Posted By pferguson on November 2, 2021

Private Myer Morris Rogozinski served as Marcus Rosen
10304
2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment

Marcus Rosen was born in Kalisch, Poland although another source records his birth as London, England. Rosen, prior to the Great War, was learning to become a tailor but with the onset of the Great War enlisted into the British Army at Stratord. Arriving at the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium on 6 October 1914 the battalion suffered heavy casualties during the First Battle of Ypres (19 October – 22 November 1914).

The town of Kalisch or Kalisz was once a provincial capital of Congress Poland and next became a capital province of the Russian Empire. Following the Great War Kalisch became part of an independent Poland founded in 1918. A visit to the website of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database found 609 Rogozinski family members and 2,318 members of the Rosen family.

Adding the town name Kalisch to the search identified the following Rogozinski family members: Abram Rogozinski; Abraham Abram Szloma Shomo Rogozinski who was interned at Saschenhausen (13 September 1939 – 5 September 1940) and Dachau (6 September 1940 – 23 January 1941. Abraham died at Neuengamme Concentration Camp 25 June 1942; Łaja Orner (maiden name Rogozinski) who died 17 July 1940, Litzmannstadt Getto, Fahrergasse No. 8 Wohn 9. The same search further identified the following Rosen family members: Sima Rosen born 1905 and survived; Jakob Jacob Szulem Rosen born 1897 deported from Gelsenkirchen then to Munster, Hanover and Warschau Ghetto; Chaja Helene Rosen (maiden name Grünbaum) who was expelled Poland 28 October 1938 to Bentschen (Zbazyn). It is not known if any of these mentioned are relatives of Marcus Rosen (Meyer Morris Rogozinski).

The Ypres Town Cemetery Extension was used from October 1914 to April 1915 and again for two burials in April 1918. Following the end of the Great War the cemetery’s size was increased with the addition of 367 graves during the time of war graves concentration. The cemetery is the resting place of 604 Commonwealth casualties of which 141 are unidentified. Sixteen special memorials are also on site commemorating soldiers known or thought to be buried at the location. During the Second World War 43 soldiers were buried at the Extension, 13 of whom are not identified.

Marcus Rosen, age 19, died of wounds. He rests at Ypres Town Cemetery II.B.22. His parents were Abraham and Kate Rosen, London, England. Visitors familiar with the mitzvah of burial, an act of remembrance and respect for the deceased, use their left hand to place a visitation stone atop Jewish markers, informing visitors that others have been to the site of memory. The practice predates the use of gravestones. Several stones have been placed atop the marker of Marcus Rosen.

This Day
2 November 1914
475 Fatalities
Source: Commonwealth War Grave Commission

Category: November Series, Remember Them Well, Snapshots of the Great War | No Comments »
Tags: 2 November 1914, 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, First Battle of Ypres (19 October - 22 November 1914), Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database, Kalisch (Poland), Marcus Rosen, Mitzvah of Burial, Myer Morris Rogozinski, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Visitation Stone, Ypres Town Cemetery Extension

Posted By pferguson on November 1, 2021

Gunner J. Foy
11828
4th Siege Battery
Royal Garrison Artillery

On 17 September 1914 the 4th Siege Battery proceeded to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force being equipped with Howitzers firing 6, 8 0r 9.2 inch shells. Although “Mother” the first prototype 9.2 inch gun was in action 31 October 1914 it is more likely the 4th Siege Battery was equipped with 6 or 8 inch guns. Foy, originally buried at Le Bizet Convent Military Cemetery, was one of 88 British soldiers and one Canadian soldier, killed between October 1914 and October 1916, whose remains were later concentrated at Strand Military Cemetery, Ploegsteert, Belgium. Foy rests at gravesite X.I.10 and is one of 1,143 Commonwealth buried or commemorated at the site, 354 of whom are not identified. The cemetery includes eight Second World War burials from May 1940.

Le Bizet was on the grounds of the Assumption Covent between Le Bizet and Motor Car Corner. The later location marked the spot where motor cars were stopped from proceeding to the frontlines. Motor Car Corner Cemetery was started near to this location in June 1917 at the commencement of the Battle of Messines. Today 131 Commonwealth and 1 German soldier are buried there.

