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04 Aug 01 - 02:18 PM (#521025) Subject: 4th August From: The Walrus 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. Thanks Tom (Walrus) |
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04 Aug 01 - 05:27 PM (#521066) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: Shields Folk 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 |
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04 Aug 01 - 05:57 PM (#521083) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: Keith A of Hertford Yes Tom. |
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04 Aug 01 - 07:56 PM (#521124) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: nutty More people died in the great Influenza outbreak after the war than died in the fighting. Perhaps we should remember them as well |
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04 Aug 01 - 08:06 PM (#521128) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: The Walrus 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 |
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04 Aug 01 - 08:14 PM (#521132) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: Shields Folk 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. |
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05 Aug 01 - 06:07 AM (#521280) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: The Walrus 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 |
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05 Aug 01 - 02:54 PM (#521458) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: GUEST,Tone 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... |
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05 Aug 01 - 03:07 PM (#521467) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: Matthew Edwards 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. |
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05 Aug 01 - 04:50 PM (#521517) Subject: RE: BS: 4th August From: Liz the Squeak And it's Hiroshima day... no-one mentioned that earlier. LTS |