Saturday, September 19, we will be in Nieuport to celebrate the memory of Chief Petty Officer Yves Marie CARVAL, who was killed in 1915 and buried in a mass grave. More than a century later, Bretons will go to honor the memory of one of their own. The family will be present, along with local authorities, for a ceremony in the Breton language.
In honor of Yves Marie CARVAL
I do not think that at Koun Breizh we have participated in an event as moving and meaningful as this one.
Born in Plogoff on November 15, 1889, quartermaster Yves Marie CARVAL fought in the famous marine rifle brigade of Admiral Ronarc’h, which delayed the advance of the Germans on the Yser front at the cost of horrific losses.
Like many, he fell in the line of duty on January 15, 1915, and his comrades buried him hastily under shellfire in a pit, right where he was killed, in Nieuport, just a short distance from the Yser. He still rests there today with a few comrades whose names we do not know.
The small wooden cross placed by his comrades has long since disappeared.
A few months ago, Koun Breizh publicized the request we made to the town hall of Dixmude to have the plaque in the Breton language, placed in memory of our Breton soldiers in Dixmude, reinstated.
Upon learning this, the family of Yves Marie CARVAL contacted us to let us know that they were searching for the location where he was buried. The previous year, they had traveled to Belgium with the granddaughter of the deceased, who is now 85 years old. They had not found the grave.
Koun Breizh undertook research and was able to locate the pit where he lies, through the French embassy in Belgium and Mr. COSSEY, who works for French aid in Flanders.
On September 19, 2026, at 11:30 AM, we will be in Nieuport, in front of the pit where he rests, with his family to pay tribute to him, with a religious ceremony in the Breton language.
More than a hundred years later, in the midst of a lost field in Flanders, Bretons will honor the memory of one of their own, who fell in the line of duty.
No one had ever come to pay their respects at his remains before.
It is never too late to honor our dead.
Yvon Ollivier
Rener Koun Breizh
06 68 56 67 69