Soldiers frequently named places and positions for landmarks familiar to themselves. For those familiar with the Strand in London, England the “Strand” was also a trench and “Charring Cross” the name for the end of the trench that led into Ploegsteert Wood.

This Day
1 November 1914
2,457 Fatalities
Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Category: November Series, Remember Them Well, Snapshots of the Great War | No Comments »
Tags: 1 November 1914, 4th Siege Battery, Assumption Convent, Charring Cross, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Le Bizet, Le Bizet Military Convent Cemetery, Motor Car Corner, Motor Car Corner Cemetery, Ploegsteert, Royal Garrison Artillery, Strand, Strand Military Cemetery, War Graves

Posted By pferguson on October 31, 2021

The Registers

We ride, we bike, we walk one road to another through country fields, forest (les bois) and urban centres. Some of the sites are near to our path while others meander off the larger trail. Many are destinations, others we find happenstance. There is always something to learn at each war graves cemetery. Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), previously the Imperial War Graves Commission, these silent cities have voices larger than any actual speech.

The CWGC provides to its many visitors at these sites of gathering a printed record of those who remain here…for these witnesses their actual warring days are over but their peacetime vigil about battles, men and women of their time continues. We are the dead…short days ago…I turn the bronze latch to find the Register and now within my hands each page I read…Acton, Ambler…Bakehouse, Belsham…Collins…Currin….and elsewhere Khan…Shui…Singh…Wolff…

The registers provide details as to the cemetery layout, some history, a record of design and details of those whose torch is beyond the flame but instead perpetually releases the dove in flight…in search of peace…we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow. Additional, to the registers are visitor’s books where friends and family can record their visits, their thoughts, and sometimes sketches. So often in walking these my own footsteps I learn I have traced the walking steps of others. Those who long visited long before (or just before)…perhaps we share the same thoughts here with those who loved and were loved.

Category: Remember Them Well | No Comments »
Tags: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Hedge Row Trench Cemetery, Imperial War Graves Commission, Menin Gate War Memorial, Registers, Visitor's Books, War Graves

Posted By pferguson on September 24, 2021

Gurkha VC Statue in Aldershot

Learning of a new soldier Victoria Cross statue, to be unveiled on Saturday 25 September 2021, has brought back memories of my work with the Piper James Cleland Richardson VC Statue  Committee in Chilliwack, B.C. Knowing the many hours it has taken working with a team dedicated to seeing the results, fundraising, choosing and working with an artist, research, discussions, announcements, creating and critiquing the maquette, working with the foundry, working with landscaping, creating a care and maintenance program, multi-media…I send my best wishes and congratulations to the Greater Rushmoor Nepali community in Aldershot whose statue has arrived! Well done everyone…I will follow along in due course for a visit…do enjoy the day.

The work depicts Gurkha Kulbir Thapa Magar who became the first Nepalese Gurkha recipient of a bronze cross for valour…the Victoria Cross. The statue depicts Magar carrying a British soldier of the Leicestershire Regiment to safety. Kulbir Thapa Magar served with the 2nd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles when on 25/26 September 1915 at Fauquissart, France (Battle of Loos) he performed the deeds that led to the award of the Victoria Cross announced in the London Gazette 18 November 1915.

For most conspicuous bravery during operations against the German trenches of Mauquissart (sic).

When himself wounded on the 25th September, 1915, he found a badly wounded soldier of the 2nd Leicestershire Regiment behind the first line German trench, and though urged by the British soldier to save himself, he remained with him all day and night. In the early morning of the 26^th September, in misty weather, he brought him out through the German wire, and leaving him in a place of comparative safety, returned and brought in two wounded Gurkhas one after the other. He then went back in broad daylight for the British soldier and brought him in also, carrying him most of the way and being at most points under the enemy’s fire.

The award was one of several Victoria Crosses announced in the London Gazette including Piper Daniel Laidlaw 7th King’s Own Scottish Borderers. Kulbir Thapa Magar’s Victoria Cross is exhibited at the Gurkha Museum, Winchester, Hampshire, England. The statue has been placed at Princes Garden, Aldershot near to the statue of an Airborne soldier. Both statues were sculpted by Amy Goodman.

