Mr. J. L. Friel, Etched in Stone, Part 1
By Christopher Miller
This is a 2 part story being published between 2 weeks: this issue (February 25, 2021) and March 4, 2021.
In Southampton, England there sits a wall. Many walls, to be accurate. But one wall in particular that has withstood the test of time. It has seen the advent of the automobile, electric light, and war.
War.
This is where our story begins.
It was mid-August when I received the first email. A “hot story tip” for future publication. There sits a long wall in Southampton, England that has a bit of graffiti on it. Now graffiti in any sense can be viewed as a work of art – someone putting their mark for others to see. This wall is a bit more special.
Helen Wallbridge, Project Officer and Mrs. Mel Mullane, both of the Maritime Archaeology Trust in Southampton have been hard at work deciphering a mystery and recording stories. The mystery at hand is the wall referenced above.
The Maritime Archaeology Trust dubs it “D-Day: Stories from the Walls.” It explores the stories of the American soldiers that passed through Southampton during World War II and the city’s crucial role in the war. According to their website, “the legacy of these soldiers remains in the form of graffiti etched into the walls near the city’s docks.”
To date, only one section of wall bearing the graffiti remains. In 2019-2020 a digital record of the wall and its inscriptions in order to preserve it for future generations.
The project commemorated the 75th anniversaries of D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and Victory in Europe (VE) Day. “Through the program of fieldwork, research, exhibitions, and outreach,” according to the website, “it engaged volunteers and communities in the discovery of Southampton’s crucial role during the Second World War and the stories behind the men who carved their names on the wall.”
“I had walked past the wall many times,” an email from volunteer Mrs. Mel Mullane said, “when taking children to the swimming pool from school, and I had no idea that it was anything other than a bit of old brick wall that had survived the substantial bombing of the docks during WW2.”
To the naked eye inscriptions are visible, like Native American hieroglyphs in the southwestern deserts. But these inscriptions are much more recent, and detail like a ship’s log, the manifest of military who had passed through the streets of Southampton some nearly 8 decades ago.
Now this wall was not just inscribed by anybody looking to make their mark. In fact, there were 8 men from Pennsylvania to have carved their names on the wall during WW2.
“With the help of 75 volunteers, we are honoured to be able to tell the stories of Breech, Clark, Dodd, Dransart, Friel, Luddy, Sabo, and Shirk, in our documentary and on our website,” another email correspondence had described.
Enter J. L. Friel of Renovo.
Please check back next week for the conclusion of Around Town: Mr. J. L. Friel: Etched in Stone, Part 2.
