Sunday 9 May 2010

MWNN is in France where he is enjoying warm sunshine.

Bless the Boy, he's scouting out the locations in which my great uncle fought and died in WW1.

I've been talking on the Manchester Brigade Forum and have discovered that great uncle was awarded the Military Medal (probably at the Battle of Poelcapelle ( a village which the British struggled to take during the Third Battle of Ypres commonly refered to as Passchendaele ) in October 1917).

Great Uncle was killed on 21 March, 1918, at the Battle of St Quentin, near a village called Villeret where he was fighting with the 2/6th Battalion Manchester Regiment. As one of the Forum members reminded me, although we don't know where great uncle is buried, he is likely to be in one of the graves of unknown soldiers buried in nearby military graveyards. His memorial plaque is at Pozieres.

Today, with all the talk of electoral reform, it is appropriate to reflect that in the year James Alfred died, due to property legislation, only 10% of men (and no women) could vote.

Sometimes, it is necessary to look back and remember.