Journal of the Archaeology and Heritage Special Interest Group
September/ October 2025
Editor David Bryson FRPS heritage.editor@rps.org
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David Bryson FRPS heritage.editor@rps.org
Archaeology & Heritage Group Committee Members
Chair Shaun Parkes MA ARPS LDPS heritagechair@rps.org
Heritage Photography Editor David Bryson FRPS heritage.editor@rps.org
Honorary Secretary Amanda Miller LRPS heritagesec@rps.org
Honorary Treasurer David Bryson FRPS heritagetreasurer@rps.org
Web Editor and Communications Officer
Natalie E Hough-Benns LRPS
Military Heritage and Distribution
Shaun Parkes MA ARPS LDPS heritagemilitary@rps.org
Ordinary Committee Members Amanda Schonut Joseph Durocher
Published by the Archaeology and Heritage Special Interest Group of the Royal Photographic Society, September/October 2025
Copyright in all text and photographs are held by the credited authors, or as otherwise stated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher.
Print ISSN 0958-0565
Online ISSN 2632-3346
Front cover: Whissendine Windmill. Photograph: Natalie E Hough-Benns
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
3 Perspective: Archaeology and more, an eclectic mix
DAVID BRYSON FRPS
4-5 Chair’s Chat: Serve to Lead
SHAUN PARKES ARPS MA LDPS
6-7 Archaeology and Heritage: Understanding the Past, Preserving the Future
NATALIE HOUGH-BENNS LRPS
PHOTOGRAPHS
8-9 Facebook Favourites June, August and September 2025.
FEATURES
10-20 Whissidine Mill and the living heritage of Rutland
NATALIE E. HOUGH-BENNS LRPS
21-34 Varieties of digital imaging to support community archaeology
DAVID BROWNRIGG
35-60 WW2 Heritage Discovered whilst on holiday in France
SHAUN PARKES ARPS MA LDPS
61-74 West Norwood Cemetery and Catacombs
EDMUND WHITE
75-80 Carved Memory: The artisanal façades of Saint Henri JOSEPH DUROCHER
Perspective: Archaeology and more, an eclectic mix
DAVID BRYSON FRPS
Welcome to the September/October issue of Heritage Photography the third digital issue for 2025.
This issue is an eclectic mix starting with Shaun Parkes ARPS our new Chair’s first Chair’s chat then a piece looking at the difference and similarities between archaeology and heritage by our new communications officer Natalie Hough-Benns LRPS.
There follows a number of features starting with Natalie’s look at Whissendine Windmill in Rutland, then a feature on how digital imaging through drone photography can support archaeological investigations by David Brownrigg followed by more memorials from World War 2 in France from Shaun, this is followed by a look at Norwood Cemetery and Catacombs by Edmund White, finally a short piece from Canada looking at the artisanal façades of Saint Henri by Joseph Durocher.
Plea for more contributions
As always please remember that this is your publication and without your photographs with or without writing I cannot put together great issues for our membership.
If you have any ideas for articles or series of photographs or would like to get feedback about an idea for a submission please contact me by e-mail. heritage.editor@rps.org
E-mail Reminder
Do remember to add and if necessary update your e-mail details on your RPS profile so we can contact you through the RPS’s Broadcast system
Our private facebook group is at https://www. facebook.com/groups/rpsah Please enter the regular competition and click on your favourites.
Close up of one of thre artisanal façades by Joseph Durocher
Chair’s Chat: Serve to lead
“Serve to lead” may seem to be paradoxical as a leadership philosophy, but it is a leadership concept very recognisable to anybody who has been an Officer Cadet at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, or other military leadership academies. It espouses the approach that effective leaders place the members of their group(s) at the centre of their actions, tactics and strategies. OUR NEW CHAIR SHAUN PARKES MA ARPS LDPS
It is true that our group has been fairly stagnant in recent times, not through any lack of effort or intent on the part of the small committee. Indeed, my first acknowledgment is to place on record the group’s appreciation of the efforts of the committee, and especially the editor of Heritage Photography and our current Finance Officer, David Bryson FRPS, and our previous Chair, Heather Laurence PhD, and the other members of the committee.
My background in photography leading up to this point is a long but relatively unexciting one. I took up photography in my late teens, and coming from an RAF family, I concentrated on aviation photography and attended many airshows. Real life took over, with marriage and a child, and photography took more of a back seat until around 2010 when I resigned from my job and moved up to Lincolnshire. Then in 2014 I was diagnosed with chronic arthritis and a few other medical conditions hitherto unknown to me, and I realised that I could either give in to it or I could fight to stave off the debilitating effects on my mobility and get busy moving more.
I bought my first DSLR, tried different genres of photography including studio work, completed level 3 and level 4 diplomas in photography, and tried hard to develop as a photographer, culminating this year with my completing a Master of Arts (MA) degree in photography through Falmouth University. I have now been exhibited internationally some 80 times now, and have also been published many times, both in print and in online magazines and journals, across several genres including sports (mainly rugby), aviation, wildlife, fashion, landscapes and heritage. So hopefully I have some credibility as a photographer.
Our new Group Communications Officer, Natalie Elise Hough-Benns LRPS, has written a short article with some thoughts on what constitutes archaeology and heritage photography. We aim to do more events that fit in with those thoughts.
My plans this year are to re-invigorate the group. I have plenty of ideas to take the group forward, but as with all membership groups, if the members do not engage and participate, the group will stagnate. We as a group need to do more; especially more events where we can actually do some archaeology and / or heritage photography. With that aim in mind, please find details of some proposed locations for group shoots later in this edition of our journal. The locations are spread about so hopefully most of our UK-based membership can attend at least one of the proposed shoots. All of our members are of course welcome to attend any of the shoots, but I appreciate that travel and subsistence costs may prevent many of our overseas-based members from attending.
