1990s Research by Mike McKeon (part12)

1990s Research by Mike McKeon (part12)

I write this on 31st July 2000. Much has changed with me and I find it important to update this record. Eighty three years ago, men like Jack began to fight in the area that was to become one of the most futile and horrific battles of the war. I have not learned any new information about what happened to Jack. I have pondered on the facts, grown a little wiser and taken two more trips to that place of pilgrimage, Ypres. The following may seem disjointed, but I have over three years to catch up on. 11/11/98-(02.30) The Menin Gate was empty apart from the 55,000 names. I wandered for awhile; the peace is hard to describe. Two police officers broke the silence, marching up the steps. We exchanged greetings and stared at the names. One told me that he has heard "The Last Post" being played by the local fire brigade hundreds of times but still to that day he gets goose bumps on his skin. These people are very grateful for what our boys did all those years ago. I walked westwards through the gate but could not look up to see the majestic lion. The way in which he stares out over the salient is too powerful an image for my emotions to handle. The watches and waits for those men who never came back. Later that morning, I took my place in the crowds and waited for the ceromonies to begin. It was a fitting rememberence; not triumphant or sad. I was well composed until they let the poppy petals fall from the roof of the gate to the sound of "The Last Post". I wept. I spent the afternoon in the salient on a bicycle. I travalled westvia Boezinge to Langemark and back to St Julien. I came across a memorial to an Irish poet, Francis Ledwidge,on the spot where he was killed. I wished that I could have marked the spot where Jack was hit. I approached St Julien from the Canadian memorial, past Hillock Farm and followed the footpath on the east bank of the Steenbeek. Using the picture in my mind ( clear from the careful reading of the Buck's Battalion war diary for 16th August 1917), I tried to picture the battle-ground. I now know that it was a lot muddier than I first believed and devoid of landmarks. I started to walk in the direction of Springfield. I had a moment of realisation that it was unlikely that I would ever identify the "spot" and decided to claim a field for Jack. I identified the area that D company got to that morning, looked back towards the Assembly point and marked a spot approximately half way between with my poppy. I doubt that I got it right, but it seemed to give me peace. "Some corner of a foreign field" is what I claimed for Jack. 12/11/1998 I got up early in order to go to Brandhoek. I took the 69B bus to the New Military Cemetary No.3. Jack is resting in Brandhoek. He is not forgotten. This was my fourth visit to see him. I told him about his great great nephew named Jack. I reminded myself that I needed to find the location of the 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station ( I have since located it). Two men died in the Bucks Battalion on 17/8/1917;Jack and a Sgt W.G. Saunders D.C.M. (died of wounds age 24; son of John & Mary of Quainton; husband of Olive Mary Saunders, Lower Street,Quainton, Bucks. Ypres will always be a place of pilgrimage for me. I am always alone with my thoughts. I'm sure that I'll return. Jack probably died because he did not receive medical attention for a long time. I feel sure that he was left in the field all night. The Bucks Battalion war diary for the 16th speaks of a delay in clearing the wounded due to the heavy enemy shelling. Brandhoek was almost 10km away over a quagmire in which men drowned in the mud and it was known to take up to six stretcher bearers to carry a wounded man to a First Aid post. I returned to Ypres to see a new museum in the old Cloth Hall. I am not a great lover of museums but this one is powerful. It began with a haunting Scottish folk song about young men going to fight in Flanders four hundred years ago and ended with a window sill covered with photographs of men in uniform. They were from a local photographer at the time. These photographs were never collected. I was on my way home. I think about him and his comrades’ sacrifice every day. I would not have given my life; I have the benefit of hindsight. That is the only thing that makes us different.

Created by: , Mike11837

  • Profile picture for Henry J Shanks

    Born 1896

    Died 1917

    British Army 2613 Private Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

    British Army 265855 Private Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry