NLS Staff member's visit to The Ypres Salient and The Somme
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On Monday 3rd April I had the honour of laying a wreath on behalf of NLS dedicated to the eighty-three boys who gave their lives in two World Wars so that we may live ours. Below is a wonderful account and pictures from Mrs Walsh of her trip to share.
The Menin Gate
The Memorial in Ypres, dedicated to the memory of 54,332 men who gave their lives on the Ypres Salient before August 17th 1917. The memorial was completed in 1927 and every night at 8pm The Last Post is sounded by the men of the Local Volunteer Fire Brigade.
On Monday 3rd April I had the honour of laying a wreath on behalf of NLS dedicated to the eighty-three boys who gave their lives in two World Wars so that we may live ours.
Two of the boys from NLS are commemorated on the Menin Gate.
Private Gordon Joseph Jacka (d. 10th August 1917) Second Lieutenant Charles John Land (d. 31st July 1917)
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium
Lance Corporal William Young Gardner (d. 10th September 1917) & Second Lieutenant Percival Thistlewood (d. 25th August 1917) (Percival’s brother, Frank, is commemorated at Thiepval.)
Tyne Cot
The largest cemetery for Commonwealth Forces in the world, with 11,954 graves, of which 8369 are unknown. The memorial panels display the names of 34991 soldiers who gave their lives from August 16th 1917.
One of the boys from NLS is commemorated at Tyne Cot.
Private Frank Grosvenor Rainbow (d. 27th October 1917). (Frank’s brother, Albert, is commemorated at Thiepval.)
Dadizeele New British Cemetery, Belgium
Private Reginald Saville Gamble (d. 15th October 1918)
Essex Farm Cemetery Ypres
Sapper Herbert John Boote (d. 25th July 1916)
This cemetery is also the final resting place of Rifleman Valentine Strudwick. At 15 years of age, he is one of the youngest boys to be buried on the Western Front.
Also of note, Essex Farm Cemetery is within the John McCrae Memorial site. John McCrae wrote the poem In Flander’s Fields.
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery
Second Lieutenant Clarence John Lovell (d. 19th October 1917)
Le Touret Memorial France
Private Ernest Cashmore (d. 16th May 1915)
La Chaudiere Military Cemetery, Vimy, France
Private Arthur Edwin Richard Maycock (d. 22nd April 1917)
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme
72337 soldiers are commemorated on The Thiepval Memorial.
There are nine boys from NLS on its panels.
Private Cyril Blackham (d. 26th July 1916) Lance Corporal Edward Stanley Curwen (d. 1st July 1916)
ieutenant George William Doogan (d. 21st October 1916 Captain Charles William Eltham (d. 3rd November 1916
Private Herbert Lionel Johnson (d. 17th September 1916) Private Robert Joseph Newcombe (d. 23rd July 1916)
Second Lieutenant Albert Edward Rainbow (d. 23rd July 1916) Corporal Frank Thistlewood (d. 3rd September 1916)
Private John Prior (d. 7th October 1916)
Arras Memorial France
Private Albert Edward Farmer (d. 25th June 1917)
(Albert’s brother, Henry, is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, England.) Private Herbert James Gaskin (JH) (d. 27th March 1918)
Tilloy British Cemetery France
Corporal Paul Jackson (d. 11th April 1917)
Whitnash Road cemetery, Leamington
Private H Clulee (d. 13th May 1919) Private Albert Richmond Harrison (d. 20th April 1919)
Air Mechanic Frank Stephen Blunt (d. 1st July 1918) I was unable to locate Frank’s headstone on my visit.
The Boys I was unable to visit
- HH Bailey – Commemorated in Bristol
- Lance Corporal Alfred Cuthbert Bishop – Commemorated in Italy
- AV Church – Commemorated in Egypt
- Private Edward James Colbourne – Buried in Turkey
- Boy First Class Henry Gordon Farmer – Commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial
- Private Edward William Green – Buried Mont Huon Military Cemetery, near Dieppe
- E Hunt – Commemorated in Italy
- Private Frederick Stubbs Jackson – Buried in Bagshot
- Ernest Thomas Jones, Royal Navy – Commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial
- Bernard George Lee – Buried in ROYE New British Cemetery, France
- Arthur Alic Mason, Royal Navy – Commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial
- Major Harold Walter Gooch Meyer-Griffith – Commemorated in Sierra Leone
- Lance Corporal George Ernest Orton – Buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, France
- Second Lieutenant Roland Barret Poole – Commemorated in Greece
- Private E Sanderson – Commemorated on the Doiran Memorial, Greece
- Second Lieutenant Leon Owen Sharp – Commemorated at Moreton-in-Marsh, Royal Leamington Spa and Warwick School
- Private Frederick Norman Tarrant - Buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, France