Remember them all

As we approach the 90th anniversary of the end of world war one we will rightly remember those that gave their lives in all wars and conflicts. Yet do we only remember those that died? what of the injured and crippled, and those that came home with mental problems? what of the woman? so many helped the injured and dying on the fronts and at home, So many had to bring up families alone, so many woman and children had to carry on with life with so many of the men dead or harmed in one way or another.

Three of my direct blood relatives died in the two world wars. Of course I am saddened by their stories and remember them. Yet i remember my great uncle Dick, he came home from ww2 in 1947 after fighting in Burma. He stayed with my dad and his mum ( uncle Dicks sister ) my dad remembers him screaming in the night and his mum rocking him to calm him down. What nightmares he held he hid from us kids, he was a funny guy to be around.

Of course we respect the dead, they lie in so many corners of the world, so far from home. their names stand proud on memorials and I would not have it any other way.

I know one member on this site ( its up to them to tell you who they are if they want to) who's grandfather came back from ww1 in a bad state after being gassed. Now this guy suffered badly and died in 1926, in my opinion from what happened to him in the war. He has no war grave or name on a memorial, yet his story is just as important as those that died during wartime.

Im waffling on so I will keep it short. Remember them all, all the men, woman and children on all sides who had to endure this terrible time. and remember those who are still here with us, those that have the stories to tell.

bless them all

I will be ringing half muffled church bells on sunday to play my part.

Lest we forget.

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Originally Posted by Spike

As we approach the 90th anniversary of the end of world war one we will rightly remember those that gave their lives in all wars and conflicts. Yet do we only remember those that died? what of the injured and crippled, and those that came home with mental problems? what of the woman?

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One grandfather fought in the Boar war and WW1, as a sergeant or sergeant-major. He died well before I was born, but my mother said he had terrible scars on his arm. After the war he was de-mobbed and went straight into a recession. He ended up being evicted from his rather nice home with his family - one member being my mother.

The other grandfather was 36 when WW1 broke out and never volunteered. Sensible man.

My great uncle was No. 2 on a large Cunard Liner (he had a captains ticket). He was in charge wen the ship ran aground in Newfoundland with 18,000 Canadian troops destined for France. The ship sunk. The family thought he went down with the ship. Subsequent information was that no one was lost on the ship as it sunk slowly in shallow water. He disappeared into the USA or Canada leaving a wife and two children back in Liverpool. Why? We think the shame of taking down a large liner.

His wife was a member of a team of volunteers in WW2 that attended to wounded seamen, of all nationalities, in Liverpool when they docked. A lot of U-Boat crew members too. She never re-married.

Two families affected.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them

God bless them all

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...a/untitled.jpg

one of the best anti war songs ever written was by Eric Bogel it was called the green fields of france.

Music video on youtube

listen to it and try and keep a dry eye if you can, it still brings a lump to my throat, every time i hear it.

We owe a lot to those who fought - and those who lived an died - in both world wars.

We don't really know how much we owe them - that is the sad aspect of all this.

DRONE PILOT AS I WRITE THIS WITH A LUMP IN MY THROAT AND A TEAR DOWN MY CHEEK I AM LISTENING TO THE SONG I HAVE NEVER HEARED IT BEFORE BUT I WILL BE GETTING A COPY.:PDT_Xtremez_12::PDT11

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Remembrance Weekend

Did?nt need an alarm call this morning, anticipation had me awake ,anticipation of the service of Remembrance that I was to attend in Birmingham. As I stood in the shower ,washing off the nights slumbers, I recalled that 50 years ago this very morning ,I was stood in the showers at Gravesend Sea Training School, getting ready to depart to the Royal Albert Hall ,to take part in the British Legions Festival of Remembrance. The images came flooding back of we lads struggling to get into the boiled and starched white shirts with the separate collars. Studs had to be used to attach the collars to shirt and the collars were like celluloid, cut your throat if you turned your head fast enough. This was the first time any of us had ever worn such fancy items. The creases in our trousers were knife edged and our boots were gleaming like mirrors, thus kitted up we were loaded on to a motor coach and driven through London to the mighty Albert Hall ,stopping first at Derry and Thoms department store to have a wonderful cooked breakfast in its rooftop restaurant..
We were not seated in groups but were dispersed amongst the throng of diners who were all taking some part in the days festivities .Thus it was that I found myself seated opposite a Chelsea Pensioner who was a veteran of the Boer War, next to him sat an army officer with gold tabs on his collar and a triple row of ribbons on his chest, a pretty young Wren sat on my left and an R.N. rating sat on my right. I was totally overawed; as I sat staring at the array of cutlery before the officer winked and motioned that I should start from the outside and work in.
Such were my memories as I made myself ready this morning, clean white shirt,collar attached this time, Masonic tie and cufflinks , grey trousers ,with creases just as sharp as those of yesteryear, and shoes you could see your face in. Silver M.N. badge pinned to my lapel ,and beneath that ,a little blue forget-me- not, in remembrance of those who died in the death camps of WW11. A blood red poppy on my left lapel and my sailors cap with its Training School badge, I was ready for the service.
The temple was full of people of all races. religions , sexes and ages. A Christian priest presided over the prayers and the room resounded to the opening hymn ?Oh God our help in ages past?. This was not a celebration of war , but a remembrance of its horrors and the losses of loved ones. Overhead , at the rear of the temple the silvery tones of a bugle sounded as the Last Post was played, a tune so redolent of pain and loss; as the last notes faded we stood in silence for two minutes, the standard bearer with his ensign pointed to the floor. Those two minutes were long and sombre, a time for old men to remember their lost comrades and for young men to see how the old were united in their ,still painful, sense of loss. As the silence ended Reveille was sounded and old sweats ,eyes aglitter with unshed tears ,saluted. The Lords Prayer followed ,voiced by all and sundry regardless of creed ,and the national Anthem was sung with a gusto that I had?nt heard since I was at school. We did?nt rush away after the service, people gathered in little groups, chatting and recalling times past. I was invited to dinner by a man I had only met there this morning , it was a splendid occasion ,one which will be repeated throughout Britain and all those Dominions that fought on the fields of war in the last century ,and , sadly ,this one too.
Lest we Forget??

