~~~~~
Jo’s Monday Walk
Week-24
Heath Cemetery
While I traveled along the Chunnel to Lille two weeks ago
I struck up a conversation with
my wife’s cousin on Facebook.
She sent me names of three of her uncles
who perished during World War 1.
Our first stop was Heath Cemetery.
It is nice to know the French people have donated
land for War Grave Cemeteries.
However it is also sad to think that so much land
has been donated to remember the fallen.
I thought it would take all of us all day
walking around looking at headstones.
However it is far easier to find a grave than I thought and I mention that in a later post.
It took about two minutes to find
Sergeant Major Patterson’s grave.
On each grave is the soldier’s
service number, rank, name, unit,
date of their death and their age.
Sergeant Major at age 23, in this case.
I had to darken the photo to read the text.
The rose to my right makes a good
identifying marker in later shots.
Three rows back and the rose is clearly visible.
Near top right hand corner the rose is still visible
even if Sergeant Major Patterson’s grave
is just out of shot.
The verse at the bottom of each headstone is verse which each family decided to place on their relatives grave.
Looking back to the gate upon which we entered. Three rows back….
As we drove away there was still a feeling of
sadness even though I was not
related to any of them.
Such an utter waste of life.
~~~~~
WoollyMuses 
So sad indeed Woolly. I feel completely melancholic just looking at the photos. I can only begin to imagine how intense the emotions seeing this in real life.
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I never thought it would have much effect upon me, considering both my grandfathers survived the Great War. However, after seeing some of the battlefields, and some of the areas untouched since WW I combined with the thousands of lost lives in cemeteries certainly brought a lump to my throat.
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They made the supreme sacrifice of their lives to protect our future. It would give anyone a lump in the throat.
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So very true
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You know, common folks have been cannon fodder for centuries if not a few millennia. Its such a shame that we never seem to learn from this.
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Agreed
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Desperately sad, Woolly. All those young lives brutally ended.
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Couldn’t have said it better. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking of it. We belong to a generation who had relatives lives shortened or ended due to this Conflict.
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Absolutely…utter, tragic waste
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Could not agree more, Sue. My first and probably only time visiting the Western Front. Intend to bring more over next few weeks, so apologies if you have seen it all before.
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No probs….. Did you go to Sanctuary Wood?
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If the Sanctuary Wood you mention is Hill 62…then no. We visited Hill 60 instead. Should have asked how many numbered hills there were…didn’t think.
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Hill 62, yes. I think I found that site the most sobering of all…helped, I think that we were almost the only people there when we visited around 2 decades ago, off season. If it were crowded, it would have given a different mood….
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I found the whole experience sobering. To see front lines only about 20-30 feet apart at Hill 60…admittedly for only a short distance. But even as they separated they were still within throwing distance of each other. Like you we were lucky that there were very few, if any, other tourists around. Not sure of Hill 62, but Hill 60 has been left as it was at the end of the war.
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The point you made about the distance between the trenches is the thing that struck me most at Hill 62….and this has been left as it was at the end of the war
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I don’t know how men could be so close, stop for Christmas truces etc., and go back to killing each other at the drop of a hat.
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Quite…
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