Unknown Graves

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 503, 5 November 1928, Page 9

Unknown Graves

Old Contemptibles of 1914 Honoured FRENCH AND BRITISH VALOUR (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) (United Service) Reed. 10.30 a.m. PARIS, Sunday. The Marne Memorial to the 3,888 Old Contemptibles, who were buried in unknown graves in 1914, was unveiled at Laferte-sous-Jou-arre by Lieut.-General Sir William Pulteney, who commanded the Third Army in 1914. The general paid a tribute to the Anglo-French valour and strategy in checking the German advance in probably the most critical period of the war, thus ensuring the safety of Paris. He also paid a tribute to the historic engineering feat of the British Fourth Division in constructing under intense fire a floating bridge, enabling the pursuit of the enemy and relieving the pressure on the flank of the Sixth French Army, stating:— “There was no other place in the war where thp mutual assistance of the Allies was of such paramount importance, and success so finely exemplified.” Field : Marshal Sir George Milne, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and General Sir Horace Smith-Dor-rien, who commanded the Second Army in 1914, were present. Marshal Foch and General Weygand also attended. The guard of honour, numbering over 100 officers and men, was commanded by Colonel Heywood, of the Coldstream Guards, and in its constitution was a body of exceptional distinction. It Included one representative or every regiment of the corps which figured- in the composition of the original British Expeditionary Force. Every man in it took part in the operations of 1914 in the ranks of his unit, and is still serving to-day. Many of the constituent corps have been disbanded, such as the famous Irish regiments, but representatives of these corps have been found serving in other corps, and attended the ceremony, wearing the uniform of the unit in whose ranks they fought in 1914.