100 years since the Battle of the Somme - Friday

[duke63]

Friday commemorates 100 years since the start of the Battle which lasted until November. Some interesting things going on the remember thsoe who fell at the Somme.

http://www.1914.org/somme/?utm_campaign ... ium=social" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Kwacky]

The war to end all wars.....

[Kwacky]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-36529099" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

100 years of war films as well

[D41]

'The Forgotten War'...as someone once told me. Couldn't make sense of that at the time....turns out the man was right.

WWII will end up the same way...if it hasn't nearly done so already. Been watching a bit of "Band Of..." lately....prolly the best depiction of WWII yet.
Forget the guy who played the lead....Winters was the character's name. Underplayed the role perfectly, IMO.

[Kwacky]

Good to see that it's being remembered

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_aud ... s/36681312" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Actors in uniform have turned up at railway stations up and down the country to represent some of those who fell on the first day

[kingfixer]

Me and my best mate did the WW1 battlefield tour last year, the guide obviously showing you where we attacked from and where the thousands died,
harrowing stuff

[Blade]

I set my alarm to be up for the 730 am 2 minutes silence and pay my respects to the young and old men who gave up so much for us.

I'm thinking of taking my kids to the Imperial War Museum in London to educated them on the horrific history of WW1 they have a special exhibition.

[StMarks]

The war to end all wars.....

100 years later, & we vote by majority to initiate the re-fragmentation of the peaceful European Union.
Lest we forget.....

I set my alarm to be up for the 730 am 2 minutes silence and pay my respects to the young and old men who gave up so much for us..

I too honoured the two minutes silence, in quiet contemplation.

[Kwacky]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36667478" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's the first time I've heard about this lapse in our intelligence.

[D41]

Key phrase in that link is "may have".

The M.O. on that stuff is usually to pass various troop movements...most of which will actually be non-existent units, and to have a few of those actually be real. You can pick out the real ones after the fact, but not before.

The Special Air Service was actually named after one of those fake units, and then after Stirling et al had a few disastrous attempts parachuting into the desert (something they weren't really trained to do) and most of them got lost, they decided on Land Rovers...or Jeeps, or whatever.

Have a really good book on Stirling and how he put the SAS together....the guy was just doing anything he could to get out of normal army duties, and was always getting into trouble as a result...had some great anecdotes.

Sergeant (examining Stirling's weapon)..."Look at the state of this rifle..there must be an idiot on the end of it!!"
Stirling...."Yes Sarge...but not at my end!!"

[Blade]

I remember when we stayed at the guest house on the Somme last year on the way back from Germany the Proprietor who was also a WW1 historian explained, fathers lied about their age to sign up so they could go to the front line to look out for their sons in combat. I think he said the oldest British solider killed on the front line in action was 67. Old and young alot of brave men gave their lives for our place in this world and it's humbling that they did so. Thank you and God rest your soles.

[D41]

Yeah,,,I read about the father/son thing awhile back....might well have been you that posted it.

When I was at the DLI museum a few years back...I forget exactly how many VC medals they had...quite a few on display (11??)....most were awarded to medics...those were the guys who went out under fire to rescue others, and often were targets themselves just so they couldn't 'repair' wounded soldiers who would then be able to return to duty.

There's a great story somewhere about a Brit. medic and a German medic duking it out, and the whole battlefield falling silent to watch.

[Rossgo]

Blows your mind on what they had to do. 19K British soldiers lost their lives in one day. It brings a tear to your eye. These guys are real heros not bloody football players!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[duke63]

My maternal grandfather tried to join up before he was of age but was found out. He eventually joined up in 1916 and was sent to France but after the Somme battle. We have found out he became part if the Yorkshire regiment that became known as the Barnsley Pals even though he was from Norfolk.

The visits to Ypres and the Somme were so moving and to think that these cemeteries have been kept so perfectly for so long.

However I think the visit to the American cemetery at Omaha beach last month even surpassed that. So many graves, way more than the eye and mind can comprehend, and all those lives lost in just a few weeks. Completely mind blowing and all so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.

[Kwacky]

Yep, walking in a tranquil garden then turning round a corner and being faced with all of those gravestones is a feeling i won't be forgetting for a long time.

[Kwacky]

http://www.veritymilliganphotography.co ... e-are-here" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[D41]

Some excellent pics there. Those casualty figures are more in line with what I remember from me history classes.

Think I'm getting the itch for another Spitfire flight!! Or sommit else cool like that....a trip to Moreno Valley might be in order. Or Chino.

Anyone remember that awful 'Pearl Harbor' movie (and Ken Block vids)?? Those blimp hangars aren't too far from here....there a few cool things inside them....some old WWII stuff, cars, even a few houses....the old bases round here have tons of oddball stuff laying around. The rationale behind it being that they're just too costly to move/destroy. That's fine by me.