Remembrance Day (Canada/UK) 11/11 - 11/12

Subject: Remembrance Day (Canada/UK) 11/11
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 04:56 PM

Lest We Forget

Take 2 minutes and thank whatever force you want to for these people.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada/UK) 11/11
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 04:58 PM

Clinton

Remembrance Day for UK (wreaths at Cenotaph, etc) will be 12 November.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada/UK) 11/11
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 05:00 PM

-I- didn't put the UK in the title.... some moderator who though it was doing a good deed did....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day

title corrected. Mudelf

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 09:48 PM

The 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, 1918 ... Was to end the war of all wars.

Lest we forget.

biLL

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Mooh
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 12:05 AM

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn"

Years ago my Dad was the local Legion chaplain and conducting the annual cenotaph service was among his duties. I may go and stand among friends and neighbours to remember what Dad taught, or head north a couple of hours to another cenotaph where there is a cross in the ground with Dad's name. He was a hero among heroes to me.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Rowan
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 12:29 AM

When the thread came up on my browser, the UK bit had dropped off. Perhaps the nice Mudelf could restore it and add Australia, New Zealand etc as well. Perhaps it might have "Commonwealth" added to the thread title instead of all the various nations. But perhaps this would upset the French, Belgians and Netherlanders. To this day I'm not sure whether Armistice Day (as it used to be callled when I was growing up) or Remembrance Day (as it's now called) is celebrated in USA.

Australians with folkloric memories will also know 11 November as the anniversary of the hanging of Ned Kelly (1880) and the Dismissal (of Gough Whitlam as PM) in 1975. Not quite in the same league as the slaughter of millions, though.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 01:38 AM

Called Veterans Day here, and the off-work holiday is tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Peace
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 01:45 AM

"Canadians fought and died in battles at Ypres, Mount Sorrel, Beaumont Hamel, Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and Amiens. Sixty-nine Canadian soldiers earned the Victoria Cross in World War I, and by some strange coincidence, three of them lived on the same street -- Pine Street in Winnipeg, which was later renamed Valour Road in their honour.

CORPORAL LEO CLARKE won his V.C. in the trenches during the battle of the Somme. Clarke had found himself alone, under attack by 20 enemy soldiers. Instead of surrendering, Clarke attacked, emptying his revolver twice and then firing a German rifle he picked up from the ground. In the struggle that followed, a German officer bayonetted him in the knee before Clarke could shoot him. Wounded and bleeding, Clarke kept up the attack, and as enemy soldiers fled Clarke followed, killing four more and taking a prisoner. Though he was ordered to hospital, Clarke returned to battle the next day. Leo Clarke died in action a month later.

SERGEANT-MAJOR FREDERICK WILLIAM HALL was awarded the V.C. for giving his life to save a comrade at the battle of Ypres. With his company pinned down in the trenches by fierce enemy fire, Hall had gone out twice under cover of night to rescue injured men. On the morning of February 21, 1915, men in the trench heard the groans of an injured soldier on the battlefield. Hall and two others volunteered to go after him, but as they went over the top they drew heavy fire. The two other men were injured, and all were forced back to their trench. After a few minutes, Hall went out alone in broad daylight, with enemy guns waiting for him. He crawled out and across the field under a hail of bullets. Reaching for the fallen soldier, Hall managed to squirm himself under the wounded man and begin moving him on his back toward his lines. However, when Hall raised his head to find his way back to the trench, he caught a bullet in the head and died instantly.

At the battle of Passchendaele, LIEUTENANT ROBERT SHANKLAND led his men to a forward position which they held during a fierce counter-attack. Knowing that an accurate description of his company's position was critical to the Allied battle plan, Shankland made his way alone through the battlefield to Battalion Headquarters, delivered the necessary information, and returned the way he had come. Rejoining his men, Shankland carried on until the end of the battle. The citation of his Victoria Cross commends his personal courage, gallantry and skill, and emphasizes the example he set for the men under his command. Of the three Victoria Cross recipients from Valour Road, only Shankland survived the war.

The individual heroism of men like Clarke, Hall and Shankland is set against the background of the misery and horror of war. Canadians have rarely glorified their involvement in conflict; it is more characteristic of us to see the action of our soldiers in the Great War as the unavoidable and accepted duty of courageous men in the face of global tragedy. More than 50,000 young Canadians died in World War I. When it was over, the survivors returned home as older, sadder men, whose common hope was that there would never be another war like it again."

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: gnu
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 06:26 AM

Lest we forget.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 06:41 AM

"We honour them today and every day, and we will never forget their sacrifice."

During WWII, Canada lost more than 70 ships and 2,000 Merchant Navy Personnel, including eight women radio officers and stewardesses. The Merchant Navy lost one in eight people, and at the peak of the Battle of the Atlantic, one in four - more personnel lost than the armed forces.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: 3refs
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 06:45 AM

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.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

Lest We Forget!

