These last however many blog entries all started with an article I printed last week on April 9th about Wold War I graffiti discovered in Naours Cave in France and then has gotten all the way here. No wonder it takes so long to do these blogs. One things just leads to another. So far I have written 11 entries stemming from this.
Anyway, this is the ship that Herbert John Leach embarked on for World War I and his death.
From Australian War Memorial site.
HMAT stands for His Majesty's Australian Transport.
A fleet of ships was leased by the Commonwealth to transport troops in various A.I.F. unites overseas. This fleet was made up of British and captured German ships. The HMAT Hororata was 9,400 tons with an average cruising speed of 14 knots owned by the New Zealand Shipping Co., Ltd. of London and leased by the Commonwealth until September 11, 1917.
--Cooter
Showing posts with label Naours Cave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Naours Cave. Show all posts
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
Australian Cemetery at Flers, France-- Part 1
From GWGC site.
In the last blog entry, I mentioned that Private Herbert John Leach, who had signed his name in the Naours Cave, had been buried at the Australian Cemetery in nearby Flers, France. I did some more research on it.
It is referred to as the A.I.F. Burial Ground, Flers. Then there was mention of 1212 casualties which I wasn't sure if that meant these were men who were killed or wounded there during fighting as that number didn't match up with the number of burials.
The cemetery is located 2 kilometers north of Flers, Department of the Somme.
A lot of fighting occurred at and around Flers, which was captured from the Germans 15 September 1916,. in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The village was entered by the New Zealand Division and 41st Division.
--DaCoot
In the last blog entry, I mentioned that Private Herbert John Leach, who had signed his name in the Naours Cave, had been buried at the Australian Cemetery in nearby Flers, France. I did some more research on it.
It is referred to as the A.I.F. Burial Ground, Flers. Then there was mention of 1212 casualties which I wasn't sure if that meant these were men who were killed or wounded there during fighting as that number didn't match up with the number of burials.
The cemetery is located 2 kilometers north of Flers, Department of the Somme.
A lot of fighting occurred at and around Flers, which was captured from the Germans 15 September 1916,. in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The village was entered by the New Zealand Division and 41st Division.
--DaCoot
Names of 731 Anzacs Found at Naours Cave in France: "Merely a Private"
From the April 6, 2015, AuWorld "Rge Names of 731 Anzacs found in cave under World War I battlefield in France' by Greg Keller.
ANZACs were soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Allied soldiers left similar inscriptions in the tunnels of Arras and Vimy, but Naours, well back from the front lines in World War I, were not used as shelters and hospitals like other Western Front quarries.
Naours is just a few miles from Vignacourt, a town used as a staging area for troops moving up to and back from the Somme battlefield to the east. Young soldiers would take a break for some sightseeing and these were nearby.
The diary of Wilfred Joseph Allan Allsop, 23, private from Sydney noted on Jan. 2, 1917, "At 1 pm 10 of us went to the famous caves near Naours where refugees used to hide during time of Invasion."
Herbert John Leach, 25, from Adelaide wrote his name, a message and the date, "H.J. Leach. Merely a private. 13/7/16. SA Australia." Sadly, he was killed August 23, 1916, at the Battle of Pozieres barely a month after he left his message.
On his grave at the Australian Cemetery in nearby Flers, his father inscribed this on his marker "Duty Nobly Done."
--Cooter
ANZACs were soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Allied soldiers left similar inscriptions in the tunnels of Arras and Vimy, but Naours, well back from the front lines in World War I, were not used as shelters and hospitals like other Western Front quarries.
Naours is just a few miles from Vignacourt, a town used as a staging area for troops moving up to and back from the Somme battlefield to the east. Young soldiers would take a break for some sightseeing and these were nearby.
The diary of Wilfred Joseph Allan Allsop, 23, private from Sydney noted on Jan. 2, 1917, "At 1 pm 10 of us went to the famous caves near Naours where refugees used to hide during time of Invasion."
Herbert John Leach, 25, from Adelaide wrote his name, a message and the date, "H.J. Leach. Merely a private. 13/7/16. SA Australia." Sadly, he was killed August 23, 1916, at the Battle of Pozieres barely a month after he left his message.
