Lest we forget...
Discussion
Halmyre said:
don4l][url said:
This photo depicts the effect of gas. The soldiers eyes have become so sensitised to light that they have had to cover them. They are walking to the dressing station. I think that it depicts the effects of mustard gas.
I think blindness is caused by chlorine gas.Could be wrong tho.
Rebew said:
I've been reading this thread since the start and it really changed my perspective during the moments silence today. The more you learn about the war the more you realise what a tragic loss of life it was with so little achieved in the long run. Looking forward to more posts soon,
That comment is very much appreciated.Thank you.
There's a very chilling video in the Flanders Field museum about the effects of gas. It starts with an actor in costume as the German chemist who developed the delivery methods of the gases in question reading his notes as to how the gas would work. It suggested it would simply drift through the lines eliminating the soldiers.
It then cuts to another actor in the uniform of a medical orderly reading his memoirs - where he describes how absolutely nothing at all lived through the attack - even the rats came out to die. The complete silence as all insect and bird life has also ceased..
It then cuts to another actor in the uniform of a medical orderly reading his memoirs - where he describes how absolutely nothing at all lived through the attack - even the rats came out to die. The complete silence as all insect and bird life has also ceased..
don4l said:
Rebew said:
I've been reading this thread since the start and it really changed my perspective during the moments silence today. The more you learn about the war the more you realise what a tragic loss of life it was with so little achieved in the long run. Looking forward to more posts soon,
That comment is very much appreciated.Thank you.
2) Another 2p
Whilst the casualties were very high, & each life lost a tragedy, I ask people to try & find some comfort that IT WAS NOT in vain. Due to their ultimate sacrifice, the Germans did not win, or impose a harsh victors treaty on Belgium/France/Britain, which would have happened, this is not in doubt. Please think about where would they have stopped with their expansionist military Government? They showed no remorse at all in using any means to win the war/kill millions to meet their aims.
Despite the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, & bankruptcy of the Empire, for which we are still being affected, Democracy still triumphed, & due to the courage of people who lived by it's values, Democracy was still good/strong enough to triumph again 20 odd years later, against Churchill's 'dark light of peverted science' in WW2.
So, even when I see all the rows of headstones, & knowing that each one may represent a family/community affected or destroyed, each one was a necessary, sad price to pay in a conflict involving millions of people & mass industrialisation, & I hope played it's own part in Europe being so sick of war, that the bloodletting has stopped for the longest time in our history. Their sacrifice helped make this happen.
Lest we Forget.
deadtom said:
last weekend some of my unit paraded for the daily remembrance service at the Thiepval memorial.
I feel privileged to have been a small part of keeping the memory alive of what these men did and what they sacrificed.
We visited many of the places mentioned so far in this thread; the ones that stand out the most for me were the sunken lane which remains largely unchanged since the war and you can climb up the very same bank that the soldiers did moments before they were cut down by machine gun fire, high wood which is an utterly foreboding and unnerving place to be near as it has never been properly cleared and as such still contains the remains of an estimated 10,000 soldiers and Delville wood which is now a place of incredible beauty and tranquillity that belies the total carnage that befell it 100 years ago.
I feel privileged to have been a small part of keeping the memory alive of what these men did and what they sacrificed.
We visited many of the places mentioned so far in this thread; the ones that stand out the most for me were the sunken lane which remains largely unchanged since the war and you can climb up the very same bank that the soldiers did moments before they were cut down by machine gun fire, high wood which is an utterly foreboding and unnerving place to be near as it has never been properly cleared and as such still contains the remains of an estimated 10,000 soldiers and Delville wood which is now a place of incredible beauty and tranquillity that belies the total carnage that befell it 100 years ago.
Lovely photo of Delville Wood, you captured the present day spirit perfectly with that one. Isn't it almost unimaginable to think how horrific it was during the battle?! It's one of the most poignant and haunting places to visit in the region and a must-do along with Vimy Ridge and Thiepval. Railway Hollow, near Serre, just broods every time I visit there. A very very sobering few acres of earth.
Don, I have just re-read this whole thread in its entirety and once again I have been moved to tears.
In the past four years I have twice visited Ypres and the 'In Flanders Fields' museum*, spent time at some of the cemeteries and of course attended the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate: a truly moving, haunting and sobering experience.
I feel that everyone should make the effort to go there at least once in their lifetime, it's something that will always stay with you.
