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Letters
Mother helped nurse the crews of the Exeter, Ajax and the Achillies after the Battle of the River Plate Hi I was wondering if you could help me with a rather unusual request. My mother was a young girl on the Falkland Islands and helped nurse the crews of the Exeter, Ajax and the Achillies after the Battle of the River Plate. She has recently died and left me the Battle of the River Plate Plaque. The story she always told me was that only five were made (I think that is unlikely), that each plaque contains the wood of one ship the metal from another ship and the crewman who made them was off the last of the three ships. This was my mother prized possession and I would like to know more about the existence of the other plaques or any other relevant information. Pat Underlin
Thank you for your interesting message. I would think the Battle of the River Plate, Plaque left to you by your Mother is both unusual and unique, I have not heard about such plaques, nor can I unearth any detail about them. I would not be at all suprised, if in fact, your Mother's story of but five of them being made is probably right. Such a piece of memorabilia is likely to have been limited in its output, it was made by hand, and used materials from two ships, to be made by a crewmember of the third ship in the Battle, its not the type of momento to encourage any mass production. You most likely have a little treasure there that records an important victory for the Navy early in WW2, when too much was not going right for those members of the then British Empire that stood alone against the might of Germany. Is is at all possible to Photograph your Plaque, and E-Mail me a copy please? With your story, I can then add the photo, put it up on AHOY, and who knows, we might be able to solicit some feed back from the Internet, one never knows, who around the world may stumble on this piece, and give us a clue. I am forever being amazed how when I write about a specific subject, little added pieces of the jig saw are teased out from a new source. Thank you again for sharing with me your Plaque story, and I hopefully await a photo. Best regards, Hi Mac I have tried to get any other information on my mothers plaque with no luck, the only thing I found out definitely was that it was not commissioned by the British Navy. I am still trying to found out information and will keep you posted. Regards
Thank you, that is a very handsome plaque indeed, and looks professionally made. I have long said to my four children, give me about 10 sailors with whom I have served, and we will achieve absolutely anything. Given the passage of time since the Plate action, it is probably unlikely you will be lucky enough to track down the one who made your plaque, or anyone who served in the ship at that time who is able to enlighten you further. Having said that, I am a great subscriber to sheer persistence, it often wins out in the long haul, I am continually suprised how, someone, some where, will come out of the blue to give me the final piece in a jigsaw I am trying to put together. We will put the picture of your plaque up on AHOY, lets hope some one sees it and gives us the story on it Pat. Thank you again, and best wishes. Mac. |
