Hugh Murphy, an Irishman who died in the Somme, is remembered every year by the people of rural France.
“When Irishmen came here 100 years ago, they came to fight and die. Now they come here to get married”. These words were spoken to my brother by his new French father-in-law when he was welcoming him into the family at his wedding. He was speaking about the multitude of Irishmen who fought and died in the British army in France during the first World War.
In their local cemetery lies the grave of an Irishman. Every year since 1919, the people of the small commune of Laleu have held a memorial ceremony at the graveside of this man that they probably never knew or even met. His is the only grave of an Allied soldier (apart from French locals) in the cemetery.
Laleu is a collection of 43 houses. There are no shops, restaurants or bars. The closest large town is Abbeville, which is about 20km away. At the entrance to the cemetery, a bilingual plaque on the brick pillar reads "Tombe de Guerre du Commonwealth" and "Commonwealth War Grave". This is one of thousands of cemeteries around the world that are in the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The brown gravestone is inscribed with the soldier's service number, rank, name, regiment and date of death. It reads "8436 Lance Cpl H Murphy Royal Irish Rifles 16th December 1916". The gravestone is also adorned with a cross and the badge of his regiment, which bears the Latin motto Quis Separabit. This translates as "Who shall separate us [from the love of Christ]?".
Hugh Murphy was born in Ross, Mountnugent, Co Meath, on October 10th, 1889. He enlisted in the British army in Drogheda on December 19th, 1906. He was a member of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, which was a regular battalion. The Royal Irish Rifles was formed in 1881. It came about through the amalgamation of two regiments that were originally formed in 1793 when the British army was enlarged to meet the threat posed to Great Britain by France. Now, in an ironic twist of fate, they were going to France’s aid.
When war broke out in July 1914, the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles was stationed at Aden. They returned to Liverpool in October and travelled on to Le Havre in early November 1914. It must have been quite a shock for the men to come from the intense heat of Aden to the harsh winter of northern France.
They reached the front line just in time to witness the Christmas Day truce when, for a brief moment, soldiers laid aside their weapons and treated their enemy like fellow human beings. In a spirit of humanity rarely seen on a battlefield throughout human history, carols were sung, games were played, and cigarettes and cigars were exchanged by many soldiers on both sides.
During the war, the men of Murphy’s battalion served on the western front, at the Battles of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Albert, Somme, Passchendaele, and St Quentin. Their presence on the western front for virtually the whole of the war eventually took its toll. The entire regiment, which comprised 21 battalions, lost over 7,000 men during the course of the war.
Murphy’s own battalion was decimated. Commanding offices were repeatedly lost during offensives and very few of its original members survived the war. For those soldiers who did not die in battle, living conditions at the front were appalling. The constant threat of bombardment and sniping from the enemy would have been bad enough, but to have to live in muddy trenches for days on end with only meagre rations must have been unbearable.
According to one account, Hugh Murphy was “asphyxiated”. He died on December 16th, 1916, at the age of just 27 years. A letter sent to his family by the War Office contained the sum of one pound, five shillings and two pence for his mother and next of kin. For many years, it was not known that he was Irish – locals just assumed that he was an Englishman because he was fighting in the British army. However, in recent years locals became aware that he was born in Ireland and visits were made to his grave from Ireland for the first time in decades.
Along with thousands of his compatriots, Hugh Murphy gave his life for the people of this commune and others like it. His simple grave at the far north end of the cemetery is a stark reminder, if one were needed, of the horror of war. It also acts as a bond between the people of this rural part of France and the outside world.