Military service
Burial/memorial information
In front, a ragged shell-torn waste, barbed wire and noisome weeds; The grave of many a gallant man who died for his country's needs; The bar between two mighty foes, alert, watchful and still, Like savage beasts as they pause and wait, 'ere they spring to rend and kill. The rattle of the machine guns spraying death along the line; The boom of a distant field gun, then a shrill increasing whine. A crash - an acrid blinding smoke, a shower of stones and dirt - Then casually someone asks, " Is anybody hurt? "
A dazzling streak of light shoots up and bursts, a pretty sight, Transforming No Mans Land into a fairy land of light; 'Tis hard to think a thing so fair is but a means of death, Yet as each "star-shell" shoots aloft we crouch and hold our breath.
And then a low-voiced call comes down for " stretcher bearers here. " Men hurry by and soon a moan falls on the listening ear, " Somebody hit, " you merely think and no one stops at all, Because out here one soon gets used to seeing comrades fall.
Inside the dug-out, damp and foul, a candle's flickering light Shows sleeping forms oblivious of the ever ceaseless fight; Their pillow just a haversack, their bed is only mud: Maybe a cast-off overcoat, damp with a comrade's blood.
Day after day, night after night, the same grim wearing strife: Men come and go - some stay; those who for right gave up their life: For yes, we know the right is ours, our cause is just and true, And so we care not what we hear or what we have to do.
No matter what our task may be, what sacrifice we make For Honour, our Religion and our Liberty's at stake. Our comrades too, both dead and maimed, also demand that we Fight on until the very end, to Death or Victory.
For additional information, visit: http://www.kingandempire.com/bradshaw1.html
>Digitized service file.
Digital gallery of Private Robert Edward Bradshaw
Digital gallery of
Private Robert Edward Bradshaw
Digital gallery of
Private Robert Edward Bradshaw
Digital gallery of
Private Robert Edward Bradshaw
Digital gallery of
Private Robert Edward Bradshaw
Digital gallery of
Private Robert Edward Bradshaw
Image gallery
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 206 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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VIMY MEMORIAL Pas de Calais, France
Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:
Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as 'missing, presumed dead' in France.
A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was 'the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada'. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII.
The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made.
On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Poppy Design is a trademark of The Royal Canadian Legion (Dominion Command) and is used with permission. Click here to learn more about the poppy.
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