In the past week not only did I find that we will meet another two more wonderful people on this trip, but we will have (another) special private tour arranged for us: this time when we get to Graguenamanagh on May 6.

One of the significant sites on this trip is the Mont Huon military cemetery, the final resting place of Charles Edward Fitzhenry, who died on 21-08-1918 after being hit by a bullet to the head on 10-08-18, somewhere in the vicinity of Lihon. Plot 7 Row C Grave 7a.

From the records, it seems that Charles was at Gallipoli on 25-4-15. He was injured in August 1915, being transferred to Malta, then England. He went AWOL in London between 29-12-15 and 10-1-16. His punishment was 168 hours detention and was docked 13 days pay. I wonder what he got up to in London over New Year's 1916?

He got to France via Marseille in April 1916, became a Driver in August 1916, injured in Belgium in September 1917. He was injured and transferred between hospitals on the coast of Nord-Pas-de-Calais during April 1918.

I would say that he must have made his mark in the caves at Naours sometime between May and August 1918.

The link between France and Ireland in this case is that Charles' grandfather (my great-great grandfather ), Martin John Fitzhenry emigrated to the Northern Rivers NSW sometime around the early 1870s. His mother, Judith Doyle (1810-1901, buried in West St. Casino as Johanna Burke) and most of his siblings emigrated together around the same time.

Charles' father Michael Herbert Fitzhenry died 7-2-1910. His mother Elizabeth died on 17-7-1919. For the war, he enlisted as William Doyle, which was his grandmother's name, as Martin John being the second eldest sibling, Michael Herbert the youngest. The record shows that his mother Elizabeth sometimes being referred to as a Doyle, but I'm not sure why it was the case, as it was his grandmother's maiden name.

Update: I've just been contacted by the ABC. Richard Fidler and his team are working on a WW1 documentary, and wish to interview relatives of soldiers who wrote in the caves at Naours.