220292 Pte. John Patrick McEvoy British Army 11th Battalion Essex Regiment from:Cardiff My grandfather John McEvoy, was wounded when he was buried in a shellhole in Zonnebeke on 10th April 1918, 19 days after my mother's birth. He required at least two operations and over a year of hospital treatment but luckily survived. My mother was always told that he was never the same after the war, hardly surprising really. He then died in his early 40's so could probably be considered a casualty of war. My mother talked of him with great affection over 70 years after his death; he was a gentle, kind man and she often helped him in his work as a tailor.
Today my husband and I visited Polygon Wood Cemetery and found the graves of a few men from his battalion who died in the days immediately after he was wounded. I found it very moving to think that they may have known my grandfather. However awful his experience and however much it contributed to his early death, he surely had a better deal than those poor lads.
|