I [Damien Francis Mackey] wrote this as a dedication in my Fatima book, "The Five First Saturdays":
"I had only just begun the preparatory work towards revising a previous article of mine on the same subject [Five First Saturdays of Our Lady of Fatima] in the light of new global developments and, hopefully, in the light of a better appreciation of the significance of the book of Esther, when on the 30th of October 1989 my father William Ambrose Mackey died suddenly in Hobart (Tasmania).
Born in May 1917, his busy life spanned the same 72-year period as was the duration of the modern ‘Babylonian Captivity’ of the Church’s suppression by the Bolsheviks in what they called the Soviet Union.
{His father, Private Francis Joseph Mackey, my grandfather, a Tasmanian, who was killed in action at Broodseinde, October 1917, was mentioned by Australia's Governor-General, Michael Jeffery, during a speech at the Tyne Cot memorial service, Belgium, 4 October 2007}.
http://www.gg.gov.au/governorgeneral/speech.php?id=281
For picture, see:
http://blog.awm.gov.au/1917/2007/04/04/private-francis-joseph-mackey/
My sister, Frances Wipprecht, wrote this piece on our grandfather, Francis Mackey:
PRIVATE FRANCIS (FRANK) JOSEPH MACKEY
My grandfather, Francis Joseph Mackey was” killed in action” on 5th October 1917 at the Battle of Broodseinde, Belgium – one of several battles of Third Ypres, usually termed Passchendaele. He was 37 years old.
He enlisted on 30th October 1916 and began training at Claremont Camp. His younger brother, William Ambrose, 32, had died there of meningitis four months earlier, only seven weeks after enlisting.
Frank had no complaints about the training camp and in a letter dated 4-11-16 to his mother, Ellen, who lived at Rhyndaston, near Colebrook he wrote: “I feel very well since I came and I like it very much, they treat us very well, get plenty to eat.”
On 10th February, 1917, Frank sailed with his unit, the Tasmanian 40th Battalion, on “HMAT Seang Bee” for England leaving behind his wife, Cecilia, who was expecting their first child in May. He requested that, if the baby was a boy, he be named William Ambrose, after his late brother.
The ship arrived in Devenport, England on 2nd May 1917 and in a letter dated 25-8-17 to his sister, also Ellen, he wrote: “…after a pleasant trip, we managed to dodge the submarines but had a little excitement the night before we landed our escorts sighted a submarine at dusk and fired on it but it got away, we were about 70 miles from Devenport where we landed.”
On 8th May 1917, my father, William Ambrose, was born at Ranelagh and his doting mother, Cecilia, sent photos and a postcard to Frank overseas, “I hope it will not be long before you are able to see your dear little son in reality.” And the proud father wrote back, “I was so pleased to know that you are well and it was a son, Dear I am anxious to get another letter from you to hear all about it and when it was born. I wish I was coming back to look after you dear, but don’t worry we will look forward to a good time coming. I often think of you although we are a long way apart.”
Frank enjoyed four days leave sightseeing in London but commented to Ellen “but you want plenty of money here, you have to pay through the nose for every thing…but Australia will do me and I won’t be sorry when I get back but I am thinking it will mean another winter in the trenches…” They were given extra training in England and he also spent two weeks with measles in an Isolation Hospital “very nearly all our boys got them…it was only a holiday for us we were well treated.”
In the same letter to his sister he writes, “…we are going to France tomorrow…so when you hear the Australians are in action again you will know I am with them, and trust to God for the rest. I have every confidence I will come through safe we have been well trained here, been through poison gass with helmets on.”
An entry in his notebook reads, “Arrived in France 30/8/17. Went up the line 12/9/17.” The troops were marched many miles through France and Belgium where they were involved in active duty on the battlefields.
Frank was transferred to a stretcher platoon. However, his time spent carrying the wounded was short.
During the heavy fighting on the hellish muddy wartorn battleground he was hit by a shell and died instantly at Broodseinde Ridge near Ypres on 5th October 1917.
Record from Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau Files 1914-1918 War:
Informant A. Harman of the 40th Battalion wrote: “I saw him killed at Ypres, Oct 5th 1917. His head was blown off with a shell. Knew him well, a real good fellow. He was a stretcher bearer and did good work and helped many a fellow on his feet. We were carrying the stretcher when we were hit. The stretcher was blown to pieces. I was hit, fractured scull and damaged sight.”
Captain F.C. Green of the 40th Battalion wrote: “My runner took his identity disc and papers and they belonged to 3147 Pte. F.J. Mackey. I made a note of it at the time, and noted that his people lived at Ranelagh, Tasmania. His body was buried by a burial party of the Battalion. The grave is near a place called Beecham on the Zonnebeke Map.”
