In Remembrance on the Centenary of Armistice Day

[Clicker]

 

Pte. John Reynolds was my husband's Grandfather and he died along side his  younger brother Arthur  just seven weeks after landing in France in 1914. His daughter, my husband's mother, was born three months later.  John has no known  grave   but we found his name  on the Menin Gate in 2013 and we found his brother's grave in Wytschaete  Begium . No one is the family had ever  been aware of where  his grave was till I discovered it during my family history research . We made a pilgrimage to follow in John and Arthur's footsteps in 2013 after reading the War Diaries   of the 1st Lincolnshires and found the railway cutting where they  were killed along with another 284 men in their battalion. We were priviledged to lay a wreath of poppies for John Reynolds  at the nightly ceremony at the Menin Gate and also at  Arthur's grave in Wytschaete where  this poem by Michael Edwards was read at his graveside.

 

                                                  The Visitors

I  half awoke to a strange new calm in a sleep that would not clear,

For this was  the sleep to cure all harm and free us all from fear.

Fire had come from left and right  with shrapnel shell and flame,

And turned my sunlit days to night where no one knew my name.

Years passed by as I waited,missed the generations yet to come,

Sadly knowing i was not destined to be a father, hold a son.

 I hear again the sound of War when twenty years of  sleep had gone.

For five long years or maybe more till Peace once more had come .

More years passed, new voices came, the headstones to explore,

But no one  ever called my name  though I wished and waited more .

Each day  I thought perhaps, perhaps, perhaps this time they'll find me.

But they just came for other chaps, none came to set me free.

 For years this lonely vigil kept, but no one ever came ,

No one searched  and no one  wept   or stayed to call my name.

Until I heard that summer's day, those voices strained with tears ,

And then I knew that THEY had come  to roll back all those years.

Their hearts reached out to hold me, to make me whole like other men

 For they had come to just see me  and take me home with them.

Now I'm at peace and free to roam where'er they call my name.

Today my soul  was called back home.  Today my family came .....

 

Please feel free to add  your images and stories  here  if you have someone you wish to Remember who made the  ultimate sacrifice in any conflict .

[colinb]

Polly - My Thanks go to your Grandfather and all those that have lost their lives fighting for the freedom of others.

 

[Guest]

A fitting post and a wonderful poem which I take to be your own composition? 

[Clicker]

Thanks  Colin... so many families were denied a fitting memorial till recently when those who were killed in Bomber Command at last  were commemorated so your photo is a poignant tribute to their memory too ..

 Bill ... the poem is by Mike Edwards... it seemed suitable and fitting as we were the first family members to travel to Flanders ever ...

I  also discovered the graves of two  great uncles...

Pte 6639 William Soutar  King's Own Scottish Borderers, died 21 October 1914 from wounds in Brighton District hospital having been shipped home from France and was laid to rest in the Military Cemetery in that town .and

Pte 43454 Allan Jackson,11th Battalion  Sherwood Foresters, died 22nd August 1916  aged 21, buried in Bailleul Cemetery  in Northern France

So many stories remain untold  of our ancestors... but I will do my bit to pass on what I know to my sons and grandchildren so that they are always remembered...

 If you have stories to share ... I would love to hear of them ...

 

[FUJI]

Not a memory, but a jolt to the system.

 

This was our soon to be 18, grandson on parade as Drum-Major for his school combined cadet force.....we are extremely proud of him naturally.

To think that far too many of those WWI volunteers and enlisted men were as young as him .....didn’t return home....

Brought me up sharp .....seeing him today.

 

FUJI

 

[FUJI]

Looks like a duplicate post from you Fooj so I have deleted one of them ..

 

You must be very proud  of that young man ....it does bring it home when you see the age some of them were100 years ago  fighting on the Western Front....

Polly

[Kobione]

Very poignant thread Polly, beautiful pictures that will certainly stir memories for many of us, yours too Colin and Fuji

We always think about David's Uncle, who he named after, died in Flanders, August 1916, aged 22 years. We have found the location of his grave, but too far to visit - we shall remember them.

