Another month has gone by and we await the arrival of my third grandchild, currently a week overdue and clearly a football player to be, since he is kicking merry hell out of Tylahs' tummy!
Before I go on, below is a post I put on my Facebook page, its an abbreviated story about my dear pal Jen and a Private Bassett who lost his life at the Battle of the Somme.
Maybe you too will think it touching .. the pins in question can be obtained from the Royal British Legion.
Must tell you folks because I suspect you will all understand : )
My pal Jen bought a poppy broach.
A firm is selling a metal poppy made from WW1 shell cases which they have then painted with red enamel paint which is mixed with a portion of soil actually from the Somme.
You got the broach and it has a commemorative card with it, with the name and number of a soldier that died at the Somme,
You didn't get to choose who it was, it was a name from the very long list of fatalities.
Before I go on, below is a post I put on my Facebook page, its an abbreviated story about my dear pal Jen and a Private Bassett who lost his life at the Battle of the Somme.
Maybe you too will think it touching .. the pins in question can be obtained from the Royal British Legion.
Must tell you folks because I suspect you will all understand : )
My pal Jen bought a poppy broach.
A firm is selling a metal poppy made from WW1 shell cases which they have then painted with red enamel paint which is mixed with a portion of soil actually from the Somme.
You got the broach and it has a commemorative card with it, with the name and number of a soldier that died at the Somme,
You didn't get to choose who it was, it was a name from the very long list of fatalities.
Jen got Private Bassett of the Devonshire Regt. She researched him and found he died aged 32, wasn't married and neither of his surviving sisters married, so there was no surviving family left to think about him.
This year she and hubby Steve went to see the huge crater left after the biggest bomb in WW1 and to be at the Somme on the very day, 100 years ago that it all happened. She was going to take wooden crosses to place somewhere in remembrance of her own ancestors and also one for this Private Bassett.
On the way there the guide on the coach ( a Birmingham firm organised the tours and most of the guides are ex police ) said he would take them, off the cuff, to a trench graveyard, where men had died and were simply buried in the trench they held onto - to the end.
What were the chances - It was the Devonshire Regt !
And the second gravestone in was Private Bassett ...................
Isn't that simply wonderful?
All his details checked out and she was able to actually place her wooden cross on his own grave.
What are the chances of that happening spontaneously like that and how lovely that someone who has no one left to remember him, was personally commemorated by someone all these years later.
http://www.poppyshop.org.uk/somme-1916-poppy-lapel-pin.html?gclid=CjwKEAiAyO_BBRDOgM-K8MGWpmYSJACePQ9C2veZ_FUBAHw7mycoiS5FEUk3SoXo1CZcqoBw2d08AhoC_9Tw_wcB
This year she and hubby Steve went to see the huge crater left after the biggest bomb in WW1 and to be at the Somme on the very day, 100 years ago that it all happened. She was going to take wooden crosses to place somewhere in remembrance of her own ancestors and also one for this Private Bassett.
On the way there the guide on the coach ( a Birmingham firm organised the tours and most of the guides are ex police ) said he would take them, off the cuff, to a trench graveyard, where men had died and were simply buried in the trench they held onto - to the end.
What were the chances - It was the Devonshire Regt !
And the second gravestone in was Private Bassett ...................
Isn't that simply wonderful?
All his details checked out and she was able to actually place her wooden cross on his own grave.
What are the chances of that happening spontaneously like that and how lovely that someone who has no one left to remember him, was personally commemorated by someone all these years later.
What an amazing story! So obviously meant to be that she was in the right place at the right time. (hope the baby soon makes his appearance!).
ReplyDeleteLovely moving story....your friend must've been thrilled to find "her" soldier's gravesite.
ReplyDeleteTime for the little one to make an appearance...perhaps he's here by now.
What a fabulous ending for your friend. I hope your new grandchild arrives soon! How exciting! Christine x
ReplyDeletethis is the most moving story as you say a chance in a million of it happening.
ReplyDeleteMaybe grandchild has arrived by now happy cuddling
What a beautiful and moving story. I have been to the Somme and found it almost unbearable, but it is something to know that these men and their sacrifice are still remembered.
ReplyDelete