armourersergeant Posted 20 November , 2007 Share Posted 20 November , 2007 On a recent visit to Ypres I was able to go and visit the grave of Brigadier-General Cecil Godfrey Rawling. A fellow pal who had the good foresight to take her laptop on the trip was able to get some information for me, unfortunately it was not the sort of news I had hoped for, he had two brothers and as far as we could see no living relatives. All avenues of investigation led to all three Rawling brothers leaving no children. Alas it was as I expected. Atleast I was able to get the mothers real name and the names of his two brothers and their chosen professions. On visiting the grave, I had been pre-warned, I found the area in a state of reseeding/turfing and thus had to trudge across fresh earth, not to muddy but perhaps fitting 3rd Ypres which Rawling was killed during. Still undaunted I subjected my fellow travellers to a short 'story' of him, laid a couple of crosses and a small biography of him on a wooden spike at the side of his grave. Next stop was Hooge and as recounted elsewhere on this forum, the mix up with the 'real' crater and the ones I stomped round at the time believing I was standing almost in the spot where he was killed 90 years to the day on 28th October 1917. So where to go know with my research. Well I found out his brother was a Major in the RAMC during the war and that a document exisits at the geographical society about his propsed ascent of Everest in 1915, of which the war put an obvious stop to...... Whilst some of these little knock backs do not seem massive to some, it was giving me a feeling that the door was closing on getting more concrete information on his life. Briefly they were lifted when I recieved an e-mail back from someone who had some small bits of information in regard to Rawling and John Buchans relationship. Then a weekly/daily check of the forum to my website about 21st division and what do I find.... Cecil Rawling was my great uncle and I have recently been doing some research on his life. As I live in Belgium I visited his grave for the first time this last weekend (10/11/07). Imagine my suprise to find items by his grave which indicated that someone from outside my immediate family had been there and left some personal messages including a print-out from this website. I would be very interested to make contact with these persons if at all possible to share information on this fascinating part of my family history. I can be contacted directly at: A warm glow now resides inside and that is not just the after effects of the cocktails I tried to make last night. So the lesson as I constantly find, is never never think the door is shut. Smuggly Arm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 20 November , 2007 Share Posted 20 November , 2007 Well done old boy. I'll raise a virtual Grouse to your success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 20 November , 2007 Share Posted 20 November , 2007 I'm stealing your raffle tickets at the next WFA meeting! Good on yer mate.... Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will O'Brien Posted 21 November , 2007 Share Posted 21 November , 2007 Arm You do yourself an injustice. As one of those travellers I found your talk on Rawling most interesting & your enthusiasm around Hooge knew no bounds (OK it was the wrong crater but so what......we were only a matter of yards away from where he did fall). It was also an insight into how much you really cared about the man when I watched you & Alex trying to find out details about Rawlings & his family that night at Varlet farm..............What comes around goes around & this was your turn. You deserved it..... ..............Oh yes & we were very wrong indeed about his brother then also!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armourersergeant Posted 21 November , 2007 Author Share Posted 21 November , 2007 Broomers, Brandy please, grouse is often how I feel! regards Arm Steve, Keep your hands off my tickets!, mind you its those lot from Raunds whose tickets you need they seem to win every month. Regards Arm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armourersergeant Posted 21 November , 2007 Author Share Posted 21 November , 2007 Will, Thanks for the kind words, I too recall the fast type and search that was done and the alcohol mind (mine) that had to try and keep up. I hope thats blanks and not pillows we are talking. regards Arm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will O'Brien Posted 21 November , 2007 Share Posted 21 November , 2007 I hope thats blanks and not pillows we are talking. regards Arm Correct.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Posted 22 November , 2007 Share Posted 22 November , 2007 Well Done Arm, gives us hope. Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy1918 Posted 12 January , 2008 Share Posted 12 January , 2008 Hope your new lead is still proving fruitful! And I am glad we were wrong about the brothers... I was thinking the other day that out of all the contacts I've found the ones where I had to go to ridiculous lengths to find them have always been the most rewarding... apart from that name and address in the cemetery register at Canada Farm - that was just silly! And thanks in return for the Chateau search that followed up the digging on Rawlings - within a few hundred yards is far more satisying than the Menin Gate... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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