The Big T’s great uncles:
— Pte Eric Andrew Gray, died in the Somme Valley, France, March 1918
— Lt Harry Marshall Wright, died at Chunuk Bair, Gallipoli, August 1915.
Commemorated alongside other servicemen and women from the Canterbury region at the Field of Remembrance, Cranmer Square, Christchurch.
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.— Laurence Binyon, “For the Fallen”
Zimmerbitch 
So very sad. Wonderfully moving poem.
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It is. The poem is read at our ANZAC services and it’s amazing how many people know the words.
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The Big T lost a lot of family in the first World War, Su.
Leslie
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He did. This morning we visited the war memorial where both uncles are commemorated. It is in a tiny village and a quarter of those lost in WWI are T’s relatives.
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My husband’s father was there but he came home. He had been gassed and wounded so his health was compromised.
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I’ve read a little about chlorine and mustard gas poisoning; they were truly dreadful. Your poor father in law.
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I was lucky enough to get to visit ANZAC Cove back in the early 90s. Wandering around the cemeteries, what struck me most was how young they all were. Some were merely boys. Such a waste.
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Agreed. Our boys’ age. T’s grandfather and my great grandfather both survived and both carried physical and mental scars for nearly six decades each.
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It’s so important that we remember. Thanks for sharing this, Su. My f-i-l landed on Omaha Beach in WWII, survived, was in the Pacific front, survived. Amazing.
janet
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Wow! That was huge. I’ve read about both theatres of war and they were both hell.
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True. We visited Omaha Beach and that area of Normandy some years ago. What an experience, especially knowing my f-i-l was there.
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We’re remembering the men and women who gave up their lives too. We missed the dawn service today, but we’ll see if we can go into town to see the marches. Thank you for sharing.
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We missed the dawn service too; but went instead to the small town that T’s great uncles came from and paid our tribute at the war memorial there.
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Heartbreakingly beautiful photos.
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🙂 it was very special to find their names in the Field of Remembrance. New Zealand had only around a million citizens in 1914, and driving around the country seeing each little settlement’s war memorial — with so many names on each — it is heartbreaking.
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So many were far too young to go to war. But they wanted to serve their King. I recall a WW1 war grave in a cemetery in Doncaster that had three sons names on it, all died between 1914 and 1918. How hard that must have been on the rest of the family.
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It is heartbreaking. I remember reading about a family here in the same situation. Two of the sons died on the same day at Passchendaele.
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😦
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A beautiful memorial post. You’ve also got me thinking about my Grandfather who was part of the Guernsey regiment that went to France for WW1. Sadly, out of a few thousand men, hundreds didn’t make it home. My Grandfather, fortunately, was only injured but had a piece of shrapnel in his lung for the rest of his life. Maybe I’ll write about this part of my family history one day.When I have time! Have a good day, Amanda
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My great grandfather also returned home with an injury, but suffered ill-health from that for the rest of his life, and I imagine your grandfather did. It would be great to write about it when you have time. I think it’s so important to have the “warts and all” accounts of war told so that the terrible sacrifices that both the servicemen and women — and their families — made aren’t forgotten.
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I totally agree. Thanks for the push I needed to get going on it!
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My great uncle was wounded at Chunuk Bair and died a week later on 15 August. I wonder if he and Lieut Wright ever crossed paths. Stories we will never know. Listening to The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace which I think you know.
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I haven’t listened to the whole Mass; but love the Sanctus. You are right that we’ll probably never know for sure if the great uncles met, but War diaries and service records might tell us if they were in the same place at the same time. I found the Canterbury Regiment War Diary in credibly useful when I was researching the other uncle — Eric. 😀
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