Of serious concern to me is the future of our Heritage Photography journal, which I see as a cornerstone of our group. As you know, we recently took the decision to move to a digital distribution model as we just cannot afford the postage costs to send hardcopy journals to all our members, as distribution costs more than the cost of printing the journal. I am working on different options to try and identify a workable cost model to return to a sending out a printed edition of the journal. But one of the best way to achieve this is to increase our membership so we can continue to fund it through membership fees!
We are also looking closely at increasing our social media (SM) activities across a larger number of
platforms, and Natalie is working at pace to improve our social media presence. But again, we need our members to engage. Please see Natalie’s article for details of how to find and access our SM platforms. If you haven’t already joined our Facebook group, or one of our other SM platforms, please do so, we aim to have a regular newsletter, and articles and posts of interest to both our archaeology and our heritage members.
So, “serve to lead” – let me know how I can serve the group to lead it forwards, to grow the group, and make it more active. It’s your group! Let me know what you want your group to be, but please do participate in any surveys, or feel free to send any ideas to me at email address heritagemilitary@rps. org (until we can get the heritage chair address re-allocated!) If we understand your interests and what
you want to achieve in the group, we can be better focussed on doing these very things.
Hopefully I will meet many of you in person in the next year or so. Let’s get some great photography done! Finally I commend to you the excellent articles from Natalie, David, Edmund and Joseph in this edition, there is great and varied content which I found very interesting and engaging! Thank you all for contributing
Shaun
Archaeology and Heritage: Understanding the Past, Preserving the Future
The past shapes who we are today, and provides an understanding of where we come from; or who are, and helps us understand our identity and culture. Archaeology and heritage are closely linked. Archaeologists discover and interpret the remains of the past, whilst heritage ensures that these discoveries and the traditions associated with them are shared. Without archaeology, much of our heritage would remain hidden; without heritage, the knowledge gained from archaeology could be lost or forgotten.
NATALIE E HOUGH-BENNS BA (HONS) LRPS
Archaeology is the scientific study of human history through the material remains left behind by past societies. These remains may be small artefacts, such as tools, pottery, and coins, or large structures like temples, castles, and burial sites. Archaeologists use careful excavation methods and modern technologies including radiocarbon dating, DNA analysis, and satellite imagery to reconstruct how people lived, worked, and believed; and of course, by recording these findings in situ by carefully photographing the subjects before they are removed.
The aim of archaeology is not just to “dig up” objects, but to understand human stories: how societies were organised, how cultures have changed, and how people interacted with each other and their environment. It provides us with evidence that cannot always be found in written records, especially for prehistoric societies where no written findings have been left behind. Often the physical artefacts can confirm, amend or even disprove our theories about earlier civilisations.
Heritage refers to the cultural and natural legacies of the past that societies value and wish to preserve for future generations. It can be divided into two main categories:
Tangible heritage, which includes physical objects, buildings, monuments, and landscapes.
Intangible heritage, which covers traditions, languages, music, rituals, and other living cultures.
Heritage is deeply tied to who we are and to our identity. It shapes how communities understand themselves, and it connects the past with the present. Because of this, heritage is often protected by laws, institutions, and global organisations such as UNESCO.
Together, archaeology and heritage give us an understanding of human history. Archaeology uncovers the material traces of past lives, while heritage ensures these traces and traditions continue to inspire and inform future generations. Both fields remind us that the past is not just behind us, it lives on in the present, shaping our identities and guiding our future.
Figure 1: Binchester Roman Baths (C) Durham County Council The dig team said the walls would once have been covered with brightly painted designs.
One of the staff in period dress at Blist’s Hill Victorian Village in Shropshire Photograph by Ted Burchnall
Hotel features Bandung, Java Photograph by David Bryson FRPS
September: Trees and Heritage
Holme Fen before the rains came. Photograph Natalie Hough-Benns LRPS
Back in Time: Whissendine Windmill and the Living Heritage of Rutland
Driving through the gentle hills of Rutland, it’s easy to feel like you’ve slipped into a forgotten chapter of England’s past. Church spires pierce a wide, brooding sky; crops of wheat and barley sway rhythmically in the summer breeze. And then, hidden within a quiet housing estate where old and new architecture coexist, something remarkable appears, Whissendine Windmill.
NATALIE E HOUGH-BENNS LRPS
At first, it’s an unusual sight. Windmills are typically perched on lonely knolls, surrounded by open farmland. But here, in the heart of a built-up area, this 60-foot stone tower stands tall and proud, woven seamlessly into the local fabric. It’s a reminder that you don’t need to travel far for meaningful discovery, sometimes, history is waiting just twenty minutes from your doorstep.
From a photographer’s point of view, Whissendine offers rich rewards. The views are Turneresque, with layers of hedgerows, trees, and narrow roads pulling the eye through acres of rolling countryside. Old farm carts lie abandoned in golden fields, and brooding storm clouds gather on the horizon, at every turn revealing another hidden vista, another distraction too beautiful to ignore.
Yet the most captivating subject here is the windmill itself.
A Working Relic of History
Whissendine Windmill is more than 200 years old and Grade II listed, its silhouette a constant in a landscape that has changed dramatically over centuries. The Parish of Whissendine, mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, has long been a fixture in English history, and the mill is a proud piece of that heritage.
But its history hasn’t always been well-documented. Gaps remain, filled only by stories passed through generations. Thankfully, one man has dedicated his life to preserving this living landmark. Nigel Moon,
the miller, historian, and caretaker, remembers first visiting the mill at the age of six. His father brought him, and from that moment, a deep love took root. Armed with a toy toolbox and eager hands, he began learning how to fix things, these skills would one day prove invaluable.