bless them all[/QUOTE]
well said, "i will be there suited and booted on lime street",,

Yeah bless em' all.
May we never forget!:PDT_Aliboronz_24:

Remembrance Day 2008



Lest we forget

Nice photos

I have a few here SpikeSayCheese

Scroll down for todays pics

It was nice to see the crowd is getting larger each year :handclap:

Cracker pics Spike. :handclap:

Great pics Robbo176..and Spike.. ta for sharing..

I have a question..:"Why do they put their arms out in their marches? " Wondered how this style has come to be? Ta..

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Originally Posted by Spike

Nice photos

I have a few here SpikeSayCheese

Scroll down for todays pics

It was nice to see the crowd is getting larger each year :handclap:

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great photos Spike :PDT_Piratz_26:

you must have been quite close to where I was standing

Brilliant pictures averyone,I would have liked to have been there,but the pics helped fill a void. As to the arm swinging when marching, you march easier when your arms keep time with your legs.Trying to march with your arms at your sides is a bit like Irish dancing,very hard and needs lots of practise.

Excellent photos, Robbo and Spike. Thank you for sharing.

Can't say I've been a big fan of that video screen but it really came into its own today - what a good use of it.

May we never forget.

Thank you for the sentiments and photographs everyone. The only thing I can think about now is that yours and my poor relatives may have fought battles and a "Great War" and won freedom for us through their dripping blood, clotting on cold, congealing mud. But what a sham our freedom is today for our brave boys when we are turning on each other and stabbing and shooting our fellow human beings in the same cold blood as when they did all those years ago on foreign soils. What price freedom?.....It seems it's too cheap today. Some of the scum of today should have a glimpse of what our forefathers went through to give them the freedom of todays world, and perhaps, perhaps, there might be a bit more tolerance, harmony, and love mingling in our streets and roads today.

I have several relatives that have been left on "Flanders Field" who will always remain 19. I am glad that they are not here today to see the legacy that they fought for but has gone so bloody sour.

R.I.P. FOREVER 19

Well said Potter. :PDT11

Same here. I think all that fought (and died) would be appalled at the state of our country and our so-called freedom. Freedom, where pensioners can't even go out of the house without fear of being threatened by some little scumbag...and in some cases not only pensioners...

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Originally Posted by Mark R

Same here. I think all that fought (and died) would be appalled at the state of our country and our so-called freedom. Freedom, where pensioners can't even go out of the house without fear of being threatened by some little scumbag...and in some cases not only pensioners...

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That depends on where you live, and it is quite wrong to pass that off as the norm.

nice to see the pics of yesterday. I wasn't able to make it into town this year, but I'll be taking my gt uncles Remembrance cross down tomorrow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spike

As we approach the 90th anniversary of the end of world war one we will rightly remember those that gave their lives in all wars and conflicts. Yet do we only remember those that died? what of the injured and crippled, and those that came home with mental problems? what of the woman? so many helped the injured and dying on the fronts and at home, So many had to bring up families alone, so many woman and children had to carry on with life with so many of the men dead or harmed in one way or another.

Three of my direct blood relatives died in the two world wars. Of course I am saddened by their stories and remember them. Yet i remember my great uncle Dick, he came home from ww2 in 1947 after fighting in Burma. He stayed with my dad and his mum ( uncle Dicks sister ) my dad remembers him screaming in the night and his mum rocking him to calm him down. What nightmares he held he hid from us kids, he was a funny guy to be around.

Of course we respect the dead, they lie in so many corners of the world, so far from home. their names stand proud on memorials and I would not have it any other way.

I know one member on this site ( its up to them to tell you who they are if they want to) who's grandfather came back from ww1 in a bad state after being gassed. Now this guy suffered badly and died in 1926, in my opinion from what happened to him in the war. He has no war grave or name on a memorial, yet his story is just as important as those that died during wartime.

Im waffling on so I will keep it short. Remember them all, all the men, woman and children on all sides who had to endure this terrible time. and remember those who are still here with us, those that have the stories to tell.

bless them all

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Hi Spike

Your post is important. I wonder if you would allow me to copy it to a First World War site that I have recently joined? Thanks for considering this request, Spike.

Chris

Yes Chris feel free to use it.

Thank you Spike, only just seen that and thank you for mentioning and remembering my grandad. I didn't know him but as a father now who had a fantastic upbringing from my dad who wasn't rich in money but was rich in humanity, love and common sense, think sadly now of him being deprived of his dad at aged just 6, he can remember his dad buying him a bike though once.

It also goes to show that there's little truth in using the fact of not having two guiding parents as an excuse for skullduggery if you can show yourself to be responsible for your own actions. I wonder if losing his dad to WWI injuries was a deciding factor in him volunteering for duties for WWII - so many questions I should have asked but didn't.

Thanks again as your posting is spot on.