caulkheader Posted 24 March , 2018 Share Posted 24 March , 2018 Morning Next Saturday [March 31st] is the centenary of the death of Lt/Col the Honourable Ralph Gerard Alexander Hamilton, aka The Master of Belhaven. He is buried [and is the only CWGC burial] in Rouvrel Communal Cemetery just south of Moreuil. We will be paying him a visit on the day as we are in the area, anyone else in the area that day? T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpjpl Posted 24 March , 2018 Share Posted 24 March , 2018 The War Diary of the Master of Belhaven, 1914-1918: http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/bookmark/the-war-diary-of-the-master-of-belhaven-1914-1918-university-of-oxford/ JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Jacket Collector Posted 24 March , 2018 Share Posted 24 March , 2018 The original edition. A superb account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie962 Posted 25 March , 2018 Share Posted 25 March , 2018 (edited) Worth a search on this GWForum with the word Belhaven as there are a number of interesting threads related. An exceptional man and an exceptional book on the Artillery. Charlie Edit. Interesting to see it says RHA on his gravestone as he was often critical of the RHA standards when he came across them! Edited 25 March , 2018 by charlie962 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastSurrey Posted 25 March , 2018 Share Posted 25 March , 2018 His book is also a useful source for 24th Division. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryandunny Posted 25 March , 2018 Share Posted 25 March , 2018 Hoping to visit his grave later in the year.. my great great grandfather, Samuel Wood Bath (referred to as 'Bath' in the diary) was the Master of Belhaven's servant until he was sadly fatally wounded by shrapnel in August 1917 as depicted in the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulkheader Posted 1 April , 2018 Author Share Posted 1 April , 2018 Update for those who may be interested; We visited the grave on March 31st, the centenary of his death, to pay our respects. As we drove into the car park of the communal car park, the only other car there had GB plates, the occupants had arrived about 2 minutes before us, and were the great-great nephew and his 2 sons, the great-great-great nephews of the man himself. To say they were pleased to see that others had remembered their ancestor would be an understatement! We had a good talk, a bit of a remember, and left them in private to carry on with their pilgrimage. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverFox100 Posted 1 April , 2018 Share Posted 1 April , 2018 His diary is one of my favourite books about WW1. What came through was the respect and care he had for his men. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie962 Posted 1 April , 2018 Share Posted 1 April , 2018 1 hour ago, caulkheader said: We visited the grave Well done. Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 22 February , 2020 Share Posted 22 February , 2020 Just finished reading his diary, in between our various visits here in San Antonio and Houston... great book, fantastic read and a very unfortunate ending. I'll forgive him his dislike for Belgians... M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John P. Moore Posted 8 June , 2020 Share Posted 8 June , 2020 I just finished reading this book following the recommendation of someone on this forum. It was highly informative and a pleasure to read. I hope to visit his grave next September if Americans are allowed in France then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter Meere Posted 20 July , 2021 Share Posted 20 July , 2021 Visited his grave together with my wife and parents in law for the first time in 2017 and the second time in 2020. I bought an original copy of his diary from 1924. Marvelous report of a horrible time. Paid the poor man our respect (and had a small drink). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 7 September , 2021 Share Posted 7 September , 2021 Nice touch, to bring the book to the grave!! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter Meere Posted 17 September , 2022 Share Posted 17 September , 2022 (edited) Paid our respect again last week to this special man. Together with my wife and parents in law. Edited 17 September , 2022 by Pieter Meere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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