It is a full century since the Armistice of the Great War. This shattering conflict saw combined battle on the land, water and air for the first time. The rivers and broads were a water highway on the doorstep of the war zone, opposite the neutral Netherlands. Boat companies and other industries turned from building pleasure craft to war work. The stories of this mostly land based Merchant Navy working in the background, remain a vast lost legacy.
It is poignant to think of the original incarnation of Heather (basically the lower ivory hull), as a service lighter around the time of the Great War (1914 ~ 1918). The boat was used by military personnel, presumably in a Dutch harbour environment. There are theories that she was purely a maintenance boat, utilised as a platform for painting the sides of ships; or, alternatively a supply vessel moving goods and armouries between ship and shore.
As a commemoration of the conclusion of the first world war, a pair of Great War Tommy soldier outlined in silhouettes, are placed either side of the bridge. These were funded and installed by the community minded Wroxham and Hoveton Lions.
Chris
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