How did we get here?

Saturday, 5 July 2014

In Flanders Fields

We arrived in Ypres and Michael pretty much straight away caused a disturbance. We discovered that the Ypres Rally was being held the weekend we were staying so many of the streets were blocked off.

We parked the car and headed towards our hotel when Michael tried to cross the street and was abruptly pulled up by a policeman and told to go back to the other side of the street. Michael indicated that we only wanted to go to our hotel but the policeman was firm – Michael had to return to the sidewalk. When Michael did, the policeman then indicated that Michael could now cross the road. The road was really a narrow laneway, all of about 3 paces across and there was no traffic at the time. I think that the policeman just wanted someone he could direct. Michael was not happy!

French Cemetery Ypres

Ypres was almost completely flattened during the First World War and it is incredible to see how it has been completely rebuilt to its former glory and in its original style. Churchill had wanted the town left as it was, to be a permanent memorial to the fallen however the Belgian populace was not happy with that idea. It was decided to build the Menin Gate as a memorial instead.

Menin Gate Massed Pipes

We arrived in time to see the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate and we were lucky enough to attend the ceremony on each of the three evenings we were there. The gate itself is a large archway over the road and commemorates the missing in Ypres and whose graves are unknown. There are 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers names inscribed in the large Hall of Memory. Incredibly not all of the names of the missing would fit on the memorial so another 34,984 are inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing. It is a humbling experience to walk under the archway and look up at the almost never-ending list of names.

The Last Post ceremony takes place at 8.00pm every single evening of the year and has done so since July 2^nd 1928, only interrupted by the Second World War. Traffic is stopped at 7.30 pm and at exactly 8.00pm four buglers from the local fire brigade sound the Last Post. Sometimes there is an extended ceremony where wreaths are placed and bands perform. On one of the evenings we attended a Scottish Pipe Band played. There were several thousand spectators there on each of the nights we were there and to hear the hush fall over the crowd as the haunting strains of the bugles sounded is very emotional. Side note – Simon Crean seems to be following us – he was there as well!

Cot Tyne

The Memorial Museum of Passchendaele was next on our list. It was a very informative museum with reconstructed trenches that we could walk through which gave us a glimpse at what it must have been like to live in them. We also had a look at Polygon Wood where the battle occurred an also the main cemetery which holds over 107 graves.

4th Division Memorial and cemetery near Polygon Wood

The Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing was a very sombre place to visit. The sight of row upon row of headstones is confronting enough but then, as mentioned earlier, there is the list of 34,984 missing soldiers. As we wandered around the cemetery, we could see that pieces of paper had been left at some of the graves. Closer inspection revealed that Australian schoolchildren had visited and left poems that they had written and placed on random Australian soldiers’ graves. Reading the simple, sad lines that the children had left had a profound impact on me.

Hill 60 Crater


Hill 60 German Pillar Box

We went to the Essex Farm Cemetery where Lt Col McCrae wrote the famous poem “In Flanders Fields” that is so familiar from remembrance services the world over and saw the bunkers that contained the advanced dressing station that he worked in.

Sussex Farm Cemetery


Sussex Farm Cemetery

Advance Aid Post

Above Advance Aid Post

Side note – the poppies really do grow wild all throughout Flanders and the Somme. They are the most vivid crimson colour and they grow along the roadside and all through the fields.


Popperingine A town of hops and beer

Welcome to the Sticks

Michael and I decided that some respite from the war was needed so we took a drive to the beautiful mediaeval town of Bergues. This was the town that featured in the fabulous French film of the above name. If you have not seen this film, then I strongly recommend that you should. It is a very funny story about a postal worker who gets sent to a remote town and how he adapts to their unsophisticated lifestyle. The film has obviously put this town on the map as the movie is referenced throughout the town, with the local tourist office featuring many stills from the movie and even a postman’s bicycle. It was a lovely interlude strolling around and admiring the ancient architecture that was so familiar from the movie.

We also drove to Dunkirk where we saw the markets and the port. It was a nice modern town with a lovely church.

On the way home, we stopped at the city of Amiens. Here we viewed the magnificent Notre Dame cathedral. The cathedral is massive, so large in fact, that two of Paris’ Notre Dame cathedrals could fit inside. It was without doubt the most elaborate church we have seen on our travels (except for Russian churches which are in a league of their own). The stained glass windows were exceptional and the outside was adorned with a plethora of statues. There is a light festival held here during the summer months and over Christmas, where they light each individual statue in a different colour. Unfortunately we were about a week too early to view this however we could imagine how spectacular this would be.

Michael’s French has improved along the way. He has mastered the French word for two and no longer asks for God café cremas! There was one amusing incident when he tried to pronounce the name of the French beer Ch’ti. The waiter very gently but firmly advised him that, “we do not serve shitty beer here!” Well, I thought it was amusing.

