This is the grave of my husband's Great Uncle, who sadly died in action less than 2 months before the war ended. He is buried in the war cemetery at Jeancourt in France & he died in the first battle of the Hindenburg Line, one of Australia's last defensive's of the war.
Part of our tour included visiting requested cemeteries or memorials of any relatives....I was truly grateful that the tour guide allowed us the time to go off course to visit this cemetery. Again, it was quite an emotional experience. I placed an Aussie flag, a poppy cross & a knitted poppy from Australia at his grave & had a few quiet words with William. RIP old digger....you did an exceptional job serving your country & have made the ultimate sacrifice.
I am pretty sure that I am the only family member to have ever visited his grave, which made it even more special. Lest We Forget
Gave me goose pimples reading your commentary. We cannot even imagine what these men went through. At least he has a marked gravestone and how wonderful that you were able to visit and place those items alongside. I especially like the idea of the knitted poppy. Nice capture of this very, very special moment for you and your husband.
@jamibann Thanks so much for your beautiful comment. Yes it is very hard to imagine what they went through, but being there, and having an exceptional knowledgeable historian as our guide, did help us to comprehend what it would have been like, compared to what we knew beforehand (hope that makes sense!). I felt very privileged to be able to visit his grave, and was very thankful that his grave is marked and I was able to know where he was buried. There are way too many unmarked gravestones throughout the many many graveyards, and then there's all the missing who unfortunately do not even have a grave :(
@wanderer_111 Thank you so much. Yes, the cemeteries are all beautifully cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the workers do a wonderful job caring for them.
I agree with @jamibann reading your commentary gives me goosebumps, particularly as we did a similar journey last year during the D Day commorations and took the opportunity to visit the graves or memorials of distant relatives who died during WW1. I was surprised at how emotional and connected I felt at each individual grave. How wonderful for you to have the opportunity to make your own memories.
I am so pleased that you were able to visit William's grave-it has a very beautiful headstone & is very well kept. Thank you for sharing your story - it is one of the wonderful joys of 365.
How special must this have been for you. It brought a tear to my eye too. You did a wonderful job with the memorial poppy and flags. Good man who made such a huge sacrifice for us, you should be very proud to be part of his family!
May 13th, 2016
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