In 1995, Nigel and his mother, Ruth, undertook the daunting task of restoring the mill. It was a labour of love, culminating in their first batch of corn milled using electricity in 1997. Then, in a defining moment for the project, the sails turned once more under wind power on 14 August 2009, the result of a full structural rebuild.
A Mill that Still Works
Today, Whissendine Windmill is a rare example of a fully functioning traditional mill. It boasts a complete set of historic machinery: four sets of millstones, three flour dressing machines, a shutter, and a Wegmann Roller Mill dating back to 1877.
The mill produces a wide variety of flours: plain, spelt, barley, rye meal, oat meal, and strong white, each ground on-site. These flours retain the rich, nutty flavours that commercial supermarket alternatives simply can’t replicate. Nigel also supplies animal feed for pigs, chickens, and horses. His involvement goes far beyond production. Nigel is the heart of the mill. Maintaining the machinery, conducting tours, writing books on mill heritage, and even lending a hand to nearby mills like Wymondham Windmill to help preserve their own operations. All repairs, from the simplest fix
Whissendine Windmill and Millshop signage and encroaching shrubbery.
Continually under repair and construction.
Nigel the Miller at Whissendine Windmill
Nigel the Miller at Whissendine Windmill the fount of all knowledge about the mill for visitors.
The door to Whissendine Windmill with an old quern stone for the doorstep.
Views inside and outside the windmill
One of the gear wheels at Whissendine Windmill
Whissendine Windmill and the surrounding countryside
to lifting the entire fan for gear replacement, are handled by Nigel himself or with the help of local tradespeople and volunteers.
A Warm Welcome
Visitors to the mill are met with an open heart. Unless maintenance work is underway, access to the site is generally unrestricted. Nigel is always ready with stories, historical insights, and endless patience for curious questions. He even sat for a portrait during our visit, a generous and gracious host whose passion is immediately evident.
The surrounding village is equally charming. Whissendine boasts historic cottages, a strong sense of community, and its own Feast Week every July. For photographers, it’s a goldmine. For history buffs, it’s a living textbook. And for anyone seeking a break from the modern world, it’s a place of peace and perspective.
Ever Evolving
Since my first visit, I’ve watched significant changes unfold. One sail was removed due to failure, and today the mill operates with two while awaiting restoration. Yet, despite the wear and tear, the structure, and the spirit behind it endures. Like the
Whether you’re a lover of history, a seeker of stories, or a photographer in search of that perfect light, this quiet corner of Rutland holds something special. More than just a landmark, Whissendine Windmill is a working legacy, built on dedication, resilience, and the love of one man.
Getting There
Whissendine Windmill is located in the village of Whissendine, Rutland, approximately 20 minutes from Oakham. Visits are welcome, though it’s best to check ahead in case maintenance is in progress.
Contact:
Follow Whissendine Windmill on social media or get in touch with Nigel directly for flour orders, tours, or historical inquiries.
gears inside its walls, history never stops turning at Whissendine Windmill
Varieties of digital imaging to support community archaeology
This work has developed from my long-standing interests in archaeology and remote sensing, and evolved through a developing interest in aerial imaging.
DAVID BROWNRIGG
Introduction
Kent Archaeological Society (KAS) is the representative society in the county with staff covering professional and public outreach functions. I have carried out several aerial digital imaging surveys at some KAS excavations, applying aspects of my image processing background that ranges from astronomy to computer art [BRO84, BRO18].
While aerial photography began with analogue forms, digital imaging is now intrinsic to generating useful results. The reasons for this include utilising the numerical values representing pixels to relate multiple images through software to derive threedimensional models of the landscape in various spectral bands. While a wide range of aerial imaging forms are of value in archaeology, those illustrated here are limited to visible wavelengths, using a DJI Mini 3 Pro drone with 48MPix still and 4K video capability, and illustrated in the top-right inset of Figure 1.
Background to Aerial Imaging
Photography from the air has been of interest since the early days of the medium, more than a century before the advent of digital imaging. The development has followed the availability of camera carrying vehicles and the uses of aerial image making. The earliest such photographs were from a balloon over Paris in 1858 [NAD58] with the first balloon-born camera use in the UK being over Stonehenge in 1906 [ROE06]. Those events showed already the extension of interest from commercial to military, for which intelligence interests also drove the development of more sophisticated vehicles. Cameras carried by balloons, pigeons, kites, manned aircraft, rockets, and satellites have been used variously for military, commercial and scientific applications. Digital imaging, with the facilities for integrating different image types
and sources, now enables a burgeoning range of applications. Intrinsic to this is the use of facilities such as QGIS [QGI] that includes contour facilities and layering existing images with new, as well as handling image dimensions beyond the 30K limit in linear size that still is common in much photoprocessing software.
Some Varieties of Aerial Imaging for Archaeology
In discovery of UK archaeological sites, the work of OGS Crawford [CRA29] was very significant in the early 20 th century. In particular, low angle lighting is effective in revealing small ground elevation variation. Another important technique arises from extending the camera spectral range, as functions of visible spectral bands and infrared are effective in showing up differences in vegetation development. While this has many uses in agriculture, another is in helping see effects arising from variations in subsurface conditions. For example, poorer vegetation growth will occur over a dry substratum, such as the remains of ancient building foundations, while growth may be enhanced where soil fill, over an ancient ditch feature, enhances moisture retention. An important development has been in LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), that can provide not only centimetre level of accuracy in elevation measurement but also enable penetration to ground level through cover such as tree foliage, by discriminating between multiple reflections back from the on-board light source. All these methods can be valuable in identifying previously unknown archaeological features, including for sites under excavation. Many requirements can be covered with image capture in the visible spectrum, and it is some of these that I shall be looking at, particularly where the use of a small drone is helpful.
Figure 1 Top-right inset shows the drone used: a DJI Mini 3 Pro, upper shows a sample oblique site view, and lower shows a sample vertical site view.
