We will remember the Woodside boys
In the lead up to Anzac Day Julie
Reece Tours will be focusing on those boys from Woodside that died in
WW1 and were brothers. In previous blog posts the East and Clasohm brothers’ stories
were shared. The Eglinton family lost three brothers, Clarence Roy, Thomas
William and Laurence. Thomas is buried in Villers Bretonneux at Adelaide
Cemetery, Laurence at Noreuil Australian Cemetery in France and Clarence Roy was
never found and is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres,
Belgium. Each of their wartime stories will be featured in blog posts to follow
over the next few weeks.
When the Connecting Spirits Community Tour resumes travel, hopefully this September, these Woodside bothers will all be remembered at the new ‘Brothers in Arms’ Memorial near Polygon Wood in Belgium. This fabulous memorial will be inaugurated on Sunday September 25, the week prior to our group due to visit the region. This will be a fitting location to commemorate the groups of brothers from my town.
The next blog post will feature the Eglinton brothers who are listed on the Woodside Honour Board and whose story will be shared at the Brothers in Arms memorial in Belgium.
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‘Finding the Zonnebeke five
https://www.brothersinarmsmemorial.info/’
This story is that typical “message in a bottle”
story. Although it is all but typical. Never before did a message contain that
great a story.
During road works to lay a new gas pipeline in the hamlet of Westhoek in 2006,
Tom Heyman, operating the machine, suddenly stopped digging and called Johan
Vandewalle, an amateur archaeologist. Tom was convinced that he had found human
remains just beside the road, and immediately linked them to the battlefield
that Westhoek once was. Johan rushed over and could only confirm that these
remains had to be those of a World War I soldier. He contacted the police and
the Mayor of Zonnebeke and got green light from Dieter Demey and Archeo 7 to
gather a team and start excavating as soon as possible.
It would be an amazing experience for all of them.
After clearing the first grave, they noticed another grave just next to the
first one. And then another, and another, and another. In total 5 Australian
soldiers were exhumed. The last Australian body, however, was to make an everlasting
impression on all who were involved. This fifth body was that of Australian
private John Hunter. In all, three of the five soldiers would be identified by
DNA research.
The body of John Hunter was not thrown in the grave
like the other four bodies. Clearly this man had not been buried like the
others, someone had taken great care in laying John Hunter to rest. Research
led to the family in Australia, who confirmed that the story in the family was
that John – or Jack as he was known in the family – had been buried by his
younger brother Jim.
When Johan uncovered John’s head, which was wrapped
in his ground sheet, it was as if lightning struck. Johan looked straight in
John eyes and with the sunlight in the right angle, Johan could clearly see the
colour of John’s eyes. It was an instant moment, but it lasted long enough to
be photographed. At the time only Johan experienced this awesome moment, but
the photographs will certainly move generations to come.
