99th Anniversary

Ninety-nine years ago today Australian soldiers were involved in an offensive near Flers and Geuedecourt, France. 

 Thomas (my great-grandfather) and his fellow Australian soldiers of the 1st and 3rd Battalion attacked a 'triangle' just near Geuedecourt, France. Unfortunately a number of them were wounded and/or died during this attack.

This is an attack map for the 'triangle' attack on November 5th 1916

A little further along the front the 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th Battalions were also involved in this offensive. They were attacking a section called 'The Maze' and a larger number of these soldiers were wounded and/or killed then involved in the 'triangle' attack.

This is photograph of the original attack plan for the November 5th offensive.

 

 

Unfortunately for a number of the soldiers killed (especially in the 'triangle' attack) they remained un-buried where they fell until early March 1917. 

ANZAC Day 2013

Hi All,

I have been up to the local ANZAC Day service and then the gathering at the RSL afterwards. This year was the biggest gathering there has been so far in the last few years and surprisingly it was not that cold, I do have to say that since I began going to the local service, each year has seen a little more attend.

Once I returned home I set to my normal routine for ANZAC Day - undertaking research, though this year I am trying to help some other people discover information about their soldiers.

This year I didn't lay a wreath. My memorial was a personal one - I have had two (metal) dog-tags made for myself with my grandfathers and great-grandfathers war information. It is so special on different levels. I look at the tags I wear around my neck and think in some way finally they are together - unfortunately due to the First World War my grandfather grew up never knowing his father (my great-grandfather).

The left tag is for my grandfather, the right tag for my great-grandfather

The top tag is for my grandfather (I used the exact name he fought under), the bottom tag for my great-grandfather.

OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT THE STRANGENESS OF WAR

When looking at my mum and dad's families there is are a couple of unbalanced situations between the two families with regard the wars.

On the one side, my mum's family had a large number of family members participate in various wars, however nearly all of them came home and came home without any issues.

Where on the other side, my dad's family had only a few members (about a handful) participate in World War One and Two with the majority not returning and/or returning with some serious issues (and not just physical ones).

The results of war can be strange.

A NOTE - one of the main reasons my mum's family had some many go off to war is that most of the children born into her family have been males, where with my dad's family most of the children born into to the family have been females. If I had to put a ratio on it, it would be something like for every 1 female in my mum's family born 3 or 4 males are born. Where dad's family is the opposite - 1 male to every 3 or 4 females.

96th Anniversary

Yesterday was a double sad day for my family. A year ago I was in France with my mother to be at Thomas' death site 95 years (to the day) of his death. At the same time of this commemoration my mother's father passed away in Australia.

So this year November 5th was a time to commemorate my great-grandfather (Thomas Rutherford) and my grandfather (Frederick McPaul) deaths.

This photograph was taken by me on November 5th 2011 and it shows the area where Thomas and the others are still buried today.

95th Anniversary

I have just come back from visiting the Somme. On November 5th 2011, I stood amongst the Gueudecourt battlefield and where Thomas and the 1st battalion soldiers were killed 95 years earlier (and some are still buried there today). It was so quiet while I was standing there looking around.

It was good to be able to "play" the battle attacks on the land instead of looking at maps and trying to visualise it. I took photos of the battlefield and will be placing them on the website.

While visiting the Somme, I also went around to every cemetery and/or memorial which had the 73 soldiers and photographed their headstone or name. I will be placing these pictures on the individual soldier pages on my website (hopefully over the next week).

ANZAC Day 2010

I was the guest speaker at my local ANZAC Day Commemoration Ceremony. I have copied my speech below:

Hi I'm Leeta. Some of you know me and some don't. I have become a First World War researcher in particularly looking at the 1st Battalion A.I.F and a battle which took place on November 5th 1916 near Gueudecourt.

What does ANZAC day mean? What does it stand for? For some people, they believe we should not hold such a day as it glorifies war, but having the freedom to express such ideas is part of what it stands for, for me. For the rest of us it is a time to remember those that have come before us and those long lost who sacrificed their safety and their lives for us.