Figure2. Top shows a typical programmed flight pattern, at below 10 metres altitude, using Dronelink [DRO], Centre shows the camera positions from a typical survey, and bottom shows an alternative set of camera positions in gathering images in a circle at four heights between 4 and 25 metres
Figure3. Upper shows nine sample survey images, each original of 4032x3024 pixels, around a pit feature while the lower shows the part of the computed orthonormal map that corresponds to the region around the pit. The resolution, of 2mm/pixel, is carried over from the original images to the map of over 24000x21000 pixels.
Forms of Image Used Here
Firstly, single images of an excavation may be needed by an archaeologist to review progress and in helping plan future action. Such images may be with the camera oblique as in Figure 1 upper, for which close approach to people is permitted with a lightweight drone. An alternative view is vertical (normal) in relation to the ground, as in Figure 1 lower, showing an early stage of the excavation. This view does not provide an orthonormal, standard map view (every point in the image viewed as though from vertically above) even from an altitude of over 300 feet, as can be seen where the base of the yellow arrow is directly below the camera but the head of the arrow points to the sides of the site hut and work tent. A benefit of operating at lower altitude is that images have much higher resolution than provided by generally available satellite images. Figure 2 top shows a typical programmed flight pattern, at below 10 metres altitude, using Dronelink [DRO], and includes a low-resolution satellite image as a background, illustrating the need for more detailed imaging. Figure 2 centre shows the camera positions from a typical survey, and bottom shows an alternative set of camera positions in gathering images in a circle at four heights between 4 and 25 metres, overlaid on a 3D view generated by AliceVision’s Meshroom [MES]. However, a common requirement for a dig image is to appear as a standard map or orthonormal view, and any one drone image does not provide this except for the point directly below the vertical (or normal) camera.
Software such as OpenDroneMap [ODM] can be used to process multiple overlapping images to compute a detailed digital map where the 3D position for each pixel corresponds to a ground point. This enables viewing of the calculated surface with interactive perspective or as a 2D standard map view, which can be overlaid or combined with other map data, with elevation data for each map point. The detailed 2D map can be used both for an overall view and for local detail inspection by zooming in on the image, which can give millimetrelevel detail across a site of many tens of metres. Figure 3 upper shows nine sample survey images, each original of 4032x3024 pixels, around a pit feature while the lower shows the part of the computed orthonormal map that corresponds to the region around the pit. The resolution, of 2mm/ pixel, is carried over from the full set of about 200 overlapping, original images to the site map of over 24000x21000 pixels.
Also important for archaeological dig records is how an excavation progresses and regular, repeated site surveys allow such changes to be monitored. This is aided by drones and associated software that allow a survey pattern for image collection to be repeated consistently. The set of site surveys not only enables detailed inspection
and comparison but also allows the generation of an animation by interpolation between successive orthonormal maps, valuable in seeing how dig activity developed by location within the site over the excavation period. In addition, direct video is a useful archaeological record, and hyperlapse imaging, such as over multiple height circular paths, also can be used for construction of interactive 3D views, using software such as ODM and MES.
Examples of generated images.
Here I look at a sample of the possible image forms for archaeology, illustrating work by the Kent Archaeological Society in 2024 on a Neolithic ring ditch site south of Faversham in Kent. Information on this is in a KAS report by Parfitt and Taylor [PT2024].
Figure 4 shows part of the ODM-generated orthonormal view at 2mm/pixel with a reference low-resolution satellite image background. The detail is such that a print of the map at 300dpi would be nearly 7 feet wide. As usual, informed reading is needed for interpretation as exemplified by the half dozen roughly circular grey areas showing in the chalk-based surface which are natural formations and not of human origin. Figure 5 is a corresponding view, colour coded, of the elevation data. Many standard aerial photographs are taken near dawn or sunset as the low angle light emphasises features by casting shadows, and this is simulated by ODM, emphasising low-relief features such as the two post holes near the image centre. Figure 6 shows examples of ODM 3D perspective oblique views of the excavation surface in the area of the curved pit on the west side of the site. The upper image is from above ground, looking southeast, while the lower image shows how appreciation of the pit feature shape can be enhanced by viewing from below, here looking north-west.
The 2D standard map view is valuable for record, interactive viewing at different scales, and publication. The view can be enriched by encoding the elevation information via contour lines, and the level of detail can be adjusted to image feature scale. QGIS provides for flexibility in control and representation of contours and allows variable opacity of the orthonormal map layer, here with a satellite-view background. I set opacity to 100% in Figure 7 upper and 50% in Figure 7 lower and in Figure 8. As an overview, Figure 7 upper shows the whole site with contours at 25 cm interval, while Figure 7 lower shows the western curved pit, with 5 cm interval contours, emphasised every 25 cm. The contours highlight the segmented form of the ring ditch, characteristic of Neolithic forms. Lastly Figure 8 shows an even finer level of detail for the southern end of the western pit, with contours at 1 cm interval and those at 5 cm interval emphasised and labelled.
Figure 4. Shows part of the ODM-generated orthonormal view at 2mm/pixel with a reference low-resolution satellite image background. The detail is such that a print of the map at 300dpi would be nearly 7 feet wide.
Figure 5. Is a corresponding view, colour coded, of the elevation data. Many standard aerial photographs are taken near dawn or sunset as the low angle light which emphasises features by casting shadows, and this is simulated by ODM, emphasising lowrelief features such as the two post holes near the image centre.
Figure 6 shows examples of ODM 3D perspective oblique views of the excavation surface in the area of the curved pit on the west of the site. The top image is from above ground while the bottom image shows how appreciation of the pit feature shape can be enhanced by viewing from below.
Figure 7 Top shows the whole site with contours at 25 cm interval, while Figure 7 bottom shows the curved pit to the west, with 5 cm interval contours, emphasised and labelled every 25 cm. The contours highlight the segmented form of the ring ditch, characteristic of
Neolithic forms.
