A long, ongoing pligrimage

[LeeEnfield]

Fantastic pic's and commentry, Snapper,...................Many Thanks.

 

Certainly a powerful statment to the FUTILITY of war.

 

 

Andy.

 

* the above statment is in NO way disrespectfull to those who fell fighting in ANY comflict.

[Snapper]

To end the day, here is a snap of the London Regiment which sits on the triangle of land in front of the Royal Exchange opposite the Bank of England. The Londons are dear to my heart for family and other sound reasons and it is good to recall that of all the pals and chums battalions, so associated with the north of England; that the first formed were of the Londons. There were 27 Battalions in the end and this may seem low but you have to remember that the way London was divided in those days between the old counties meant that much of it was administravely still in Essex, Surrey, Kent and Middlesex so many more Londoners went to regiments associated with those counties.

 

I was once lucky to go on a tour of the Bank of England and really wanted to photograph the very impressive Roll of Honour there, but this was forbidden. A shame. I've always liked their paper products.

 

To digress, I can remember standing near opposite the Londons memorial for the Lord Mayor Show of 1965 or 1966 which was opened by Graham Hill and Jim Clark. Gone but not forgotten.

[Snapper]

We spent a week on The Somme in 2006, staying at Chavasse Farm; which I strongly recommend. It's a lovely place in the village of Hardecourt-en-Bois which is to the south of Longueval and Guillemont and to the north of the Albert-Peronne road.

 

We walked out to Delville Wood, which is a fair-ish punt, but nice in good weather - this day it was moderately bloody freezing and horrible. On the way Grimmer took to explaining the difference between the artillery shells we passed along the way. It all adds to the sense of occasion - but gawd, the wives were bored.

 

In Delville Wood Cemetery I was looking for the graves of a couple of poor souls who had worked for previous incarnations of my current employer. While doing this I came across this grave of an unknown soldier which had the picture of an officer left with it. He was Lieutenant John Curtis Moakes, aged 29 from Reading, who died on 05.09.1916 while serving with 155th Field Company Royal Engineers. We found the same picture left at Thiepval where his name is recorded with the missing and have noticed several instances of this down the years. How sad. He is out there somewhere.

Edited January 5, 2009 by Snapper

[Enigma]

I agree about the British graves being more personal.

They clearly state the age and a lot of stones have personal messages from family or loved ones.

My brother and me visited 3 Britsih warcemeterys yesterday.

He's photographing graves from regiments of troops who were in our area or from veterans we know now.

[Tony B]

An unusal war cemetry, in that it was started in 1943, under German Occupation for Allied servicemen. mostly the crew of HMS Charibdys, though there are American Airmen, a 1919 dated burial.

[Tony B]

Found this quote sems very apt for the thread

 

 

Somme Mud

 

 

 

 

 

 

The experiences of an infantryman in France, 1916-1919

 

 

 

By E.P.F. Lynch

 

 

 

Edited by Will Davies

 

 

 

 

 

We wait on whilst the dead men are buried. A shallow grave marked by a rifle stuck up in the mud is all that can be done. It gives some satisfaction to do that, although we are well aware the men so buried will be thrown up and reburied by shellfire time after time until the fighting shifts on from here. Some day they may have real graves. What a lot to look forward to! It’s as well their people can’t fully realize what finding a soldier’s grave really means.

[Snapper]

Thanks men....

 

The Somme Mud book is a classic. I really enjoyed it (if that is the word). Thanks for the additions to this thread. I'd like it to gather strength with stuff from all and sundry. It's the little details that matter about people we do not necessarily know.

[Snapper]

It's nice to think that the CWGC go to so much trouble to care for graves, even for the Unknown soldiers. So, just to prove I am something of a war cemeteries anorak; here is a temporary marker from Delville Wood cemetery. This picture was taken in 2004.

[Snapper]

I like this snap because it shows the Menin Gate during the day when it is a busy thoroughfare for local traffic...of all kinds. When I look at these snaps I find myself wishing I was on the trail now and not stuck behind my desk sorting out all kinds of rubbish. But the bills have to be paid. We'll hopefully get back on the road again early next year. We used to do a Xmas holiday day trip to Ypres which was mad, cold and great fun - like a sort of graveyards bumfreezer. But with the pound so low against the euro and there being so much to do at Barnesfork, there won't be a window of opportunity for a tad. So, the snaps will have to do.

[Tony B]

Feeling very smug :-D But a treasured moment and picture.

[Joris]

Two unknown soldiers in Opheusden, burried in the local (public) cemetery. A lot of cemeteries in the Netherlands have one or two or five wargraves from planes shot down in the vicinity.

 

The soldier on the left picture was killed during the German attack on Opheusden on October 5th, 1944.

 

The soldier on the right pictures was most probably trying to get into the Oosterbeek perimeter as he was killed (or found?) on September 23rd and Opheusden was not yet in Allied hands then. Opheusden is downstream from Oosterbeek so this soldier could be washed ashore. It is not known to many but a lot of villages downstream from Arnhem have graves of airborne troops washed ashore.