It is time to remember a nation finding its feet, taking its first steps into the world as one country. It is time to remember our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and uncles who we will never get the chance to know as they died fighting in a foreign land or came back with part of themself forever hidden from the outside world and from those who weren’t there.

I have to admit growing up ANZAC Day didn’t mean as much to me as it does today. Being a child who didn’t have any living relatives that had fought I didn’t have a strong emotional attachment to this day. I knew my pop was in World War 2, but didn’t feel anything. This is a problem that as time goes on more and more Australians will face. My emotional attachment to this day has changed because I have had the chance to get to know a man who died 63 years before I was born. My grandfather grew up knowing of this man but not knowing him, as he was only 3 years old when this man went off to war and 4 years old when he died. I am talking of my great-grandfather.

A couple of you know part of the story of my great-grandfather and what I am trying to do for him and other 1st battalion soldiers. He was killed in action near Gueudecourt, on the Somme November 5th 1916. Four months later on March 3rd 1917 he was buried along with other soldiers of the 1st Battalion, A.I.F where they had fallen. Unfortunately due to continued fighting the cross erected in the middle of their graves vanished. In 1919 when the military went to the coordinates of the March 1917 burials they couldn't find most of the graves, so these men were classed as having no known grave and had their names placed on the walls at Villers-Bretonneux and Canberra.

In trying to find and prove where my great-grandfather lies today I discovered the stories of lives whom in Australia would never have crossed and now are forever linked. I unfortunately learned of the horrific ways men from both sides died, as well as some of the bravest things done to help a fellow soldier. I have quite often paused and tried to imagine what it was like for them in the war and in the trenches, and asked what were they thinking when they went over the top.

A poem I have come across in my research comes to mind whenever I do wonder what they were thinking. It is called ‘The Men on your Left and Right’ and I will read it for you now:

The Men on your Left and Right

By Robert De Groff 4/25/08

"It really don't matter what side you're on, Son"

The Sergeant says to me

I listened real close for I was a lad

And not even twenty-three

"You were sent by your Country, or God or King

It's a soldier's lot to die

So I'll tell you what you're fightin for"

And he looks me in the eye

"For freedom", says I.

"That's probably it!"

"Or maybe to save mankind!"

"Or to keep the world all safe and sane

And make sure it don't unwind"

"For your Family and Home and your Flag so dear!"

I knew I had it at last!

I heard the shells scream overhead

And the trench shook from the blast.

The Sergeants eyes they held me still

My own stayed open wide.

With a click, he fixed his bayonet

His head shook side to side.

"No Lad", he said.

"That's just not it.

That's what them civilians think.

A soldier's thoughts are simpler still",

And he gives me a quick sad wink.

"A soldier's got no time to think of such grand things ya see.

No King or Queen in this here trench.

Just the Lads, and you, and me"

"You fight for the men on your left and right.

It's just as simple as that.

Now load yer rifle, tighten your belt

And don't forget your tin hat."

"If you're still alive tomorrow" he says

You'll long remember this day.

You'll remember the men on your left and right

When you hear the pipers play"

"So on your feet Lad,

It's just about time

Wipe that mud off your pistol sight.

We're in for it now, so le’s give 'em Hell

We may see it ourselves tonight!"

He smiled at me then and chuckled no doubt

At my brief patriotic vent

Then the flare gun went off, and I blew my whistle

And over the top we went.

I would now like to take a moment to consider the men honoured on this cenotaph and all the others they stand for. This cenotaph stands for all the wars long gone and unfortunately those yet to come.

The following is a poem I wrote about this cenotaph.

Memorial

By Leeta Rutherford

A memorial stands alone among a dried out lawn and gravel,

Backed by plants and a near by cannon,

Guarded by two empty flag poles.

To the left, to the right and behind life goes on,

A tennis court, growing gardens and buildings,

Everyday living though the noise seems dulled.

You stand in front of this memorial and you can hear,

The wind rustling through leaves, little birds singing a soft song,

And chimes softly being played by the wind.

Flags are flown,

Half mast once yearly,

A ceremony to commemorate as well.