Figure 8. Shows an even finer level of detail for the lower end of the left pit, with contours at 1 cm interval and those at 5 cm interval emphasised and labelled
Archaeological imaging is an ever-expanding field, and I recommend looking at current developments by following specialist organisations such as the Aerial Archaeology Research Group [AARG].
References
AARG: https://aargonline.com/wp/
BRO84: Brownrigg, D.R.K.; The Weighted Median Filter; Comm.A.C.M. 27, No.8, pp807-818, (1984)
BRO18: Brownrigg, D.R.K.; Image Creation Through Manipulation of Transform Space Representations; Leonardo, Vol.51, No.3, pp251-257, (2018)
CRA29: Crawford, O.G.S.; Air Photography for Archaeologists (Ordnance Survey Professional Papers New Series, No. 12), (1929)
DRO: https://www.dronelink.com/
MES: https://alicevision.org/
NAD58: E.g. https://commons.wikimedia. org/wiki/File:Nadar_place_de_letoile_1858.jpg
ROE06: E.g. https://upload.wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/ Stonehenge_from_the_air_-_Philip_Henry_Sharpe_%28Royal_Engineers%29_-_1906.jpg
WW2 Heritage discovered whilst on holiday in France
After my wife’s PhD graduation in July, we decided to take a brief holiday in France, before she flew out to China to take up post as an Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). We have good friends who live near Limoges / Poitiers, so we arranged to stay with them for the latter few days.
SHAUN PARKES MA ARPS LDPS
We initially landed at Caen (actually Ouistreham) Ferry Port at about 07:00 am and drove across towards St Nazaire, stopping at the British Normandy War Memorial, Cimetière Militaire Allemand de La Cambe (German Military Cemetery, La Cambe) and Ste Mare Eglise en route.
The ’Kommandobefehl.’
As is my wont, I checked what Commonwealth War Graves were in the Limoges / Poitiers area and was astounded to find a cemetery just a few short kilometres from their home, which held the
graves of 30 SAS soldiers and a US Army Air Force P51 ‘Mustang’ fighter pilot, all of whom were killed on the same day, 7th July 1944. My curiosity was well and truly piqued, and my gut reaction was that these men must have been executed by the Germans under Hitler’s infamous (and illegal) Kommandobefehl (Commando Order).
Two weeks after the British Commando raid on the occupied island of Sark, Operation BASALT, on 18th October 1942, the German Army High Command (das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW), issued on order on Hitler’s command that all captured British Commandos “whenever they
Figure 1: British Normandy War Memorial at about 08.30 on a very overcast and windy day.
Figure 3: German Military Cemetery La Cambe. The cemetery contains the remains of over 21,200 casualties, including the famous German tank commander SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann. Originally buried with his crew in an unmarked battlefield grave when they were killed on 8th August 1944, their bodies were rediscovered in 1983, and the crew was subsequently reinterred at La Cambe. The central tumulus holds the remains of 296 casualties (207 unidentified and 89 identified) in one mass grave. Around the tumulus are arranged 49 rectangular areas each holding up to 400 graves, the graves being identified by flat markers set into the ground.
Figure 2: 1,475 silhouettes of mainly British servicemen (and 2 nurses) in the wildflower meadow above Gold Beach. Each silhouette represents a fatality under British command on D-Day itself, 6h June 1944.
Figure 4: German Military Cemetery La Cambe.
Figure 5: Graves of Grenadier Georg Bössl (aged 17) and Sturmbannführer (Major) Adolf Diekmann. Diekmann ordered and commanded the massacre at Oradour-Sur-Glane on 10th June 1944.
or as soon as they landed. There is now an effigy permanently
appear, (they) shall be ruthlessly destroyed by the German troops” and furthermore “from now on all men operating against German troops in so-called Commando raids in Europe or in Africa, are to be annihilated “auf den letzten Mann”, i.e. to the last man.
Operation BULBASKET
My investigation into the circumstances of these men, primarily from ‘A’ Troop, ‘B’ Squadron (Sqn), 1st Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment, led me to discover the story of Operation BULBASKET in June and July 1944.
Operation BULBASKET; military tradition is that the code names of operations are always capitalised; was one of several operations designed to delay or prevent the Germans from reinforcing their defences in Normandy after Operation OVERLORD on D-Day 6th June 1944; Op. BULBASKET’s specific objectives were to prevent the famous German 2nd SS Panzer Division ‘Das Reich’ from moving north. Having been sent to the south of France to refit, re-equip, be reinforced back up to operational strength, and to rest, ‘Das Reich’ presented a very real and very potent threat to the invasion forces, if it could arrive in time to help contain the Allied beachhead. B Sqn 22 SAS was tasked with dominating the road and rail networks in the
Poitiers / Limoges area to prevent ‘Das Reich’ from travelling north in a timely manner.
Petrol Tankers at Chatellerault
Op. BULBASKET achieved early success soon after the troop was parachuted into France. Shortly after arriving, intelligence was received that 11 petrol tanker railway wagons were stored in railway sidings near Chatellerault. Welshman Lieutenant Tomos Stephens; whose appearance including bushy moustache made him the most Frenchlooking of the SAS men; cycled 60 km to verify the intelligence, immediately returning to confirm the report. Evaluating that the target was too heavily defended for the SAS patrol to attack themselves, the intelligence was immediately passed by radio back to SAS headquarters who passed it in turn to the headquarters of the 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force under Air Vice Marshal Sir Basil Embry. 140 Wing from RAF Gravesend were hurriedly tasked with providing 6 Mosquito FB mk VI aircraft for an immediate low level attack mission on the railway sidings; simultaneously 138 Wing from RAF Lasham were tasked with providing a further 6 Mosquito FB mk VI aircraft for a follow-on attack very shortly afterwards. The raids were a total success.