[Clicker]

Hey  if we go back next year I will give you a shout in case we can go on your behalf and get a photo for you Dee...What cemetery is he  buried in ...?

[Kobione]

3 hours ago, Clicker said:

What cemetery is he  buried in ...?

I'd have to go back to the info we have Clicks, but thanks for the idea. Will be in touch when I have the info.

[Guest]

16 hours ago, FUJI said:

Not a memory, but a jolt to the system.

 

This was our soon to be 18, grandson on parade as Drum-Major for his school combined cadet force.....we are extremely proud of him naturally.

To think that far too many of those WWI volunteers and enlisted men were as young as him .....didn’t return home....

Brought me up sharp .....seeing him today.

 

FUJI

 

 

He looks very smart!

[johntwo]

18 hours ago, Kobione said:

Very poignant thread Polly, beautiful pictures that will certainly stir memories for many of us, yours too Colin and Fuji

We always think about David's Uncle, who he named after, died in Flanders, August 1916, aged 22 years. We have found the location of his grave, but too far to visit - we shall remember them.

My feelings as well Polly and it's nice that you have a photograph of him.  I am named after my great grandfather who was killed in action on the 27th October 1918, just two weeks before the Armistice.  His family must have gone through every shade of elation and despair thinking the war was over only to find   that he had been killed in action just before it ended.  Communications being what they were in those days, it is probable that the news of his death didn't reach them until some time after and perhaps even after the War's end was reported in the UK.  I knew nothing of all this, even that he was my namesake, until I inherited his war medals amongst which was his Commemorative bronze Memorial Plaque (the so called "Death Penny") which has my name on it.  He was killed in Italy in an action against an Austrian force, also poignant for me because Austria is where I spent 10 of my formative and very enjoyable years and made many friends when my father was posted there with his regiment after the end of the 2nd WW.  Sadly, my paternal grandparents split up early in my Fathers life and information on that side of the family is a bit thin on the ground.  I would love to have seen a photograph of him.  It is almost certain that no one in the family has visited the British Cemetery in Tezze , Northern Italy where he was laid to rest , something I hope to put right before my time comes.

[Clicker]

I  know that the inheritance of War Medals often triggers the need to find out more about our forefathers as that is what triggered  our  interest too in 1990. The medals  from John Reynolds were passed on to his grandson, my husband, along with the  "Death Penny" and they are now mounted in a frame  alongside the photograph . We seem to have similar  background  as I lived in Berlin in 1948 and then various parts of Germany  as my father was posted all over Germany as a serving soldier . ....he was in the 3rd King's Own Hussars so we may even have crossed paths  before John... I watched the Festival Of Remembrance on Saturday night and thought it was such a poignant moving sight to see the  recently bereaved families of men and women, standing alongside almost everyone in the auditorium , all carrying a photograph of someone in their family who   had died in some conflict. .....few families  were left unscathed  ....

[johntwo]

51 minutes ago, Clicker said:

............................................................….so we may even have crossed paths  before John...………………………………………….

It's possible your parents may have listened to my Father at some stage.  He escaped his regiment for several years after the War because he somehow became a sports commentator for what was then the British Forces Network (BFN), now known as the Forces Broadcasting Service (FBS).   Originally, he was based at stations in Graz and Klagenfurt in Austria, then later Cologne in  Germany.  I used to help man the phones for the annual Wireless for the Blind Appeal at Christmas.  Happy days.

[Clicker]

Ooooh  I listened to BFN  all the time John... Two Way Family Favourites  every Sunday Lunchtime.. Jean Metcalfe ( Cliff Michelmore's wife) and   Bill Crozier... it seems like yesterday ...  small world eh ...

