Arborglyphs

I only discovered the word 'arborglyphs' at the weekend. It's a word to describe what I'd always thought of as 'tree graffiti' - the cuttings made on tree trunks by small boys, poets and more particularly soldiers. Now that the undergrowth is dying down I can resume my search for the latter amongst the beech trees in the woods here. Last winter I found and recorded a dozen carvings made by Canadian troops in May 1944 on their way to Normandy. I was able to trace two - Henry Boucha and Charles Bynski from the Lake Superior Regiment. Sadly both were killed in action right at the end of the war when Canadian forces crossed from Holland into northern Germany. I suspect 'BM' from Toronto may be another Lake Superior man and perhaps there will be a happier outcome.

Although many of these trees and their 'arborglyphs' were probably lost in the great storm of 1987 I'm hoping to find a few more in the remaining acres of untouched woodland that I haven't searched through.