Known Unto God

Image Temple

"Should anything happen, Mummie, don't grieve for me because it is His will and That is always best. To the best of my knowledge I am pretty well prepared to go and face my God, but of course I have no particular wish to go yet. Somehow or other I feel firmly convinced I will survive and so I do not worry at all.
"Should this be my last letter, dearest, remember I will always be waiting and watching for you and praying also, darling Mother, for your spiritual welfare ... Oh, Mum! How I wish I could have one farewell kiss before going into battle."

Words from a letter written by Lt. Leo Corrigan to his mother in Sydney as he left for Gallipoli. He was killed 2 years later in action at the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium on September 20,1917 aged 22. The following day, he & five other Australian boys were hastily buried in an unmarked roadside grave, their bodies were wrapped in blankets and tied with signal wire, their hands clasped in prayer. Back in Sydney his father received his war service medals & his mother his prayer book & rosary beads. As a devout Catholic, his mother Sarah had hoped Leo would become a priest after the War. In 1919, when his grieving mother wrote to authorities to request details of her son's final resting place, the reply was 'Place of Burial: Not Known'. Living to her 90's, she always longed for a photo of her son's grave & never recovered from her loss. 91 years on, Leo's grave still remains unknown.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

LEST WE FORGET