On a cold January day earlier this year, as my friends and I set out for a battlefield walk through Polygon Wood in the 1914–18 Ypres Salient, something new caught our eye on the quiet road up from Black Watch Corner. There, close to where the front lines once ran, stood a striking memorial we had never noticed before. It was a powerful bronze sculpture — one soldier cradling a dying comrade — set in a thoughtfully laid-out park.
Intrigued, we parked up and went and took a look. What we found was a superbly executed piece of art - positioned at the end of a long causeway which was flagged in stunning Belgian blue stone - the access to which was flanked by a similarly finished wall inscribed with the words 'Brothers in Arms'. Walking along the causeway one could not help but focus on the 120% scale figures at the end and the dramatic screen of tall trees beyond. In exploring more deeply, a fascinating story unfolded.
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| Brothers in Arms, Zonnebeke |
The sculpture depicts two brothers - John 'Jack' and James 'Jim' Hunter and the memorial park in which it sits is designed to commemorate siblings lost in conflict. An explanatory plaque nearby provided more details - John and Jim hailed from Nanango, Queensland, Australia and they joined up within two days of each other in October 1916. They were both drafted into the 49th Battalion, Australian Infantry and were together at the time of John's death on the 26th September 1917. John had been severely injured whilst investigating an object in no-mans-land shortly before his Battalion launched an attack. He crawled back to the Australian front line trench where he died in his brothers arms. Jim participated in the subsequent attack and afterwards took the body of his elder brother back to a temporary cemetery behind the lines, where he laid him to rest. The grave was lost during subsequent fighting.
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| Jack & Jim Hunter, 49th Bn AIF |
Johan has always had a passion for the history of the Great War. He grew up amongst the battlefields of Flanders and the 'Silent Cities' with their rows of immaculate white headstones. He has collaborated on a number of important projects connected with the First World War and takes particular pride in having hosted the last fighting Tommy, Harry Patch, at his cafe on several occasions. It was only natural that he would be the 'go to' person when it came to what follows next.
The Hunter story can be rejoined in the year 2006 when a new gas pipeline was being laid in the hamlet of Westhoek. Johan was called in when the operator of an excavator claimed to have found human remains. The police were duly contacted, and in turn, the local mayor - who gave permission for the body to be excavated. As work progressed it became apparent that there was another body buried next to the first - and a third, a fourth and finally a fifth - identified as John 'Jack' Hunter. Johan recalls that the fifth body, which had been wrapped in a ground sheet, had been buried with particular care.
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| Brothers in Arms Memorial |
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| The Sculpture with Polygon Wood beyond |
All five soldiers were exhumed and identified as Australian. Three of the five were identified through a DNA match with living relatives. It was via research through John's niece Molly that the story of John's death and his brothers' role in the burial came to light. Indeed Jim had gone back to Windhoek in 1918 in search of John's grave. Sadly, all traces of it had gone and by the time that it was rediscovered Jim was no longer alive.
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| John Hunter's CWGC Grave |
Once identified, all five Australian soldiers were buried in the nearby Buttes New British Military Cemetery, Polygon Wood, Belgium. The words chosen for the headstone by the family were 'Beloved son of Harry and Emily Hunter, Nanango, QLD. At rest after being lost for ninety years'.
To see images from our January, 2026 Ypres trip, click here.
