Gouzeaucourt

I visited Gouzeaucourt for the first time in 1986 taking my mother to visit the grave of her father,John Samuel Ravenscroft. Her father was killed on September 27th 1918, some four months before her birth. It had always been her ambition to find and visit the grave though she had never travelled outside the UK. It was an extremely emotional experience which was a defining moment in her life and the lives of the whole family present with her. The BCWGC do an amazing job keeping all these memorials in such perfect condition. I continue to visit Gouzeaucourt every few years and now feel a strong connection with the grandfather I never knew and the dearly loved mother who is no longer with us.

John Furse * 2009-09-30 10:36:10 *

My grand-father is Robert Lang, Rifleman 37091, Highland Light Infantry. He was killed on 24th April, 1917.

His grave is at plot VII. E. 10.

After my grand-mother died, we found a hand-written letter in pencil from his Commanding Officer decribing how my grand-father was killed. Apparently, between periods of shooting from the trenches, a 'truce' was called, and under a white flag, stretcher bearers would enter "no mans land" to recover the dead and wounded. My grand-father was shot and killed by a German sniper while unarmed and carrying a stretcher during one of these 'truces'.

Please accept my grateful thanks for taking the time to create this video and make it available on the web.

Kindest Regards,
Tom Lang.

"They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them."

'Lest we forget'.

Tom Lang * 2011-06-08 23:29:36 *