evo Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 well its nearly 100 years since the first world war and what a war it was,, those poor guys who lost their lives at such young ages, I,ve just watched a documentary about the welsh and I have to say it brought a tear to my eyes what they went through at the somme, how horrible must it have been to climb out of the trenches and watching everyone in front of you be gunned down,60,000 casualties and over 20,000 killed on the first day , those lads and all who fought for the freedom we have today are pure hero,s in my eyes RIP lads, you will never be forgotten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clakk Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) plus 1 there m8,both my great grandads came back.the black watch for great grandad n his brothers n the yorks n lancs for mum,s grandad .pictures of dad,s grandad on the somme in his kilt totally in a puddle of mud .no grass or trees left ,living hell on earth.never talked about but they were the bravest of the brave . Edited July 22, 2014 by clakk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 I have postcards sent by my Grandfather to his wife and children. They actually say very little but they bring alive someone whom I never knew since he died just before I was born. I know very little about his actual career except that he was wounded several times, patched up and returned to the front. There is also an A3 sized embroidered Fusiliers badge that he did in hospital by way of occupational therapy. I think of them all when I show them to my kids and the kids at school. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88b Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 I still don't understand the thinking behind keep sending them over the top . If it didn't achieve anything the first few times it's only going to get worse. It always upsets me when I see a memorial in a village and you realise most of the male population was lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 I still don't understand the thinking behind keep sending them over the top . If it didn't achieve anything the first few times it's only going to get worse. It always upsets me when I see a memorial in a village and you realise most of the male population was lost.The Hun will run out of bullets at some point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halight Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 I had a great granddad at the Somme. He came back alive but lost an eye , he had it shot out. I'm not sure about my other side of the family. I'm sure there were other distant members of my family who would have served. Maybe died , I think most family's at the time lost family in the war. My house was built in 1900. I have often wondered if the ma. Or the boy of the house left one morning in his uniform to go off and fight for king and country , did he come back safe? Hurt? Or did his family have a knock at the door and a letter off the king ? And to think that within 20 years of the end of the war to end all wars. We were back at it, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 The story that always got me was the sound of the opening barrage of the somme being heard on Hampstead heath. It must have been truly awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLondon Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 I read somewhere that more people died in one day at the Somme than the whole of the Vietnam war. If that's true it shows you how horrific the First World War was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 This is an extract from the first letter of many My Grandfather wrote home to his wife from the conflict in Gallipoli.. Luckily he made it through the campaign only to then go off on another to France... When he came back he had a passion for corned beef...couldn't get enough of it... Breakfast dinner and tea...funny heh? ....he also hated the Turks with a passion...I bought him some Turkish Delight for his 78th Birthday and he threw it on the fire ! Mum has about 30 letters from him and I might publish them when she dies. But she wont let me at the moment. My dearest Florence Arrived here safely about 8 weeks ago, sorry at the delay in writing. I hope this letter finds you, Fred and Edie all in good health. We never knew what we were in for when we marched out of the Park that Tuesday morning and there were many who suffered terribly with Mal – De - Mare on the voyage. Some in jest, said they would prefer to be shot at. We lost the horses 2 weeks ago and so now we are but dismounts..... but the sun would kill them before the Turks in any event. I am saddened to tell you that one or two of the chaps from the village are no longer with us and Teddy was fatally wounded just three days ago. His leg was severed by a shell burst that also claimed 5 others. It was dreadful as you can imagine. I only hope that Mary gets the telegram before you receive this letter........ She will be in need of some solace. The sun is unrelenting, it would be jolly good for setting the hay in the bottom meadow…it must be lovely there at the moment and we are all counting the days as you can imagine................................................................................ Don’t forget to get shepherd to drench the sheep next month if it’s not too late , and wire up the chucks before winter and vixen comes calling....what we would give for an egg or a chicken dinner.!..................................................... Something is brewing here and the Turks are moving a deal of heavy machinery about. You can here them singing at night, and often catch a whiff of what must be Turkish tobacco floating by on the breeze. They do seem quite a Jolly lot. I will write again, Sunday next. God keep you all safe and as sweet as you are forever. Bertram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BattleFieldRelics Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 My great grandad was in the Durham light infantry and eventually ended up getting mustard gassed and sent home. The anniversary prompted me to search around on the net for documentation Apparently a lot of the records were destroyed in WW2 by german bombing. Anyway ancestry.co.uk were doing a 2 week free trial. I signed up and downloaded a scan of the form my great grandad actually signed up with in July 1914. Was amazing to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 This is an extract from the first letter of many My Grandfather wrote home to his wife from the conflict in Gallipoli.. Luckily he made it through the campaign only to then go off on another to France... When he came back he had a passion for corned beef...couldn't get enough of it... Breakfast dinner and tea...funny heh? ....he also hated the Turks with a passion...I bought him some Turkish Delight for his 78th Birthday and he threw it on the fire ! Mum has about 30 letters from him and I might publish them when she dies. But she wont let me at the moment. My dearest Florence Arrived here safely about 8 weeks ago, sorry at the delay in writing. I hope this letter finds you, Fred and Edie all in good health. We never knew what we were in for when we marched out of the Park that Tuesday morning and there were many who suffered terribly with Mal De - Mare on the voyage. Some in jest, said they would prefer to be shot at. We lost the horses 2 weeks ago and so now we are but dismounts..... but the sun would kill them before the Turks in any event. I am saddened to tell you that one or two of the chaps from the village are no longer with us and Teddy was fatally wounded just three days ago. His leg was severed by a shell burst that also claimed 5 others. It was dreadful as you can imagine. I only hope that Mary gets the telegram before you receive this letter........ She will be in need of some solace. The sun is unrelenting, it would be jolly good for setting the hay in the bottom meadowit must be lovely there at the moment and we are all counting the days as you can imagine................................................................................ Dont forget to get shepherd to drench the sheep next month if its not too late , and wire up the chucks before winter and vixen comes calling....what we would give for an egg or a chicken dinner.!..................................................... Something is brewing here and the Turks are moving a deal of heavy machinery about. You can here them singing at night, and often catch a whiff of what must be Turkish tobacco floating by on the breeze. They do seem quite a Jolly lot. I will write again, Sunday next. God keep you all safe and as sweet as you are forever. Bertram I'm sure they make interesting reading, please let's is know if / when you publish them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 My grandfather answered the call with his 6 brothers. He was a Lewis gunner and was the youngest and the lucky one. He was taken prisoner by the Germans, his brothers sadly were all killed. He spoke very little of his time either in the trenches or as a prisoner, although I do recall him mentioning eating black bread and killing rats to eat. As a young lad I spent a lot of time with Granddad. He was not a clever man, but was very wise, he had many little sayings about life, most of which I can still recall, with the benefit of almost 60 years under my belt I now know that he wasn't wrong. A month or so ago my 10 year old Granddaughter asked me if any of her family had fought in the war. I explained that her Great Granddad was an apprentice during the 2nd. world war, but had worked on building tugs and bridge parts for the invasion of France. I then told her about her Great Great Grandfather, and dug out his medals. A few days later Catlan brought a letter home from her head teacher requesting the loan of the medals to contribute towards a special assembly that the children were taking part in. A week or so later Caitlan returned the medals which are contained in a war time chocolate tin. A small tear in her eye when she handed back the medals, she was very proud of Great Great Granddad Fred; I'm sure that the school had got the message across as to just how much we all owe to Fred, his brothers and the men of their generation who remain on foreign lands or returned to a world which had changed so much since they left our shores. I for one will never forget. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemini52 Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 My grandmothers first husband was killed in 1918,he was awarded the military medal,she remarried in the early twenties and had a further seven children,i never new my granfather,he survived the war but but caught pneumonia one winter working on a building site,he was gassed and i no doubt this this left him with a weakness,he hung on but in the end he passed away in his early fifties,it would have been nice to have known him,we have a massive debt owed to that generation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 I think it does us well that 100 years after this war we are still remembering them. I sometimes wonder if any of those who were killed wondered if we would, or whether it even occurred to them that 100 years on they were remembered on such a scale. In my small town there is a memorial to those who fought and died in the Boer War, and in Prestonpans I came upon a memorial to those who died in the Spanish Civil War. For some reason I always find myself reading the names on memorials such as these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangford wildfowler Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we shall remember them. Lest we forget, these are our countries real heros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evo Posted July 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 my grandfather was wounded in the war and sent home after serving 10 weeks, he came back home then lost an eye working on the railways and always joked by taking his glass eye out and putting it on the table and saying " I,m watching you",,,it terrified us as kids so we always did as we where told when visting Nan and POP,, my Nan damaged her foot when she was making shells for the war ships and dropped one on her foot , but my dads father "Pop" always remembered his mates whom he lost and how he hoped never to go to war again, he told us many stories as a kid and I used to sit in ore watching him, he died aged 88 and nan was 89 both born in 1890 and our family always said Nan died of a broken heart after losing Pop,s after all they had been through, they had 15 children of which only one is still alive today,,our Maud, god love her don't know her age but she is very old, one thing is for certain, I will always remember them for their happy household and always having an open door for others atb Evo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 I can't beleive how many british soldiers where exacuted for desertion in WW1, I'm not sure if I could have gone over the top of those trenches, they where some Heros to be able to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinchesterDave Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) I go to the Somme and Passchendale every year; have been since a kid it's my second home basically , I have two relatives killed one was in Ypres the other Arras. Everytime I go over there I can't help but get a bit emotional and feel almost immensely proud of what our nations men were willing to do over there. I love going, I love the history I feel as if its something I need to continue to do to respect the fallen and acknowledge what they did and inform people what it was actually like. My father is a very keen medal collector of first world war medals, specifically to the 55th west Lancs division. The knowledge he has is Incredible! We have trench maps of the areas we go etc and it makes it even more interesting for example when he has a new group of medals with an MM in and am account of what happened and how this fellow received it, he is able to almost pin point the location through articles and trench maps so that a muddy field suddenly means something and you are standing exactly where someone's medals my dad has, won it it's incredible! Unfortunately I will not be going this year but they are off in two weeks again. I seriously encourage anyone who has never been and thought of going, to go and see it, experience the the battlefields go to memorials like thiepval memorial , new foundland park, Tyne cott cemetery, menin gate in Ypres just to get a feeling of the loss that our nation and commonwealth forces went through. I am passionate about France and the war and wish more people appreciated what happened and how bravely our men fought in horrific conditions. David. Edited July 22, 2014 by WinchesterDave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzab Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 RIP lads. Heros each and everyone. Thank you for our tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppythedog Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 If anyone is interested in learning more about WW1 then this is a good place to start reading http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php As with all web forums there are a few argumentative idiots there but the majority are good people & there is an enormous knowledge base. I am off to the Somme again in October, there are a few of us who make the trip once or twice a year each time trying to learn & understand about a particular part of that dreadful battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harpoonlouis Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 My grandfather and his six brothers all went to the front even though they were members of a very non conformist chapel in Preston on Wye and didn’t really hold with serving in any army but they all went. My grandfather took 2 months to reach the Dardanelles and landed at Suvla Bay where a Turkish shell smashed his shin within a few hours. 2 more months to get home via a horse transport then 2 years in an infirmary to treat the infection in his leg, which he kept despite no antibiotics. All seven brothers made it home in the end despite a slew of wounds between them. He forgave the Turks but never forgave Churchill for sending him there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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