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 06:45 AM

My TA unit is parading at Barnet as usual.
For the last 4 we have had some of our number away in Iraq.
This year we have 6 in Afghanistan.
We will think of them as well as the fallen.
Keith.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 08:02 AM

11:11

Ah the glorious few are all the few here
in the cold November air
the crowd draws silent
their collars raised
to the edges of the square
The children's choir sings "In Flander's Fields"
the band plays "Over There"
the old heroes still try to dress the line
As the chaplain leads the prayer

For the glorious few no longer stand so straight
As they did long years before
when they faced a hard and cruel fate
on a far and distant shore
their tunics faded green and blue
poor shelter from this cold
the memories made yet raw and new
at the calling of the roll

The heads are bowed in silence now
at the tolling of the hour
The first few falling flakes of snow
drift gently on the flowers
all piled and stacked against the stones
petals fluttering in the air
The eyes that stare down through the years
at the one no longer there

The taste of lost and wasted years
so bitter on the tongue
white breath in clouds in the autumn cold
Fail chest with medals hung
in battle ribbons red and gold
in the pale November sun
the hands and faces grown so old
while the heart stays ever young

For the glorious few are the fewer here
the old soldiers form the square
the wind blows hard and shakes the leaves
and stirs the white thin hair
of these fading brave and fragile souls
as the bugler plays "Last Post"
the snow falls thick and faster still
and turns them white as ghosts

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: GUEST,PeteBoom (at work)
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 09:07 AM

I'll be with the pipe band at the Cenotaph in Windsor tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: bobad
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 09:18 AM

"The war to end all wars" - sigh!

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 01:21 PM

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 11, 2006, as Veterans Day and urge all Americans to observe November 5 through November 11, 2006, as National Veterans Awareness Week. I encourage all Americans to recognize the valor and sacrifice of our veterans through ceremonies and prayers. I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to display the flag of the United States and to support and participate in patriotic activities in their communities. I invite civic and fraternal organizations, places of worship, schools, businesses, unions, and the media to support this national observance with commemorative expressions and programs."

In Alaska, today, November 10, is the official commemoration of Veterans Day. The state of Alaska is closed today.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: GUEST,mag
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 02:12 PM

oops; guest above was me. guess i need to reset my cookie.

mag

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 09:43 PM

For some weird reason, the 11/11 Toowoomba service took place at 12 noon local time...

Toowoomba - the City Time Forgot...

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Nov 06 - 04:59 PM

It pitched down rain in Ottawa all through the parade at the National War Memorial in Confederation Square. Dark as your pocket, too. Somehow that seemed entirely appropriate.

Marching in the parade today, at the back of a mixed contingent of soldiers from National Defence Headquarters, were 30 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, recently returned from Kandahar. They were the battalion's Ottawa delegation; across the country, everywhere a Patricia wounded in Afghanistan is recuperating or a Patricia who died there is buried, a group of soldiers wearing the feathers is present today to bring the regiment's greetings, or simply to remember and be with their comrade's survivors.

As always on this day, today I remember my Dad, a Royal Navy veteran who was about as peaceable as a human could be. I imagine him looking down from the heavenly Chiefs' and Petty Officers' Mess in the company of his old friends, warm and dry and not facing an Ottawa winter. RIP, Da. I'll see you again some day.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Lox
Date: 11 Nov 06 - 05:34 PM

Thankyou for the years/The gift of years
(Eric Bogle)

Well old friend
here I am
I told you I'd be back
and as usual mate
I'm bloody late
it's seventy five years down the track
For the last time
here I stand
In this familiar foreign land
back with the mates
I left behind
Fixed forever in their time

And of all the ghosts
of all the boys
that haunt this lonely place
only one of them
wears your cheeky grin
and your Queensland joker's face
and as I drown
in old and bloody dreams
of helpless young mens dying screams
I feel your hand
give my arm a shake
and your voice say
steady mate!

And the country that
you died for mate
you would not know it now
and the future that
we dreamed of mate
got all twisted up somehow
The peace that we
were fighting for
the end to stupid senseless war
so it couldn't happen
to our kids
well old mate
it did!

And thankyou for
the gift of years
and the flame that brightly burns
for the time you bought
and the lessons taught
so often wasted and unlearned
"lest we forget"
cries the multitude
as if I ever, ever could
so forgive an old man's tears
and thankyou
for the years.

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: Megan L
Date: 12 Nov 06 - 12:23 PM

A POPPY TO REMEMBER

It is good to remember
Remember those who died
But not to let the memories
Of war be glorified
The things we should remember
The stinking mud in which they fell
The dugouts and the trenches
Each one a little hell.

Of war let us remember
Yet another fearful part
A telegram that filled with dread
Each waiting woman's heart
A message she'll remember
Until the day she's dead
As once again she read it
"Missing presumed dead"

And let us too remember
The ones who did come back
The ones with bent and broken mind
The armless, legless and the blind
Who's sleep does nightmares rack
Are they really lucky
To be the ones who made it back

Yes it is good to remember
Remember those who died
But please I ask you never
Let war be glorified.



Thursday 8th November 1984   15.15hrs
Margaret H T Barclay - Laughton

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: GUEST,Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 12 Nov 06 - 12:25 PM

worth watching and singing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndpvu8ErU3s&mode=related&search=

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: The Walrus
Date: 12 Nov 06 - 01:32 PM

"From little towns in a far land we came,
To save our honour and a world aflame.
By little towns in a far land we sleep;
And trust that world we won for you to keep."

Epitaph written for a Canadian War memorial by Rudyard Kipling

Subject: RE: Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Nov 06 - 04:24 PM

Anyone know how a person who is not in the UK may be able to watch the Remembrance Day ceremony on BBC-One, on THIS PAGE? When I clicked on the one wiht the Queen, to play the video, it said it was only available to UK members. I'd really love to watch it. Know of any other place which may have it?

Would also like to see the one on Kipling which was scheduled for tonight.

Thanks,

kat