Nice
- Ratings and Petty Officers of the L.E. Macha forming up outside Church after attending Mass 5/9/48.
The L.E. Macha reached Nice on Saturday 4th September where Lieutenant Commander Thompson (Captain of the L.E. Macha) and Commander McKenna met with French officials and with Seán Murphy, Irish Ambassador to France.
On the following morning the crew, split into two watches, attended mass at 8am and 9am.
To view further images of the Irish Naval Service in Nice click on the photographs.
Roquebrune
- French Honour Guard at Roquebrune
Yeats had been buried at Roquebrune cemetery, Mentone, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. At 9.00am Monday 6th September, Ambassador Murphy and Commander McKenna travelled to Roquebrune to attend a religious ceremony before Yeats' remains were removed to Nice. A tricolour was placed on the coffin with a French military guard drawn up on either side and a local poet delivered an impassioned oration.
The funeral procession was met by an Irish Guard of Honour on the upper deck of the L.E. Macha, the band played the French and Irish national anthems and a Petty Officer provided a guard by the coffin, resting on arms reversed, until the L.E. Macha was out to sea.
- The band of the 159th Regiment (French Army) heads the funeral procession on to the harbour at Nice.
- Logbook of the L.E. Macha dated 6th September 1948 recording the embarkation of the remains of W.B. Yeats
