First World War wooden cross grave marker of Thomas Corlett
Date made: 1917
Maker: unknown
Description: Few objects convey the reality of war on the Western Front as powerfully as this simple wooden cross, which once marked a Manx soldier's battlefield grave. Thomas Corlett of Ballaugh was serving with the 3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion when he was killed by a shell on 19 October 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). This grave marker stood above the spot where he was buried, until in the 1920s his body was moved to White House Cemetery, near Ypres. Here it was replaced by a permanent headstone. Families were then able, if they wished, to claim the original wooden cross.
Materials: wood
Object name: grave marker
Collection: Social History Collection
ID Number: 2015-0013