It is a truly staggering exhibition showing the sheer amount of lost life. It helps us realise the hardship older generations had to go through. All the poppies together give a special feeling of remembrance around the park.

 

On the very pitches the people of Twickenham play on today, five bombs were dropped between the 7th October 1940 to 6th June 1941. No one was injured from the blasts but air raid shelters which had been erected were damaged.

 

Lieutenant Ronald William Poulton Palmer died in action on the 5th of May 1915. He was a local boy who played 17 times for England. He also appeared for Harlequins in the first ever Twickenham stadium match. He volunteered for the Royal Berkshire Regiment at the outbreak of war but was shot by a sniper in a trench just north of Ploegsteert Wood in Belgium. His last words were: “I shall never play at Twickenham again.”

 

It is fitting that the allotments which covered Marble Hill during the war were turned into rugby and football pitches after it. This certainly would have made Lieutenant Ronald William Poulton Palmer proud.

 

This exhibition truly showcases the struggle of war. It also gives us a perspective of the uncompromising nature of war and the affect it had in the local area. A definite eye opener for the younger generations to the atrocities of war.