[Clicker]

Just adding this postcard /Photo that I bought for £.4.00 along with two Daily Mail Bird's Eye   Maps of the British Front that I found 13 years ago in a junk shop in Evesham .... It shows the Northumberland Fusiliers jubilant after taking the1st and 2nd line trenches at St Eloi in March 1916 . I have just found the same photo online... out of copyright now ..  ....Apparently steel helmets  had only been introduced a few weeks before..!

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C40557

One cannot look at it without  wondering  how many of them returned home ......

[Clicker]

Ooooer John ...I have just been researching your Great Grandfather on Ancestry and it looks like  he  was in the Northumberland Fusiliers  too ...  what a  coincidence  that is .....

[FUJI]

I have recently caught up with the BBC/IMPERIAL WAR-MUSEUM production of .....They Shall Not Grow Old.....a poignant, beautiful, heart rending, thought provoking film, using original mono film, digitally remastered and coloured, together with recorded  of veterans plus accurate added sounds.....a masterful production.

it had me close to tears more than once.

My wife’s dad was in the East Lancs Regiment, he served on and survived the Somme, he played the last-post at the earliest Services of `remembrance in Nelson/Coln....he was a Scoutmaster there for some years. He didn’t talk of his experiences, but after watching the program I can fully understand why....I always recall his foul smelling pipe and dour manner.....always a bugler/cornet player in our local, Silver Band.

 

RIP Harry Davenport East Lancs Regiment 1914-1918 ..... ( Worked in the Coventry motor industry, was an ARP Warden during WWII, rescued many people after a landmine destroyed out town Square...... an incident that killed both grandparents of my Artist pal/tutor Chris.)

The photograph of my grandson brings home just how young far too many of those WWI servicemen were.

 

please catch up with that BBC program if you can.

 

FUJI

[johntwo]

7 hours ago, Clicker said:

Ooooer John ...I have just been researching your Great Grandfather on Ancestry and it looks like  he  was in the Northumberland Fusiliers  too ...  what a  coincidence  that is .....

Yes, the 10th Battalion no less but he didn't join up until 1916.  I've been doing the same and initially came to a full stop because as I say, information seems sparse.  Yesterday I found out why.  His birth mother died when he was just 6 and he and two/three siblings (not sure yet) were adopted wholesale by a couple who had clearly remained childless throughout their marriage.  As was fairly common in those days, his natural father presumably didn't feel able to bring up a young family.  He then lost his adoptive father at the age of 11 but the family unit survived albeit under a different name before he joined up in York under his birth name  at the age of 22 in 1916.  Hard times.

[johntwo]

5 hours ago, FUJI said:

I have recently caught up with the BBC/IMPERIAL WAR-MUSEUM production of .....They Shall Not Grow Old.....a poignant, beautiful, heart rending, thought provoking film, using original mono film, digitally remastered and coloured, together with recorded  of veterans plus accurate added sounds.....a masterful production.

it had me close to tears more than once.

My wife’s dad was in the East Lancs Regiment, he served on and survived the Somme, he played the last-post at the earliest Services of `remembrance in Nelson/Coln....he was a Scoutmaster there for some years. He didn’t talk of his experiences, but after watching the program I can fully understand why....I always recall his foul smelling pipe and dour manner.....always a bugler/cornet player in our local, Silver Band.

 

RIP Harry Davenport East Lancs Regiment 1914-1918 ..... ( Worked in the Coventry motor industry, was an ARP Warden during WWII, rescued many people after a landmine destroyed out town Square...... an incident that killed both grandparents of my Artist pal/tutor Chris.)

The photograph of my grandson brings home just how young far too many of those WWI servicemen were.

 

please catch up with that BBC program if you can.

 

FUJI

My wife and I were only talking about catching up with the programme last evening and we intend to do so.  Your post reminded me of the image below.  It refers to the North Lancs Regiment but serves to demonstrate just how many regiments were formed from relatively small geographic areas.  The Plaque is displayed on Preston Station at the site where the Refreshment stall serving servicemen passing through the station, was located.