Otter Valley Inner Wheel marked the United Nations International Day of Peace
Flowers have been placed on the grave of a 23-year-old Sidmouth woman, seven decades after her death, to honour others who lost their lives during wartime.
Members of Otter Valley Inner Wheel (OVIW) marked the United Nations International Day of Peace on Wednesday, September 21, by commemorating the 40 Devon women killed while on active service in World War One and World War Two.
Military records indicate that Nina Giovanna died on March 12, 1946, and the organisation laid flowers on her grave in Sidmouth Cemetery as a ‘fitting’ tribute.
Jill Cobley, joint-president of the OVIW, said it is not known where or how any of the women died, only that they were all killed on ‘active service’. She said: “I thought it was important that, as we have been remembering all the men who were killed, we should also remember all the women.”
She added how sad it is that, of the 40 women reported to have died on active service, there is no current record of how they were killed.
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