It makes you fully appreciate the sacrifice that so many young men and boys made so that evil would not prevail. It also brings home the utter pointlessness and tragic waste of life that is war. Even worse is the unnecessary suffering inflicted inflicted on civilians, men, women and children alike. It's such a great pity that this scenario is always being played out in some part or other of the world to this day. ( Syria, Nigeria, Yemen for example ).
We shall never forget, but will we never learn?
Thankyou for your good work on bringing this topic to us all.
In the past four years I have twice visited Ypres and the 'In Flanders Fields' museum*, spent time at some of the cemeteries and of course attended the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate: a truly moving, haunting and sobering experience.
I feel that everyone should make the effort to go there at least once in their lifetime, it's something that will always stay with you.
It makes you fully appreciate the sacrifice that so many young men and boys made so that evil would not prevail. It also brings home the utter pointlessness and tragic waste of life that is war. Even worse is the unnecessary suffering inflicted inflicted on civilians, men, women and children alike. It's such a great pity that this scenario is always being played out in some part or other of the world to this day. ( Syria, Nigeria, Yemen for example ).
We shall never forget, but will we never learn?
Thankyou for your good work on bringing this topic to us all.
- My first visit there was about 3 hours duration, it was not enough to take it all in so I vowed to return, and did so last year, taking along a couple of friends. They agreed it's a very emotional experience.
Edited by glenrobbo on Sunday 4th December 13:19
My Grandmother had 5 brothers who served.
Two of which never returned, one is on the local war memorial but one was left off.
The parish where the family came from had researched the villager's that they were aware off including those that returned.
They are remembered in the church with a very good display, each villager has a booklet.
I contacted the church and both my great uncles are now remembered at least in the church.
http://www.standrewsgreatryburgh.org.uk/world-war-...
http://www.standrewsgreatryburgh.org.uk/world-war-...
Arthur was remembered Tom was not.
I visit Arthur's grave as often as possible 2 days after his 100th anniversary.I stayed in a gite which Arthur more than likely went passed before he died, as it was the village his battalion was in the day before he died.
Tom was his my grans favorite brother, she never knew he had no grave and was never able to travel to France to see where he is remembered at Arras.
Two of which never returned, one is on the local war memorial but one was left off.
The parish where the family came from had researched the villager's that they were aware off including those that returned.
They are remembered in the church with a very good display, each villager has a booklet.
I contacted the church and both my great uncles are now remembered at least in the church.
http://www.standrewsgreatryburgh.org.uk/world-war-...
http://www.standrewsgreatryburgh.org.uk/world-war-...
Arthur was remembered Tom was not.
I visit Arthur's grave as often as possible 2 days after his 100th anniversary.I stayed in a gite which Arthur more than likely went passed before he died, as it was the village his battalion was in the day before he died.
Tom was his my grans favorite brother, she never knew he had no grave and was never able to travel to France to see where he is remembered at Arras.
Thought I'd pick this thread back up as clearly there are some contributors who have "done" the WW1 battlefields and I was after a bit of advice.
My father passed away last year, and whilst I was clearing out his house abroad, I came across a "Dead Man's Penny" with a family name on it. It (along with my grandfather's WW2 medals, separate story) was one of the few things I was able to bring back to the UK. I remember the penny from my childhood home, although I'd not seen it for years. A "Dead Man's Penny", by the way, was a bronze plaque given to the family of those killed in action. They were always devoid of rank, on the basis that rank had no bearing on the "ultimate sacrifice". And, of course, there were a number of "Dead Woman's Pennies" too. Here it is...the wooden plinth is a later addition.
Anyway, myself and a cousin (well...mainly my cousin) have done some digging, and the man in question was our great grandfather's brother. Tragically, he served for 3 years before being killed in the 100 days offensive, on the 29th September 1918, just a couple of months before the end of the war. He was 25.
He's buried at Beaulencourt cemetery in France, a tiny cemetery in a field, slap bang in the middle of here:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/62450+Beaulenc...
Now, I've "done" Normandy and the D-Day sites, but never any of the WW1 battlefields and museums. So, my cousin and I feel duty bound to head over next September, on the centenary of his death, with the Penny, and pay our respects...as it's only 100 miles from Calais it just seems a bit rude not to, and I suspect that no family member may have ever actually been there since the day he fell.
