BELFAST RB BOOKLET 2020 - Flipbook - Page 53
Ci t y of Belf ast Grand Bl ack Chapt er - Dem onst rat i on Bookl et 2020
'My dear Mr. Mayor; it is with feelings of
both pleasure and sadness that we, the exmembers of the 14th Battalion of the Royal
Irish Rifles, visit your village today,
because although we had some happy
days in this neighbourhood, we have also
very sad memories of our sojourn in the
same area.
The majority of us lived and fought around
here for many months, and whilst we can
recall hours of fun and laughter when resting
in the surrounding villages, there is ever
present with us. the memory of many of our
comrades who lie buried in the Military
Cemeteries close to Mesnil.
We have returned to-day to do honour in
their memory, to walk over the ground
which they so nobly defended, to think
more deeply of their gallantry and selfsacrifice, and we trust that visits such as
this will help, if indeed help is needed, to
maintain the friendship which exists
between our two countries.
We are taking the opportunity, when here, to
give back to you the hands of your old church
clock, which was destroyed by German
artillery when we occupied the village, and we
feel that they will be received by you in the
spirit in which we have restored them.
It would be our earnest hope and belief
that they will be treasured, not alone by the
older residents, but by their children, that
they will be a reminder of the part played in
the Great War by their village.
Need I also explain the importance of the
words .. C'est Fini (it is finished).
Together with the setting of the hands at
11 o'clock, indicating the cessation of
hostilities, are they not the last words of
Him who made the Great Sacrifice and set
the example to all man-kind that it is
greater to lay down one's life for one's
friends than to gain the whole world.
There is also a Croix-de-Guerre affixed to
the shield, and I would here congratulate your
Commune on that honour which has been
conferred upon you by the French
Government. I should refer, too, to the motto
of our regiment, which you see on the shield ..
Quis Separabit, or .. who shall separate us.
Is it not then appropriate and applicable to
our two great nations who fought side by
side in the greatest of wars?
I have now very great pleasure, Mr. Mayor,
in handing over to you this shield on behalf of
our old Battalion.
Thus the clock hands of Mesnil returned
home to serve forever as a reminder, if one
is needed, of the days when France and
Britain joined together against a common
foe.'
Note: - the War Graves in the local Cemetery include the remains of a total
of 333 Allied Soldiers: British 321; Canadian 5 and New Zealand 7.
IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN - 51 - AND THE FUTURE OF THE LIVING