Yesterday I received an the email (below) from Kieron Graham of Carlisle, Cumbria in the north-east of England. Kieron and son Jacob are direct descendants of 6359 Pte. Anthony Devlin, East Lancashire Regiment who fought in both the Boer War and First World War.
Kieron was the recipient of Pte. Devlin’s Queen’s South Africa medal that had been found in the Hokianga some years ago, and which we researched and located Kieron via the local newspaper Editor – a link to the original story is shown at the end of this post.
Kieron and his son Jacob recently invited to attend London’s “Armistice 100” parade in London; Kieron writes:
March 07, 2019
Hello Ian,
Note: The Battle of Bligny took place in the French sector of the line, and the grateful French awarded the whole battalion the Croix de Guerre avec Palme. This was the highest level of the Croix de Guerre that can be given to a whole unit. It was given to acknowledge an astonishing, and militarily important achievement under exceptional circumstances. When the battalion arrived in France in July 1917 it comprised 1,100 men, but had been reduced to just 200 men when it launched its attack, led by a Lieutenant, on Bligny Hill. By the end of the day only 60 remained! Unfortunately many casualties were caused by allied artillery which bombarded the hill unaware the Shropshires had taken it. Only one other unit in the British Army had the Croix de Guerre avec Palme awarded to the whole unit through the four year long war, a battalion of the Devon and Dorsets.
I have attached some photographs of the London Cenotaph march to mark its centenary – the panoramic photo which was taken on The Mall really doesn’t do the size of the event justice, it was jam packed from Admiralty Arch to Buckingham Palace. Whilst we visited London Jacob also went to visit the Imperial War Museum, which featured the last display of the ‘weeping window’ Poppies that have toured the UK over the last couple of years. I have attached a photo of some poppies cascading out of the museum and, last summer, one when a larger number were at the castle in our home town of Carlisle.
Pte. James Wright’s medals – Top left to right: WW1 – British War Medal 1914-18 & Victory Medal, WW2 – Defence Medal, WW1 – Croix de Guerre avec Palme, Bottom left: Imperial Service Medal; Pte. Anthony Devlin’s Queen’s South Africa medal – Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902.
ANTHONY DEVLIN ~ EAST LANCS. & WEST YORKS. REGT – Hokianga Boer War medal goes home to Carlisle.