BL15: Date of Burials- 11.30.am 22 October 2014

[MelPack]

The date for the burials of the 15 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion Yorks & Lancs has now been set for 22nd October next.

I anticipate that this is a date that many Board members will book in their diary.

Mel

[Seadog]

Thanks Mel, I take it that the MOD have officially informed the possble relatives of the fallen plus I assume the the place of burial remains as per the information from the CWGC, Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois-Grenier.?

Norman

[MelPack]

Norman

Absolute priority is rightly accorded to informing the relatives first.

It is definitely Y Farm Cemetery on Wednesday, 22 October 2014 at 10.00 am. now amended 11.30 am

There is also a meeting for relatives in Sheffield on 20 March next to bring them completely up to date with the project.

Mel

Edited to amend the time

[Seadog]

Thanks Mel

Regards

Norman

[birnieaskew]

I have received confirmation that one of the 15 sets of remains is that of my great grandfather

Pte William Butterworth

A miracle !

[Seadog]

Great news and a tribute to all those whose research and efforts have resulted in such an outcome. Remarkable that 100 years after they fell the majority of the soldiers will have the dignity of a named headstone. On a much smaller scale of course but a success equal to the similar situation at Pheasant Wood where DNA profiling was used to such great effect. Is your relative one of the 10 already identified or is he an addition to this?

Regards

Norman

[Seadog]

Perhaps if I address the same question in my above post to Melpack perhaps he will know the answer, are there now 11 identified and can you post the names of those that are please?.

Norman

[Seadog]

Here are the names of the 10 identified soldiers, in the lack of any confirmation I will assume that Private Butterworth can now be added to the list

• Pte Herbert Ernest Allcock, born in Leeds, with family now living in Lancashire

• Pte John Brameld, born in Sheffield with family living in Yorkshire

• Cpl Francis Carr Dyson, born in Wakefield with family now living in Derbyshire

• Pte Walter Ellis, born in Doncaster with family living in Yorkshire

• Pte John Willie Jarvis, born in Rotherham with family living in Yorkshire

• Pte Leonard Arthur Morley, born in Boxhill, Surrey with family now living in Canada

• Pte Ernest Oxer, born in Rotherham with family living in Yorkshire

• Pte John Richmond, born in Nottingham with family living in Nottinghamshire

• Pte William Alfred Singyard, born in Newcastle upon Tyne with family now living in Lincolnshire

• L/Cpl William Henry Warr, born in Dorset with family now living in Somerset

[MelPack]

I have just received the CWGC's October Newsletter and the commencement of the ceremony has now been set for 11.30 am which will make it considerably easier for anyone envisaging attending on a day trip.

15 British First World War casualties are to be reburied at CWGC Y Farm Cemetery at a ceremony in France on 22 October, one hundred years after they were killed during an offensive close to the border with Belgium. The soldiers were serving in the 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, when they were caught in German machine gun fire during an offensive down the Lys Valley. 835 men who died in the First World War are currently buried or commemorated at the cemetery, named after nearby Wye Farm in the village of Bois Grenier. The 15 men have, up until now, been commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial near Ieper, Belgium, pictured above. Now, with the use of DNA, eleven of the men have been identified by the UK Ministry of Defence. The ceremony begins at 11.30am and is open to the public.

[Seadog]

Thanks Mel, I presume that the CWGC will now also publish this on their web site so that everybody is aware of the ceremony, as at today 1300 hrs 1st October 2014 there is no mention of this..

Norman

Added This from the CWGC newsletter see if you can spot any errors!

Welcome To Our October 2014 Newsletter

This month, we look ahead to what is expected to be a moving public reburial service in France. 15 British soldiers have finally been found and identified, 100 years after they died in the north of the country just one month before the end of the First World War

[MelPack]

Norman

I hope so too because not everyone who is interested would necessarily have signed up for the monthly newsletter.

Mel

[Seadog]

I take that nobody has spotted the howlers in the CWGC statement (P10) and by the way still no announcement on their web site

Norman

[towisuk]

B****r! My ferry from Hull doesn't dock until 8:45 on the 22nd.... I guess I won't make the burial service, but should be able to have time to pop down from Ballieul to take photographs later... (we return to Zeebrugge for the same ferry later that day)

Tom

[Marilyne]

Thanks for the info here... I was starting to worry about the timings!!