Figure 6: The church at Ste Mare Eglise, famous for being the place where American paratrooper Private John Marvin Steel’s parachute got caught and he was unable to help his colleagues in the village square, many of whom were killed as they descended
hanging from the same pinnacle and is a major tourist attraction.
Capture at Verrières
The troops from operation BULBASKET conducted further raids, sabotaging bridges and railway lines causing the Germans considerable disruption. The Germans made strenuous efforts to try and locate the saboteurs and eventually they were given information as to the location of the Op BULBASKET team’s harbour area in the forêt du Verrières. They attacked the camp-site on the morning of 4th July 1944 and the SAS men and the local French resistance (Maquis) men tried to break out and escape.
Lt. Tomos Stephens was wounded and captured; the 7 Maquis were also captured, but the main body escaped and tried to evade capture. However, their escape was short-lived and they also were captured before leaving the forest.
The 7 Maquis were summarily executed on the spot. Lt. Stephens was beaten to death by a German officer, using a rifle butt as his instrument of execution.
The remaining men, including the US Army Air Force P51 Mustang pilot 2nd Lt Lincoln Dlemar Bundy, were taken to a prison, where they were reunited with their team-mates Sgt Bateman and Cpl Eccles who had been captured on an earlier sabotage operation.
Execution at St. Sauvant.
On 7th July 1944, they were all taken to the woods near St. Sauvant and were executed. The SAS men apparently tried to argue that their medic, Corporal Allan, and 2Lt Bundy as a US airman, were not subject to the Kommandobefehl and should therefore be spared. I am certain that the SAS men were trying to ensure that some witnesses survived to tell of the atrocity about to be perpetrated and to increase the chances of a post-war investigation into the event as a war crime. Their entreaties fell on deaf ears, probably for the exact reason of ensuring that there were no witnesses left alive.
Simultaneously, three of their number, Troopers Ogg, Pascoe, and Williams who had been hospitalised due to wounds, were removed from hospital and executed by lethal injection; their bodies or graves were never found*. A Wehrmacht doctor later tried to justify the executions of the three patients as an act of mercy, as they would inevitably have died from their injuries.
*Personally, I believe their bodies were probably cremated as soon as they were murdered, and any records of the cremations erased. This was a typical German action after such killings, as was the case with the 50 Officers recaptured after ‘The Great Escape’.
Figure 7: Operation BULBASKET. SAS Soldier Johnnie Holmes (seated front) survived the Op, the other three soldiers in the image were captured by the Germans on 4th July and executed on 7th July. Photograph credit HU 66209(IWM)
Figure 8: Lieutenant Tomos Mansell Stephen, The South Wales Borderers Regiment attached 1st SAS Regiment. https://forum. commandoveterans.org/cdoForum/posts/list/1500.page
Retaliation by Napalm
However, some uncaptured members of the SAS detachment managed to regroup and reported the events back to SAS HQ in England, identifying the barracks at the Château de Marieville at BonneuilMatours as the HQ of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, whose troops had murdered the SAS soldiers. The 2ATAF were again tasked with a low-level Mosquito attack on the barracks. Indeed 464 and 487 Squadrons had also taken part in the earlier raid on Chatellerault. AVM Embrey, personally briefing the aircrews involved, told them:
“Let the bastards burn”
He went on to warn them not mention the reprisal aspect of the raid for fear of inciting further German reprisals against the local French civilian population:
“If you get shot down and taken prisoner, don’t shoot your mouth off about retaliation. You can’t out-piss a skunk!”
The raid took place on 14th July 1944, and 487 Squadron’s Operational Record Book reported that: “The attack was a success, the buildings being
heavily hit and left in flames. All the aircraft returned safely.”
Estimates of German casualties vary widely, from 80 to 200 German soldiers being killed.
The raid was the first documented use of napalm bombs in aerial warfare.
Graves and memorials
After the execution of the 7 Maquis men and of Lt Tomos Stephens, French locals recovered the bodies.
The inscription “A CEUX QUI SONT TOMBES ICI POUR LA LIBERTE” translates as “To those who fell here for freedom”.
Figure 9: Statue at St. Sauvant commemorating the executions closeby of 30 SAS soldiers and 1 US pilot.
The inscription “ICI EN FORET DE SAINT SAUVANT
LE 7 JUILLET 1944
FURENT FUSILLES
TRENTE ET UN
PARACHUTISTES
ALLIES”
Reads
Here, in the forest of Saint Sauvant, on 7th July 1944, thirty-one Allied paratroopers were shot.
Figure 10: Close up of the names on the memorial at St. Sauvant.
Figure 11: Memorial at La Couarde near Verrières where the bodies of Lt. Stephens and the 7 Maquis were found.
Figure 12: Side view of the memorial at La Couarde listing the names of those murdered there.
Figure 13: Memorial marker where the bodies of Lt. Stephens and the Maquis were physically found.
Figure 14: Marker on the road adjacent to the path into the fôret de Verrières where the SAS troopers entered to go to their harbour area (campsite).
Figure 16: Information board at the entrance to the Op BULBASKET harbour area.
Figure 15: Information board at the entrance to the track leading to the Op BULBASKET harbour area.
Lt. Stephens was kindly interred in the family crypt of the Mangier and de Montjon families in Verrières Communal Cemetery, where he rests today. His grave is the only CWGC grave in the cemetery.
Figure 17: Stone marker indicating the location of the Op BULBASKET harbour area.
Figure 18: The family crypt in which Lt. Stephens was interred and where his body still rests.
The 7 brave Maquis men were initially buried in Verrières Cemetery, but after the war ended they were re-interred in other cemeteries. All except Maurice Salmoni were returned to their families. Maurice Salmoni was re-interred in the national necropolis at Sainte-Anne-d’Auray.
