Forever Young

On a day when people traditionally commemorate those who volunteered to give their lives for a cause, I thought it might be worthwhile to remember those who had no choice in the matter.

This mass grave in Horseley Road cemetery contains the bodies of nineteen girls killed in an explosion on 6th March 1922 whilst decommissioning leftover munitions from the Great War. Their names are as follows:

Hannah Hubbard, aged 16
Laura Dalloway, aged 15
Elsie Follows, aged 15
Edith Drew, aged 15
Lily Griffiths, aged 15
Maggie Burns, aged 15
Violet May Franklin, aged 15
Annie Eliza Florence Edwards, aged 15
Ethel May Jukes, aged 15
Nellie Kay, aged 15
Annie Freeth, aged 15
Elizabeth Aston, aged 14
Lucy Edwards, aged 14
Edith Richards, aged 14
Mabel Weaver, aged 14
Annie Naylor, aged 14
Gladys May Bryant, aged 14
Priscilla Longmore, aged 13
Lizzie Williams, aged 13

Not interred in this grave but commemorated by it are five girls who survived the initial explosion, but later died of their injuries:

Florence Bryant
Florence Masters
Mary Luker
Nellie Warmer
Gladys Williams

Wars don't end with the signing of treaties. Wars don't end until they've stopped claiming casualties.