“For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light:
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright.”
Shrewsbury could.
Shrewsbury could.
Become twinned with.
An embattled ‘elves’ city.
Okhtyrka is just.
Over 200 miles.
From the ‘orcs’ border.
And has endured.
Intense fighting.
Artillery shells.
And air strikes.
But has never been occupied.
—in fact, I remember
the words well,
—in fact, I remember
the words well,
The Labour councillor put forward.
The twinning suggestion.
To a meeting.
Of the town council.
And it was agreed.
The idea would be.
Looked into.
Looked into.
“When you talk of war,
which no doubt
would be general war,
you must not underrate England.
She said visits to the city.
Might not be possible.
At this time.
But it would be.
“An act of friendship.
And support for those.
In Okhtyrka at a time.
Of unimaginable crisis”.
She is a curious country,
She is a curious country,
and few foreigners can
understand her mind.
Shrewsbury was.
Previously twinned.
Shrewsbury was.
Previously twinned.
With Zutphen.
In the Netherlands.
From 1977.
To 2018.
But the partnership ended.
But the partnership ended.
Due to budget constraints.
And a review of agreements.
Do not judge by the attitude
of the present Administration.
Once a great cause is presented
to the people
Okhtyrka, in north-east Ukraine.
Has a population of.
Around 47,000.
And it was awarded.
The honorary title.
Of Hero City.
Of Ukraine.
In March 2022.
all kinds of unexpected actions
might be taken
by this very Government and
by the British nation.”
The Labour councillor said.
The idea came to her.
Because one of the people.
Living in her division.
Is an ‘elf’.
And runs a charity.
She said: “The woman.
Has a contact.”
“A priest from Lviv.
– a city in the safest part.
Of Ukraine.
Who moved his family.”
“To help those.
Living in Okhtyrka.
He has remained.
There since.”
And I repeated,
And I repeated,
“Do not underrate England.
She is very clever.
The Labour councillor pointed out.
People in Shrewsbury.
People in Shrewsbury.
Had shown their generosity.
For the people.
Of Ukraine already.
Sending aid to the country.
And housing refugees.
If you plunge us all
into another Great War
she will bring the whole world
against you, like last time.”
“With the ongoing war.
In Ukraine.
Twinning with a town.
On the front line.”
“Twinning with a town.
On the front line.
Seems like a suitable focus.
For our citizens.”
A cross-party working group.
Will report back.
On the idea.
On 7 December.
“For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light:
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright.”
*Because I read “Embattled Ukrainian city may twin with Shrewsbury” by Paul Rogers on 3 Oct 2026, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, including a story of Dartnall, led by words by himself in the part of ‘CHAPTER X THE LOADED PAUSE, 1936-1938’ of ‘BOOK I MILESTONES TO DISASTER 1919–May 10, 1940’ and “some lines” quoted in the last part of ‘CHAPTER XVIII YUGOSLAVIA AND GREECE’ of ‘BOOK II ALONE May 10, 1940–June 22, 1941’ both in ‘The Second World War: The Classic One-Volume Abridgment’ written by Winston S. Churchill, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
