Remembrance Day Tribute to My WWI Ancestors: Lindley | Empey | Lovett

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Remembering 

  • Private Walter Lindley
  • Captain William Arthur Empey
  • Sapper Valentine Gilbert Empey
  • Private William Lovett


Digital Art of WWI Remembrance items by Jennifer Empey

100 years in 2018

In 2018, World War I ended 100 years ago.

As an Australian, each year we observe one minute's silence on Remembrance Day at the 11th Hour on the 11th Day of the 11th Month. The ‘Last Post’ is played on the bugle.

And the ‘Ode of Remembrance’ is cited:

‘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.’ [1]

Lest We Forget.

#RemembranceDay #1MS #Armistice100 #TYFYS

Lest we forget

Lest we forget those who never came home.
Those who lie in known and unknown graves.
Those whose remains linger where they lay and remain missing. They are commemorated on memorials to the missing, like Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, like my great-grandfather, Walter Lindley. [2] 
Lest we forget the families torn apart as they could not lay their loved ones in their final resting place.
Lest we forget those who came home but bore the physical and mental scars of their experience in the war.
Remembering all those who were forever changed by what they saw and lived. 

 #Lestweforget

Australian War Memorial

In Australia, the names of the fallen are engraved on the Roll of Honour panels in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, like Walter Lindley. [3] Around the nation, they are also commemorated on memorials in suburbs and towns.

The Australian War Memorial has a page on ‘Commemorating the Centenary of Armistice 2018’ to ‘Honour their Spirit.' [4]

My Family Who Served in WWI

Private Walter Lindley, my great-grandfather, was killed in action at the Battle of Polygon Wood on 26 September 1917. [5] And his brother-in-law, Private William Lovett, my great-grandmother's brother, did not make it back to Australia.

Captain William Arthur Empey, my great-uncle Bill, was an officer in the Australian Veterinary Corps and appears in the image below, taken at Calais, France, in 1919 [6].

Outdoor group portrait of the Commanding Officer (CO) and officers of the Australian Veterinary Corps. Source: Australian War Memorial

Sapper Valentine Gilbert Empey, my great-uncle Val, appears in the image below, taken at Yonville, France, in 1918. [7]

Group portrait of the Headquarters Staff, Signal Section, and Details of the 9th Infantry Brigade. Source: Australian War Memorial

Remembrance of WWI Journey

The last few years have been a journey of discovery at exhibitions and through learning about Australia’s part in World War I.

Spirit of Anzac

In February 2017, I visited the ‘Spirit of Anzac, Centenary Experience,' a travelling exhibition when it was in Geelong. [8] [9] The exhibition was about Australia's participation in World War I and included the Battle of Passchendaele and Polygon Wood. [10]

Image of Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, taken at the Spirit of Anzac Exhibition

WWI: A History in 100 Stories

The online course at Future Learn, ‘World War I: A History in 100 Stories,' changed the way I saw World War I. [11]

The course was developed by Monash University. [12]

Families at War

In March 2018, I had the opportunity to study ‘Families at War’ at the University of Tasmania. [13]

Many documents, records, books, and newspapers for World War I have been digitised. It allows online access and the possibility to trace the footsteps of service personnel. For example, the ‘Official Histories, Rolls and Unit Diaries,' ‘Service Records,' ‘Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files,' ‘Roll of Honour,' ‘First World War Embarkation Rolls,' and ‘First World War Nominal Roll’ are available online at the Australian War Memorial and National Archives of Australia. [14] [15] [16] Digitalised newspapers are available at Trove.

I learned about Australia at home during the war and our divided nation. [17] [18] Referendums were held in 1916 and 1917, and both times our nation voted no against conscription. [19] [20] Our forces and medical teams were volunteers of men and women. They departed on ships and crossed the oceans, many miles away to where the fighting was in Europe.

Love and Sorrow

In April 2018, I visited the ‘Love and Sorrow’ exhibition at the Melbourne Museum that explored the impact of World War I. [21] 

On a wall, it names the soldiers who were killed in the vicinity of Glencorse Wood between 19 and 26 September 1917. [22] It included my great-grandfather, Walter Lindley. On the opposite wall, it had three changing scenes of Glencorse Wood in Belgium. They contrasted how it looked during and after the battle in September 1917 with how it looks now. 

