WWI SOLDIER’S LINK UNCOVERED
CAVE ’ GRAFFITI’ FOUND IN FRANCE
A LOCAL soldier whose name was discovered etched on a wall of an ancient underground cave in northern France has been identified as a World War I hero who still has family living in Townsville.
His great- niece Marion Chisholm, of Wulguru, said John Patrick Ramkema was a treasured member of the family.
“The family has a proud military history and my grandmother would talk very fondly of her brother, John Patrick,” she said. “When I read about my great uncle’s signature found in a cave in France, well that was just a wonderful piece of history uncovered for the family.”
Mr Ramkema’s only direct descendants, his grandchildren Merril Harvey and Michael Morton, live in the southeast and say their grandfather was “an amazing man”.
“I was always very proud of him,” Mrs Harvey said. “He was a loving grandfather and had an amazing inner strength. When times were tough in my life, I would think of Grandad and all he had been through and it would help me to be strong.”
French archaeologist Gilles Prilaux who discovered the “graffiti” in the Somme ( the village of Naours) recently released the details of the Townsville soldier in the hope of finding his descendants.
“I discovered these graffiti three years ago in a small village of the Somme ( village of Naours),” he said. “More than 3200 signatures of soldiers of the Great War and among them, that of John Patrick Ramkema, his address in 1914 was Flinders St, Townsville, Queensland.”
The site is close to the Somme battlefields, where more than a million men were killed or wounded. Naours’ underground city is a 3kmlong complex of tunnels with hundreds of chambers dug out over centuries.
Mr Prilaux said the signatures were made by soldiers who came to visit the caves during periods of rest or convalescence for wounded sol- diers. Mr Prilaux and his team of archaeologists have spent years matching the signatures with the names and biographies of past soldiers.
Mrs Harvey said she was grateful for the work of Mr Prilaux and his team.
She said her grandfather lost an arm during the war due to a “stick bomb”, which led to his return to Australia in late 1917.
“He spoke fondly of his time in France and the mates he made over there,” she said. “He also spoke highly of the Turks and their decency and discipline.
“But Grandad did battle his demons after the war like so many other soldiers.
“Back then there was no help for returned servicemen. He joined the Limbless Soldiers’ Association, which was a comfort of sorts.”
Mrs Harvey said her grandfather, who died in 1973, would have been happy with how the community embraced its re- turned service personnel and the support networks that were in place today to help address the physical and mental scars of service.
Mr Morton said his grand- father suffered from his phantom limb much of his life.
“But even though my grandfather battled his post- war demons, he was a great man,” he said. “He’d let us children use
WHEN TIMES WERE TOUGH IN MY LIFE, I WOULD THINK OF GRANDAD AND ALL HE HAD BEEN THROUGH AND IT WOULD HELP ME TO BE STRONG. MERRIL HARVEY
his trench maps of France to play our own war games.”
Mr Ramkema was awarded a military cross in late 1916 for “conspicuous gallantry during a raid”. “He led the way into the enemy trenches and shot several of the enemy. He then rushed a dug- out, and killed seven and captured 14 of the men inside. He finally brought back 12 prisoners alive.”
Mr Prilaux has co- authored a book – dubbed the military book with heart – about his find, The Silent Soldiers of Naours, which is available at online and retail book stores.