Remembrance at Lochnagar Mine Crater, Somme.

Lochnagar and Hawthorn Ridge

Standing at its edge the mine crater of Lochnagar dwarfs all those who stand beside it staring down into its depth at the circle of poppy crosses at its base. The crater was created July 1, 1916 when the explosive packed mine was detonated by the Royal Engineers at 7:28 AM on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

The tunneling units of the Royal Engineers detonated ten mines on that day, the two largest mines using 24 tons of ammonal, an explosive made of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder.  These mines were located near La Boiselle to either side of the road from Albert to Bapaume, the Y Sap mine to the north and Lochnagar mine to the south. Lochnagar is easily viewed and frequently visited, thanks to the interest of Richard Dunning who purchased the ground in order that it might be preserved for future generations.

The wood on the far horizon. Hawthorn Ridge Mine Crater.

Another of the famed mines from that first day is located on Hawthorn Ridge, to the west of Beaumont Hamel, and where 18 tons of explosives were packed. The crater is now heavily regenerated with trees rising from the gap in the ground and is not as easily viewed as Lochnagar. Still, with the steady descent into this pit, one cannot help but think back to the hurtling earth launched skyward from the explosion and captured by the Great War photographer Ernest Brooks.

Film cinematographer Geoffrey Malins also captured the explosion with moving images and later reported, “The ground where I stood gave a mighty convulsion. It rocked and swayed. I gripped hold of my tripod to steady myself. Then for all the world like a gigantic sponge, the earth rose high in the air to the height of hundreds of feet. Higher and higher it rose, and with a horrible grinding roar the earth settles back upon itself, leaving in its place a mountain of smoke.”

Lochnagar Mine Crater with poppy crosses at base.

I often recall my visits to these craters, and at time have returned to these great poxes on the earth reintroducing myself to that one day in July. Returning to Lochnagar I recall my first visit, the memorial introducing visitors to the spectacle, and as I wander around its crest, the visitors who come a bit afterwards and who, like myself, cannot help but stand in awe at this gap in the ground where earth and men were flung from their base heavenwards.

Did you know?

Lochnagar is the name of a mountain in Scotland located near Balmoral.

For those interested in learning more about tunneling units of the Great War, visit your local library and check out “Beneath Flanders Fields: The Tunnellers’ War 1914-1918” by Peter Doyle, Peter Barton and Johan Vandewalle.

If possible try to locate the film, “Beneath Hill 60”, an Australian film that tells the true story of Oliver Woodward MC and Two Bars a legendary Australian tunneller and the men whose war occurred not only above but below ground.

A Youtube video is available that shows the exploison of the Hawthorn Ridge Mine. Click the link below.

Splintered trees of the Western Front.

Fragments of Memory

Like inverted stakes in the hearts of France and Flanders, the splintered trees from the fields of battle stand as rooted silhouettes. Their splinters litter the ground on which men once walked, crawled or ran; the belligerent skelfs, large and small, hurling about tearing and ripping the flesh, piercing the souls of men.  Amongst the metal fragments, aimed engineering, gas and shrapnel balls these organic shards of nature took their toll. They, the soldiers, from all the pictures – seem to live in a world of black and white, with gray washes suggesting a continual haze from which men emerge between the trunks. The colour gone, leached from the landscape, drained into the ground where the roots of seemingly dead trees struggle to find a source of regeneration.

And yet with peace, and the passage of time, this bleak terrain that harnessed all participants for the years of the Great War returned as green fields filled with new life. The shattered remains of Ents, witnesses to the dreary course of men have passed but like the bones of men, their fragments haunt the ground in search of sweet memories instead of the bitterness of war.

Splinters, bits of whole things, fragments of memory, much of it lost to us, but once in a while, captured in a note to mother or another loved one, in the rekindling of the past, or in the telling of a story that has survived. When Tolkien wrote his trilogy, there are reminders of the Great War woven throughout its pages, his time on the Somme, and the acts of men are there for all of us to become immersed. How few today realize that Tolkien’s epic reflects, his Great War, the age of men­­­.

Tolkien first served on the front July 14, 1916 taking part in the unsuccessful attack on Ovillers.

