The Last Tommy

[Guest matt]

Did anyone else watch The Last Tommy on BBC1 last night? the second and final part is next Tuesday at 9pm.very moving indeed.

 

Matt.

[Jack]

Watched it in silence Matt, so powerful and also full of inspiration.

[oddball]

Yes, very thought provoking & emotional, can't help wondering if they started filming it 2 years ago how many of those chaps are still alive now.

[Jack]

I think there is 4 left now.

[polecat paul]

Speechless ,just listening to him made me think exactly what they all gave

[Guest matt]

The only part of the program I thought was in bad taste was where they took the one guy in the wheelchair to a trench network that was being "dug" and showed him the remains of a body,I thought that was uncalled for.

 

Matt.

[Degsy]

In 2003 when the film was made there wre 23 WW1 vets still alive, as Jack says now only 4 left. As regards your comments Matt to be fair to the programme makers he did ask about bodies being found.

[LeeEnfield]

Why, Oh Why, couldn't 'The Last Tommy', not have been screened tonight. (11/11)

Looking at the prog listings, (on 'normal' bbc/ivt, any way) you'd be excused from realising that IT IS Rememberance Day.

There was a (very) short clip on bbc news, regarding the oldest surviving airman, (who flew recon for the battle of Jutland !!) being honoured in recognition of his services, and that of this non surviving comrades, in france.

Apart from that, NOTHING.

 

-So, from myself, honouring those who have given their time and blood, so's I can express myself freely,

 

IN HONOUR OF THE FALLEN.

 

 

 

WHY DO YOU STILL MARCH ?

 

 

Why do you still march, Old Man

with medals on your chest,

Why do you still grieve, Old Man

for those you laid to rest.

Why do your eyes still gleam, Old Man

when you hear those bugles blow,

Tell me, why you cry, Old man

about those days so long ago.

 

I'll tell you why I march, young man

with medals on my chest,

I'll tell you why I grieve, young man

for those I laid to rest.

Through misty fields of gossamer silk

come visions of distant times

when the boys of such a tender age

lost lives,...and mothers pined.

 

We buried them in blanket shrouds

their young flesh scorched and blackened

A communal grave, newly gouged

in bloodstained gorse and bracken.

--- And you ask me why I march, young man ?

I march to remind you all,

 

But for those apple blossom youths,

You'd never have known freedom, at all.

 

 

written by Bill Ridley

 

 

Lest We Forget.

 

 

Andy

[tyler]

Well even Sky hasent any thing on, so good on you LE for that post, money money thats all its is now, what about memories.

[Guest matt]

Hi Andy,

 

I totally agree with you,all they are showing is the usual rubbish!

 

On the subject of poetry are you familiar with Wilfred Owen's work? I think Dulce Et Decorum Est and Strange Meeting are some of his best.

 

On Sunday night S4C (Welsh tv),are showing Tolkiens The Two Towers.much of what inspired Tolkien to write Lord of the Rings was his experience as soldier during WW1.it is easy to see where his discription of The Dead Marshes of Mordor came from.

 

Matt.

[LeeEnfield]

Thanks Tyler, It makes you think, if it wasn't for these HERO'S,- and I make no excuses for calling them ALL by that title, although, those I know, that served, would be highly embarased, by the term,- where would these so-called programe directors be.

Seems like it's all to easy,- and cheap, to fill the evenings viewing with so called 'reality tv',.........although, whats 'reality', about a group of so-called "celeb's", who wou;ld'nt know...............No, not going there, but I guess you get my drift; :lol:

 

Matt, got into Wilfred Owen, while at school, Anthem for Doomed Youth, and never lost a liking of it since, as for favorites,.........as you say, Strange Meeting,captures reality in its haunting lines; as do, The Next War and At a Calvary Near the Ancre.

 

Have you read any of Siegfried Sassoon ?

 

 

Memory.

 

When I was young,my heart and head were light,

And I was gay and feckless as a colt

Out in the fields, with morning in the may,

Wind on the grass,wings in the orchard bloom.

 

O thrilling sweet, my joy, when life was free

And all the paths led on from hawthorn - time

Across the carolling meadows into june.

 

 

But now my heart is heavy - laden. I sit

Burning my dreams away beside the fire:

For death has made me wise and bitter and strong;

And I am rich in all that I have lost.

O starshine on the fields of long - ago,

Bring me the darkness and the nightingale;

Dim wealds of vanished summer, peace of home,

And Silence; and the faces of my Friends.

 

 

 

Siegfried Sassoon, written 1/2/1918.

 

 

" At the going down of the sun,

We WILL remember them........"

 

 

Andy

[LeeEnfield]

Oop's.........My apoligies to all, regarding the miss quote at the end of my last posting,

Of course it Should have read,

 

"At the going down of the sun,

and in the morning,..................

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM...................."

 

 

 

 

Andy

[Guest matt]

Hi Andy,

 

Indeed I have read Sassoon.I am very interested in the three poets,Owen,Graves and Sassoon.Robert Graves had a house near where I live,in his poem Letter to SS from Mametz Wood he discribes many places I know well.Also I have been to Shrewsbury to the memorial to Wilfred Owen and found his house.

 

Matt.

[LeeEnfield]

Hi Matt.

Not had a lot to do with Graves, but certainly, both Owen and Sassoon,when describing,through verse,the world they were inhabiting,and sights they were seeing,does tend to make a mockery of the idea that war is 'clean',- promoted by certain film producers(granted, mostly of latter conflicts)

 

Have you found any WWII war poets ?

 

Andy

[LeeEnfield]

Well, having just watched the 2nd part of The Last Tommy, what can I say,........I had tears in my eyes, one moment, and was laughing out loud, the next.

 

Well Done BBC.

Probably the best programe, of its type, thats been shown; and one that, if released on BBc DVD, I'll certainly buy.

 

Even the detail of the re-enactors LOOKED right,-although I'm no expert.

 

Very well done to all concerned, and I'll see if I can say same on BBC web site tomorrow.

 

Anyone else see it ??

 

 

All My Respects to the surviving Vererans;..........HERO's all.

 

Andy

[sean101ryan]

Amen to that, very moving program. Shock to realise there are only four left now.

 

Used to live next to an old boy who I ran errands for. As a teenager I thought it was a pain having to shop for him and listen to him, he was such a fussy old sod!. He was a Gallipoli veteren and still had all his diaries. He showed me officers mess menus he wrote for Christmas and loads of other stuff. It is one of my eternal regrets I took no interest at the time; and he was responsible for me getting my first job. He died about 18 years ago. We owe these people so much.

[LeeEnfield]

Re The Last Tommy;

I've just heard that Alfred Anderson,of Scotland, - the LAST of the old Contemptables, has died.

 

WE MUST NEVER FORGET.............................

 

 

A link I founf the other day, may be of interest,

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwone/last_tommy_gallery.shtml

 

 

 

Andy