The poppy thread

[amateur51]

Very many thanks, Pabmusic and David Underdown. :ok::ale::bubbly:

Much appreciated!

[Pabmusic]

Very many thanks, Pabmusic and David Underdown. :ok::ale::bubbly:

Much appreciated!

You're very welcome - it was quite fun doing it.

[Norfolk Born]

Cheers, Bryn! :ok:

What have I started?? :yikes:

World War III? :laugh:

[David Underdown]

As a follow up to pab's comments on the changes in the British Army over the course of WWI, I've been reminded elsewhere that on this day in 1918, more British troops went into action than on the first day of the Somme, yet this (clear-cut) success is barely remembered, though it was the action in which Wilfred Owen was killed

[Norfolk Born]

Last Saturday, some 30 of us stood (give or take a yard or so) where Owen stood before the Manchesters set about crossing the canal at Ors. I didn't know that the nearby bridge had actually been captured intact, which may have made the crossing strictly unnecessary. Our tour leader read Owen's last letter to his mother. We then proceeded to the local cemetery, where he read what is (arguably) Owen's finest poem, Strange Meeting, by his graveside.

[Pabmusic]

As a follow up to pab's comments on the changes in the British Army over the course of WWI, I've been reminded elsewhere that on this day in 1918, more British troops went into action than on the first day of the Somme, yet this (clear-cut) success is barely remembered, though it was the action in which Wilfred Owen was killed

Yes, you're quite right. I suspect many people know nothing of the Autumn offensive, the Hundred Days (or whatever you want to call it), even though it was an amazingly successful campaign and ended the war.

[David Underdown]

I'm no different to be honest, though I've just picked up David Stevenson's, "With our backs to the wall: victory and defeat in 1918", which runs from the end of 1917, through the German Spring offensive (whence the book's title of course), and through to the successes of the Hundred Days

[Pabmusic]

While we're on lost artists, can I remember George Butterworth (died 5 August 1916 near Pozieres) and H. H. Munro ('Saki') (died near Beaumont-Hamel on 13 November 1916). Their names appear on the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme at Thiepval.

[David Underdown]

I've a feeling I've linked to these on the forum before, a little while ago I took a look at Butterworth's service record at The National Archives, photos are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/1122633...7626145614787/

[Pabmusic]

That's really useful. Thanks.

[vinteuil]

While we're on lost artists, can I remember George Butterworth (died 5 August 1916 near Pozieres) and H. H. Munro ('Saki') (died near Beaumont-Hamel on 13 November 1916). Their names appear on the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme at Thiepval.

... and can I very much recommend to anyone who is passing through northern France to make a visit to Thiepval. Architecturally, it's one of Lutyens' grandest concepts ( apart, obviously, from New Delhi ) - and the sheer scale, and the endless list of the names ( - and these are the names mainly of those whose bodies were never found and who don't therefore have individual graves in Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries - ) cannot but move. It really is a very special place. :rose:

https://www.greatwar.co.uk/somme/memorial-thiepval.htm

[David Underdown]

Well, they may have individual graves, but they are marked "Known unto God"... I haven't been to Thiepval, but I have been to Tyne Cot and the Menin Gate, where it had been arranged for our choir to sing during the nightly Last Post ceremony, which has happened every night since the 20s except during the German occupation of WWII, I believe that the very evening Ypres was liberated, locals retrieved their bugles, and resumed the ceremony.

Two othe books which look interesting (from blurbs and/or reviews) in relation to this thread, Richard van Emden, "The Quick and the Dead", looking largely at those left behind (192,000 women widowed, 400,000 children lost fathers and half a million children lost one or more siblings according to the blurb), but also includes some letters home from the front. Also, "Lest we forget: How we remember the dead", Maggie Andrews, focussing on commemoration of the war dead (and endorsed by RBL, in this their 90th anniversary year), but touching on wider commemoration too

[John Skelton]

A forthright piece by Robert Fisk in Saturday's Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-do-those-who-flaunt-the-poppy-on-their-lapels-know-that-they-mock-the-war-dead-6257416.html?fb_source=home_multiline&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_action_ids=2662400843699%2C10150365229951409%2C2661044049780&fb_ref=U-FiQ2rUzUeBh94MPBIIdzo8-CFCONX01FRS-337k8XXX%2CU-GzPHribw9n_C4UUKKW4zUo-CFCONX01FRS-336ptXXX#access_token=AAADWQ6323IoBAIjJXdGfTqQPvANZBZB9gZCejHE8wZAdVZBHzrC5QZBtKkodcDXaYfFxZBZAR2R5Ab7ZCFleqYIexsf3SNlvmvuphNTrVkElAPLNwqYxX0nLX&expires_in=4269

[Mary Chambers]

My white poppies should arrive today. I left ordering them rather late, as I've always been hesitant about wearing any sort of symbol, but I was triggered into finally taking the plunge by the fact that my brother had done it, and by my irritation at the conformist BBC red poppy-wearers.

My reason for wearing white instead of red is that the white has no military connection, but positively stresses the desire for peace while commemorating all (not just British soldiers) whose lives have been lost or ruined as a result of war. That seems a good reason to me.

[MrGongGong]

Good for you Mary :ok:
We have some white ones but one has to be prepared for idiots to try and start arguments with you on the bus !