Did you know?

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien served during the Great War with the 11^th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. He arrived in France in June 1916 and during the Battle of the Somme was a signals officer.  Tolkien saw action at the Battle of Thiepval Ridge and took part in the assault on Schwaben Redoubt. Having suffered from trench foot on numerous occasions he developed trench fever in late October 1916 and returned to England November 8, 1916. The rest of his war was spent on garrison duties and in hospital. Still Tolkien’s experiences on the Somme gave to the world, through the sites he was witness, a trilogy long regarded as epic and classic in nature. Best then to remember his words, “By 1918 all but one of my close friends were dead.”

J.R.R. Tolkien's revolver at the Imperial War Museum.

HMHS Britannic - formerly RMS Britannic

RMS Britannic
Another White Star Line Sinking

This week has seen an extraordinary amount of film at home and in the theatre with the launch of James Cameron’s 3-D version of Titanic. Ceremonies have recognized the 100^th anniversary of the loss of this titan on its maiden voyage, such as in Halifax, (the City of Sorrow) Nova Scotia where three cemeteries include the graves of this great ship’s victims. Museums and archives have clamored to assemble their presentations in this another great opportunity to study the impact of this mighty vessel’s loss. In effect there is a steady stream of Titanica, set upon the tide for us to investigate. In keeping with these offerings I provide a similar course but diverge slightly by taking us to one of Titanic’s, not often mentioned, kin RMS Britannic.

Like RMS Titanic, the Britannic was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and was launched February 26, 1914. During the Great War Britannic, which was larger than Titanic, became a hospital ship and renamed HMHS (His Majesty’s Hospital Ship) Britannic. Under the command of Captain Charles Alfred Bartlett CB, CBE, RD, of the Royal Naval Reserve, Bartlett first served with the White Star Line in 1894, and developed an uncanny reputation for “smelling ice” in the shipping lanes and was given the nickname “Iceberg Charlie”.

On November 21, 1916 at 8:12 AM Britannic struck a mine and sunk at 9:07 AM off the Greek island off Kea in the Kea Channel. It is amazing that nurse Violet Jessop was on board, not only did she survive the sinking of Britannic and the 1911 collision of Olympic with HMS Hawke, she was also a Titanic survivor.

Of the 1,134 individuals on board, thirty lives were lost. Britannic sank in about an hour, and it is thought that most of the fatalities did not occur due to the explosion of the mine but when some of the lifeboats were caught up in the vortex of the Britannic going down. Captain Bartlett who survived the Britannic’s sinking was, however, stuck by another vessel’s loss. On May 13, 1915 his only son, Charles Sydney Ellis Bartlett, was lost as a 15 year old Midshipman when HMS Goliath was hit and sunk by Turkish torpedoes in the Dardanelles. Midshipman Bartlett is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent, England.

Of the 30 individuals lost in the Britannic’s sinking the following 15 souls have been confirmed as fatalities:

Piraeus Naval and Consular Cemetery, Greece
Fireman Joseph Brown, Southampton
Seaman G. Honeycott
Charles James David Phillips, Hants

Detail of the Tower Hill Memorial

Tower Hill Memorial, London, England
Fireman Frank Joseph Earley, Southampton
Steward Charles Claude Seymour Garland, Southampton
Scullion Leonard George, Southampton
Second Electrician Pownall Gillespie, Liscard, Cheshire
Fireman George William Godwin, Southampton
Assistant Cook Thomas McDonald, Liverpool
Fireman John George McFeat, Southampton
Steward Thomas Francis Tully, Bootle, Lancashire
Greaser George Sherin, Southampton
Trimmer Arthur Dennis, Southampton
Steward Henry James Toogood, Southampton
Fireman George Bradbury Philps, Southampton

Not Confirmed
Piraeus Naval and Consular Cemetery, Greece
Private Arthur Binks, M.M., Royal Army Medical Corps

Mikra Memorial, Greece
Private George James Bostock, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private Henry Freebury, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private Thomas Jones, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private Leonard Smith, Royal Army Medical Corps
Captain John Cropper, Royal Army Medical Corps
Sergeant William Sharpe, Royal Army Medical Corps (buried Syria New British Cemetery)
Private George William King, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private William Stone, Royal Army Medical Corps

Unknown
Six individuals not identified

Did you know?