About fifty people,

Sit, reflect, remember and cry inside and out,

In front of this memorial, this stone.

The brave men of the district,

Who fought and lost in both World Wars,

Are immortalised in gold writing, in stone, in the memorial.

Their stone, their memorial is a place for thousands to be remembered,

For one to be remembered, for tears and reflection,

This year while I sit in front of their stone, their memorial,

When I cry for my great-grandfather and for my pop,

I’ll make sure I spare a tear.

I’ll spare a tear for those who fought and died in World War 1 and 2

I’ll also make sure I spare a tear for those who fought and died in other wars.

And I’ll make sure I spare a tear for the families affected.

To end today I just wanted to touch briefly on why ANZAC day is held on April 25th. Not many people realise the full reason for why April 25th was chosen for our day of remembrance. People believe it is because this was the day 95 years ago that the ANZACs first stepped into the First World War at Gallipoli. This is part of the reason, but not the whole reason.

Three years after landing at Gallipoli April 25th 1915, the Australians fighting on the Western Front were involved in a decisive attack which some say turned the war towards its end and towards the British Imperial Forces winning. This attack happened very early in the morning of April 25th 1918 near Villers-Bretonneux. Because of the Australian’s success in this attack at Villers-Bretonneux and their involvement at Gallipoli, April 25th was chosen as the day of our remembrance.

Thank-you so much for listening.

Continued Research

With continued research more information is turning up and yet it isn't. What is turning up is adding to the information of the 1st Battalion soldiers being buried March 1917. Yet the information isn't always specific - some of it is very general.



An example of the information adding to the knowledge of the burial of the 1st Battalion soldiers is to the right. This letter clearly states that William Gibney was buried about 450 yards North North West of Gueudecourt but after searching they couldn't locate his grave.


To me this letter proves that the soldiers were buried before the end of the war near Gueudecourt but for some unknown reason after the war their graves couldn't be found. One such reason could be the cross or crosses marking their graves was destroyed during the war. Also after reading war diaries I discovered that the area around Flers and Gueudecourt was bombed by the German for the following few months after March 1917 (when they were buried).


William Gibney had the same burial location in his military file as Thomas Rutherford. The record below is taken from William Gibney's military file.

Introduction

This photo is of Thomas Rutherford.


My pop never new his father (Thomas Rutherford) and the family never knew what had happened to Thomas. They knew Thomas served in World War One and had his serial number - 5207. A couple of years ago I was asked to see what I could find about Thomas' World War One service (as I am the family historian).


I discovered that Thomas served in the 1st Battalion, A.I.F and was a private. I also discovered that he was killed on the evening/morning of November 5th 1916 along with quite a few other Australian soldiers near Gueudecourt, France.


Thomas died near the trees in the middle of the photo. This photo is taken from the A.I.F Cemetery. Gueudecourt is to the right of this photo.




On November 5th 2006 my father and I stood near Gueudecourt looking at the location where my Great-Grandfather was killed exactly 90 years early (to the date, but not the time). We had gone to France to be the first in our family to remember this man none of us knew. Up to this point I had discovered Thomas' personnel file, Red Cross file (as he was reported missing in the war), embarkation roll and honour roll. I also discussed that he was now just a name on the wall at Villers-Bretonneux, France and at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

This photo shows Thomas' name on the wall in Canberra

While in France seeing the Somme area and seeing the different places involved in the wars. I began wanting to discovered Thomas' final resting place, I began wanting to change him from just a name on the wall. I had a little tiny light of hope in that in his Red Cross file (which only contained 5 pages) included a page stating that Thomas was buried near Gueudecourt and the location of his burial. (You can see this page above)

I decided when I got back from France I would try to confirm this location and hopefully get a memorial of some sort erected for Thomas. My following entries will follow my research and show the information I uncover. To start with I will be placing the research I have already undertaken.


One of the main things I realised when undertaking the search is that Thomas died with quite a few other Australian soliders. Also that I am not just looking for Thomas about 40 to 50 Australian soldiers all together. (I will explain in another blog what I mean by this last sentence)