BS: 4th August

Subject: 4th August
From: The Walrus
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 02:18 PM

Ladies and Gentlemen,

4th August marks the anniversary of British entry Great War in 1914, in turn bringing in the peoples of the Empire and Commonwealth, effectively where a European cinflict became a World War.
Might I ask you all to spare a moment of thought (or prayer) to remember those of all nations who fought and fell, those (very)few that still remain and all those that wear their country's uniform today.

Thanks

Tom (Walrus)

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: Shields Folk
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 05:27 PM

Squire nagged and bullied till I went to fight, (Under Lord Derby's scheme). I died in hell - (They called it Passchendaele). My wound was slight, And I was hobbling back; and then a shell Burst slick upon the duckboards: so I fell Into the bottomless mud, and lost the light

At sermon-time, while Squire is in his pew, He gives my gilded name a thoughtful stare; For, though low down upon the list, I'm there; "In proud and glorious memory" ... that's my due. Two bleeding years I fought in France, for Squire: I suffered anguish that he's never guessed. I came home on leave: and then went west... What greater glory could a man desire?

Siegfried Sassoon

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 05:57 PM

Yes Tom.

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: nutty
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 07:56 PM

More people died in the great Influenza outbreak after the war than died in the fighting.

Perhaps we should remember them as well

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: The Walrus
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 08:06 PM

nutty,

It is now thought that the "Spanish Lady" came Europe via the troopships which brought the US Army to the killing fields of France and Flanders, spreading in waves, beyond the battlefields until the whole world was engulfed.

The 'flu victims are just as much casualties of the Great War as any the starved civilians in Germany, drowned neutral sailors in the north Atlantic or typhus victims in Salonika.

Tom

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: Shields Folk
Date: 04 Aug 01 - 08:14 PM

Some say the War didn't end in 1918, what happened in 1914 ultimatly led to the war of 39/45. And that led to the Cold War and right up to date. Lets hope the 20th Century War was the War to end All wars.

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: The Walrus
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 06:07 AM

Shields Folk,

It has been argued that the Great War was itself a second round of the Franco-Prussian War and as that had causes with roots in the Napoleonic Wars (which in turn started as French Revolutionary Wars), perhaps your "20th Century Wars" should be "19th/20th Century Wars" or "Wars of the Industrial Revolution".

Whatever the dates , whatever the name, wars are fought by people and it's people that suffer.

Walrus

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: GUEST,Tone
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 02:54 PM

Passchendaele: What a coincidence that, in English, the name of this little Flanders village should sound like the knell of doom. My uncle, Lance Serjeant George Fisher, 9th Bn., Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt), fell there. And the ladies go dancing at Whitsun...

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 03:07 PM

I was on top of Arenig Fawr yesterday with a friend, and we were looking at the memorial to the crew of a Flying Fortress which had crashed there. We suddenly noticed the date; it was exactly 58 years ago to the day, 4th August 1943. The names of the crew from all over the USA Ohio,Illinois,California suddenly meant something. We added some stones to the cairn on top of this lonely Welsh Mountain, and went on our way.

Subject: RE: BS: 4th August
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 05 Aug 01 - 04:50 PM

And it's Hiroshima day... no-one mentioned that earlier.

LTS