Famed French explorer, filmmaker and diver Jacques Cousteau discovered the wreck in 1975 at rest 400’ below the water’s surface. Robert Ballard the discoverer of Titanic also visited the Britannic wreck site in 1995.

Captain Charles Bartlett’s honours include the CB (Companion of the Order of the Bath), the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) and the RD (Royal Naval Reserve Decoration).

William Johnstone Milne V.C.

William Johnstone Milne, V.C.
16th Canadian Infantry Battalion

W.J. Milne of Cambusnethan, Scotland (located south-east of Glasgow) came to Canada in 1910 and lived on the Canadian prairies near to the town of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan where he found work on a farm. With the outbreak of  the Great War he joined the 46th Battalion C.E.F. in September 1915 but subsequently became a member of the 16th. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions south-west of Thelus during the Battle for Vimy Ridge April 9, 1917.He was 24 years of age.

16th War Diary for Vimy. Click to read!

Citation for the award of the Victoria Cross to William Johnstone Milne

“For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack. On approaching the first objective, Pte. Milne observed an enemy machine gun firing on our advancing troops. Crawling on hands and knees, he succeeded in reaching the gun, killing the crew with bombs, and capturing the gun. On the line re-forming, he again located a machine gun in the support line, and stalking this second gun as he had done the first, he succeeded in putting the crew out of action and capturing the gun. His wonderful bravery and resource on these two occasions undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his comrades. Pte. Milne was killed shortly after capturing the second gun.”

Vimy Memorial, France.

Private Milne was buried 1/2 mile south-east of Neuville St. Vaast – 3 3/4 miles north of Arras. However with the progression of the war the grave was lost and so having no known burial Private Milne is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France. Private Milne’s medals and decorations, which were given to his mother Mrs. Agnes Milne, were held privately for several years but are now permanently housed in the collection of the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.

Did you know?

Captain Victor Gordon Tupper M.C. who commanded “C” Company of the 16^th Battalion C.E.F. at Vimy Ridge was also killed during the attack on April 9, 1917. Tupper was the son of the Honorable Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper K.C.M.G. (Knight Commander Order of St. Michael and St. George) and Lady Tupper of Vancouver, B.C. Captain Tupper is buried at Ecoivres Military Cemtery, Mont-St. Eloi, France.

Captain Tupper’s  father, Charles Hibbert Tupper, a distinguished Canadian politician himself, was the son of Sir Charles Tupper who was a former premier of Nova Scotia, and was one of Canada’s 36 Fathers of Confederation, Captain Tupper’s grandfather also served briefly as Canadian Prime Minister in 1896.

A popular postcard of the Great War.

For My Sweetheart

They left all that was dear to them behind, parents, family, and sweethearts, those that were most familiar to them. Home, the farm, the school, a favorite friend, a family pet, routine, and the day they knew. Hearing the call to war, the volunteers stepped to the fore and entered into the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Their active service taking them far from home, to the training camps and battlefields overseas and where memories of those at home were kept close at heart.

There too were the letters to loved ones, the girl left behind and so, on occasion, when the soldier had the chance, a postcard slipped into the mail with a heartfelt message,  or at other times a special item purchased and sent home. Souvenirs were popular. There were pillowcases depicting such things as Ypres on fire, commemorative china in the shape of tanks and interpretations of “Keep the Home Fires Burning”, trench art, and items picked up from the front lines such as pickelhaubes, iron crosses and fuses.

An advertisement for sweetheart pins. From "Canada in Khaki".

Still there were fine personal items sold by jewelers for the soldier as gifts for the ones at home. Made of gold or silver, and sometimes enameled, sweetheart pins, as they are popularly known, were a simple gift reminding the one at home of the one at the front. These pins often resembled the cap insignia of the soldier’s unit or regiment, others might relate to a specific town or battle. Some came in special boxes for Christmas gifts, others elaborately engraved. On the other hand soldiers also had coins of the realm turned into bracelets, with one side being filed over and an inscription hand engraved that reminded each other of their feelings, “The Lord watch between thee and me when we are absent one from the other.” With the addition of a silver or gold chain and clasp they were worn as reminders, “I have a soldier at the front”. It was one way of remembering before remembrance became a day.

