other institution, the army, and the Duke's forced abandonment of all his honorary roles. "Having first laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in 2009, it was a painful reminder of the cost of what he had left behind when in 2020, he was forbidden from continuing the practice. "Doubling down on that pain was Prince William 's recent appointment as Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps in 2024, making Harry's big brother the leader of the regiment the Duke once flew Apache helicopters for in Afghanistan. In comparison, the Prince of Wales flew search-and-rescue helicopters in Wales. "One more gut-punch for the estranged Duke, whose long letter honouring the Pacific War veterans was a quiet reminder that Harry has not forgotten the most important role he was forced to abandon when he left the Royal Family, even if his family appears to have forgotten him." Tessa Dunlop is the author of Lest We Forget: War and Peace in 100 British Monuments.
Daily Mail
18 hours ago
- Daily Mail
He was a pilot grievously wounded with 72 injuries after sinking a U-boat. Now, the only surviving WWII VC holder has died at 105 - and the story of his courage holds as powerful a message today as ever: LORD ASHCROFT
For more than eight decades, his name was synonymous with duty, loyalty, sacrifice, humility and, above all else, courage. Now Flight Lieutenant John Cruickshank, the last recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) to fight in the Second World War, has died at the grand age of 105. His passing, announced at the weekend, marks the end of an era. It seems appropriate that Flt Lt Cruickshank VC gave his final breath as the world was preparing to commemorate Victory over Japan (VJ) Day 2025 – marking the final conclusion of the 1939-45 war 80 years ago. Cruickshank was – and is – significant in so many ways: the last surviving recipient of a VC for an action in the air and the last living Scottish recipient of a VC, the most prestigious gallantry award that Britain and the Commonwealth can offer. In May 2020 he became the first VC recipient to reach the age of 100. Yet the fact that this brave Scot lived beyond the age of 24 was in itself remarkable. For that's how old Cruickshank was when, in July 1944, he carried out a quite remarkable act of bravery stretching over several hours above the freezing waters of the Arctic. In attacking, and eventually destroying, a German U-boat from the air, Cruickshank received no fewer than 72 separate injuries, including two wounds to his lungs and ten to his lower limbs. He almost bled to death. John Alexander Cruickshank was born in Aberdeen on May 20, 1920, the son of James Cruickshank, a civil engineer, and his wife Alice. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School, followed by the Royal High School and Daniel Stewart's College in Edinburgh (today known as Stewart's Melville College). In 1938, Cruickshank was apprenticed into the Commercial Bank of Scotland. The following year, he joined the Territorial Army Gunners, joining the 129th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery at the outbreak of war. In June 1941, Cruickshank transferred to the Royal Air Force and, after training in Canada and the United States of America, received his pilot's 'wings'. Then, in March 1943 he joined No 210 Squadron of anti-submarine flying boats based on the Shetland Islands. It was on July 17, 1944, that an RAF Catalina with a ten-man crew took off from RAF Sullom Voe. The pilot and captain was Flying Officer Cruickshank, by now, a veteran of 47 sorties. The task was to help provide anti-submarine cover for the British Home Fleet – the Royal Navy's main European force – returning from Operation Mascot. This was an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the German battleship Tirpitz, then moored in Altafjord near Norway's North Cape. When a U-boat was sighted on the surface of the Norwegian Sea, F/O Cruickshank immediately turned to attack it. A German submarine was a great prize for any Allied air crew. Despite anti-aircraft fire, he manoeuvred his aircraft to drop depth charges from a height of only 50ft above the water, but the charges failed to release. Cruickshank knew he had lost the element of surprise and that the gunners aboard the submarine were now prepared. Yet he resolved to approach the U-boat a once again. As F/O Cruickshank and his crew came in for a second time, they were hit by intense and accurate enemy fire. The navigator/bomb aimer was killed. The second pilot and two other members of the crew were wounded, as was Cruickshank himself. Despite his serious injuries, Cruickshank pressed home the attack and released the depth charges himself, hitting the submarine directly and causing her to sink. Yet the Catalina was so badly damaged that it was filled with the fumes of exploding shells. And the surviving crew were more than five hours from their Shetland base, trapped in an aircraft that seemed unlikely to make it. Cruickshank headed to the safety of a fog bank, where he calmly assessed the situation before turning back home. The aircraft's radar was out of commission. Fuel was leaking from damaged pipes. Shrapnel holes in the fuselage were stuffed with life jackets and canvas engine covers. Cruickshank's wounds were so serious that he collapsed at the controls, leaving second pilot, Flight Sergeant Jack Garnett – whose injuries were less severe – to take over for a time. Recovering his composure shortly afterwards, Cruickshank insisted on resuming command. He set a course for the base, sent out the necessary signals and only then, reluctantly, received medical aid for the worst of his 72 wounds. Cruickshank refused a morphine painkiller, however, in case it prevented him from carrying out his duties. Over the next five and a half hours, bleeding heavily, Cruickshank lapsed in and out of consciousness with Garnett taking the controls once again. But with the aircraft only an hour or so from base, Cruickshank insisted on being carried forward and propped up in the second pilot's seat. He knew that a hazardous landing in darkness was inevitable – and that Garnett lacked experience. Despite struggling to breathe, Cruickshank gave instructions and encouragement on how best to land the Catalina, assessing both the light and the sea conditions before the flying boat came down in the water off the Shetland Islands. Even at that point, Cruickshank insisted on giving instructions on how to taxi and beach the aircraft so that it could eventually be salvaged. Cruickshank required a blood transfusion before he was removed from the aircraft and taken to hospital. The lengthy citation for his VC, announced in The London Gazette on September 1, 1944, concluded: 'By pressing home the second attack in his gravely wounded condition and continuing his exertions on the return journey with his strength failing all the time, he seriously prejudiced his chance of survival even if the aircraft safely reached its base. 