The 30 SAS men and 2Lt Bundy were buried in the communal cemetery at Rom near to the execution site at St. Sauvant. The bodies of Troopers Ogg, Pascoe, and Williams, who were executed after being removed from hospital, were never found. They are commemorated with a tablet in the cemetery at Rom next to their colleagues’ graves, with the simple yet moving epithet:
“their bodies grace the soil of France in graves unknown”.
Figure 19: 26 of the men of A Troop, B Squadron, 1st Special Air Service Regiment, from Operation BULBASKET. Executed by the Germans on 7th July 1944, they were buried together in one long communal grave and another shorter communal grave. Because of the advanced state of decomposition of the bodies when they were found, most of the bodies could not be positively identified; the Germans had tried to remove all evidence of their identities, but in their haste they missed two of the soldiers’ identity tags. These, together with the remnants of British pattern uniforms, and the number of bodies corresponding exactly with the missing men of Op BULBASKET, together with witnesses testifying to hearing machine gun fire on 7th July from St. Sauvant, provided sufficient actual and anecdotal evidence confirm the identifications.
Figure 20: Closer detail of some of the 26 graves in the first row. Note the grave of Cpl James Chisholm Govan MM in the centre.
Figure 21: The remaining 4 men were buried in a shorter communal grave; note the grave of the medic Cpl William Allan RAMC, and the grave of the most senior SAS soldier buried at Rom, that of Lt. Richard Crisp, 2I/C to Capt. John Tonkin.
Figure 22: Close up of the headstone of Cpl William Allan MM RAMC. The use of the RAMC badge with the ‘Airborne’ tag suggests that he was attached to the SAS for the operation. He was posthumously awarded the Military Medal to honour his courage.
Because the grave in which his body
uniquely amongst American casualties he was not exhumed and re-interred in a US military cemetery as usual after the war, as it potentially meant disturbing all the graves until his body was found, and he therefore remains buried alongside the SAS troopers with whom he died.
Figure 23: The headstone of 2Lt Lincoln Delmar Bundy, 352 Fighter Group. US Army Air Force.
could not be positively identified, almost
Figure 24: The memorial plaque to Troopers Joseph Ogg, Henry Pascoe, and John Williams of B Sqn, 1st SAS Regt. Removed from hospital where their wounds were being treated, and murdered by lethal injection, their bodies were never found (and I believe that they were probably cremated). The inscription reads: “Their bodies grace the soil of France in graves unknown.”
Figure 25: Wreath from the modern French Commandos Marine, the French equivalent of the Special Boat Service and part of the French Special Operations Command, honouring their spiritual forebears of the French Resistance and the French SAS. 3rd SAS were the French SAS Regiment which took over 1st SAS Regiment’s area of operations around Limoges and Poitiers when the survivors of BULBASKET were recalled to the UK. The Commandos Marine wear ‘Commando green’ berets honouring their historical lineage and close association with British Commandos; they are also the only unit of the French military who wear their berets with the loose material pulled over to the right of the head in the British style, again in recognition of their close association with the British units.
Oradour-Sur-Glane.
Also in the same region is the village of OradourSur-Glane. The village became famous as the scene of a massacre on 10th June 1944 when SS Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann commanded his SS troops from the 2nd SS Panzer Division ‘Das Reich’ to systematically massacre everyone in the village, including women and children. 642 men, women and children were shot and burned alive. They then torched the village. Only 7 survivors escaped to recount what had happened.
After the War, General de Gaulle commanded that the village be left as a permanent memorial to the atrocity.
Figure 26: the famous car of Doctor Desourteaux in the fairground (village square) at Oradour-Sur-Glane.
Figure 27: Laudy's Barn where the largest of the 6 groups of men (60) were taken and murdered. 6 men escaped by playing dead, however one of them was then shot dead on the road going up to the cemetery (i.e. towards the photographer's position).
Figure 28: Points on the passenger tramway to Limoges.
Figure 29: The passenger tramway with buildings, closest is the tramway passenger station, next along the track is the parcel terminal, and behind is the larger building which was the town post office.
West Norwood Cemetery and Catacombs
West Norwood Cemetery, situated in the London Borough of Lambeth, was established in 1837 as part of the Magnificent Seven Cemeteries, a group of extensive, private cemeteries designed to accommodate London’s growing population. The South Metropolitan Cemetery Company acquired the land, previously known as the Knight’s Hill Farm, for this burial site.
EDMUND WHITE
Covering 40 acres, the cemetery was designed in a Neo-Gothic style by Sir William Tite, an architect and later MP. The cemetery quickly gained popularity among the Victorian middle and upper classes, who commissioned elaborate family tombs, monuments and imposing mausoleums.
In addition to the catacombs, the cemetery is notable for the prominent individuals interred
within its grounds. These include Isabella and Samuel Beeton, Sir Hiram Maxim, Sir Henry Tate, Sir Henry Doulton, and Charles Gascoigne, a Scottish industrialist and engineer who modernised Russia’s iron and cannon production under Catherine the Great.
The catacombs date from 1842 and are a rare surviving feature of Victorian burial practices,
General layout of monuments in the cemetery.
adding an air of mystery and solemnity to the cemetery. Interment in catacombs was considered prestigious and hygienic, preventing bodies from contaminating the soil and providing a secure resting place. Ventilation shafts with iron gates were incorporated into the design, allowing families to purchase vaults for multiple relatives.
There are some 2,500 coffins stored in six aisles and 95 vaults off a central gallery. In the middle is an hydraulic catafalque designed by Bramah & Robinson dated 1839 which was used to transfer coffins from the chapel above down into the catacombs below.