The girl at home wearing a rifle regiment sweetheart pin.

As the words of John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields remind us “We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and Were Loved”. For all those wives, sweethearts, grandmothers, mothers, sisters and others who wait, we will remember them.

One moment at Rifle House Cemetery, 2005.

Is it synchronicity? 

I cannot lay claim to the above mentioned words but took great interest in hearing this Louis Pasteur phrase used during a recent Ansel Adams documentary I was watching. The phrase, chance favours the prepared mind, apparently one of Mr. Adams’ favorites, was mentioned when showing his 1941 black and white photograph entitled Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico. I enjoyed hearing the phrase in context of photography and how Mr. Adams’, discovering the chance opportunity, seized the day and captured that one moment for all time. Recognizing opportunity – seeing the edges, the content – bringing it all into the frame – there for all time.

I always seem to wander back to my travels overseas and once again chance favors the prepared mind allows me that opportunity yet again. One never knows what they are going to encounter as they bring those edges together – but recognizing it when it is there is so rewarding. I take a lot of pictures on my journeys – many for future reference – I see it – I capture it – I will have it for later. These pictures are often taken quickly – a chance encounter with something out of the ordinary or something that maybe over time can be connected to other things I see. Relating them together over time (sometimes years) is interesting – and how I enjoy these connections when they come together. That picture you take on the spur of the moment may not be of obvious use today – but when you listen and learn, observe and ponder, bringing knowledge and chance together at a later date that can be very magical.

However, there is another aspect I deeply enjoy and when you find it you know it, that one image that captures that day forever.  I recall walking through a forested area of Belgium towards Rifle House Cemetery many years ago and how the light streaming through the leaves cast rays from the canopy to the ground below. There was something in that wood as I walked about that path with my friends. Apart from the steady trudging of our footsteps, there was a gentle breeze, enough to create some sway amongst the limbs above – and silence. Then there was the unexpected, having watched All Quiet on the Western Front oh so many times and always wanting to see something to photograph in the present day that captures the spirit of that earlier film there it was before me – chance favors the prepared mind!

As we walked closer to these gardens of memory, (there is more than one cemetery at this location) how the Portland Stone markers tinged green with growth came into view, the gate opens and now wandering into the scene, quite unexpectedly masses of butterflies cast themselves adrift from their perches gently reaching upwards, fluttering about until they settle once again amongst the foliage next to these tablets of memory, a record of regeneration there for me to witness on this fine day.

Somehow that day completes All Quiet on the Western Front for me or perhaps in many ways provides a beginning, an act of regeneration unto itself. Is it synchronicity or chance favoring the prepared mind? I think about it often and can hardly wait to discover more chances – more opportunities to find those images in the frame that bring light into the day.

Noel Godfrey Chavasse VC and Bar, MC. "The Bronze Cross", page 20.

Noel Godfrey Chavasse VC and Bar, MC
Royal Army Medical Corps attached 1/10th The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment

For several years I have visited the exhibits of the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London, England. There is much to see, with artifacts (both large and small), documents, and artworks sharing the exhibition space in a rich context. Here in this building we will also hear the sounds of war including the shattering cacophony of the frontlines, musical scores and renditions, and most heartfelt of all life stories by the participants themselves.

For many years the IWM had a Victoria Cross – George Cross Gallery, the latter the highest award for gallantry not in the face of the enemy. After many years this was changed when the collection of Victoria Crosses owned by the Ashcroft Trust were placed on exhibition with those of the IWM and turned into an interactive presentation in the Ashcroft Gallery. This exhibition of valour currently features 172 Victoria Crosses held by the Trust and the collection of 46 Victoria Crosses held by the IWM.

Amongst the Victoria Crosses on exhibit are the awards of Noel Godfrey Chavasse born in Oxford, England, 1884. Chavasse, an officer with the Royal Army Medical Corps, was attached to the 1/10th  The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment also known as the Liverpool Scottish. Noel Chavasse was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions of August 9, 1916 at Guillemont, Somme, France.

