Compton Farm memorial cairn
Between the Military Road (A3055) and the coastal footpath, near the Compton Farm car park, stands this memorial to Mrs Ida Mary Salter who enabled the National Trust to purchase Compton Farm in 1958 by giving them a bequest in memory of her son, Edward Talfourd Salter, who died during WW2.
The plaque on the memorial reads:
THE NATIONAL TRUST BY
IDA MARY SALTER
IN MEMORY OF HER ONLY SON
CPL. EDWARD TALFOURD SALTER
THE 1/4th HAMPSHIRE REGIMENT
KILLED IN ACTION IN ITALY
OCTOBER 1943 AGED 33 YEARS
Corporal Edward Talfourd Salter was the son of Ernest Edward and Ida Mary Salter, of Vernham's Dean, Hampshire, he died 13 October 1943 and is buried in the Cassino War Cemetery. CWGC record
The pictured memorial replaced the original memorial which had been designed by London Architect Mr. Geddes Hyslop, and built by Messrs. J. R. Bucket and Sons, of Brighstone. It consisted of some 4000 pebbles from the beach below and included an engraved slab of Westmoreland slate. That memorial had been unveiled by the Duke of Wellington, Governor of the Island, in March 1958.[1]
In the early 1990’s, the original memorial had fallen into disrepair; thanks to the help of Cpl. Salter’s former Regiment, and the National Trust, the memorial was rebuilt and included a new granite plaque. In the presence of former members of the Hampshire Regiment, the rebuilt memorial was rededicated in September 1995 by Canon James Bucket.[2]
