Brigadier-General Edward John Granet

[Guest Simon Bull]

Yesterday I purchased a copy of the book "Bloody Red Taps". Flicking through it I was intrigued by the fact that Brigadier-General Edward John Granet is buried in Switzerland. The entry relating to him in the book says that he died of wounds on the 22nd of October 1918. It appears that his death was as a result of the effects of being hit by shell splinters at Suvla Bay Gallipoli. The book is silent as to how the Brigadier-General comes to be buried in Switzerland. Do any of the Pals know?

[stevem]

Hi Simon

CWGC shows him as being a military attache with service in Rome, Stockholm and Berne. He may have died whilst serving in Switzerland.

Regards

Steve

[christine liava'a]

Name: GRANET, EDWARD JOHN

Initials: E J

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Brigadier General

Regiment: Royal Artillery

Secondary Unit Text: Military Attache, Rome, Stockholm, Berne

Age: 60

Date of Death: 22/10/1918

Awards: CB

Additional information: Husband of Evelyn Pulcherie Granet, of 3, Neville St., Onslow Gardens, London. Served in the South African Campaign.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: 60A.

Cemetery: VEVEY (ST. MARTIN'S) CEMETERY

Cemetery: VEVEY (ST. MARTIN'S) CEMETERY

Country: Switzerland

Locality: unspecified

Location Information: Vevey is a town on the northern shore of Lake Leman (also known as Lake Constance), close to the eastern end of the lake. The cemetery is located above the main railway station. From the station follow the Chemin de l'Esperance. The main entrance to the cemetery is in the Chemin du Point du Jour. The Commonwealth war graves plot forms part of Plot 53, which is roughly in the centre of the cemetery.

Historical Information: In the year 1916, agreements were made between the Swiss Government and the French, British and German Governments under which a certain number of wounded prisoners of war were interned in Switzerland. The first British prisoners arrived on Swiss soil at the end of May, 1916; and the average number under treatment during the remainder of the war was 2,000. Of these, 61 died before repatriation; and, including other casualties, 88 British and Dominion sailors, soldiers and airmen, fallen in the Great War, are buried in Swiss soil. The 1914-18 War graves were concentrated in from the following sites; at Arosa, at Berne, at Chateaud'oex, at Chur, at Clarens, at Constance, at Couvet, at Fribourg, at Interlaken, at Laufenburg, at Lausanne, at Lauterbrunnen, at Leysin and at Sierre.

During the 1939-45 War, Switzerland was again neutral and accorded asylum to refugees of various types; soldiers who had crossed the frontiers during operations; prisoners of war escaping German and Italian prison camps,; civilians escaping from concentration camps or fleeing from feared imprisonment; and frontier fugitives of the last stages of the war. Despite repatriation measures the number of refugees increased steadily, and from 16,000 in 1942 they rose to 110,000 by May 1945. The commonwealth graves of this period are therefore of either escaped prisoners of war or airmen who crashed in or near Switzerland.

[rflory]

Brig. General Edward John Granet, CB, RA was known as "Peter" in the Regiment.

He served as Military Attache at Rome and Berne from 1911 to 1915. After being wounded at Gallipoli he returned as Military Attache at Rome in June 1917 and later transferred to Berne where he died on 22 Oct 1918.

Regards. Dick Flory

[Guest Simon Bull]

Thanks Pals. I was a bit of a dunce not to think about looking at the CWGC before I asked.

Regards

Simon