Brandt Ward at Zonnebeke where his great grandfather died in 1917.
The outstretched hand and request of a dying mother to fetch something from her drawers led Brandt Ward on a journey of discovery into World War 1 and a great grandfather he knew nothing about.
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His great grandfather was Corowa digger, Albert (Bert) Henri Menere, an engineer by trade, born to a Coreen family.
Bert was not quite 37 years old when he enlisted in January 1917, bound for England from Sydney just 15 days later on board the RMS Osterley.
By August, Bert had reached France with the 62nd Battalion where he stepped up to become a stretcher bearer.
Corowa digger, Albert (Bert) Henri Menere at Southhampton.
While in France, he commissioned a local embroiderer to fashion a cushion cover to send home to his wife, Blanche.
The cushion was stitched with a message of love and despatched from the base post office with hope it would make it home to Corowa.
Bert joined the 35th Battalion after the Battle of Messines, marching to the front line on September 2, leaving France behind for the bloody battlefields of Belgium.
After spending a night in the muddy trenches at Zonnebeke, Albert Henri Menere lost his life in the lead up to the Passchendaele Offensive of the Battle of Ypres on October 2, 1917, leaving behind his wife and six children.
The cushion Bert Menere sent home to his wife Blanch in Corowa.
Brandt Ward has recounted the last years of his great grandfather’s life and his contribution to the war effort in his book Lost but Not Forgotten, described by Colonel (Retd) Brian Bailey CSC as “a testament to the power of remembrance”.
Albert’s body may have been buried on the battlefields of WWI with more than 60,000 lost Australian soldiers, but Brandt has brought his grandfather’s spirit home in the writing of his book.
Lest We Forget.
Lost but Not Forgotten is available from Dymocks online or Amazon.
