Remembrance Day 2023 ~ Lunenburg

Today November 11^th, I decided to make a return to the Remembrance Service in Lunenburg, I was last there for this event in 2017.

The Lunenburg War Memorial, the large four-sided granite monument, bears the names of those who fell during World War I ~

The memorial shown below was dedicated on November 11, 1948, in memory of those who gave their lives in World War II and later the Korean War.

The memorial is made of grey granite in the form of a semi-circle with four columns. On the edges of the top band are engraved the General Service crest on the left, and the Town of Lunenburg crest on the right. Upon the face is engraved "THEIR NAME LIVETH FOREVERMORE". On the edges of the base are engraved 1939 to the left and 1945 to the right. A stone engraved with "Korea 1950-1953" has been placed as an addition on the base at the front of the monument.

The monument below is to Camp Norway which was located in Lunenburg during World War II ~ more can be read about this camp on my blog from 2017 ~

Remembrance Day 2017 ~ Lunenburg

https://southshoretidewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/remembrance-day-2017-lunenburg.html

Photos of the march past and a flyover courtesy of RCAF Greenwood ~

As always during the moment of silence my thoughts are for the 1.7 million from the Commonwealth who paid the ultimate price during two world wars and now remain under the perpetual care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) at 23,000 locations in 153 countries. In death they each of them gifted to us a way forward, but looking out into the world today, we witness the on-going wars and conflicts, the hectic pace of rearming, the billions spent on developing more sophisticated weapons, I have to ask ~ are we using their legacy wisely ~ I think not …

Within my family, I currently know of seven who served in either WWI or WWII, of those five who never came home, they are ~

Hugh Wright aged 26, 2003820, Royal Engineer, died 21 October 1944, buried at Leopoldsburg War Cemetery, Limburg, Belgium.

 

John Kerr aged 19, Clyde Z/4980, Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division, died 4 February 1917, buried at Hamel Military Cemetery, Beaumont ~ Hamel, Somme, France.

 

Hugh Wright aged 32, 4511, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), died 30 June 1916, buried at Southern Necropolis Cemetery, Glasgow, Scotland.

 

George Maxwell aged 63, Merchant Navy (S.S. Arbonne), lost at sea on 24 February 1916, commemorated at Tower Hill Memorial, London, England.

and …

Hugh James Wright aged 21, 40539, The 10th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, died 2 October 1918, buried Joncourt British Cemetery, Joncourt, Aisne, France.

 

Hugh James Wright is the most recent to be added to my list. I only discovered him late last year during some family tree research. He is my first cousin twice removed, translated that means ~ my great grandfather’s brother’s son, putting him on the same generational level as my grandparents. He was born in 1897 in Bridgeton, Glasgow to John Wright and Mary Wheelan Walker.

With service number 40539, he was in the 10th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Hugh was killed on October 2^nd, 1918, just 40 days before the Armistice was signed on November 11^th. He is buried at Joncourt British Cemetery, Joncourt, Aisne, France.

The village of Joncourt was immediately west of the German fortification called the Beaurevoir-Fonsomme Line. It was captured by Australian troops on 30 September 1918, and cleared by the 5th Australian and 32nd Divisions on the following day.

Joncourt British Cemetery contains 61 WWI burials, of that number 3 remain unidentified ~ “Known Unto God”. The 10th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders account for 55 out of the 61. All of the graves’ date from the period 30 September to 4 October 1918.

From the above grave photo, you will note that Hugh James Wright shares the same gravestone and possibly the same grave as that of Private Christopher Mundell aged 19 (born 21 November 1898), this is in fact typical for this cemetery. Christopher, originally from Maxwelltown, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland was the son of Robert Grierson Mundell and Janet Geddes Connor of 648, Shettleston Road, Shettleston, Glasgow. Like Hugh he was part of the 10th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and was also killed on October 2^nd, 1918.

Next year I plan to visit Hugh’s grave and also revisit three other family war graves in Scotland, France and Belgium.

Below are Hugh and Christopher’s CWGC documents ~