In 1917 during the action for which he would be posthumously awarded a Bar to the Victoria Cross Chavasse was wounded several times, one of which was a horrific and gaping abdominal wound. Noel Chavasse died of his wounds received in action August 4, 1917 at a Casualty Clearing Station at Brandhoek, Belgium. His burial at Brandhoek New Military Cemetery is frequently visited and where several remembrances are often placed.

Noel Chavasse's final place of rest. Brandhoek New Military Cemetery, Belgium.

Citation for the award of the Victoria Cross to Noel Godfrey Chavasse

Announced in the London Gazette: 26 October 1916 (Fourth Supplement)

“For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. During an attack he tended the wounded in the open all day, under heavy fire, frequently in view of the enemy. During the ensuing night he searched for wounded on the ground in front of the enemy’s lines for four hours. Next day he took one stretcher-bearer to the advanced trenches, and under heavy shell fire carried an urgent case for 500 yards into safety, being wounded in the side by a shell splinter during the journey. The same night he took up a party of twenty volunteers, rescued three wounded men from a shell hole twenty-five yards from the enemy’s trench, buried the bodies of two Officers, and collected many identity discs, although fired on by bombs and machine guns. Altogether he saved the lives of some twenty badly wounded men, besides the ordinary cases which passed through his hands. His courage and self-sacrifice were beyond praise.”

Noel Chavasse was, as previously mentioned, posthumously awarded a Bar to the Victoria Cross (for Wieltje 31 July/2 August 1917). Prior to being awarded the Victoria Cross he was also a recipient of the Military Cross and was mentioned in despatches. His older twin brother, Christopher Maude Chavasse, was a chaplain during the Great War and was also awarded the Military Cross, and made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division). Christopher also received the French Croix de Guerre. He later became the Bishop of Rochester, and like his brother Noel was a British Olympic athlete participating in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.

Two other brothers, Aidan and Bernard also served during the First World War. Aidan Chavasse was killed as a Lieutenant with the 17th King’s (Liverpool) Regiment and, having no known grave, is recorded on the Menin Gate War Memorial. Francis Bernard Chavasse, like his brothers Noel and Christopher, was also awarded the Military Cross. Their sister, May Chavasse, was mentioned in despatches as a nurse with the Voluntary Aid Detachment.

Did you know?
Noel Godfrey Chavasse is one of three soldiers to have ever become the recipient of a Bar to the Victoria Cross. The others were Arthur Martin-Leake and Charles Hazlitt Upham.

Surgeon Captain Arthur Martin-Leake was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Vlakfontein February 8, 1902, when serving with the South African Constabulary attached to the 5th Field Ambulance during the Second Boer War. He was awarded a Bar to the Victoria Cross near Zonnebeke, Belgium October29/November 8, 1914 at the time serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps. During the Second World War he was involved with Air Raid Precautions. He died June 22, 1953.

Charles Hazlitt Upham served with the 20th Battalion, 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (The Canterbury Regiment) during the Second World War. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Crete, 22/30 May 1941. At El Ruweisat Ridge in Egypt’s western desert, during the First Battle of El Alamein, Upham was awarded a Bar to the Victoria Cross for his actions on 14/15 July 1942. Subsequently captured Upham, as a prisoner of war, was held in Colditz Castle. He died November 22, 1994. Of some interest is that the Upham and Chavasse families are related.

Nemo Me Impune Lacessit (Provoke Me Not With Impunity)

End theme “Tumbledown”; cue The Corries, the Garten Mother’s Lullaby

Every once in a while you come across a person, who you have never met and never known. Yet the story is there, at first hinted at by the accidental discovery of an image, a page or two from the internet. Then you discover this story became a film, and though you have not seen it – it is now placed on that list of must-sees. The film is 1988’s Tumbledown the story of a Scots Guards Lieutenant during the 1982 campaign in the Falklands.

The Flickr image of Robert Lawrence shows a man with longish hair, moustache and beard, a fine coat, shirt and tie with a glove about his left hand. At first it seems he could be the lad in the band, and perhaps he is that too? Upon his chest the Military Cross.

