To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Australian Red Cross, today’s Last Post Ceremony tells the story of Private Gavin Gordon Bulkeley Gavin, 26th Battalion. It can be streamed live on our website at 4.55 pm awm.gov.au/events/last-post-ceremony/ Private Gavin enlisted with his brother James and they were sent to England together with the 17th reinforcements to the 26th Battalion on HMAT Marathon. Gavin and James arrived in France to join the 26th Battalion in May 1917. Soon afterwards their battalion was sent to Belgium to participate in fighting around Ypres and Passchendaele. On the 4th of October 1917 the 26th Battalion fought in the battle of Broodseinde Ridge. This operation was ultimately successful, and resulted in the capture of valuable German positions, but cost the Australian divisions that took part 6,500 in casualties. The Gavin brothers were among them. The bodies of Gavin Gavin and his brother James were buried in the battlefield where they fell, and were lost in the confusion of ongoing fighting. After the war their father tried to locate their graves and provide his sons with a lasting memorial. He wrote to the Department of Defence, the Red Cross, and even his sons’ company commander, who provided him with map references and marked aerial photographs. Through the untiring efforts of John Gavin and the International Red Cross Society’s extensive investigations, the bodies of both Gavin brothers were found and exhumed.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 05:29:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015