Walter Lindley's name is listed on the wall at the Love & Sorrow Exhibition


Bibliography

Australian Government, ‘100 Years of ANZAC: The Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Australian Government, ‘Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience – Sneak Peek’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Australian War Memorial, ‘Commemorative Area’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Australian War Memorial, ‘Honour their Spirit: Commemorating the Centenary of Armistice 2018’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Australian War Memorial, ‘Official Histories, Rolls & Unit Diaries’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Australian War Memorial, ‘Search for a person’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Beaumont, Joan, ‘Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War’, 2014, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, ‘Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial', accessed 11 November 2018.
Future Learn, ‘World War I: A History in 100 Stories’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Jennifer Empey Family History, ‘Private Walter Lindley: A Soldier, Husband, Father, Son,Brother, Brother-in-Law’, Blog, accessed 11 November 2018.
McKernan, Michael, ‘Australians at Home: World War I’, 2014, The Five Mile Press, Scoresby, Victoria.
Melbourne Museum, ‘WWI Love & Sorrow’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Monash University, ‘World War I: A History in 100 Stories’, accessed 11 November 2018.
National Archives of Australia, ‘Service Records’, accessed 11 November 2018.
National Library of Australia, 'Trove',  https://trove.nla.gov.au/, accessed 11 November 2018.
‘Ode of Remembrance’, Archive.org, from ‘For the Fallen’, Laurence Binyon, 21 September 1914, accessed 11 November 2018.
University of Tasmania, ‘Families at War’, accessed 11 November 2018.
Unknown Australian Official Photographer, Group portrait of the Headquarters Staff, Signal Section and Details of the 9th Infantry Brigade, 24 October 1918, Australian War Memorial, accessed 11 November 2018.
Unknown Australian Official Photographer, Outdoor group portrait of the Commanding Officer (CO) and officers of the Australian Veterinary Corps, 31 March 1919, Australian War Memorial, accessed 11 November 2018.

Notes

[1] ‘Ode of Remembrance’, Archive.org, from ‘For the Fallen’, Laurence Binyon, 21 September 1914, accessed 11 November 2018.
[2] Commonwealth War Graves Commission, ‘Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial', accessed 11 November 2018.
[3] Australian War Memorial, ‘Commemorative Area’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[4] Australian War Memorial, ‘Honour their Spirit: Commemorating the Centenary of Armistice 2018’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[5] Jennifer Empey Family History, ‘Private Walter Lindley: A Soldier, Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Brother-in-Law’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[6] Unknown Australian Official Photographer, Outdoor group portrait of the Commanding Officer (CO) and officers of the Australian Veterinary Corps, 31 March 1919, Australian War Memorial, accessed 11 November 2018.
[7] Unknown Australian Official Photographer, Group portrait of the Headquarters Staff, Signal Section and Details of the 9th Infantry Brigade, 24 October 1918, Australian War Memorial, accessed 11 November 2018.
[8] Australian Government, ‘100 Years of ANZAC: The Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[9] Australian Government, ‘Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience – Sneak Peek’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[10] Images taken at the ‘100 Years of ANZAC: Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience’ at the Geelong Arena, 25 February 2017.
[11] Future Learn, ‘World War I: A History in 100 Stories’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[12] Monash University, ‘World War I: A History in 100 Stories’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[13] University of Tasmania, ‘Families at War’, accessed 11 November 2018.
14] Australian War Memorial, ‘Official Histories, Rolls & Unit Diaries’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[15] Australian War Memorial, ‘Search for a person’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[16] National Archives of Australia, ‘Service Records’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[17] Joan Beaumont, ‘Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War’, 2014, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.
[18] Michael McKernan, ‘Australians at Home: World War I’, 2014, The Five Mile Press, Scoresby, Victoria.
[19] Joan Beaumont, ‘Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War’, 2014, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, pp. 242 - 245 and 386 - 389.
[20] Michael McKernan, ‘Australians at Home: World War I’, 2014, The Five Mile Press, Scoresby, Victoria, pp. 7 and 8.
[21] Melbourne Museum, ‘WWI Love & Sorrow’, accessed 11 November 2018.
[22] Images taken at ‘WWI Love & Sorrow’ exhibition at the Melbourne Museum, 29 April 2018.

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