Remembrance Day 2018 - Lest We Forget

[mtv]

[Reschs]

I will be at the local Service.

[lsemmens]

Thanks MTV
Just as a bit of history that theme is from a poem written in 1914

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children
England mourns for her dead across the sea,
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow,
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again,
They sit no more at familiar tables of home,
They have no lot in our labour of the daytime,
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires and hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the night.

As the stars shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

- Written by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

[hazman]

[hinekadon]

gone but not forgotten thank you

[admin]

At the moment I and another relative have joined forces and my great great uncle is now getting a headstone on his grave. It has been approved by the War Graves Department. He is buried in Footscray, Victoria and has no headstone. I dont know a lot about him personally, his brother, my great grandfather was murdered and the family imploded from there.


I'll be a bit lazy here and cut and paste from my family tree :



Gordon Lindsay Thompson enlisted on 19 October 1916 aged 15 years and 8 months, number 3242 8th Reinforcements 60th Battalion. Gordon's father died when he was 8 years old, he enlisted after his mother Frances Mary Thompson (nee Wright) signed stating he was 3 years older then he was, but she later changed her mind and Gordon was removed from battle after she wrote a letter addressed directly to General Birdwood, Commander in Chief on 29 September 1917.


" Dear Sir,


I hope you will forgive me the liberty I am making you in writing these few lines from all the way from Australia, but I want you to keep my son who is 16 1/2 years out of the firing line. His rank and number I will give you below. He was born on Feb 26 1901 and I think he is far to young to be in the trenches if it is not too late. I am very much worried over him. He is a fine stamp and would pass easily for 18 or 19 years. I know you are a friend as well as a superior officer to our brave boys. Put him on other duties to our country which we all love till he is a few years older."


Thanking you and wishing you success
I remain,
Yours faithfully
Frances M Thompson


It took the army quite a while to find Gordon with the initial search for him being wrongly sent to the 5th Division HQ instead of the 3rd Division, and it was nearly at the start of 1918 by the time Gordon was taken out of the 37th battalion, to whom he had been sent as a reinforcement. While his status was being being decided, Gordon was taken on strength with the Australian 2nd General Hospital in France and served for about 3 months in which he would have been very busy as an orderly due to the thousands of battle casualties.


Gordon Lindsay Thompson returned to Australia on the 12th of May 1918 aged 17 and 3 months. Sadly, Gordon has no headstone or any other marker on his grave which is disappointing given his service for his country.

[hoe]

11am service at Boulder.....

Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk

[lsemmens]

Good work admin. Our extended family have spent a lot of effort to restore the graves of our ancestors, We are currently looking at a site in WA where one of our younger forebears is buried with little to indicate his repose. It's often a thankless task but it is significant for future generations to know our history.