LAST month my wife and I were guests at the VJ-Day 70th anniversary commemorative events which were held at Lichfield in Staffordshire and also at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas not far from Lichfield. Our host was a charity called COFEPOW which supports Children and Families of the Far East Prisoners of War.

The reason for our presence was that our daughter, Tricia Walker, has written a paperback book entitled “Benedict’s Brother” published by Tikaro Media of York and available from Waterstones (£10). The novel highlights the plight of my Uncle Ernie who was a prisoner of war under the Japanese, and who suffered greatly. Erno, as he was always known, never spoke about his experiences and none of the family knew where he was after his capture. Quite literally, he disappeared but turned up some years after the war; he was Tricia’s great uncle and the events we attended focused on all prisoners of war but especially Erno as 30% of the proceeds from sales of the book will benefit the charity and therefore help the families of other Far Eastern prisoners of war. When a child, I recall his return to the family and later he and his wife spent some time with my wife and I, yet Erno never talked about his experiences.

He would have been amazed by the events at Lichfield. The itinerary began on the Saturday afternoon with a moving commemorative service in Lichfield Cathedral which featured an address by Terry Waite CBE and music from the West Midlands Fellowship Band with the West Midlands Police Choir. One thing that impressed and moved us greatly was the number of old soldiers who attended all the events, many of whom told remarkable tales of survival and endurance.

Saturday evening featured a dinner for over 300 COFEPOW members that we were privileged to attend, followed with a speech by Sir Henry Every, Bt. DL., a founding trustee of the National Memorial Arboretum and the driving force behind the COFEPOW Museum.

Sunday opened with the AGM of the charity, and there was a second church service, this time on site and it was followed by the fly-past of a DC-3 Dakota Transport aircraft. Lunch followed with a speech by Lt. Col. Kit Stallard and another from our daughter. They were followed by a Barber Shop choir known as the Anvil Chorus, and finally a truly joyful speech by Dickie Bird, the renowned president of the Yorkshire Cricket Club and world-famous cricket umpire.

Tricia then settled down to sign hundreds of books as the raffle was drawn to herald the close of events. In all it was a magnificent and highly emotional event, a genuine triumph and most memorable.

One matter emerged which was that families who are members of COFEPOW and who lost loved ones during World War II, can search files in the Charity’s Museum. My daughter learned some aspect of Erno’s service life of which none of the family was aware. Anyone interested in the work of this charity should contact the secretary at the registered address which is: COFEPOW, 20 Burgh Road, Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR31 8BE. I do not know the membership fee as ours was a gift from Tricia.

And finally, the National Memorial Arboretum is home to a wide range of national memorials, not merely those associated with the Armed Forces. Set in 150 acres of wooded grounds and gardens, it contains more than 300 memorials from a range of organisations, both military and civilian as well as voluntary bodies who have served the country in peace and war. For example it has a police memorial and I was intrigued to learn it also commemorates HMS Amethyst’s cat! Open to everyone free of charge, the Arboretum is well worth a visit and has ample car parking space along with restaurants and other facilities. A wonderful place.

Siskin stillness

Siskins are infrequent visitors to our bird feeders, the most regular being a male. On several recent occasions earlier in the year, he was accompanied by a female so it seems they had forged a relationship and may have nested nearby.

Members of the finch family of birds, but being only the size of blue tits, their greenish plumage reminds us of greenfinches and in fact they do share some of their colours. The yellow wing patterns differ from those of the greenfinch because they run across the wings like chevrons whilst the greenfinches’ yellow wing patch runs along the front edge of the wings. Siskins have yellow rumps too and the male is easily distinguished by his black cap and black chin. The female lacks the latter features.

Siskins live in pine woods and there is a large plantation at the far side of our dale so it is likely they are visitors from there. They spend the entire winter in this country but the most likely place to catch sight of one is in among pine trees where conifer seeds are a favourite food. Within living memory, the only part of this country where you would expect to see a siskin was Scotland but now they are widespread among pine forests.

When I was busy at the kitchen sink recently, a male siskin arrived on our peanut container apparently unconcerned at my presence a mere six feet or so (2m) away. But when I moved, he froze. Somewhat surprisingly he made no attempt to fly away but remained in the position he had adopted moments before noticing me. As he was hanging upside down to peck at a nut with his head sticking out at a strange mid-peck angle, his frozen pose looked most peculiar. He reminded me of a child posing for a photograph.

Because this behaviour intrigued me, I stepped away from the window and he resumed his business. It was almost like a film re-starting after being halted. He remained on the feeder for quite a while but each time there was some movement in our kitchen, he froze and maintained that stance until he felt safe.

This meant he was frequently adopting some very peculiar postures at fairly short intervals, and yet he did not fly off to safety. It didn’t take long for me to realise this was probably his defence mechanism. If I had been observing him in his pine forest and he had frozen when there was some kind of threat, he would have become invisible. Seeing such a tiny bird in such colours as it remained immobile among the needles of any conifer would be nigh impossible, even with binoculars.

A number of birds have developed stillness as a safety measure. The bittern, a bird of the marshlands, is about 30 inches tall (76cm) and if it stands motionless among reeds with its neck stretched high and beak pointing to the heavens, it becomes invisible. Similarly, a woodcock can squat on the ground among dead leaves and blend so perfectly with its surroundings that it disappears from our sight, so much so that we might even tread on it, especially if it is sitting on its nest.