When the surviving member of a family that was part of the French Resistance in Nazi occupied France appeared as the guest of honour at the opening of Chorley’s show garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, a story of selfless bravery that began in 1943, involving an injured RAF navigator and a courageous group of French people, finally got the public attention it deserved.
86-year-old Monique Logoen’s family risked torture and certain death when they came across Stan Everiss, a young British airman with a spinal injury, on the outskirts of Chauny in Northern France on an April night in 1943. 72 years on and coinciding with the 70
th anniversary of VE Day, their brave actions and those of other members of the resistance movement are now immortalised in ‘The Evaders Garden’ inspired by the story of Stan Everiss and created by Chelsea gold medal winning designer, John Everiss, the son of the story’s World War II navigator.
John Everiss, who won gold for his first entry in the contemporary gardens section at Chelsea in 2014, has this year been chosen to design in the artisan gardens section, which has given the renowned designer from Chorley, Lancashire an opportunity to tell a story that has been a key part of his life. It has allowed him to pay homage and thank, in a very public way, the French families who saved countless Allied lives and helped repatriate thousands of servicemen during the years of wartime occupation.
John’s design shows the bond between helper and evader in worn-torn France. His landscapes feature a unique sculpture of a young flyer, hiding up against the wall of a war-ravaged church. A specially commissioned stained-glass window features two young French people, hands out-stretched to help, and steps leading out from the church suggesting the airman’s eventual escape route. The design has very personal elements and is broadly based on the exploits of Stan Everiss but will also resonate with families on both sides of the English Channel who have similar history and experiences.
After Chelsea the garden will be coming to Astley Park near Chorley.
If you've been inspired by the garden's featured at the Chelsea Flower Show see our Lancashire Parks & Gardens Page
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