'Throughout, he set an example of determination, fortitude and devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the Service.' The second pilot, Flt Sgt Garnett, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM). Cruickshank was discharged from Military Hospital, Lerwick, Shetland, later that same month. He received his VC from King George VI in an investiture at the Palace of Holyrood, Edinburgh, on September 21. After recovering from his wounds, Cruickshank served at Headquarters, Coastal Command, by this point holding the rank of flight lieutenant. After the war, he resumed his banking career with postings to Asia and Africa. In May 1955, Cruickshank married a Canadian, Marian Beverley, in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar). She died in 1985. Flt Lt Cruickshank lived on his own for the next four decades. But each year, in a moving gesture that said so much about his character, he travelled to the Shetlands to lay a wreath on the grave of his navigator, Flying Officer John Dixon. Bob Kemp, a fellow retired RAF officer and close friend said: 'John was an amazing character, very quiet, but with a terrific sense of humour. 'I flew with him in the Catalina when he was almost 90 and as soon as he got airborne his recall of the detail of the aircraft came alive. 'He could point out every position of every crew member, where all the first-aid kits were stored, where all the machine guns were, the depth charge settings and the engine's revolutions for take-off etc. His recall was magnificent.' The death of Flt Lt Cruickshank was announced with no details about where he had died or the exact date of his passing. He was a private man and his funeral will be an occasion for close family and friends. Cruickshank was one of 181 men to be awarded the VC during the Second World War, including a New Zealander who received it twice, a double award known as a VC and Bar. Cruickshank's death is, of course, a tragedy for his family and friends who loved him so dearly. But his place in history is secure – one of the finest examples of bravery it is possible to imagine from a generation of men and women to whom we owe so much. He rarely talked about his war-time service and his VC, saying in 2008: 'You don't get involved in that kind of thing – thinking of any decorations or any recognition. It was regarded as duty.' Like so many of the decorated war heroes that I have met over the years – as I built the world's largest collection of VC medals – Cruickshank's courage was matched by modesty and humility. In 2013, and by that point in his early 90s, he said of that night's bravery: 'It was just normal. We were trained to do the job and that was it. I wouldn't like to say I'm the only one who has an amazing story. There are plenty of other stories coming from that time.' Today the world is once again a dangerous place, with wars and conflicts in eastern Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere. It is all the more important, then, that we honour and cherish the valour of men like Flight Lieutenant John Cruickshank VC, who put his country, his monarch, his comrades and wider freedoms above his personal safety to make the world a better place.
Rhyl Journal
20 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Harry's secret tribute to Philip left at national memorial on VJ Day
Harry asked a friend to discreetly leave the note and a wreath of red poppies at the Burma Star Memorial in Staffordshire on Friday, following the national commemorations attended by the King and Queen, GB News revealed. The letter was placed after Charles and Camilla left to avoid distracting from the service which honoured the sacrifice of Second World War heroes who fought and died in the Pacific and Far East. VJ Day on August 15 marks the anniversary of Japan's surrender to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, ending the six-year-long conflict. Harry, who was thousands of miles away in California, wrote: 'For me, this anniversary carries an added layer of meaning. 'My late grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, served in the Pacific campaign. 'He spoke with quiet humility about those years, but I know how deeply he respected all who stood beside him in that theatre of war. 'Today, as I think of him, I think also of each of you, of the shared hardships, the bonds forged, and the legacy you leave.' The late duke, who died aged 99 in 2021, was in Tokyo Bay on board the destroyer HMS Whelp, a warship he served on as second-in-command, when Japanese officials formally signed the surrender on the USS Missouri. The King, who previously spoke publicly about his father's wartime role on the 75th anniversary in 2020, made no mention of Philip in his audio address to the nation on Friday morning marking 80 years on from VJ Day. But he did pay tribute to his mentor and great uncle Earl Mountbatten, who oversaw the defeat of the Japanese offensive towards India as Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command. Harry's letter, which was addressed to the 'Forgotten Army', said: 'On this 80th anniversary of VJ Day, we pause to remember the day the guns finally fell silent across the world, the true end of the Second World War. 'We also pause to recognise you, the men and women of the 'Forgotten Army,' whose courage and endurance in the Far East campaign were anything but forgettable. 'You faced an enemy determined to the last, fought in unforgiving terrain, and endured months, even years, far from home, in conditions most could scarcely imagine. 'Your service in the jungles and mountains of Burma and beyond was marked by grit, unity, and sacrifice. 'It is because of that sacrifice that generations since, myself included, have been able to live in freedom. 'From the lessons of that bitter struggle came the understanding that even the fiercest of foes can, in time, become valued partners in peace. 'Today, as both our nations mark this anniversary, we acknowledge the respect earned, the lives lost and the enduring friendship that has since taken root.' After his words about Philip, Harry added: 'I am humbled by your example, proud of your service and dedication, and profoundly grateful for what you endured. 'Your story is part of our shared heritage, and it must never be forgotten. With the deepest respect, thank you.' The letter, featuring the duke's cypher of a H under a crown was signed 'Harry', Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. In 2020, the year of Megxit, former soldier Harry was left saddened when he was refused his wish to have a poppy wreath placed at the Cenotaph, the focus of the UK's Remembrance Sunday service, on his behalf. Just months later, the duke, who undertook two tours to Afghanistan, was stripped of his military patronages by his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II after his decision to step down as a senior working royal was made permanent. Much of the celebration marking the end of the Second World War in 1945 focused on VE (Victory in Europe) Day in May, with those who served in the Far East labelled 'The Forgotten Army'.
