Geoff Godber Ford is 90. For him Remembrance Day triggers thoughts of his two older half-brothers who died in the Flanders mud of the First World War...
I am writing this on Remembrance Day as I call to mind my two brothers Jack and Alfred. My mother was first married on her 18th birthday in 1891 to a doctor. She gave birth to Jack and Alfred and three daughters. The doctor died in 1906 and my mother re-married in 1908 to my father. I was born on March 13th 1910 and my two sisters were born in 1912 and 1914.
When The Great War broke out Jack returned from Canada where he had been trying to stake out a piece of land and joined the army for the duration of the war. He was in the Lifeguards. He made an imposing figure in his uniform he was 6' 6" tall and took size 14 in shoes. I have several letters written to my sister from Luggershall Camp on Salisbury plain. One letter was written on September 8th 1914, and in it he says the King and Queen came to visit the troops. At the end of the letter he writes that he has just heard he would be going to the front in a week or two. I also have a letter dated September 14th written in pencil on a scrap of paper from Windmill Camp on Salisbury Plain.
"Going soon, I think I will come back safely, if you pray for me all will be well. Don't forget to ask God for Alfred in your prayers always. Alfred is either at the front or on his way there. We are with the next lot to go, tell mother not to worry about me. So goodbye dear I will let you know where I am.
Your ever-loving brother Jack"
This was the last letter he wrote. As soon as Jack arrived at the front he was sent with all the other British Commonwealth soldiers to take part in the German attack on Ypres in 1914. Jack was one of the 54,896 soldiers in the British army who fought and died in and around the small Flemish town of Ypres in Belgium whose bodies were never found and therefore have no graves. All their names are inscribed, unit by unit, column by column in the stone panels covering the walls of the great arches of the Menin Gate, the First World War's sacred monument standing in Ypres. Between 1914-18, four of the bloodiest years of warfare, the same tiny strip of land took a quarter of a million lives. Every evening at 8 o’clock since 1928, the 'last post' has been sounded beneath the gate's magnificent portals. A nearby clock strikes the hour and all traffic is stopped, two volunteer members of the local fire brigade using silver bugles donated by the Royal British Legion, play the salute. The 'last post' will continue to be sounded in perpetuity. If it were played once for each of the soldiers who died it would take another four hundred years to complete.
My brother Alfred was in the Officers Training Corps at college and was aged 18 when war broke out in August. It was as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Sherwood Foresters that he was first injured. When he recovered he was stationed at the small town of Bethune. One night he was especially chosen together with another officer to lead an attack on some German trenches. He had only covered 300 yards when a mortar bomb exploded by his left foot. It was pouring with rain and some time before he was found and taken to Bethune Hospital. He was severely injured and only semi-conscious. His left leg had to be amputated just below the knee. This was July 13th 1916. Alfred stayed in Bethune Hospital and died there on 22nd July.
The letter sent to my mother read:
"I very much regret to inform you of the death of your son A J Bullivant. He was wounded in action on July 16th . Only two officers took part and he was specially selected for the purpose. He was one of the best and most capable officers I had, I could always rely on him, he had absolutely no fear. He is a great loss to the regiment and was a most popular officer with the other officers and the men. Signed Lt Col H.Milward.
My mother also had a letter from the chaplain:
"Administered Holy Communion at 7.30 am today to a number of officers in your son's ward. I noticed that he looked so much more tired than usual, I went back again later to his ward but felt he had contracted a cold somehow. I saw him again at 11.00 am and spent some time with him but after a while he went to sleep. I went back to see him later he wanted me to read a book to him, he also told me that he had a dream that he had passed away and had been taken to be with God. He then asked if he was going to die and if I would tell him the truth? I told him that I believed he was going to have a hard fight for life. "I do not mind dying" he said "but it's hard going before one is twenty years old. Whatever happens Padre do not leave me". I promised to see him through. He then smiled and I shall carry that dear smile with me through life. His end came peacefully at 8.50 pm My heartfelt sympathy goes out to you all, may the God of all consolation comfort your hearts. He is now with Christ.
Yours in deepest sympathy
Signed R.Gillendly, Chaplain"
A few years ago my wife and I visited the graves. I wrote to the War Graves Commission and they replied by return and stated exactly where Jack's inscription was on the wall inside the Menin Gate. We had no difficulty finding it and I took a photograph and video of the inscription. We had great difficulty finding Alfred's grave. All around the Ypres area there are many cemeteries. After making enquiries of many places we were told that the officers from the Ypres salient fighting were buried in Bethune churchyard. We met a very pleasant woman who took us to see these graves, only about twelve altogether all of these had small bushes and flowers. The English and Commonwealth graves are kept in immaculate condition by the War Graves commission.
