World War I dead reburied
By: The Yank | Published Monday, July 19, 2010, 10:00 AM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:45 PM
Today in Fromelles,
France a joint Australian-British ceremony marked the occasion of the last burial of the 250 men from the Australian and British World War I armies whose bodies were recently found in a mass grave near the battle site. This follows last week's ceremony at
Arlington when American soldier and Irishman
Thomas Costello was buried with full military honors following the recent discovery of his body in eastern France.
The Australians who have been buried at Fromelles were killed 94 years ago today, in what was the
worst day in Australian military history. July 19, 1916 was the first day that Australians fought on the western front and by the morning of the 20th nearly 2,000 were dead and another 3,000 were missing. More than 200 of those who were found in the grave were Australian.
The bodies of those who died were behind the German lines when the action ceased and the Germans buried them in a mass grave*, where they remained until the grave was found in 2007. The exhumation, identification and reburial process carried out by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission culminated in today's ceremony.
Many descendants and other family members from
Australia and
Britain traveled to France for today's events and there's great media interest in both countries.
Relevant to this site is the question of whether any of those who fought in the British or Australian forces were Irish? That's unclear, but there are Irish names among the
96 Australians whose bodies have been identified. There were no Irish regiments involved in the action, but it would hardly be a surprise to learn that some of those Australian or British soldiers were Irish immigrants or - even more likely - children of immigrants.
The British and Australian authorities are still trying to identify those soldiers who have not yet been identified and are still seeking DNA samples from people who believe that a family member was killed in the battle.
There are still hundreds presumed buried in other mass graves in the area. I heard one historian say on the news this morning that in the past few weeks another mass grave had been located meaning more bodies will be exhumed and identified, if possible.
Although interest in the Irish involvement in World War I is pretty low, it has been increasing in recent years. Yesterday
Sinn Féin's
Martin McGuinness encouraged Irish nationalists and republicans to remember those who fought in the war. I hope many are encouraged to do so and that we have a better national memory of those Irish who suffered in the trenches.
I'd also like to think that this national remembering will include those who fought in the Austalian or
New Zealand or Canadian or, like Thomas Costello and my grandfather, in the American army. It would be great to think of people here offering up DNA samples to help identify a forgotten family member lost in the trenches nearly a century ago.
{* The bodies weren't just dumped in a big pit by the Germans. Each body was wrapped individually in a blanket. The Germans often buried their own dead this way. There are 25,000 German soldiers buried in a mass grave in Langemark Cemetery near Ieper in Belgium.}
{* The bodies weren't just dumped in a big pit by the Germans. Each body was wrapped individually in a blanket. The Germans often buried their own dead this way. There are 25,000 German soldiers buried in a mass grave in Langemark Cemetery near Ieper in Belgium.}
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.TheYank | Aug 26, 2010, 12:13 PM EDT
jacersisityourself, Just to let you know I saw that letter while I was away. I hope someone comes forward.
jacersisityourself | Aug 03, 2010, 03:29 PM EDT
Say, Yank, you would be excited by a letter in today’s Irish Times asking for members of a family in Dublin by name of Kavanagh to come forward who may be descendants of one Pte. William Kavanagh to come forward and help by DNA tests to identify remains discovered at Fromelles believed to be those of Pte. W. Kavanagh of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. One hopes someone will come forward.
jacersisityourself | Aug 01, 2010, 05:33 AM EDT
As a postscript to mine of Jul 26, I saw a report in yesterday’s Irish Times about Irishmen joining the British Army, heading for Afghanistan. While a majority are from the North, some are from the Republic and members of the Royal Irish Regiment and the Irish Guards. The report says that the recession in Ireland is partly to blame as well as the curb on recruitment by the Irish Army. No mention of these men being mercenaries. It’s a job to them.
jacersisityourself | Jul 26, 2010, 07:37 PM EDT
George, that’s a non-sense post, one of the worst I’ve seen anywhere. Even today, Irish unemployed want to join the armed forces ‘cos it’s a job but Govt cutbacks mean they can’t (except in the Navy - which needs a crew for a new ship - and that’s a strict qualification process). Do you really think these unemployed men and women are mercenaries too? Mercenaries are elitist ex-soldiers, exclusively working for a private army for exclusive employers, exclusively for high sums of money, not for killing. Killing might become part of their job; most of them hope it doesn’t so that they can enjoy their ill-gotten gains. Ordinary soldiers earn a wage, not a fortune. You insult every country’s ordinary soldier with your comments. We don’t revere ordinary soldiers; we respect their efforts and salute their sacrifices. Always. Nobody respects mercenaries as understood in the true sense.
GeorgeDavis | Jul 24, 2010, 05:02 PM EDT
"For many people of that time (there was no North and South Ireland back then), it was a job with a wage, not a war." -o-o-o-o-o-o- Oh, so they were mercenaries? Killers for cash? Disgusting. It shows how much Ireland has deteriorated that men who killed Hungarians, Turks, Germans etc. for money are now being revered. How many people did these creeps kill? 50,000? That's murder, and a stain on Ireland's history. And Ireland' mad (unelected) president McAleese is the biggest cheerleader for these hired killers.
jacersisityourself | Jul 24, 2010, 04:20 PM EDT
Yank, I remember that article of yours of last year. In fact, speaking with the young man at the party I was actually reminded of it! And to GeorgeDavis, may I say that the young WWI soldier was from the Falls Road area and a Catholic. For many people of that time (there was no North and South Ireland back then), it was a job with a wage, not a war. I stand to be corrected but I think some 50,000 Irishmen died in WWI. The real point of all this is the poignancy of it all – young men fighting old men’s wars. Today, we salute the soldiers in Afghanistan. A cousin of mine, a soldier, spent some time there. He saw four of his unit killed in action.
GeorgeDavis | Jul 24, 2010, 03:34 PM EDT
jacersisityourself: That's nonsense. Why would Irish people (unless they're Unionists whose only culture is to be British Cannon fodder) take any pride in an ancestor who went off to kill Germans, Turks, Austrians, Hungarians etc., people with whom he had no quarrel. Those Irishmen were fools and in a real sense war criminals.
TheYank | Jul 23, 2010, 05:01 PM EDT
jacersisityourself, My wife and I had a similar experience, which I wrote about here last year. Unfortunately, that post is missing now. I'll see if I can find it somewhere.
But the story's not much different. My wife was the first member of her family to visit her great-grandfather's grave.
jacersisityourself | Jul 22, 2010, 05:52 PM EDT
Recently I met a young man from Belfast at a birthday party in Dublin. He, like others, were taking photos of course and per chance he showed me photos stored on his camera that showed WWI grave white crosses. It turns out that his Belfast-born great grand-uncle was a 19 yrs old soldier killed in battle in France. He and another member of the family learned of this and took it upon themselves to visit his grave in France (soldiers were buried near where they fell). It dawned on him at the graveside that the two of them were the very first family members to visit the soldier's grave - almost 100 yrs later. So, you see, the respect still reigns, even amongst today's youth and the interest doesn't wane.
Ajreaper | Jul 21, 2010, 07:07 PM EDT
War and the effects of war just ripple across the years and decades- I think it speaks well of a country to take the time and make the financial commitment to identify their dead from battles fought almost a century ago.