Built beneath a Greek Revival-style Episcopalian chapel, demolished in 1960, the catacombs remained intact but inaccessible. The demolition occurred after Lambeth Council compulsorily purchased the cemetery, which had become neglected during and after WWII. The council proposed converting parts of it into parkland and housing. However, strong opposition from local residents, historians, and preservationists ultimately saved the cemetery, though not before the chapel was demolished and over 10,000 headstones removed. The outcry highlighted the cemetery’s cultural and historical significance, leading to its conservation as a heritage site.
Through the efforts of the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery, founded in 1995, much has been
restored, with ongoing work supported by Lottery Heritage funding. This restoration has included making the catacombs accessible, though they remain closed to the public for safety and security reasons.
The cemetery also contains the Greek Necropolis, established in 1842 when London’s wealthy Greek expatriate community leased a plot to create an Orthodox enclave. Fenced off from the rest of the cemetery, it contains more Grade II listed architectural gems than any other similarly sized plot in London, including 19 tombs and mausoleums and the mortuary chapel dedicated to St Stephen.
Example of a gravestones of prominent individuals interred in the cemetery
The mausoleum of Sir
(which is possibly why it looks like a Victorian public convenience!)
Henry Doulton
Ventilation shafts with iron gates were incorporated into the design, allowing families to purchase vaults for multiple relatives.
There are some 2,500 coffins stored in six aisles and 95 vaults off a central gallery.
In the middle is an hydraulic catafalque designed by Bramah & Robinson dated 1839 which was used to transfer coffins from the chapel above down into the catacombs below.
Rusting coffins stacked on metal shelves, some with family names on the ends.
This restoration has included making the catacombs accessible, though they remain closed to the public for safety and security reasons.
View of the Greek Necropolis.
One of the trolleys for moving coffins before internment in the catacombs
Carved Memory: The Artisanal Façades of SaintHenri
In the working-class streets of Saint-Henri, the façades still speak a silent language — one of carved wood, pressed metal and slate rooftops, shaped by the hands of forgotten artisans.
JOSEPH DUROCHER
I’ve walked the streets of Saint-Henri for years — first out of curiosity, then out of admiration, and finally out of a quiet urgency. This historic neighbourhood in southwest Montreal, Canada, once home to tanners and industry workers, holds a kind of poetic density. Its homes wear their history on their façades — in the curling ironwork of a balcony, the rhythm of a cornice, or the unexpected burst of colour beneath a window ledge. What may look modest at first often reveals astonishing craftsmanship when you take the time to look up — and to look closely.
Each of the images I share here is a fragment — a glimpse into a fading tradition of architectural ornamentation. Built between 1880 and 1910, these were not grand villas or monuments, but workingclass homes that nonetheless embraced beauty. The details speak of a time when builders and artisans shaped their environment with intention, whimsy, and skill.
The first image captures a striking façade of red brick, where a carefully restored wooden balcony stretches across the second floor, its white turned spindles forming a delicate, almost lace-like rhythm (Photograph 1). The overall composition is balanced and modest: a single window anchors the façade, framed by clean cream-coloured trim and supported by finely carved brackets beneath the cornice. The design speaks of quiet elegance — the kind of everyday craftsmanship that once gave character to working-class neighbourhoods. It is unassuming, yet full of presence.
The next pair of photographs focus on a richly ornamented façade, defined by an elaborate wooden balcony painted in soft greens, ochres and reds (Photograph 2 and Photograph 3). In the closer view, we see the finely carved corbels supporting the balconies, the turned wooden columns with red accents, and the lace-like wrought iron railings that define the upper level. Every line and surface seems intentional — part of a vocabulary of ornament passed down through generations of builders. In the wider shot, the full harmony of the structure
reveals itself: symmetry, balance, craft. It is both grand and intimate, exuberant yet restrained. A façade like this is not built anymore — or if it is, it is seldom built with this kind of human warmth.
The final image is a quieter portrait (Photograph 4). Framed by the soft reach of early spring branches, the photo invites the eye upward toward a redand-white rooftop turret, nestled above a slateclad mansard roof. The faded paint, the sharp angles, the gentle weathering of the surfaces — all suggest a passage of time that is neither tragic nor nostalgic, but deeply present. This is not a monument to the past, but a living part of the neighbourhood, still inhabited, still standing.
But Saint-Henri is changing. Gentrification has brought new textures, new gloss. Renovations come quickly — sometimes with care, sometimes with brutal erasure. What was once familiar vanishes quietly behind metal siding or minimalistic overhauls. That’s why I photograph these details: not as nostalgia, but as resistance. As testimony.
I consider myself a heritage photographer not because I work only with old buildings, but because I photograph what remains — and what still resists forgetting. The façades of Saint-Henri do not shout; they whisper. And in those whispers, I find stories worth preserving.
Photograph 1. A restored red-brick façade with a delicate wooden balcony. The turned spindles and modest trim evoke the quiet dignity of working-class craftsmanship in early Saint-Henri.
Photograph 2. A close-up of a richly decorated double balcony, framed by spring foliage. Carved corbels, painted woodwork and wrought iron railings reflect the exuberance of late 19th-century urban design.
Photograph 3 A wider view of the same façade, showing the full composition and architectural harmony. The paired columns and polychrome details create a rhythm of ornament and shadow.
Photograph 4 An elegant mansard roof crowned by a lantern tower. Bold red accents and scalloped slate shingles frame three tall windows with sculpted surrounds — a rare example of artisanal detail preserved in Saint-Henri.
Joseph Durocher is a Montreal-based photographer with a deep interest in architectural heritage. For over a decade, he has documented the historical neighborhoods of the city, focusing on the textures, details and quiet poetry of working-class architecture.
His work blends artistic sensitivity with cultural responsibility, aiming to preserve memory through
the lens. In 2025, he received multiple awards in international photography competitions and is currently expanding his portfolio to include the transformations and tensions between past and present in built environments, including sites in Europe or other continents.
