Duncormick man dead at 20 on bloody French battlefield
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, WAS THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WORLD WAR I. TO MARK THE CENTENARY, WE REMEMBER SOME OF THE MANY WEXFORD MEN WHO DIED IN WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS ‘THE WAR TO END ALL WARS’
WHEN John Keane, then aged 17, boarded the train in Duncormick station bound for Britain and ultimately the infamous World War I battlefield at the Somme in France, his relatives at home couldn’t have known it was the last time they would ever see him.
His younger bother, Michael, recalled to family members years later how he remembered waving goodbye to John as the train departed the station not knowing it would be the last time he ever saw him.
Born on December 12, 1897, in Holdmanhill, Duncormick, to Michael and Catherine Keane, John was one of a family of five boys and three girls.
Like thousands of other young Irish men at the time he travelled to Britain in the hope of earning a better living and perhaps the misguided thought that war is exciting was what enticed him to enlist in the British army – which he did in Widness, Lancashire.
He underwent military training and was posted to the 2nd Battalion, Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment).
Along with many other young men from Wexford, who were also in the Battalion, he was sent into action in Northern France.
Sometime, around dawn, on March 21, 1918, the German Army unleashed a huge barrage of artillery fire on the British positions on the Western Front.
It marked one of the deepest advances by either side since 1914; in the space of just five hours over one million artillary shells were fired at the British soldiers.
Such was the success of the German bombard- ment that by the end of the first day 21,000 British soldiers had been taken prisoner.
It also resulted in the German soldiers making strong advances through Allied lines.
At around 9 p.m. that same day Private Keane and his comrades formed a defensive flank on high ground above a small town called Vracourt.
However, they were ordered to withdraw from their position to reinforce the front line between Vlaux-Vraucourt and Morchies and by 3 a.m. on March 22, he and his company were dug in on the front line awaiting the impending battle.
Several times German troops entered the British trenches but on each occasion they were driven back again.
However, despite the valiant efforts of the British army the sustained attack from the Germans ultimately forced them back.
The heavy fighting continued throughout the day until around 3 p.m. when the German soldiers finally made a major break through the British lines and began to advance in high numbers.
The exact circumstances surrounding the fate of Private John Keane were never ascertained and none of his colleagues who survived the battle had further information regarding him or his fallen comrades.
However, it’s believed he was killed by German troops as they invaded the British trenches and official British military reports recorded him as ‘missing in action’.
Like thousands of other Irishmen his body was never identified and for his heartbroken family in Holdmanhill it was a matter of wondering how he died and what he must have gone through.
Sadly, his death came just a few months before the end of the war and that made his passing all the more difficult for his family to come to terms with.
Some time after the war ended his mother received a memorial plaque and scroll in respect of all those who died; a parchment scroll was also issued displaying Private Keane’s name and unit.
These were accompanied by a letter from His Majesty the King and Private Keane was also posthumously awarded the British War and Victory medals.
He was only 20 years of age when his life came to an end on the bloodied battle field in France. His name is etched on a memorial stone at the Pozieres British Cemetery and Memorial which is located around 22km from where he was killed.
There are 99 panels at the memorial which surrounds the Pozieres cemetery between Bapaume and Albert.
The memorial commemorates over 14,000 casualties from the UK and Ireland along with 300 men from the South African forces who died at the Somme between March 21 and August 7, 1918.
They have no known final resting place and their remains were never found.
The irony of the cemetery and memorial is that it’s located in beautiful, picturesque countryside which nowadays offers a tranquil setting for visitors.
However, 100 years ago it was the site of the brutal slaughter of so many young men like Private Keane – many of whom were only in their late teens or early 20s – who died in one of the bloodiest battles in history.