Sunday, 22 June 2014

Private John Herring No. 1922 51st Bn (Inf) AIF RIP

Private John Herring

Travelling around the Somme resulted in both Michael and I reflecting on our respective family members who had served in France. Michael contacted his mother, Anne, to find out about his great uncle, John Herring who served with the 51^st Infantry Battalion. Anne contacted Michael’s aunt Pat and she provided the details that enabled us to locate his grave. We purchased some flowers and a memorial cross, which Michael inscribed with a personal message, and set off for the HAC Cemetery in Ecoust-St Mein. We located John’s grave and it was moving to stand and reflect on his personal sacrifice. I have included below the information provided by Pat and some additional research by Michael.

This is Dad’s eldest brother (Jack)

(Phil’s uncle and Michael’s Great Uncle)

Private John Herring

Service No. 1922

Unit: 51st Battalion (Infantry)

Date of Death: 2 April 1917

Enlisted 21 February 1916

Residence: Thadina Street, Sandstone, Western Australia

Embarked Fremantle 20/7/1916

Plymouth England UK 9/9/1916

Killed in Action, 2 April 1917 (aged 23 years 10 months) France at Norsuil??

He won the Heavy Weight Boxing Championship on board the” Seonig? Bee” troop ship and also won a gold medal for the most unselfish and gentlemanly player in Mines Football Club.

Lauren recently arranged a plaque at the entrance to Kings Park in honour of Uncle Jack, the ceremony was moving and I’m sure Dad would appreciate the thought. He shared the tree with another digger who was the same age, Battalion and died on the same day, same battle.

History of the 51^st Bn

The 51st Battalion was raised in Egypt in the first week of March 1916, as part of the “doubling” of the AIF. Approximately half of its recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 11th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia. Reflecting the composition of the 11th, the 51st was predominantly composed of men from Western Australia. The battalion became part of the 13th Brigade of the newly-formed 4th Australian Division.

Arriving in France on 12 June 1916, the 51st moved into the trenches of the Western Front within a fortnight. It fought in its first major battle at Mouquet Farm in August and September, and suffered casualties equivalent to a third of its strength in both of the attacks (14 August and 3 September) it launched. After Mouquet Farm, the battalion saw out the rest of the year, alternating between front-line duty, and training and labouring behind the line. This routine continued through the bleak winter of 1916-17.

Markers near John 51st Bn

Early in 1917, the battalion participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. On 2 April it attacked at Noreuil, a village which had been fortified to delay the Australian advance. Later in the year, the focus of the AIF’s operations moved to the Ypres sector in Belgium. There the battalion fought in the battle of Messines between 7 and 12 June and the battle of Polygon Wood between 26 and 27 September. Another winter of trench routine followed.

With the collapse of Russia in October 1917, a major German offensive on the Western Front was expected in early 1918. This occurred in France in late March and the 4th Division moved to defend positions around Dernancourt on the River Ancre. The 51st Battalion assisted in the repulse of a large German attack on 5 April, launching a critical counter-attack late in the day. The German threat remained until late April, and in the early hours of ANZAC Day 1918 the 51st participated in the now legendary attack to dislodge the enemy from Villers-Bretonneux.

When the Allies launched their own offensive in early August, the 51st Battalion was among the units involved and played an active role until the middle of that month, before moving to duties in the rear area. The battalion was ordered forward again in early September, in preparation for its last major operation of the war. On 18 September it provided part of the 4th Division’s reserve for the attack on the Hindenburg “outpost line”. Not long after the Armistice on 11 November 1918, drafts of men began returning to Australia for discharge. With the departure of the last of these on 5 May 1919, the 51st Battalion disbanded.

http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11238.asp

The cemetery details of the HAC Ecoust-St.Mein (HAC is the Honourable Artillery Company)

Location Information

Ecoust-St.Mein is a village between Arras, Cambrai and Bapaume. H.A.C. Cemetery is about 800 metres south of the village on the west side of the D956 road to Beugenatre. Identified casualties 826.

Facing South East from marker

Facing South right of Annette

Historical Information

The enemy positions from Doignies to Henin-sur-Cojeul, including the village of Ecoust, were captured on 2 April 1917, by the 4th Australian and 7th Divisions. This cemetery was begun by the 7th Division after the battle, when 27 of the 2nd H.A.C., who fell (with one exception) on the 31st March or the 1st April, were buried in what is now Plot I, Row A. After the German counter-attack near Lagnicourt on the 15th April, twelve Australian gunners were buried in the same row. Rows B, C and part of D were made in August and September 1918, when the ground had been recaptured by the 3rd Division after five months enemy occupation. The 120 graves thus made were the original H.A.C. Cemetery; but after the Armistice graves were added from the battlefields of Bullecourt and Ecoust and from a number of smaller burial grounds.
There are now nearly 2,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over half are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 14 from Australia, known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 34 soldiers from the United Kingdom, buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.

http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/31200/H.A.C.%20CEMETERY,%20ECOUST-ST.%20MEIN

Unknown Australian

It would appear that Great Uncle John saw action on the Western Front prior to this battle and was unfortunately killed on the day of battle. Later the Germans took the ground back and so the cemetery was destroyed by gun fire so that is why he is in a special mention area as they know his remains rest here.

RIP great Uncle John.