STANDARD BEARERS: LEGION REMEMBERS SACRIFICE OF FIRST WORLD WAR
Nations reaffirm bonds of friendship at Amiens
PROUD DISPLAY: Standard-bearers by the Menin Gate as part of the British Legion’s ‘One Hundred Days’ ceremony marking the last 100 days of the First World War, in Ypres, Belgium. Veterans came together to carry their standards through the Belgian town, before laying wreaths at the memorial.
HE WAS only 19, inexperienced in life and unmarked in death, Ernest Harm’s great-nephew reflected, as in a Gothic cathedral in peacetime France nations came together to remember what had gone on there exactly a century earlier.
Lance Corporal Harm died towards the end of the Battle of Amiens, most likely cut down by machine gun fire as he went over the top with the Second Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, He has no known grave.
“He was just a lad, really, said his descendant, Kevin Sherlock, who sat with 2,000 others in Amiens to remember those sacrificed in a battle that led directly to the end of the First World War.
“There’s sadness but also pride that he took part in a key battle that brought ultimately the Allied victory and shortened the war as well,” he said.
The absence of a grave must have been a source of torment for his mother, he added.
“She probably thought he was listed as missing, killed in action, but there’s always a small part of you thinking he might walk through the door one day.”
The congregation at yesterday’s centenary service, was led by Prime Minister Theresa May and the Duke of Cambridge.
William said in his address to the congregation: “What began here on August 8 was truly a coalition operation under the strategic command of a great Frenchman, Marshal Foch, a battle in which the forces of many nations came together to fight; in which aerial, mechanical and human courage and ingenuity combined with devastating results.
“Amiens was symbolic of the Entente Cordiale, the co-operation without which victory was impossible. It is entirely fitting therefore, that today, that same international coalition has returned to Amiens with our former enemy in peace and partnership.”
Mrs May read an extract from the memoirs of her predecessor, David Lloyd George. “The effect of the victory was moral and not territorial,” former Liberal leader Mr George wrote. “It revealed to friend and foe alike the breakdown of the German power of resistance.”
In a moment that reaffirmed the bonds of friendship between nations, Mrs May joined William and representatives from Germany, Australia, Canada, the US and Ireland in laying flowers in the Chapel of the Allies.
She said: “The Battle of Amiens was the turning point which hastened the final, decisive chapter of the First World War. A hundred years on, today’s ceremony is a fitting moment to remember those who sacrificed their lives and reflect on our shared past, present and future.”
General Sir Henry Rawlinson, the commander of the Fourth Army, had combined air and land forces from Australia, Canada, France, America and Britain during the battle.
Having learned from the Somme offensive, one of the bloodiest in history and in which he played a prominent role, he harnessed new technology and better tactics, concealing troop numbers and ending the practice of firing range-finding shells to avoid warning the enemy of an attack.
The battle brought together more than 500 tanks, 1,900 British and French aircraft, tens of thousands of troops, and 2,000 guns from the Royal Artillery. The Allies made significant early advances, but the real impact was on the morale of the German Army, many of whom surrendered, and on its high command, who became convinced that the war could not be won.