Only 9 left

Post Reply
User avatar
abbey
Posts: 15069
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 1:00 pm

Only 9 left

Post by abbey »

A CROSS IN FLANDERS









In the face of death,

they say, he joked -- he had no fear:

His comrades, when they laid him in a Flanders grave,

Wrote on a rough-hewn cross -- a Calvary stood near --

"Without fear he gave his life, cheering his men, with laughter on his lips."

So wrote them, mourning him. Yet was there only one

Who fully understood his laughter, his gay quips,

One only, she alone --





She who, not so long since, when love was new-confest,

Herself toyed with light laughter while her eyes were dim,

And jested, while with reverence despite her jest

She worshipped God and him.





She knew -- O Love, O Death! -- his soul had been at grips

With the most solemn things. For she, was she not dear?

The braver for his fear.



By. G. Rostrevor Hamilton.
User avatar
abbey
Posts: 15069
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 1:00 pm

Only 9 left

Post by abbey »

1914-1918 over 9million lives lost

Lest we forget Arnold.





User avatar
minks
Posts: 26281
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:58 pm

Only 9 left

Post by minks »

Soldiers young and old, always remembered.

Attached files
�You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.�

― Mae West
lady cop
Posts: 14744
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2004 1:00 pm

Only 9 left

Post by lady cop »

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.
User avatar
theia
Posts: 8259
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 3:54 pm

Only 9 left

Post by theia »

What a beautiful and poignant thread...thank you Arnold for starting it.

Does anyone remember the last scene of the Blackadder series where they went "over the top" It made me cry then and still the thought of it does now...we must never, ever forget...
Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers...Rainer Maria Rilke
Bothwell
Posts: 1037
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 1:35 am

Only 9 left

Post by Bothwell »

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.
"I have done my duty. I thank God for it!"
Bothwell
Posts: 1037
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 1:35 am

Only 9 left

Post by Bothwell »

We would do well in these times when we get so upset about caualties numbered in tens per day to cast our minds back to WW1, in one battle (the Somme) there were 60,000 allied casualities in the first two hours of battle, yep that is 60,000.

Attached files
"I have done my duty. I thank God for it!"
Bothwell
Posts: 1037
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 1:35 am

Only 9 left

Post by Bothwell »

He answered with a smile. How pale he was! His tall silhouette stood out on the green of the cornfield. He was the tallest man in his section. His head erect, and pride in his eye, I saw him running forward, with bayonet fixed. Soon he disappeared and that was the last time I saw my friend. . . ."


and just in case we get a little xenophobic about our remembrances a littel reminder for the more prejudiced in my country

Very few people are aware of the role Indian troops played in both world wars," Peter Francis of the Commonwealth Graves Commission said. "In some Indian units the casualty rate was 80%. In three days' fighting in Neuve Chapelle in 1915, for instance, some 4,200 Indian soldiers perished." Most of the soldiers and sailors buried at Wünsdorf died of disease while stationed at the PoW camp in the nearby town of Zossen. The Nazis later used the area as a vast military training camp.


In the first battle of Ypres at Flanders in 1914 a platoon of Dogra Sikhs died fighting to the last man, who shot himself with his last cartridge rather than surrender.


"It was the dark days of 1914 when our men had to face mortars, hand grenades, high explosive shells for which they themselves were not provided. They could reply only with their valour, their rifles and two machine guns per batallion. And yet they did it." (Lt. General Sir James Wilcox, Commander of the Indian Corps)
"I have done my duty. I thank God for it!"
User avatar
Galbally
Posts: 9755
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:26 pm

Only 9 left

Post by Galbally »

My great grandfather was on the Somme in 1916 (Irish Regiment of course) I have absolutely no idea how he managed to survive, but I'm glad he did. WWI is to my mind the most tragic war in world history. It certainly puts more recent wars into some perspective. The Somme, Paschendale, Verdun, Ypres, Galipoli, such brave men, what a waste. Probably the main reason Europeans no longer see war as a glorious adventure, but just a terrible necessity sometimes.
"We are never so happy, never so unhappy, as we imagine"



Le Rochefoucauld.



