ANZAC anniversary prompts new contacts across the globe

ANZAC anniversary

The power of modern communications has been an enormous benefit to the work of the Tynemouth project. Recently the nations of Australia and New Zealand marked the 99^th anniversary of the ill-fated landings by the ANZAC Corps on the Dardanelles peninsular, as their contribution to the plans of the Allies to seize the channel giving access to the Black Sea and thus force the Ottoman Turks to withdraw from the war and thus it was believed weaken the Austro-Hungarian and German alliance of which the Turks held the eastern flank.

The experience of that campaign is credited with forging the national identity of both those newly emergent Dominions of the then British Empire. Each year at dawn on the 25^th of April a vast number of the current populations of both countries gather in silent vigils to remember the heavy losses of the fledgling nations and as a collective affirmation of their sense of who they are.

As a part of those national commemorations many of the millions of current day Australians with family connections to the ‘mother country’ are reminded of their own family history and the contribution of grandfathers and others to the combined military effort that was the tragedy of the Great War.

A recent posting on Facebook in Australia by a relative of Rufus Brooksbank who died of his wounds aged only 21 on 7^th July, 1916, having been struck down in the ill-fated advance of the Tyneside Irish Brigade in front of La Boiselle on the opening day of the Somme campaign, has brought together a number of his descendants who were unaware of the work of the project.

Two years ago the News Guardian featured Rufus Brooksbanks’ name as part of the weekly listing of casualties by the paper which was so helpful in making connections today for the project and which was picked up across the world in 2012 by two of his descendants who got in touch. They were able to provide some interesting family memorabilia about Rufus and his only daughter who was born just five days after his death in a military hospital. Now, alerted by a story from a social media posting two more relatives have become aware of the project and the work we have been carrying out. His granddaughter was abroad when her brother made contact with us in 2012 and did not learn of the project until just 6 days ago. We have now received additional information to add to Rufus’ entry in our database and which will be available, with the more 1700 biographies of local casualties we have researched, on the internet from 28^th June, 2014.

The last lecture in our very popular series held in conjunction with Northumbria University will be given by Professor Joanna Bourke of Birkbeck College, London University who will conclude this acclaimed 8 part programme looking at the aftermath of the war in a lecture entitled ‘Armistice and Disability’. The lecture begins at 6.15pm on Tuesday 13^th May, 2014 at the City Campus East site of Northumbria University (opposite manors Metro Station) with parking (charged) available from 5pm).