I'd love some suggestions for an itinerary, and the best places to see. Myself and my o/h will have a 3 year old with us, so I don't want to rack up mega mileage going absolutely all over the place, and perhaps also intersperse the more sombre stuff with museums etc that he might like. He won't yet find museums "boring", he'll still be pointing at anything that's slightly out of the norm such as a tank or gun with lots of excitement.
The centenary, the 29th September, is a Saturday, so perhaps over the channel on Thursday, look around on the Friday, be near Beaulencourt for the Saturday, and back across the channel early PM on the Sunday.
Any suggestions gratefully received and I hope anyone reading this has found it interesting! Oh, and the Penny, along with my Grandfather's medals (including the Burma Star...he spent years as a PoW in Japan) hang in my hallway and remind me that if I'm having a really bad day at work (I work from home), that actually, I'm really not having an even remotely bad day whatsoever...
My father passed away last year, and whilst I was clearing out his house abroad, I came across a "Dead Man's Penny" with a family name on it. It (along with my grandfather's WW2 medals, separate story) was one of the few things I was able to bring back to the UK. I remember the penny from my childhood home, although I'd not seen it for years. A "Dead Man's Penny", by the way, was a bronze plaque given to the family of those killed in action. They were always devoid of rank, on the basis that rank had no bearing on the "ultimate sacrifice". And, of course, there were a number of "Dead Woman's Pennies" too. Here it is...the wooden plinth is a later addition.
Anyway, myself and a cousin (well...mainly my cousin) have done some digging, and the man in question was our great grandfather's brother. Tragically, he served for 3 years before being killed in the 100 days offensive, on the 29th September 1918, just a couple of months before the end of the war. He was 25.
He's buried at Beaulencourt cemetery in France, a tiny cemetery in a field, slap bang in the middle of here:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/62450+Beaulenc...
Now, I've "done" Normandy and the D-Day sites, but never any of the WW1 battlefields and museums. So, my cousin and I feel duty bound to head over next September, on the centenary of his death, with the Penny, and pay our respects...as it's only 100 miles from Calais it just seems a bit rude not to, and I suspect that no family member may have ever actually been there since the day he fell.
I'd love some suggestions for an itinerary, and the best places to see. Myself and my o/h will have a 3 year old with us, so I don't want to rack up mega mileage going absolutely all over the place, and perhaps also intersperse the more sombre stuff with museums etc that he might like. He won't yet find museums "boring", he'll still be pointing at anything that's slightly out of the norm such as a tank or gun with lots of excitement.
The centenary, the 29th September, is a Saturday, so perhaps over the channel on Thursday, look around on the Friday, be near Beaulencourt for the Saturday, and back across the channel early PM on the Sunday.
Any suggestions gratefully received and I hope anyone reading this has found it interesting! Oh, and the Penny, along with my Grandfather's medals (including the Burma Star...he spent years as a PoW in Japan) hang in my hallway and remind me that if I'm having a really bad day at work (I work from home), that actually, I'm really not having an even remotely bad day whatsoever...
I was in Belgium in October and I wandered abit and in the Ypres salient I came across woods with a canal running through it bordered by high ground (old German frontline) along with
http://m.downthelane.net/?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.go...
There was a outdoor video interactive section along with a long boardwalk over the German line. In part I think the boardwalk was there to avoid walking on literally an open grave.
Through the woods I came across alot of interesting features including a live high ex shell (I started a topic on it in Oct).
You have to do a bit of wandering by car (or road bike in summer?) But well worth a trip. In Ypres across from the church is a great delictetessant.
http://m.downthelane.net/?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.go...
There was a outdoor video interactive section along with a long boardwalk over the German line. In part I think the boardwalk was there to avoid walking on literally an open grave.
Through the woods I came across alot of interesting features including a live high ex shell (I started a topic on it in Oct).
You have to do a bit of wandering by car (or road bike in summer?) But well worth a trip. In Ypres across from the church is a great delictetessant.
Good old Hill 60. I wonder how many there are in the UK? Maybe as many as "High St" or "Church Lane" - there was definitely one near my grandparents' home in Walcott, North Norfolk. After the war many returning veterans would have named a local hill or salient after that feature from the Western Front.
Maybe the horrors of the conflict had made such a huge impression they would never forget the name.
Maybe the horrors of the conflict had made such a huge impression they would never forget the name.
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