Vicky McClure and her Grandad
Discussion
and31 said:
Just watched this-f
king brilliant.my grandfather’s warship was the control ship for the Mulberry harbour .
Very moving program-especially where the French guy thanks her grandad for his service in 1944
I have just had a chat with my cousin who manages a nursing home. All her residents were totally involved with the program,a couple of the older ones are of the same generation as 'grandad' many had fathers just like him . Many memories were stirred and many were very emotional.king brilliant.my grandfather’s warship was the control ship for the Mulberry harbour .Very moving program-especially where the French guy thanks her grandad for his service in 1944
Anyone who has visited a war memorial overseas cannot fail to be moved by the places . I certainly was ,both in Europe, Singapore and also the American memorial at Runnymede.
shirt said:
grumpy52 said:
Anyone who has visited a war memorial overseas cannot fail to be moved by the places .
Not even remotely true That does not of course include socially inept Internet contrarians who obviously are unmoved by such things.
tangerine_sedge said:
What Grumpy52 should have said is "anyone with a sense of history, who understands the sacrifices and difficulties faced by others, and empathy with young men miles away from home thrown into difficult cuircumstances and paying the ultimate sacrifice".
That does not of course include socially inept Internet contrarians who obviously are unmoved by such things.
Well said That does not of course include socially inept Internet contrarians who obviously are unmoved by such things.
Yes, special TV.
My Dad landed on Sword in a Sherman Crab / Flail tank at H Hour.
He also left from Newhaven. I got his mission details from his regiment (Westminster Dragoons) some years ago. The LCT next to his took a direct hit.
Amazing he could have carried by Ralph.
He died in 86 when I was just 16 & he was 63.
My Dad landed on Sword in a Sherman Crab / Flail tank at H Hour.
He also left from Newhaven. I got his mission details from his regiment (Westminster Dragoons) some years ago. The LCT next to his took a direct hit.
Amazing he could have carried by Ralph.
He died in 86 when I was just 16 & he was 63.
grumpy52 said:
...
Anyone who has visited a war memorial overseas cannot fail to be moved by the places . I certainly was ,both in Europe, Singapore and also the American memorial at Runnymede.
Totally agree. I have visited many and take the time to research a few random names from each to see where they lived, what family they had, what battle they died in etc etc. Taken before their time and now in some foreign field. Utterly tragic for their families. I try to visit graves that are far of the beaten tourist path that whilst still maintained by CWGC may not have seen a visitor for years. I know nobody cares... but I care.Anyone who has visited a war memorial overseas cannot fail to be moved by the places . I certainly was ,both in Europe, Singapore and also the American memorial at Runnymede.
Scarletpimpofnel said:
grumpy52 said:
...
Anyone who has visited a war memorial overseas cannot fail to be moved by the places . I certainly was ,both in Europe, Singapore and also the American memorial at Runnymede.
Totally agree. I have visited many and take the time to research a few random names from each to see where they lived, what family they had, what battle they died in etc etc. Taken before their time and now in some foreign field. Utterly tragic for their families. I try to visit graves that are far of the beaten tourist path that whilst still maintained by CWGC may not have seen a visitor for years. I know nobody cares... but I care.Anyone who has visited a war memorial overseas cannot fail to be moved by the places . I certainly was ,both in Europe, Singapore and also the American memorial at Runnymede.
The Kranji War Memorial in Singapore in but a few yards from a main highway yet all you hear is gentle birdsong as you wander around the grounds.
As others have mentioned,the age of many remembered is truly heartbreaking. On my first visit as a 9 year old I was shocked to see some just a handful of years older than me .
Unlike a civilian cemetery there are very few even in their thirties, a contrast equally heartbreaking to how many that didn't reach even twenty years old.
Visiting a roadside cemetery in France or Belgium can be a sobering experience. Especially if it comprises a Pals battalion.
Go into the little bothy on site and read the record book, then it leaps out, dozens of young lads who have the same street listed and or the same surname. Then imagine that street 2 weeks after the battle, and the curtains and nets drawn tight shut, doors closed and no kids about, leaving only to go work.......
