Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

On this day 1916...A letter home...


LEUZEWOOD

Recommended Posts

Great that you have finally got a photo Tom.

 

Neil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Thanks to Pete for pointing me to this thread… I will deliver the requested pictures!!

 

M.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are welcome Marilyne. the thread is not quite as extensive as Egbert's epic on his grandfather's trunk, but I think it is a great story, really well told, and hopefully people who haven't read it might now see it. I pass not too far from Lucy's grave occasionally and I must make a detour one day to visit. It will be interesting looking back across the bay to see if I really can see where I live from it.

 

Pete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just read the whole thread through calmly and then hit google…

I have no other words than what has already been said her… amazing story. I will definitely visit Thomas Godfreys grave in 2 weeks time!

Looking a bit further, there is reference of another letter at the AWM but the link did not seem to wrok, so I did not find the original.

I did however find a quote of the letter in a book by Bruce SCATES: "Return to Gallipoli: Walking the Battlefields of the Great War" (CUP, 2006) A few pages are available on google books and that was my chance.

It's the story of Mrs Emily Clarke's request about the death of her son. She had heard initially that he died in Amiens. The Red Cross forwarded the requests to Camiers and Lucy answered the following:

"Poor Boy. He was very badly hurt, but I don't think he would have suffered… the doctor worked hard to save him and did everything possible to try and pull him through. It must be such a blow to his people. He was such a big, fine fellow. I was with him when he died and his end was very quiet and peaceful. He is buried in the graveyard in Etaples. […] perhaps the family would like to know what the place is like. It is situated amongst sand dunes, ans pine woods and near to the sea. Each grave is marked with a simple wooden cross bearing the name and number on a little metal plate. The graves are beautifully kept by the French women and the whole place is like a Sunny garden."

 

There is only one australian named Clarke in Etaples, and that is Sapper Oscar Ernest Clarke, Australian engineers, died 11 August 1916 and buried IX.D.14A

 

M.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 23/06/2020 at 19:33, Fattyowls said:

You are welcome Marilyne. the thread is not quite as extensive as Egbert's epic on his grandfather's trunk, but I think it is a great story, really well told, and hopefully people who haven't read it might now see it. I pass not too far from Lucy's grave occasionally and I must make a detour one day to visit. It will be interesting looking back across the bay to see if I really can see where I live from it.

 

Pete.

 

Pete,

 

Thanks for bringing this back up again. It's nice to think that it may still be of interest. I had been meaning to post some pictures on your thread 'looking back the other way', I have countless taken from the corner of Leuze Wood where Thomas would have jumped off and received his wounding during the battle of Ginchy, but also some lurking on a hard drive somewhere looking back roughly from the pov of the quadrilateral.

 

As a footnote to this thread, a year or so ago I noticed a BWM on eBay to a George Deakin. Turned out to be Lucy's brother and the father of her niece who sent me the pictures of her. I got in touch and she successfully bid on them, so it's nice that it is back with the family.

 

Cheers

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Marilyne said:

I have no other words than what has already been said her… amazing story. I will definitely visit Thomas Godfreys grave in 2 weeks time!

Looking a bit further, there is reference of another letter at the AWM but the link did not seem to wrok, so I did not find the original.

 

 

Marilyne,

 

Very touching to think you will pay a visit to my Great Grandfather as a result of his little story. Sadly we had a trip planned this September, but of course that will not be possible now, so hopefully we can go back again next year, although it will then have been over four years since our last visit for the centenary of his death in 2016.

 

I think I have the letter you refer to, I will find it and post it here.

 

Best regards

 

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My pleasure Tom; knowing Marilyne's interests I thought it was very appropriate. I have some photos of Etaples taken by Michelle, who's made a superb contribution to the photo thread by the way, and the sheer size of the place is evident. It appears as my desktop background periodically and I often think of Lucy's words. It has also reminded me of the photo of your grandfather, his dad and your great uncles in post 48; I just love that one. it's got such an unposed quality which is rare in Edwardian family photos. Hopefully give the positivity that surrounded it when you first posted the story new members of the forum will get to read it.

 

Please feel free to contribute to the photo thread; that corner of the Somme battlefield could do with some coverage. Given the number of photos posted I probably need to start keeping stats of which battlefields are represented; I suspect the Somme outweighs all the others put together, and I am sure there are more to come. Hope all is well with you.

 

Pete.

Edited by Fattyowls
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Fattyowls said:

I have some photos of Etaples taken by Michelle, who's made a superb contribution to the photo thread by the way, and the sheer size of the place is evident. It appears as my desktop background periodically and I often think of Lucy's words.

 

Thank you Pete.

 

I have many early photos of Etaples whilst the crosses were still in place, I am sure most forum members are familiar with them, but it could be the theme for another thread. 

 

Just for the record I also want to recognise your excellent contributions to the forum. I very rarely post these days, but look in every day, and I find your posts both entertaining and very positive and uplifting in their tone. 

