This is the last of the centenary years of World War I (1914-1918). The effects of that tragic conflict are still felt among the nations that were caught up in it. Memories will start to fade, of course, but a promise was made to the soldiers who died in the war that they should never be forgotten. One hopes that pledge will be upheld by future generations.

Captain Michael T. Boland (1898-1918).

Of the thousands of names inscribed on the walls of monuments around the world perhaps one of the most shocking and heartbreaking examples is the Thiepval Memorial. Standing on a slight rise in the flat land of northern France it commemorates the lives of those who perished in the Battles of the Somme (1916-1918) but who have no known grave. There are over 72,000 names inscribed on those huge walls. The horror of it is almost too overwhelming to comprehend.

My uncle, 2nd Lt Michael T. Boland of the 2nd Bn. Royal Munster Fusiliers, at least has a grave with a headstone in a small cemetery just outside a tiny village near Cambrai. It was in the last year of the war that a shell hit the dug-out that served as the headquarters of his Company stationed at Épehy. As far as we know, Michael died instantly. He had not yet reached his 20th birthday.

Like each and every one of those thousands of soldiers, Michael had a family, ambitions, a future – all taken away from him on February 26, 1918. His father also served in France, and recalling their last meeting there he wrote:

“At evening we parted as we parted of old when he was a child going to school, and with that happy memory for ever in my heart I watched him until he was lost to view, going soon after to his death, leaving a vacant place which time can never fill.” (The Lost Years by F.W. Boland)

The tragedy of Michael’s death lay heavy on his parents and his three siblings. My father, the youngest, was 11 years old in 1918. He always said that his childhood ended on that dreadful day. One can only begin to imagine what the atmosphere was like in that home – as in thousands of others.

Michael T. Boland’s headstone at Villers Faucon cemetery, near Cambrai, northern France.

On February 26, 2018, a small group of Boland cousins, representing three generations, travelled from the UK and Malta, to meet up at Cambrai and visit the grave of their Uncle Michael where he lies at the Villers Faucon cemetery. Together we read poems his father wrote at Michael’s death and on the first anniversary, and excerpts from his book. It was cold beyond belief and I passed around some Irish whisky to warm us up and to raise our drooping spirits. We were sure that Michael would have approved.

My grandfather ends his book with these words:

“For my own part, I (…) only hope that in the years to be there may still be those who bear my name and who will sometimes give a kindly thought and a passing prayer to the memory of two of their ancestors who tried to play the part of men in the terrible drama of the Great War.”

As we cousins stood in that freezing corner of northern France we were all glad to be able to tell them both that a hundred years on there were still people who carry their name and who are very proud to give a kindly thought and a passing prayer in their memory.