YEOVILTON LIFE: Emotions stirred at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day

YEOVILTON LIFE: Emotions stirred at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day

ROYAL Navy personnel from 847 Naval Air Squadron Commando Helicopter Force, based at RNAS Yeovilton, took part in this week’s Armistice Day memorial services in the Belgium city of Ypres.

This year’s memorial service held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing was all the more poignant as this year marked the 100th anniversary since the outbreak of the First World War.YEOVILTON LIFE: Emotions stirred at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day

A detachment of 14 personnel from 847 NAS paraded through the City of Ypres scene of some of the Great War’s worst fighting before joining representatives from other members of the Armed Forces from the UK and overseas, Cadet Association’s, Police & Fire Brigade staff from the UK and Belgium, Veterans Associations, The Royal British Legion, local dignitaries and members of the local communities and thousands of members of the general public in paying their respects to all those who gave their lives in the line of duty.

PHOTO – TOP: AET James Witton whose great grandfathers were both killed on the western front during the Great War laying a remembrance wreath in their memory at a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Ypres Belgium.

PHOTO – RIGHT: AET Paul Delvard pausing for a moment of reflection at the graveside of a British soldier killed in the Great War and buried at Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and memorial near Ypres Belgium.

The Menin Gate Memorial located at the eastern exit of Ypres marks the starting point for one of the main roads leading out of town that led Allied soldiers to the front line.

Inscribed with the words “To the armies of the British Empire who stood here from 1914 to 1918 and to those of their dead who have no known graves” the memorial commemorates the names of 54,896 Commonwealth servicemen who died on the Ypres Salient but whose bodies have never been identified or found.

PO AET Thomas Fox, who laid a wreath at the Menin Gate of behalf of 847 NAS, said: “Taking part in these centenary celebrations has been a humbling experience, coupled with a sense of pride in representing 847 NAS and the Royal Navy on such a prestigious occasion.”

On completion of the service the squadron visited Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. Situated on the outskirts of Passendale West Flanders, it is the largest cemetery for commonwealth forces in the world for any war and contains the graves of 11,954 of which 8,367 are unnamed.

During the visit to Tyne Cot members of the 847 NAS contingent laid poppy crosses at the gravesides of members of the Royal Naval Reserve who are buried in the cemetery and alongside 11,000 other Royal Naval personnel gave their lives on the Western Front during the Great War.YEOVILTON LIFE: Emotions stirred at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day

PHOTO – RIGHT: A detachment of Royal Navy Personnel from 847 Naval Air Squadron taking part in the Armistice Day 2014 Last Post Parade and ceremony held at the Menin Gate war memorial Ypres Belgium.

The final service of the day took place back in Ypres where every evening since 1928 the last post has been played under the Menin Gate memorial at 8pm sharp, Armistice Day November 11, 2014, marked the 29,759th time that the event last post parade has taken place.

LT Graham Blick, Fire Station Officer RNAS Yeovilton, reflecting on the Armistice Day events, said: “It was an honour and privilege for 847 NAS personnel to be amongst fellow servicemen and women, both past and present, coming together in a unique bond and paying their respects to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defence of their country.”

He added: “It was especially moving to be in Ypres, scene of some of the Great War’s worst fighting where so many lost their lives and something that will stay in our memories for a very long time.”

For two of 847 NAS’ air engineering technicians the trip to Belgium was all the more moving as they followed in the footsteps of their great grandfathers, who 100 years before them made the same journey under very different circumstances to see service on the front line.YEOVILTON LIFE: Emotions stirred at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day

PHOTO – RIGHT: A detachment of Royal Navy Personnel from 847 Naval Air Squadron taking part in the Armistice Day 2014 Last Post Parade and ceremony held at the Menin Gate war memorial Ypres Belgium.

AET Robert Harrop’s great grandfather William Harrop served in the Royal Pioneers during the early part of the First World War and he was awarded the Military Medal in December 1916 for actions in ‘no mans land’ and he was later also mentioned in dispatches by Sir Douglas Haig.

On transfer to the Royal Flying Corps as an observer/gunner aboard the Airco DH9’s of 104 Squadron, he became a First World War flying ace with five aerial victories, he was later shot down and captured but later escaped. William Harrop went on to become a Squadron Leader serving his country again in the Second World War.

AET Robert Harrop said: “Going back to where my great grandfather fought is a huge privilege and getting a chance to show my respect for all the brave servicemen and women who died in the Great War is an honour.”

Both of AET James Witton great-grandfathers fought on the Western Front during the First World War.

The 2nd LT Geoffrey Witton MC served with the Sherwood Foresters and upon his later death in 1978 his name was commemorated on a brass plaque and placed in St Georges Church Ypres where he saw service during the First World War.

John Edwin Carrall lied about his age in 1915 so that he could join up with his elder brothers who were already serving in France. He served firstly as a Private in the Royal Fusiliers before being selected for officer and returning to France as a 3rd Lieutenant Bombing Officer.YEOVILTON LIFE: Emotions stirred at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day

PHOTO – RIGHT: 847 NAS taking part in the Armistice Day 2014 ceremony at the Menin Gate war memorial Ypres Belgium.

While fighting at Oppy Wood, near Arras, France, in 1917 he offered to take the place of a friend who was a married man to deliver a message up the line. John Edwin Carrall was never seen again and no remains were ever found his name is remembered on memorials in York Minister, York Cemetery Memorial, the Arras Memorial, the Oppy Village memorial and in the church and school that he attended. He was 19-years-old when he was killed.

AET James Witton said: “It was a particularly moving experience following in the footsteps of my great-grandfathers as they had given so much so unselfishly in the service of their country.”

He added: “It was a proud moment for me to visit St Georges Church Ypres and my great grandfather Geoffrey Witton memorial plaque, to place a poppy beside it like my grandfather and father had done before me was a moving moment.”

YEOVILTON LIFE: Emotions stirred at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day

PHOTO – ABOVE: AET Robert Harrop, whose great grandfather was a First and Second World War veteran, pausing for a moment of reflection at Tyne Cot British and Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial near Ypres Belgium.

YEOVILTON LIFE: Emotions stirred at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day

PHOTO – ABOVE: POAET Thomas Fox lays a remembrance cross at the grave of a British sailor killed on the western front during the Great War and buried at Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and memorial near Ypres Belgium.

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