A Shared Pilgrimage to the Great War Battlefields
A cross–community group has recently returned from a unique visit to the battlefields of the Great War 1914 – 18. It was led by the Revd Canon Dr Jonathan Barry of St Mary’s Church of Ireland Comber and Revd Father Martin O’Hagan Parish Priest of St Patrick’s Newtownards and Comber. The trip, organized by local man Tom Quinn, numbered forty eight Protestants and Catholics.
Staying in the Peace Village Hostel in the Belgium town of Messines the party toured the main sites of the terrible battles on the Somme and those around Ypres in Belgium. The experience of seeing endless military Cemeteries and relics of the terrible struggles deeply affected many within the group. The expedition followed the paths of the 36th (Ulster) and the 16th (Irish) Divisions and several individuals were able to identify the last resting place of relatives they had never known.
Two inter–denominational religious services were held; one in the Catholic Church in the village of Guillemont on the Somme and another in St George’s Anglican Church in Ypres, Belgium. Ypres was totally destroyed in the course of the fighting but is now beautifully restored.
For many this town provided the most poignant experience of the whole expedition. Preceded by two Belgian policemen and a piper Fr O’Hagan and Canon Barry led the group through the main street to the Menin Gate. This ceremonial arch bears the names of fifty five thousand soldiers who were killed around Ypres and whose bodies were never found. Each evening for the past eighty five years the buglers of the local Fire Brigade have sounded the last post.
Beneath the gate Canon Barry led the prayers and Fr O’Hagan sang Abide with Me – beautifully. Several hundred spectators listened in rapt and respectful silence.
This was a moving and fitting finale to a truly memorable experience which would not have been possible without the support of Ards Borough Council and the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
With thanks to Mr Derek Smyth for this article.
Pictured below: Canon Barry (left) and Father O’Hagan with the Buglers at the Menin Gate, Ypres.