England Soccer Fans, FA Chairman Greg Clarke, Deputy Ambassador To Russia Lindsay Skoll & Other Dignitaries
Joined Together To Pay Tribute To Russia’s Soldiers Who Died During The Battle Of Stalingrad During World War Two Today.
Dignitaries & Fans Pay Their Respects
In A Poignant Ceremony, Where Wreaths Were Laid By Fans & Dignitaries, And Deputy Ambassador To Russia Lindsay Skoll Spoke Of A Historically Strong And Enduring Relationship With Volgograd, All Present Had Joined Together To Remember The Two Million Men Who Lost Their Lives, In What Is Said To Have Been The Bloodiest Battle Of The Second World War.
England Fan Billy Grant (L), & FA Chairman Greg Clarke (R) Lay Wreaths
The Ceremony Was Held At The Hall Of Military Glory In The Heart Of The Mamayev Kurgan Memorial Park, Which Is A Sacred Place Of Deep Respect For The Russian People And Is Permanently Guarded By Russian Soldiers.
The Two England Fans Who Were Chosen To Lay The Wreaths, James Lockett And Billy Grant, Said That They Were “Honoured” To Have Been Chosen.
England Manager Gareth Southgate highlighted the “perspective” which the England team had ahead of the World Cup Match against Tunisia on Monday, when reflecting on the immense suffering which had taken place in Volgograd and it’s deep history.
Historians say that the bravery of the Soviet Defence Of The City Was A Turning Point For The Allies Against Hitler’s Forces In The Second World War.
Volgograd Is Twinned With Coventry, After Women From Coventry Wrote To Express Their Solidarity During The War, And It Is Said That The Queen Mother Was Made An Honorary Citizen of Volgograd. (Stalingrad at the time.)
A Huge Monument Known As ‘The Motherland Calls’ Overlooks The Volgograd Arena And The Memorial Park, Which Is A Short Walk From The Stadium.
The Motherland Calls Monument
The Deputy Ambassador To Russia, Lindsay Skoll Wrote In A Book Of Commemoration; “May Our Bonds Between The People Of The UK & Russia Remain Forever Strong And Enduring.”
Deputy Ambassador To Russia Lindsay Skoll (Below)
She Told Reporters; “As you know, the links between the UK And this Great City are Strong And Enduring.
They were forged during the Second World War, with shared experience of destruction and devastation and immense bravery, and started by 900 women in Coventry, who sent messages of support and solidarity to their sisters in Stalingrad.”
Ms Skoll also spoke about “Shared Values” Between The Two Nations, and she went on “Given the immense suffering of Volgograd and the pivotal part it played in the route towards victory I think it’s only fitting that the 2018 World Cup should have Volgograd as one of it’s host cities, after all Volgograd today plays host to people from all over the World including Great Britain, who are here in peace and with a common purpose.”
England Fan, Billy Grant (who laid one of the wreaths) said; “People have given up their lives for us and we need to pay respect to the people that have done that because that was a very important moment in World War Two.”
“I’m into football, you’re into football but when you have an event like this you realise it’s more than just football.”
FA Chairman Greg Clarke Attached A Paragraph From The Famous 1941 Poem By English Poet Laurence Binyon “For The Fallen”, To His Wreath. The paragraph read “They Shall Grow Not Old, As We That Are Left Grow Old; Age Shall Not Weary Them, Nor The Years Condemn. At The Going Down Of The Sun And In The Morning……”
“We Will Remember Them.”
After The Ceremony, Mr Clarke Said That He Felt “Humbled” To Have Been A Part Of A Ceremony Of Such Magnitude.
Words by Amanda Waters
© Amanda Waters