Thursday 4 August 2011

Eureka!

How forgetful am I?  When it was our son's graduation, I obviously had the 7th 4 x 6 Photo Love page in mind because I had SEVEN portrait photos in the batch that I took - happy days!  
I've also been thinking some more about Rinda's scavenger hunt and remembered I had taken a photo recently of the churchyard where my parents are laid to rest.
Now it isn't an inspiring photo but these three gravestones are totally different to any others in the churchyard.  See how clean and upright they are?  Yet they are dated 1917.  And something else that is unusual is that they are for foreign soldiers.  From the 4th Australian Pioneers.  I did try to research this a little but couldn't find anything that would throw any light on it.  Bearing in mind that in 1917, this village was a tiny out of the way place in the middle of the countryside, more than 30 miles from London and although it was towards the end of World War I, surely not a place that any fighting was going on.  A bit of a mystery.

11 comments:

scrappyjacky said...

I wonder if they were airmen,Deb....I think a lot got shot down in WW1...an interesting mystery....and rather sad that they are buried so far from home.

Heather said...

Its more likely that they had come to England after being injured in the trenches and were possibly treated in a nearby hospital. So sad that they are far from home but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission undertake the care of these graves as they do for all Commonwealth graves all over the world. xx

Sandra said...

It's nice that they are looked after, and it's nice to think this many years later we're thinking of them :)

Amy said...

It makes me very sad to know these boys are a long way from home, and then, on the otherhand, they are well looked after and that makes me happy.
Recently a large unmarked grave was discovered in France, it was filled with Australian war dead and the long job of identifying all the bodies has almost been finished, it has bought a great deal of comfort to the relatives who did not know what had become of their loved ones.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Such beautiful grave stones and a really interesting story. Thanks for sharing it.
Rinda

Beverly said...

ahhh your brain is properly in 4x6 project mode :) It warms my heart that graves such as these around the world are properly cared for...I have a story but wait ..I think I may save it for my first Storytelling adventure with ya'll.

Cheryl said...

it is very sad that they are so long away from home, but nice that they have been carred for and still remembered

Jennifer Grace said...

Very intriguing, it really makes me wonder who they were and how they ended up here. Like others have said, it's nice to know they're well cared for, and that we're thinking of them now, so many years later. x

Ladkyis said...

Those stones are put there by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who try to mark and maintain every fallen commonwealth soldier no matter where in the world they lie. If you put the names from the stones into the CWGC website there will be information about the people. they probably died from disease over here after coming ehre to fight in WW1

Lou said...

i spent time taking photos on holiday in 4x6 mode!lol!

Lovely photo...how disappointing it must be not to be able to trace any information for these graves xx

Ruth said...

Have you tried looking them up on the Commonwealth War Graves website? They usually have extra details listed along with the deceased's info. Also, each of these headstones will have been photographed by a volunteer with the War Graves Photographic Project. The photos are then uploaded to the site and are available for anyone to obtain a copy of. (I'm a volunteer in West London and my sister volunteers in NE Scotland.)