MM.

[MelPack]

Hello Marilyne

This also sounds like an interesting project organised by the local people to mark the centenary on Saturday, 18 October next:

Chain of Remembrance and Peace Weppes

is a major event of the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War.It is organized by the Tourist Office of Weppes on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014. The event aims to create a Human Chain consisting of 2,014 participants to pay tribute to the fallen of the Great War, and send a message of peace to future generations . This human channel will run for about about 10 kms, drawn on the basis of the Battle of Ligny le Grand, which took place October 18, 1914 and is considered the starting point of the German occupation of the area during the 4 years conflict that followed. It will connect the German military cemetery at Beaucamps Ligny andthe new cemetery at Fromelles Pheasant Wood and crosses the Aubers Ridge, the scene of deadly battles in an area still dotted with bunkers and pillboxes of the German fortification line.

The running of the event

Participants are expected from 14h to sit on one of the areas of the course (choice made when registering). They will be given a flag that will give life to the the chain and its message on aerial photographs. Around 15 pm, when all participants will be in place, aerial photos will be taken throughout the chain, showing the front line. Participants will be invited to return to the reception points where different activities will be proposed.

Ps I have modified the title of the thread to make the new time of 11.30 am more prominent

[Marilyne]

Mel,

this sounds interesting... I'm already on the "Gone West" Light Chain the day before, organised by Belgium. It starts at 18:00 and will be on TV.

But thanks for the invite !!

MM.

[glosterman]

Thanks Mel, I presume that the CWGC will now also publish this on their web site so that everybody is aware of the ceremony, as at today 1300 hrs 1st October 2014 there is no mention of this..

Norman

I note details are now on CWGC website

http://www.cwgc.org/news-events/news/2014/10/y-farm-reburial.aspx

Kevin

[Seadog]

I note details are now on CWGC website

http://www.cwgc.org/news-events/news/2014/10/y-farm-reburial.aspx

Kevin

And about time as well!, what is it with the very brief notice as it is normal for the order of service to be detailed particularly bearing in mind the number of burials and the anticipated number of relatives attending never mind the public. This whole sorry saga will finally come to an end but there are so many lessons that the authorities can and should learn but sadly given the evidence of the last few years I very much doubt that they will. Anyone spotted the howlers in the CWGC newsletter yet? and just who is writing the items, look at the photo and then read the text in the announcement .

Norman

[towisuk]

I see it's an 11:30 am start now...... I might just manage that......right!... time to re-think the days programme.....

regards

Tom

[Seadog]

Location of Y Farm CWGC

Fleurbaix to the left on the D222 and Bois Grenier to the right

Image Link

https://www.flickr.com/photos/glosters/15375767397/

Mind you I am not a bit surprised at the paucity of information coming from the MOD and uploaded by the CWGC. For instance, a landmark occasion with 15 individual burials, perhaps 100 relatives of those identified plus of course members of the “public” and no order of service published or any advice to those attending with regard to parking at or near the location. Sadly this is completely indicative of the attitude of the MOD to such occasions and is not acceptable.

Norman

[Marilyne]

Thanks, Norman !!

See you there??

M.

[Seadog]

In spirit Marilyne and whilst thinking about the at least 30 individual sets of human remains still stored by the CWGC on behalf of the MOD which are awaiting their turn for a decent and respectful burial.

Norman

PS The figure of 30 was the last known number, there could have course been more found since then.

[towisuk]

Just bumping this up from another post in the topic....

Anyone know what parking arrangements have been made for the re-burial, the area around the cemetery appears to be limited for car parking when viewed on Google Earth, assuming there will be a lot of people attending the ceremony, has some form of "park and ride" been initiated ???

regards

Tom

[Seadog]

Tom I guess the answer to your question is no. The MOD have had ages to make arrangements but what they have passed to the CWGC for publication is of little substance so I reckon getting there very early will solve your parking problem for unless there is something that we are not aware of then given the location of the cemetery things could get very crowded indeed. Shame when you think that Bois Grenier is less that 2 K from this place so a bus shuttle would have seemed to be the answer. Still it will be interesting to see what happens on the day.

Norman

[Marilyne]

the website of the CWGC only states: The general public are most welcome to attend however, there is a limited amount of parking available close to the site

does not really help, does it??

M;