Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 1918 Flers Courcelette
Those names of the battlefields on which so many died in WW1 are inscribed at the bottom of this memorial, dedicated to the dead of the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles regiment - 1,240 of them. The regiment included those from Audit, the Post Office, Whitehall. They stepped out of their comfortable jobs and risked their lives - Henry Moore the sculptor served in this regiment.
The memorial itself, based in Somerset House, was designed by Lutyens, and is notable for the flags which are carved and painted.
On today, 11/11/11, the guns of the first war fell silent so many years ago. We would do well to remember those fallen, and consider the other soldiers who didn't ask to die in the second war and so many other conflicts.
posted by Ham at 00:02 --
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Comments on "Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 1918 Flers Courcelette"
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Steve A said ... (11:39) :
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Louis la Vache said ... (00:49) :
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Leeds daily photo said ... (09:29) :
post a commentI prefer Remembrance Day myself to Veterans Day. This year is particularly notable with the passing of the last verified veteran to fight in the Great War; Claude Choules.
This is another generation that never really talked about what they went through. My mother's uncle used to talk about travelling with an entertainment troupe in WWI, regaling us with tales of finding large caches of wine in cellars of homes or restaurants they'd be staying. What he neglected to mention, and I didn't learn until after he died at the age of 94, was he ended up in the troupe after his division was gassed by the Germans, and he was one of about 5 who didn't end up dead or in hospital. Since there was no longer enough able-bodied members, and they had gone through unspeakable hell, they were given non-combat duties.
And that's all he ever talked about.
Indeed, so many died so needlessly - in no small measure because of the ignorant arrogance of pompous jerks like Haig, just to mention only one on "our side"...
Veterans Day.
I am English because my Irish grandfather went like so many to the fields of Flanders. He was gassed and whilst recuperating in a hospital near London met the young woman who became my grandmother. The gas did for him in the end, but it was many years later. I sometimes stayed at their London home for a few weeks and he rarely talked about the war, except in the most general terms, like the weather.