One of the less sung victims of war was a snail.
In the early days of the Second World War, a crack team of camouflagers were sent to a remote hill in rural Berkshire with a task of great national importance. They were to paint over the ancient White Horse of Uffington. Enemy bomber crews might use the site to navigate their death flights. The brilliant white of horse, cleaned for centuries by the local community, was covered for the six years of war.
At the end of the conflict, it was brought forth again. But the white Uffington Horse snail has been made extinct. It survived on exposed white chalky rock, of which the Horse was a rare example.
The White Horse
The White Horse of Uffington is a powerful image. Nearly 400 feet long, the stylised horse, arrests the view. Sitting a top the natural hills of the Berkshire…
Ursprünglichen Post anzeigen 966 weitere Wörter