I have visited numerous, especially the Arnhem cemetery, which has a special place for me and fills me with horror and pride at what those men (and Dutch civilians) did. We sometimes forget that there is a price others often have to pay.
Unless of course, you're a performative contrarian on an internet forum...
grumpy52 said:
Anyone who has visited a war memorial overseas cannot fail to be moved by the places . I certainly was ,both in Europe, Singapore and also the American memorial at Runnymede.
I visited El Alamein War Cemetery when I was in Egypt, very sobering.What strikes me is in a regular cemetry every grave stone is a different colour, shape, size etc but war graves are identical apart fromt the engraving.
Edited by Cotty on Wednesday 7th June 12:14
Cotty said:
....but war graves are identical apart fromt the engraving.
That was intentional post WW1 to ensure that all the dead received equal recognition in the graveyard. It stopped rich people repatriating their relatives or building large monuments. It's the right thing to do imo. You'll find a few CWGC graves amongst UK church yards where the wounded went home to die, or were in local hospitals, or crashed near by etc. Always interesting to reserach those.Squadrone Rosso said:
Yes, special TV.
My Dad landed on Sword in a Sherman Crab / Flail tank at H Hour.
He also left from Newhaven. I got his mission details from his regiment (Westminster Dragoons) some years ago. The LCT next to his took a direct hit.
Amazing he could have carried by Ralph.
He died in 86 when I was just 16 & he was 63.
Fabulous post thanks. Shame he died so young, most likely before you could really appreciate what he did and went through. Being in a flail tank was a significant contribution to the success of D Day.My Dad landed on Sword in a Sherman Crab / Flail tank at H Hour.
He also left from Newhaven. I got his mission details from his regiment (Westminster Dragoons) some years ago. The LCT next to his took a direct hit.
Amazing he could have carried by Ralph.
He died in 86 when I was just 16 & he was 63.
Castrol for a knave said:
Visiting a roadside cemetery in France or Belgium can be a sobering experience. Especially if it comprises a Pals battalion.
Go into the little bothy on site and read the record book, then it leaps out, dozens of young lads who have the same street listed and or the same surname. Then imagine that street 2 weeks after the battle, and the curtains and nets drawn tight shut, doors closed and no kids about, leaving only to go work.......
I have visited numerous, especially the Arnhem cemetery, which has a special place for me and fills me with horror and pride at what those men (and Dutch civilians) did. We sometimes forget that there is a price others often have to pay.
Unless of course, you're a performative contrarian on an internet forum...
My great grandfather died at the Somme, never found his body-i can only imagine the scene in my poor great grandmothers house when she received the telegram saying he was presumed killed.three very young children left without a father…Go into the little bothy on site and read the record book, then it leaps out, dozens of young lads who have the same street listed and or the same surname. Then imagine that street 2 weeks after the battle, and the curtains and nets drawn tight shut, doors closed and no kids about, leaving only to go work.......
I have visited numerous, especially the Arnhem cemetery, which has a special place for me and fills me with horror and pride at what those men (and Dutch civilians) did. We sometimes forget that there is a price others often have to pay.
Unless of course, you're a performative contrarian on an internet forum...
Edited by and31 on Wednesday 7th June 21:03
Scarletpimpofnel said:
Fabulous post thanks. Shame he died so young, most likely before you could really appreciate what he did and went through. Being in a flail tank was a significant contribution to the success of D Day.
Thanks. He took me to the Tank Museum & the D Day Museum when I was 14. I met his comrades a few times and got told some gruesome stories and some great ones about how they rescued the dog as a puppy & kept him on the tank.My Dad, being Welsh, named him Rhys.
My Dad’s youngest brother became my second Dad. He told me far more based on what my Dad told him in drink. One horror story was how the commander got hit and decapitated then landed on my Dad. As a close crew, that really affected him.
I also met one of his wounded crew mates about 15 years ago. Again, through the regiment. I made him a resis & lead scale Sherman Crab. That was an emotional day. He gave me letters that my Dad had written him during & after the war. And some memorabilia. He passed soon after.
Visiting the Portsmouth museum & Normandy should be on the National curriculum IMO.
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