My grandmother, Cecilia, was notified on 28th October 1917 that her husband was wounded in action and was reassured on November 3rd by the Defence Dept that “it is to be assumed that he is making satisfactory progress towards recovery..” However, a letter dated 5th December 1917 informed her that Frank was “Previously reported wounded, now reported killed in action.” He had been dead already for two months.
His personal possessions – wallet, photos, purse, coins and prayer book were returned to his wife.
Cecilia never remarried and grieved all her life for her beloved Frank. She wrote numerous letters in the hope of acquiring a photograph of his grave which did not exist. She passed away in 1973.
In 1977 when I was living in Holland with my Dutch husband we drove to Ypres in search of my
The inscriptions on the monument read:
TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918
AND THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE
Above the staircase arches is inscribed:
IN MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM
HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL
IN YPRES SALIENT, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH
Photos of the monument and my grandfather’s name were promptly sent to my father in Tasmania and he wrote back, “It touched me greatly to think of my little daughter and her husband visiting that battlefield scene nearly 60 years after his death. God bless you both for what you did.”
On the 4th October 2007, the 90th anniversary of the battles of 1917 in Flanders, a huge honour was bestowed on Francis Joseph and Cecilia Mackey when they were mentioned in an address given by the then Governor-General Michael Jeffery at the Tyne Cot Memorial Service in Belgium. He urged us never to forget the families of soldiers at home waiting for news of their men.
Quote from the Governor General’s speech: “Mrs Cecilia Mackey of Tasmania wrote a simple yet anxious plea to the Secretary of Defence seeking official advice about conflicting news of her husband’s welfare: this is what she wrote: “Could you oblige me with particulars as to date that my husband was wounded as I have since been told that he was killed in action. Only three days ago I got word that his wound was not serious.
Please oblige as I am anxious.”
To be remembered 90 years later on the now peaceful battlefields of the Western Front was indeed an honour for my grandparents.
The names of Francis Joseph Mackey and his brother William Ambrose Mackey are also inscribed on the war monument at Richmond.
LEST WE FORGET
[End of Frances' article]
The Fatima apparitions took place between May 1917 and October 1917.
William Mackey was born in May 1917 and his father died in October 1917.
May all who read this kindly pray for the repose of the soul of William Ambrose Mackey. It is with profound gratitude that I wish to dedicate to the memory of him this small book of
The Five First Saturdays of Our Lady of Fatima.{His father, Private Francis Joseph Mackey, my grandfather, a Tasmanian, who was killed in action at Broodseinde, October 1917, was mentioned by Australia's Governor-General, Michael Jeffery, during a speech at the Tyne Cot memorial service, Belgium, 4 October 2007}.
http://www.gg.gov.au/governorgeneral/speech.php?id=281
For picture, see:
http://blog.awm.gov.au/1917/2007/04/04/private-francis-joseph-mackey/
My sister, Frances Wipprecht, wrote this piece on our grandfather, Francis Mackey:
PRIVATE FRANCIS (FRANK) JOSEPH MACKEY
My grandfather, Francis Joseph Mackey was” killed in action” on 5th October 1917 at the Battle of Broodseinde, Belgium – one of several battles of Third Ypres, usually termed Passchendaele. He was 37 years old.
He enlisted on 30th October 1916 and began training at Claremont Camp. His younger brother, William Ambrose, 32, had died there of meningitis four months earlier, only seven weeks after enlisting.
Frank had no complaints about the training camp and in a letter dated 4-11-16 to his mother, Ellen, who lived at Rhyndaston, near Colebrook he wrote: “I feel very well since I came and I like it very much, they treat us very well, get plenty to eat.”
On 10th February, 1917, Frank sailed with his unit, the Tasmanian 40th Battalion, on “HMAT Seang Bee” for England leaving behind his wife, Cecilia, who was expecting their first child in May. He requested that, if the baby was a boy, he be named William Ambrose, after his late brother.
The ship arrived in Devenport, England on 2nd May 1917 and in a letter dated 25-8-17 to his sister, also Ellen, he wrote: “…after a pleasant trip, we managed to dodge the submarines but had a little excitement the night before we landed our escorts sighted a submarine at dusk and fired on it but it got away, we were about 70 miles from Devenport where we landed.”