"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."



My dad 1986.
User avatar
minks
Posts: 26281
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:58 pm

Only 9 left

Post by minks »

From our grandfathers to our sons, lets hope the soldiers of todays wars are never forgotten either.

PEACE and REMEMBERANCE

Attached files
�You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.�

― Mae West
User avatar
theia
Posts: 8259
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 3:54 pm

Only 9 left

Post by theia »

11 November 2005



We shall never forget
Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers...Rainer Maria Rilke
lady cop
Posts: 14744
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2004 1:00 pm

Only 9 left

Post by lady cop »

...
User avatar
theia
Posts: 8259
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 3:54 pm

Only 9 left

Post by theia »

I happened to be in town at 11 a.m. and it was very moving...everything slowed down and people stopped and were silent...
Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers...Rainer Maria Rilke
User avatar
minks
Posts: 26281
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:58 pm

Only 9 left

Post by minks »

Blessing to all who gave their lives and a special blessing to our FG members who have served.

Always remember

Attached files
�You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.�

― Mae West
lady cop
Posts: 14744
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2004 1:00 pm

Only 9 left

Post by lady cop »

dies, aged 109



Alfred Anderson witnessed the Christmas truce of 1914



Scotland's oldest man and the country's longest surviving veteran of World War I has died at the age of 109.

Alfred Anderson, who served with the 5th Battalion the Black Watch, died in a nursing home in Angus.

Mr Anderson was born in 1896 and was in one of the first British contingents to serve on the Western Front.

He was thought to have been the longest surviving veteran of the 1914 Christmas truce when British and German troops shook hands in no-man's-land.

For a short time Mr Anderson was batman to Captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon, who was the brother of the late Queen Mother.

This special relationship resulted in a private visit by Prince Charles in 2002.

Mr Anderson, from Alyth, in Perthshire, died on Monday morning at Mundamalla Nursing Home in Newtyle.

The Reverend Neil Gardner, of Alyth Parish Church, said: "Alfred passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.

"He was Scotland's oldest man but he remained lucid almost until the end. He was a very gracious and unassuming man."

Mr Anderson was 18 when he went off to war and saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the campaign.

He also saw the Christmas truce of 1914 when British and German troops climbed out of their trenches in France and walked across the mud of no-man's-land to shake hands.

He had a brief spell as batman to Captain Bowes-Lyon before his death at Loos in 1915.

Mr Anderson suffered a shrapnel wound to the back of the neck in 1916.

He had to lie in a trench throughout the day and was taken away for medical treatment under the cover of darkness.

His injury ended his active service and he spent the rest of the war as an instructor, finishing the war as a staff sergeant.

Mr Anderson received a private visit from Prince Charles





However, Mr Anderson continued his military service in the Home Guard during World War II.

Speaking when he marked his 106th birthday in 2002, Mr Anderson said: "We lived for each day during the war. At 106, I do much the same again."

Mr Anderson was born in Dundee and was one of six children.

His father had a building and joinery business which Mr Anderson took charge of after the war.

The widower, who had five children, said he had lost count of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

'Quick wit'

In 1998 Mr Anderson was awarded France's highest military honour - the Légion d'Honneur - for his services during WWI.

Neil Griffiths, of the Royal British Legion of Scotland, said: "Alfred was a fine old soldier who was a brilliant example of old world courtliness.

"Everyone who met him was always impressed by his vitality and great pride in his personal appearance.

"He was gentle and very humorous, with a quick wit. He used to say until recently that his ambition was to die shot in bed by a jealous lover.

"But I think also there was a great sadness in his heart that he had outlived his generation - all his friends had died."

The government minister with responsibility for veterans, Don Touhig said Mr Anderson's death was "a great loss".

"Not only is he believed to be the longest surviving Scottish WWI veteran but he is also thought to be the last survivor of the 1914 Christmas truce. "The sacrifices made and remarkable bravery displayed by Mr Anderson and his comrades is a lesson for us all."
Post Reply

Return to “History”