On his grave at the Australian Cemetery in nearby Flers, his father inscribed this on his marker "Duty Nobly Done."
--Cooter
Saturday, April 11, 2015
The Durham Light Infantry-- Part 1: James Cockburn's Unit in WWI
From Wikipedia.
The previous two entries were about graffiti left in the famous Naours Cave in France during World War I. On of the nearly 2,000 sightseeing soldiers who inscribed his name on the chalk wall was one James Cockburn, 8th Durham L.I. and he signed it for the date April 1, 1917, now 98 years ago.
I decided to see if I could find out any more information on him. I couldn't, so I don't know if he survived the war or not.
I did find out some information about his unit.
DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY
British Army Infantry Regiment 1881-1968 formed from the 68th Durham Regt. of Foot (Light Infantry) and 106th Regt. of Foot (Brumby Light Infantry) along with militia and rifle volunteers from County Durham. They served in the Boer War, both World Wars and the Korean War.
During World War I, they were expanded to 42 battalions. Mr. Cockburn probably belonged to the 8th Battalion.
More to Come. --Cooter
The previous two entries were about graffiti left in the famous Naours Cave in France during World War I. On of the nearly 2,000 sightseeing soldiers who inscribed his name on the chalk wall was one James Cockburn, 8th Durham L.I. and he signed it for the date April 1, 1917, now 98 years ago.
I decided to see if I could find out any more information on him. I couldn't, so I don't know if he survived the war or not.
I did find out some information about his unit.
DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY
British Army Infantry Regiment 1881-1968 formed from the 68th Durham Regt. of Foot (Light Infantry) and 106th Regt. of Foot (Brumby Light Infantry) along with militia and rifle volunteers from County Durham. They served in the Boer War, both World Wars and the Korean War.
During World War I, they were expanded to 42 battalions. Mr. Cockburn probably belonged to the 8th Battalion.
More to Come. --Cooter
Thursday, April 9, 2015
World War I Graffiti Found in French Cave-- Part 2; History of the Naours Caves
The Naours underground city is a 2-mile-long complex of tunnels with hundreds of chambers dug out over the centuries in the chalky Picardy plateau. During the Middle Ages villagers took shelter in the caves from marauding armies crisscrossing northern France.
By the 18th century the quarry's entrance was blocked off and forgotten. In 1887, a local priest rediscovered the site and it eventually became a tourist attraction. That is most-likely the reason James Cockburn and the nearly 2000 others were there. A little break from fighting..
--DaCoot
By the 18th century the quarry's entrance was blocked off and forgotten. In 1887, a local priest rediscovered the site and it eventually became a tourist attraction. That is most-likely the reason James Cockburn and the nearly 2000 others were there. A little break from fighting..
--DaCoot
World War I Graffiti Found in French Cave-- Part 1
From the April 7, 2015, Chicago Tribune "WWI cave graffiti sheds light on soldiers" by Greg Keller, AP.
Naours, France. It's 100 feet underground and by headlamp you can see the name "James Cockburn 8th Durham L.I.. The date beside the name is April 1, 1917. Right in the middle of World War I.
It is just one of nearly 2000 nearly century old inscriptions that have recently been found in Naours, a two-hour drive north of Paris. When written, the huge battle of the Somme was going on just a few miles away which resulted in over one million casualties.
Photographer Jeff Gusky has tallied 1,821 individual names: 731 Australians, 339 British, 55 Americans, a handful of French and Canadian, and 662 others whose nationalities have yet to be traced.
--Cooter
Naours, France. It's 100 feet underground and by headlamp you can see the name "James Cockburn 8th Durham L.I.. The date beside the name is April 1, 1917. Right in the middle of World War I.
It is just one of nearly 2000 nearly century old inscriptions that have recently been found in Naours, a two-hour drive north of Paris. When written, the huge battle of the Somme was going on just a few miles away which resulted in over one million casualties.
Photographer Jeff Gusky has tallied 1,821 individual names: 731 Australians, 339 British, 55 Americans, a handful of French and Canadian, and 662 others whose nationalities have yet to be traced.
--Cooter
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