During the engagement, for which that honour was granted, Lieutenant Lawrence was shot by a sniper and severely wounded. Penetrating the base of his skull and exiting at the hairline above his right eye, the speeding metal could have taken his life but in this instance, though the metal claimed much, it did not take the man. It created a new voice one that first found its way through his book, When the Fighting is Over: A Personal Story of the Battle for Tumbledown Mountain and its Aftermath.

Mr. Lawrence has recently become a spokesman again, especially during and since the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War. Though partially paralyzed and having lost 43% of his brain, he remains a leader whose commentary is candid and insightful with no holds barred. He is an advocate for the returned soldier, the wounded and injured, both physically and mentally. His charitable organization Global Adventure Plus takes British veterans on a path towards rehabilitation, leading them on expeditions through foreign lands, such as the Himalayas. His is a voice that needs to be heard, a voice that speaks of what he has done in battle and a voice that speaks to the battle when the fighting is over.

Some of you will be familiar with The Crags of Tumbledown composed and first played by Pipe Major James Riddell of 2 SG atop that site of hand-to-hand combat in 1982. Others may recall the film Tumbledown and the end theme of the Garten Mothers Lullaby as performed by The Corries, “…for the red bee hums the silent twilight’s fall”. When Tumbledown first aired more than 10,000,000 people viewed the BBC production.

Thank you Mr. Lawrence…Captain Lawrence, a virtual hand-shake from many miles away, I fall silent in deep respect for all that you have done for your fellow veterans and all you will continue to do.

Lieutenant T.O.L. Wilkinson V.C. from "The War Illustrated Album De-luxe, Volume VII".

Thomas Orde Lawder Wilkinson VC
7th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, La Boiselle, France. July 5, 1916

Born in 1894 at Bridgeport, Shropshire, England, Thomas Wilkinson came to Canada in 1912, and, prior to the Great War, worked as a surveyor on Vancouver Island and in Burnaby, B.C. He joined the 16^th Battalion C.E.F. on September 23, 1914 and, of note, his service papers record:

“The present whereabouts of this man is unknown, O/C 16^th Battn. says He did not proceed overseas with the Battn.  & Hdq’s Canadians have no record of him being struck off strength…4/11/15.”

Wilkinson however, had made his way to England and was commissioned as a Temporary Second Lieutenant in the 7^th Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, December 23, 1914. In July 1915 he was serving in France. A year later, on July 1, 1916 the battle of the Somme commenced. That first day was to become the bloodiest day of the British Army with 57,470 casualties of which 19,240 soldiers were killed or died from their wounds. A further 2,152 soldiers were missing.

Four days later, July 5, 1916 Thomas Wilkinson was in action with his battalion on the Somme. For his actions at La Boisselle, France Wilkinson was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Having no known grave he is commemorated on the Thiepval War Memorial and is also recorded on the Sandwick Cairn [War Memorial] near Courtenay and Comox, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Citation for the award of the Victoria Cross to T.O.L. Wilkinson

Announced in the London Gazette 26 September 1916

“For most conspicuous bravery. During an attack, when a party of another unit was retiring without their machine gun, Lieutenant Wilkinson rushed forward and, with two of his men, got the gun into action, and held up the enemy till they were relieved. Later, when the advance was checked during a bombing attack, he forced his way forward and found four or five men of different units stopped by a solid block of earth, over which the enemy was throwing bombs. With great pluck and promptness he mounted a machine gun on the top of the parapet and dispersed the enemy bombers. Subsequently he made two most gallant attempts to bring in a wounded man, but [in] the second attempt he was shot through the heart just before reaching the man. Throughout the day he set a magnificent example of courage and self-sacrifice.”

The Sandwick Cairn. Unveiled November 12, 1922.

From that bloodiest of days, July 1, 1916, until the end of the battle of the Somme November 18, 1916, British and Empire dead, missing and wounded, numbered 419,654. There were others too. From the ranks of the French Army their casualties rose to 204,253 and from the other side of the battlefields, German losses are thought to number between 437,000 and 600,000.

No matter from which side, each one with a name, and each one with a story to tell.

