the great war

[cappy]

###in 83 or 84 pat and i were driving up from southern spain ......we had driven all night .....it was in france near the town of albert......it was early morning perhaps 6 or 6thirty and the mist was hovering perhaps two feet off the ground........in this somewhat eery morning light my mind shot back to a story told about my grandas brother joseph capps......he had been lost at the battle of the somme and was burried in a place called dernancourt ......i had been told how he was a machine gunner and how his mother wore a black shaul all her life after his death in remembrance of him......this story sprang to mind as i drove through the morning mist ....pat was half sleeping .......a small wooden sign appeared to my right side with an arrow pointing to my left .......stating dernancourt ......i had been driving a long time and my brain shot into action and i swerved down the small road to this place ......pat said what are you doing ........i said dernancourt which of course meant nothing to her.......a mile or so down the road i saw a sign war cemetary.......i went inside and in a covered archwas a book giving names and which row my kin was laid.....he was private joseph capps.....20th september 1916...age 23 ....yorkshire regmt.....and on the stone the words ...NO MORNING DAWNS OR NIGHT RETURNS BUT WHAT WE THINK OF THEE DEAR SON .....it was very very sad to see my family name there in france.....pat walked away with some tears....i felt so very humble and yet somehow proud that we were there ...i said my words and came away with very high emotion .....it was later told to me that my fatherhad been to this same spot after Dday.......and stood at the grave but a sudden german attack forced him to go back to his front line .....this happening with pat that day is clearly in my mind almost word for word ......both of my children and my three granchildren know of this story ......the rest of that day as we came further north to the chanel ports there were graveyard after grave yard of soldiers of all nations ....it was a very very poignant time ...something i will never forget .....and i believe all children should be taken to see these memorials...regards cappy

[Captain Kong]

My grandson went last year with school, his Great granddad was killed there. No Grave, just a name on the memorial, he brought back a small piece of metal about one inch long that could have come off a shell,
A terrible waste
Brian

[happy daze john in oz]

Cappy I have seen war graves in Thailand, PNG and Vietnam. There is nothing more sorrowful than to look upon them and think, did they do it all for nought, when we now look at the world the way it is?

All children, and POLITICIANS the ones who create this mass killing, should be made to go and view them. Maybe in time the message might get home, there is no glory in lying in the grave of a foreign land.

[cappy]

Cappy I have seen war graves in Thailand, PNG and Vietnam. There is nothing more sorrowful than to look upon them and think, did they do it all for nought, when we now look at the world the way it is?

All children, and POLITICIANS the ones who create this mass killing, should be made to go and view them. Maybe in time the message might get home, there is no glory in lying in the grave of a foreign land.

thatis so true no glory in war or the politicans who cause them.......cappy

[Keith Tindell]

When you look ar the numbers that were lost daily, it beggars beleif, the saying " Lions lead by donkeys " always comes to mind, generals behind the lines by several miles, just committing men to slaughter. My wife's uncle was lost in France in 1916. We have the report of the circumstances, apparently as they were advancing, he was seen to dive into a shell hole, just as another she'll arrived there, so no trace of him ever found. We have to this day still all his letters written home, in pencil, hoping to marry his sweetheart on his return. Very sad reading indeed, kt

[Captain Kong]

I just wondered how many of our 650 politicians and 800 in the House of Lords, have visited the War Graves in Europe. Very few I would guess,
These are the mongrels that send our Young to be killed for their egos on the world stage.
PUTIN is now threatening war with Europe because of the War Games right on their borders, the European Armies include British Troops and RAF .
Why are our Politicians doing this? We should be friends with Russia not antagonising them.
If Russia invades, how many Politicians will be on the front line?? NONE !. they will be in their bomb proof bunkers.
Let your sons and grandchildren be killed. Last week Cameron sent an Additional 250 British Troops to Iraq to fight ISIS. Bliar comes to mind , do they Never Learn???
No Politicians amongst them.

In future Wars a Battalion of MPs and Lords should be sent in first,

Brian.

[John Arton]

Although it was written as a comedy the "Blackadder" series on T.V. amply displayed how the WW1 generals treated the troops on the front line and the very last program in the series where they finally go over the top from the trench's is probably the most poignant piece of t.v. ever, especially so given that it was a comedy show.
rgds
JA

[Brenda Shackleton]

With very mixed emotions I watched the Battle of the Somme Commemorations, yesterday. Our sons-in-law had great grandfathers in the Army in the Great War- one killed on July 2nd at the Somme.
After all the shenanigans of the past week, it was sobering to see the very best of British in a very moving Ceremony.
Good to see the youngsters there, as well.
Regards
Brenda

[Captain Kong]

Also amongst the 72,000 missing killed with no grave just a name on the Memorial is Private Richard Kearns, Service No. 22328, Manchester Regiment.
RIP. Richard.
Brian

[John Arton]

A bit off thread but appropriate in some ways.
The International War Crimes Court in the Hague have said that after the publication of the Chilcot report which is damming in its report on Blair and his tactics used to lead the U.K. into an illegal war in Iraq, the court has no powers to prosecute leaders but will prosecute soldiers who, in a report by a human rights group, mistreated prisoner's during the conflict.
"its the rich whats gets the pleasure, the poor what's get the blame" springs to mind.
rgds
JA