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James Pitts (1924 \u2013 2017) and Stanley Ballard (1923 \u2013 2021) at the Soviet War Memorial in London on 9 May 2014<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
We learnt about the departure of another dear member of our community \u2013 a veteran of the Second World War Stanley Ballard<\/strong>\u00a0(1923 \u2013\u00a02021)\u00a0<\/strong>who visited us in Cambridge a couple of times in the last years. In 2015 Stan took part in the\u00a0\u201cEvening of History and Memories\u201d<\/a>\u00a0where he shared memories of his war experiences and gave interviews to local students as part of\u00a0The Arctic Convoys filming project<\/a>\u00a0in 2017. Stan, who turned 98 on 21 June, passed away in a care home in Surrey\u00a0on Monday, 28 June.<\/p>\n Stan was born in Pimlico, Westminster. On 21 June 1941, he joined the Royal Navy and became a leading seaman in the submarine detection service (ASDICS) onboard HMS Southdown Destroyer in 1941 and later HMS Cotton in 1943, which took part in the Arctic convoys. He was part of the convoy to Iceland and then to Russia in 1945. In life, some of us go through hell and come back for a brand new start<\/em><\/p>\n Full of love from the zest of love we have to really start<\/em><\/p>\n But people being people, with hearts full of love<\/em><\/p>\n And love is something that comes from the heart and brain<\/em><\/p>\n So you have to re-start the motor and revive it once again<\/em><\/p>\n If you are really lucky and get a second start<\/em><\/p>\n Make sure you make most of it, love so full in your heart<\/em><\/p>\n There are people in this world today who know not what love is<\/em><\/p>\n They are most unfortunate; they know not what love is<\/em><\/p>\n There are many forms of love in this life that we live<\/em><\/p>\n Of personal things, but the best by far is love for one another<\/em><\/p>\n If you have not known this love than life is not complete<\/em><\/p>\n What tells us what makes this love we keep within our heart<\/em><\/p>\n This love, warm and so full of life, it makes us ten feet tall.<\/em><\/p>\n If you have not this love life is incomplete<\/em><\/p>\n This life of ours is so short, every precious day we should count<\/em><\/p>\n I have seen so many things in this long life I cannot believe<\/em><\/p>\n With your background of love instilled in you son, by a family so full of love<\/em><\/p>\n And you and I must say \u201cThank God\u201d for another day\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n (an abstract from \u201cThe Black Vase\u201d dedicated to his son. September 2007)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our Heaven<\/p>\n Should I find a heaven that I could choose<\/em><\/p>\n I would leave this world behind me<\/em><\/p>\n Though good friends I would lose.<\/em><\/p>\n I would take with me your loving heart<\/em><\/p>\n Your eyes, your lips so true<\/em><\/p>\n And though all the years without a fear<\/em><\/p>\n We would have our dreams come true.<\/em><\/p>\n And though this Heaven lays beyond my schemes<\/em><\/p>\n Take cheer and guard your heart<\/em><\/p>\n For we will make one of our dreams<\/em><\/p>\n If you will play your part.<\/em><\/p>\n For it is surely in our means<\/em><\/p>\n So let us make a start.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Stan was featured in our\u00a0VE-75 presentation<\/a>\u00a0(page 6).<\/p>\n You can find Stan singing (from 38:50 to 40:20) in the closing scene in The Last Witness film project<\/a> created for HMS Belfast by Tim Lewin.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We learnt about the departure of another dear member of our community \u2013 a veteran of the Second World War Stanley Ballard\u00a0(1923 \u2013\u00a02021)\u00a0who visited us in Cambridge a couple of times in the last years. In 2015 Stan took part … Continue reading
\nStan was a man of great wit and artistic talent. He enjoyed singing and was a lead voice at all veterans\u2019 gatherings, where \u201cThe Way We Were\u201d was one of his favourites. He loved poetry and left us with some memorable and moving pieces, such as these:<\/p>\n