Did you know?
Three other soldiers, with Canadian connections, serving in British regiments were awarded the Victoria Cross during the Great War. They are Michael O’Leary (1^st Irish Guards), Philip Eric Bent (9^th Leicestershire Regiment), and Edmund DeWind (15^th Royal Irish Rifles).

O’Leary lived in Canada briefly and joined the Royal North West Mounted Police in August 1913. He was discharged in September 1914 in order for him to rejoin his regiment in Ireland. The Victoria Cross was presented to him recognizing his actions at Cuinchy February 1, 1915.

Bent was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1891. His posthumous award of the Victoria Cross was made for valour at Polygon Wood, Belgium on October 10, 1917.

DeWind came to Canada in 1910 from Ireland. He enlisted with the 31^st Battalion, C.E.F. and was subsequently commissioned into the 15^th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. On March 21, 1918 in action at the Race Course Redoubt, near Grougie his actions were recognized with the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross.

During the Second World War Charles Ferguson Hoey, served with the 1^st Lincolnshire Regiment in Burma, and was awarded the Military Cross and a posthumous Victoria Cross. His brother, Trevor Ferguson Hoey, was killed during the Second World War, July 21, 1944, serving as a Lieutenant with the Canadian Scottish and is buried at Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, Reviers, France.

The new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery. Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery includes 110 identified casualties and was the first new cemetery built by the Commission in 50 years.

A Richer Dust Concealed

The recent discovery of 21 German soldier’s bodies at Carspach on the south-eastern portion of the Western Front is truly remarkable. With their virtually intact and well preserved trench and underground shelter, this amazing site should be declared a world heritage site. After all it is wooden structures, such as these, that are usually lost forever to the wrath of time. The images of the site are amazing and those engaged on the site must feel extraordinary reverence for the men who walked its path and lived in the caverns below.

Stretching for 450 miles the Western Front’s line of conflict ran south from the dunes of the Belgian coast through Northern France.  Eventually it turns towards the east and heads towards the Swiss border passing through the French provinces of Lorraine and Alsace. It is not surprising, and considering the movement of armies, that when the machines of today rip through the countrysides of France and Belgium that encounters with the remains of the Great War are regularly discovered. Still each discovery is exceptional and the breadth of this “Pompeii of the Western Front” truly breathtaking in scope.

Many shards and fragments of war lie amongst these fields of valour and so too the bones of men, whose flesh has fallen away. Their discovery is intimate, and brings to those who find them profound memories that will live with them for a lifetime. Perhaps there is something personal found along side, or they remain in a tattered uniform, their rusted helmet next to them. Still there is the chance of a single piece of evidence that might identify them to bring identity to this soul perhaps killed outright or suffocated while buried alive.

It is near impossible to place an excavator’s shovel into the ground on the Western Front and not encounter the Great War. At times, with construction completed, roads give way to these tunnels and dugouts carved by the military’s engineers.  It happens everywhere, perhaps when a garden is dug at a person’s home, or when a sinkhole reveals an elaborate labyrinth of the Great War.

At the solemn and dignified Visitors’ Centre at Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial, Zonnebeke, Belgium, that includes German bunkers within its borders, the number of discovered artifacts through excavation for the foundation of its Visitors Centre was profound and provided instant and provocative material for the centre’s exhibits. Sitting upon the field of battle, and next to the gravesides of men from all nations the centre’s objects are the remains of the day that can be seen, unearthed from sacred ground.

The Western Front continual gives up its dead, reminding us once again of the fate of men caught in the gas clouds, explosions and rapid fire of the war. At the Boesinghe canal site 155 bodies have been given back to us and at Fromelles, the discovery, in 2009, of a mass burial returned 250 Australian and British soldiers to the surface. From the earth they have returned and to the earth they are reburied, but the memory of their sacrifice so many years ago is rekindled in the hearts of today’s generations.

When the excavators fall silent to the sounds of a new discovery, it further becomes our responsibility to take a moment of time to reflect and remember those who went before us. From atop the parapet and from below the surface, whether it is ninety-nine or one of the fallen, their loss and rediscovery, reminds us, in the words of Rupert Brooke,  “In that rich earth a richer dust concealed.”