 

Regards

 

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I appreciate that Tom, thank you. I try for a bit of levity where appropriate, if I could develop brevity to go with it I would be, as they used to say in these parts, "cooking on gas" (why they said that I haven't a clue).

 

Pete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, LEUZEWOOD said:

but it could be the theme for another thread

 

I for one would be very interested. I think I have a few of a nurse's funeral which gives a sense of the closeness of the sea. From what I can gather from recent photos the trees create an amphitheatre effect.

 

Pete.

Edited by Fattyowls
Klingon grammar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Tom, 

 

Here is the pic I took today. 

I took the liberty before coming down of printing the picture you posted some time ago and took it with me in a plastic sheet to lay at his grave. 

 

D94A0985s.jpg.2423fc78be6a5d93d47815c60b0fa9dc.jpg

 

I can send you the picture in big resolution if you PM me an email address.

 

Marilyne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two great photos Marilyne. I've always liked the family one and to see them at Thomas' last resting place is really special.

 

Pete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 09/07/2020 at 20:32, Marilyne said:

Tom, 

 

Here is the pic I took today. 

I took the liberty before coming down of printing the picture you posted some time ago and took it with me in a plastic sheet to lay at his grave. 

I can send you the picture in big resolution if you PM me an email address.

 

Marilyne

 

Marilyne, 

 

Sorry that I hadn't replied to your post sooner. I only noticed it yesterday but work got in the way of a full and proper reply.

 

Thank you for visiting Thomas.

 

I think I can confidently say that you are the only person outside of our family who has purposefully visited him, and I'm certain also that no one in our family did so after his death, until we first saw him in 1982. So it means a lot to think that he is still in people's thoughts. 

 

Seeing your post evoked a similar emotion in me to that summer's day in 1982. It stopped me in my tracks - to see my name somewhere I didn't expect. Although I was very young, I still remember the day very well, we were two families on holiday driving in two cars, all the way to the South of France! 

 

We always knew that Thomas had died on the Somme, but had no idea of where he was buried, so my mum wrote to the CWGC (I have attached their letter) and the plan was to stop off on the drive down through France. As a young lad I had no real interest in family history back then, and was more excited to get to the beach. But I remember as we arrived at Etaples, suddenly being overtaken by the urge to find Thomas's grave before anyone else. I jumped out of the car, grabbed the letter from my mum, and walked hurriedly through the entrance towards the bright white cross of sacrifice set against the clear blue sky. 

 

Anyone who has visited Etaples for the first time will know that nothing prepares you for what unfolds as you move past the cross. It took my breath away, and it still does, every time. I remember being taken by the shiny white headstones gleaming in the summer sun. I ran down to roughly where I thought Thomas was (I must have had a plan but don't remember for sure) and walked quickly along a row of graves with no real idea where I was looking, and somehow seemed to just stumble across him by chance! And there it was, my name, in the corner of a foreign field amongst thousands, which blew me away, and still does, much like seeing your post. 

 

It had a profound effect on all of us that day, Thomas has become something of a 'celebrity' in our family and we have been back many times since. It's nice that you placed that photo by his grave. The boy on the right is my grandfather (also Thomas) who died in 1976. I do remember him quite well, and often think that if he had lived longer how much I would have loved to have taken him to see his father. (I have a photo of my grandfather with Thomas in uniform that I will post, and it's incredibly sad to think that may have been one of the last times they saw each other).

 

Anyway, apologies for the very long winded and self indulgent post, but you made such an effort to see him, I thought you (and everyone who has taken part in this thread) should know how much it means.

 

Best wishes

Tom785457349_820609CWGC.jpg.7420ec6eb3cab887236183c5762c0066.jpg

Edited by LEUZEWOOD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, LEUZEWOOD said:

Thomas has become something of a 'celebrity' in our family

 

And for some non-family members too Tom. As for long winded and self-indulgent, not a bit of it. I'd be apologising for most of my posts, if I were a better or nicer person of course. In particular it is fascinating to see the pre-electrical interweb method of finding a grave; I just take the website for granted these days.

 

Pete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, Fattyowls said:

 

And for some non-family members too Tom. As for long winded and self-indulgent, not a bit of it. I'd be apologising for most of my posts, if I were a better or nicer person of course. In particular it is fascinating to see the pre-electrical interweb method of finding a grave; I just take the website for granted these days.

 

Pete.

 

Thanks Pete. 

 

In complete contrast to my slightly 'touchy feely' sentiments, my mum's deadpan response to all this was 'more famous dead than alive'. 

 

Just as an aside, I wrote to the CWGC a few years back to ask whether they had any plans to replace the headstone, as it was in poor shape. Of course they couldn't comment on individual cases, but when we visited in 2016 it had been 'renovated', which I suppose is the best way to describe it, and re engraved. I hate to be critical in any way, but the jury's out for me on the inscription.

 

This is a pic from 2013.

799909092_TWGHeadstone2013.jpg.6dff437d8cbd886e6af82a39a8329a34.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...