Kulbir survived the Great War following service on the Western Front and Egypt. A film based on Kulbir Gurkha: Beneath the Bravery was released in 2020. Twenty-six soldiers of the Gurkha Regiments have been awarded the Victoria Cross of which 13 were awarded to Nepalese Gurkhas and 13 to British Army officers serving with them.

Category: Art | No Comments »
Tags: 2nd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles, Battle of Loos, Film, Gurkha Regiment, Kulbir Thapa Magar, Piper Daniel Laidlaw VC, Piper James Cleland Richardson VC, Statue, Victoria Cross

Posted By pferguson on August 29, 2021

Letting Go

C-216…sir…

This is Abilene…right here under your feet…but now its Avalon. Now, how can that be possible to have those two things in the same place?
(Kepper. The Last Full Measure, 1:15:37 – 1:15:58).

It was a recent re-watch of The Last Full Measure, a film in search of the Medal of Honor for William H. Pitsenbarger…a United States Air Force Pararescueman killed 11 April 1966, Xa Cam My, South Vietnam that leads me on this day’s thoughts. It is one of many films about this war…Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter…Platoon…Full Metal Jacket…but it is in its measure, its metamorphosis that we might find hope amidst the colour of gentle things.

Though there are the usual inclusions found in films inspired by a true story sometimes….sometimes these conduits help in reaching to the hopeful hearts of ourselves. To this I speak of Kepper’s (John Savage) butterflies, Burr’s (Peter Fonda) war related effects…the terror of the night…you take care now cuz its a jungle out there, Takoda’s (Samuel L. Jackson) progress…vulnerability and communication, honesty builds trust…It’s the only real courage we’ve got left in this world. Mott’s (Ed Harris) Pit’s letter to Rachel…I’m sorry it took so long…and Peters’ (Linus Roache’s) understanding of the reach of inspiration.

Many years ago now, before these words appeared, I wrote of butterflies gentle things, these powder wings…their flight of colour delicate within the competing fractures of nature. Lepidoptera…complete transformation…symbols of rebirth…Abilene and Avalon…land of meadows…the isle of fruit. Within the deep green of the jungle where all are trying to bend within the sound of gun fire, ricochet and rotor blades…green, yellow, red and violet smoke…one tin foot walks along the conflict trail…no nfg…no nfg and some have not slept in 32 years.

But unlike the colour of smoke…Kepper’s butterflies rise in monastic freedom. Delicate and founding here on this spot….this one spot that saw the bend of our kind. Though we cannot understand everyone’s hurt…everyone’s Abeline…we can try to find the gentle places of our Avalons…In finding the two together perhaps we might know then how hurt and hope can be so closely linked…the terror of the night…the gentle grace of powder wings.

C – 216 + 32 Years

I’d like to recognize some guys who are going to hate me for doing it. Now we have with us today some of the veterans of Operation Abilene. Charlie Company, Second of the 16th Infantry. Now these men were the witnesses to Bill Pitsenbarger’s heroism and they’ve worked and worked for 32 years to see this day come. Would you honor us, please, by standing and being recognized?

And will the Airmen of Pits’s unit, The Aerospace rescue and recovery service, also please stand. And any other PJ’s [Pararescue Jumpers] from Vietnam, would you rise? If there are any other US veterans here today, will you please stand? If there are wives or parents here, would you stand?

And any children or grand-children, would you join us? And other friends or family anyone who has been touched or moved in any way by the actions of this Medal of Honor recipient would you also stand? Look around. This is the power of what one person can do. (Peters, 1:44:54 – 1:47:02)

Just stay here for a while…and breathe…
(Kepper 1:16:02 – 1:16:04)
The Last Full Measure
Directed and Written by Todd Robinson

Category: Inspired By a True Story | No Comments »
Tags: Butterflies, Film History, Medal of Honor, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Powder Wing, The Last Full Measure, Todd Robinson, Vietnam, William H. Pitsenbarger