On 8th May 1917, my father, William Ambrose, was born at Ranelagh and his doting mother, Cecilia, sent photos and a postcard to Frank overseas, “I hope it will not be long before you are able to see your dear little son in reality.” And the proud father wrote back, “I was so pleased to know that you are well and it was a son, Dear I am anxious to get another letter from you to hear all about it and when it was born. I wish I was coming back to look after you dear, but don’t worry we will look forward to a good time coming. I often think of you although we are a long way apart.”
Frank enjoyed four days leave sightseeing in London but commented to Ellen “but you want plenty of money here, you have to pay through the nose for every thing…but Australia will do me and I won’t be sorry when I get back but I am thinking it will mean another winter in the trenches…” They were given extra training in England and he also spent two weeks with measles in an Isolation Hospital “very nearly all our boys got them…it was only a holiday for us we were well treated.”
In the same letter to his sister he writes, “…we are going to France tomorrow…so when you hear the Australians are in action again you will know I am with them, and trust to God for the rest. I have every confidence I will come through safe we have been well trained here, been through poison gass with helmets on.”
An entry in his notebook reads, “Arrived in France 30/8/17. Went up the line 12/9/17.” The troops were marched many miles through France and Belgium where they were involved in active duty on the battlefields.
Frank was transferred to a stretcher platoon. However, his time spent carrying the wounded was short.
During the heavy fighting on the hellish muddy wartorn battleground he was hit by a shell and died instantly at Broodseinde Ridge near Ypres on 5th October 1917.
Record from Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau Files 1914-1918 War:
Informant A. Harman of the 40th Battalion wrote: “I saw him killed at Ypres, Oct 5th 1917. His head was blown off with a shell. Knew him well, a real good fellow. He was a stretcher bearer and did good work and helped many a fellow on his feet. We were carrying the stretcher when we were hit. The stretcher was blown to pieces. I was hit, fractured scull and damaged sight.”
Captain F.C. Green of the 40th Battalion wrote: “My runner took his identity disc and papers and they belonged to 3147 Pte. F.J. Mackey. I made a note of it at the time, and noted that his people lived at Ranelagh, Tasmania. His body was buried by a burial party of the Battalion. The grave is near a place called Beecham on the Zonnebeke Map.”
My grandmother, Cecilia, was notified on 28th October 1917 that her husband was wounded in action and was reassured on November 3rd by the Defence Dept that “it is to be assumed that he is making satisfactory progress towards recovery..” However, a letter dated 5th December 1917 informed her that Frank was “Previously reported wounded, now reported killed in action.” He had been dead already for two months.
His personal possessions – wallet, photos, purse, coins and prayer book were returned to his wife.
Cecilia never remarried and grieved all her life for her beloved Frank. She wrote numerous letters in the hope of acquiring a photograph of his grave which did not exist. She passed away in 1973.
In 1977 when I was living in Holland with my Dutch husband we drove to Ypres in search of my
grandfather’s grave. We were directed to the Menin Gate Memorial where we found Francis Joseph’s nametogether with other members of the 40th Battalion who died on the battlefields and were buried where theyfell.
The names of 55,000 missing British and Empire troops are engraved on the Menin Gate Memorial, 6,000 of whom are Australians.The inscriptions on the monument read:
TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918
AND THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE
Above the staircase arches is inscribed:
IN MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM
HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL
IN YPRES SALIENT, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH
Photos of the monument and my grandfather’s name were promptly sent to my father in Tasmania and he wrote back, “It touched me greatly to think of my little daughter and her husband visiting that battlefield scene nearly 60 years after his death. God bless you both for what you did.”
On the 4th October 2007, the 90th anniversary of the battles of 1917 in Flanders, a huge honour was bestowed on Francis Joseph and Cecilia Mackey when they were mentioned in an address given by the then Governor-General Michael Jeffery at the Tyne Cot Memorial Service in Belgium. He urged us never to forget the families of soldiers at home waiting for news of their men.
Quote from the Governor General’s speech: “Mrs Cecilia Mackey of Tasmania wrote a simple yet anxious plea to the Secretary of Defence seeking official advice about conflicting news of her husband’s welfare: this is what she wrote: “Could you oblige me with particulars as to date that my husband was wounded as I have since been told that he was killed in action. Only three days ago I got word that his wound was not serious.
Please oblige as I am anxious.”
To be remembered 90 years later on the now peaceful battlefields of the Western Front was indeed an honour for my grandparents.
The names of Francis Joseph Mackey and his brother William Ambrose Mackey are also inscribed on the war monument at Richmond.
LEST WE FORGET
[End of Frances' article]
The Fatima apparitions took place between May 1917 and October 1917.
William Mackey was born in May 1917 and his father died in October 1917.
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