Centenary of the Execution of the Iron 12: 25 February 2015

[Hedley Malloch]

On February 25 we shall commemorate the centenary of the execution of the Iron 12. These were eleven British soldiers trapped behind the lines during the retreat to the Marne hidden by the villagers of Iron (Aisne), and one of their principal French protectors. They were caught and executed by the Germans in Guise Chateau. For further details of this story see elsewhere in this Forum.

There will be three short commemorative events at each of the places associated with the tragedy: Iron, Guise Chateau and Guise Communal Cemetery. The timetable for the day is shown below:

11h00: Iron 12 Memorial and Monument aux Morts, Iron

14h00: Execution Site, Guise Chateau, Guise.

15h30: Collective grave of the British soldiers and that of M. Chalandre at St.Médard Cemetery, Guise (Guise Communal Cemetery).

If you are in the area and would like to join us for any of the above commemorations, then you are cordially invited to do so. If you do intend to come, then please drop me a PM here as I need to keep an eye on the numbers.

Hedley Malloch,

Chair, The Iron Memorial Committee

[SteveMarsdin]

Thank you for all the work you do Hedley in helping to keep their memory alive. Although I won't be able to attend it would be appreciated if you could post some photographs ? Is it going to be on French Regional TV ?

[Hedley Malloch]

Steve,

I would doubt it. The French local press show an interest, but that's about it. On the other hand the Irish Times are sending a team to cover it and there will be a piece in the 24 February edition, plus some footage in that journal's WW1 webpage.

Elsewhere there may be some space in the February edition of the CWGC monthly newsletter.

Keep you posted.

Hedley

[Hedley Malloch]

There is good coverage of this in the 'Irish Times'. Go to:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/the-story-of-the-irishmen-executed-by-the-germans-is-a-compelling-drama-1.2113984

[SteveMarsdin]

Great article, Hedley, I hope the ceremony goes well.

[Ronan McGreevy]

We're delighted in The Irish Times to help make this tragic incident better known. The story of the Iron 12 was an Irishman's Diary in the paper today - one of the most prestigious slots in the newspaper. In addition, we had Hedley's article, a piece by Judge Michael Riordan about Private John Nash and my own summary of the background. Nobody outside these forums and the respective regimental associations know about this story. Hopefully, today will start putting that right.

[Hedley Malloch]

There's some video footage, a still and a report in French of the ceremony at Iron on 25 February on:

http://www.aisnenouvelle.fr/region/pour-les-anglais-iron-est-le-village-le-plus-brave-de-ia16b109n183485

Many thanks to L'Aisne Nouvelle

When I have collected in the photos I'll make a selection and open a Dropbox account with a link here.

[Ghazala]

The latest CWGC Newsletter shows the following..

http://www.cwgc.org/media/394244/newsletter_battle_of_the_month_compressed2.pdf

[Ronan McGreevy]

I made a video of the Iron 12 story and the commemoration involved. http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/executed-by-the-germans-the-story-of-the-iron-12-1.2145403