Bandon War Memorial Committee
Armistice Day 1996
A
visit to the Somme in September 1996 and a subsequent statement that brought
Paddy Harte and Glen Barr together to discuss the influence and memories of
Flanders and the Somme, which could greatly influence present day Ireland. To
test these opinions it was agreed that a group would visit these areas for
Armistice Day 1996.
The
Mayor joined the wreath laying at the main monument in Theipval, the walls of
which contain the names of 72,000 soldiers of many nations, including some from
Bandon whose bodies were never found. The ceremony concluded with the Last Post
and Reveille being sounded and a pledge read by Paddy Harte and Glenn Barr.
The
group also visited a number of cemeteries including Tyne Cot, which contain
13,000 headstones, and a list of 34,000 names on its walls of those whose bodies
were never found. It is one of the largest war cemeteries in the world. The
Menen Gate, Ypres [Ieper] was also visited where the names of 54,000 dead are
listed who were never found.
Since
1922 except during W.W.2, members of the town’s Fire Brigade sound The Last
Post and Reveille each night at 8 o’clock, when the traffic is stopped
entering Ypres by the police to allow the ceremony to take place.
From this humble beginning, A Journey of Reconciliation Trust was set up and a site purchased on Messines Ridge to construct Peace Park and build a Round Tower. It was in this part of Flanders where both the 16th Irish and the 36th Ulster Division fought as ONE Division, where both Catholic and Protestant fought together as comrades side by side.