A Lonely Grave

Image: NIEPPE FOREST, Nord Pas de Calais, Nord, France. 18 April 1918.

He lies in his final resting place far from home... no one in the family has attended his grave since he was laid to rest. William John (Jack) Girvan left Australia with thousands of other young men bound for Gallipoli. He was wounded there, no doubt tended by a nurse. When he regained his health, he was sent to the Western Front where others had gone before him and where he was wounded twice more and patched up twice more to continue doing his nation proud.

The fourth time he was wounded in action would be his last. He was part of the battle inside the Belgium border near Ypres. He did not survive. He now rests in an Australian War Cemetery near Nieppe (France). Until two years ago, this man’s story laid hidden within the family records. I will visit Jack’s grave and pay my respects to a man who will be a quiet achiever in this family no more.

By Meredith Girvan