[Joris]

Three wargraves in the public cemetery of Veghel. The left grave is of A. Middleton from the Queens Royal regiment, killed on september 30th 1944. The middle on is an unknown polish airman and the one on the right is known but to god.

 

I have a ton more pictures of Market Garden cemeteries on my pc but it's in storage at the moment

[Snapper]

Joris and Tony.

 

Thanks for the excellent pix.

 

Tony - I'd treasure that snap. I have long distance plans to take the MUTT to Belgium and/or the Somme before long.

 

There are other sites building up a database of war graves, cemeteries, memorials,monuments and so on and I only want to emulate them in terms of sharing our experiences of the battlefields. It makes for a brilliant continuous project everyone can dip into and contribute; no matter where in the world your snaps come from and no matter if others have been there before you - this can be your place to share your experience. They all count. Please do join in.

 

Joris: I'm always interested to see pix of graves we can put names to, but the unknowns are equally important. So if you can add the names when you have time, that would be great. I did not have a clue about the numbers of bodies washed down the river. All individual tragedies worthy of our attention.

 

Advert: I am gradually building info on the mass of pix I took in Hong Kong to start posting. I was hoping to be able to add further info on the individuals and make things more interesting. Thanks to the brilliant Hong Kong War Diary website this has proved a lot more easier to do. The site owner Tony Banham, who has written two books on the whole tragedy of the defence of Hong Kong and the fate of the defenders, has agreed to do an interview chat for us. It will be interesting to step completely outside of the European theatre.

[Tony B]

Hey Mark, easy enough to get there with the Chunnel, do a convoy? Also just heard from Andy Robertshaw, there will be a new series of the trench detective's soon. AND when do we get the Vampire Interview? any pictures of memorials etc I've got you can have.

[Tony B]

One very special moment, taking the Great great great nephew of E Hanmore to visit his grave on the 90th anniversary of his death

[Phil P]

I don't have a relative buried in France (fortunatley) though my Mother had a cousin who died on a Japanese prison ship in 1943 aged 19. A Great Uncle of mine was a Surgeon in France in WWI. When we do the Bethune tour I drive up to Cabaret Rouge in Souchez and place a RBL cross on the grave of Private 34109 Ernest Mullard who died on the 18 April 1918 aged 26. He was a 'Tunneler with the South Staffs Regiment. He is not a relative but was born in the same village as I live in. I feel it is the very least I can do. I was asked to write a piece for the Parish magazine recording my visits. As a result hi sGreat Nephew and Great Niece his nephew from his Fathers side contacted me. Niether until then new of the other or of Private Mullrds resting place. They live 400 yards apart! It made my trips worth the effort.

 

Phil.

[Snapper]

Tony. The Vampir (apparently!) interview is on my PC, right here, right now. Just got to put it all together. The man to thank for this is John Grimmer the demon Barber of Southend...(an in-joke courtesy of the Southend Evening O Heck, which is a bit like a regional Grauniad. :-D I'll get on it.

 

Yeh - a road trip in our motors would be great. I just get impatient doing the road miles from Calais via the Dunkirk turn off and off again at Steenenvoorde (or whatever it's called) - the place with the church with the tall spire - before I find things to look at.

[Tony B]

Brilliant Mark, really looking forward to that articale. :tup::

[Enigma]

Royal Marine buried in a neigbouring village, buried at the local cemetery.

We went on the day of his death to lay a wreath.

The wreath itself was placed by my brothers children, 10 and 9 years old.

 

[Snapper]

Patrick Kenneth Pearce. Aged 27. Son of Thomas and Louisa Mary Pearce, of Ryde, Isle of Wight. God bless him.

[Snapper]

Frederick Birks was born in Flintshire, Nth Wales in August,1894. He emigrated to Australia in 1913 and enlisted in the 2nd Field Ambulance on 18th August, 1914. He was wounded at Gallipoli on 20th June, 1915 and was promoted to lance corporal the following April. He was awarded the MM for his "consistent good service" at Pozieres in 1916 and promoted to corporal.

 

He was commissioned on 26th April, 1917 and transferred to the 6th Battalion with whom he won the VC at Glencorse Wood on the 20th of September. He died the following day and is buried in Perth (China Wall) Cemetery.

 

There is a superb account of his life on the BBC Memoryshare site at

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/memoryshare/A37377336

 

This cemetery is an important one because another VC is buried there as are a number of men who were 'shot at dawn' . It makes for an interesting contrast.

[Snapper]

Grimmer John had worked out a good walk for us to go from Auchonvillers and out over Hawthorn Ridge to the road that goes down into Beaumont Hamel. We crossed this road and went up Redan Ridge. If you look at this countryside, which looks lovely; you have to wonder where in God's name Joffre got the notion this was good attacking country when he bequeathed it to the British. He had previously decreed that the lethal landscape around Loos was such an opportunity in 1915. The British army suffering 60,000 casualties in two days. As we know, it was even worse on the Somme a year later.

 

As we know, Haig had no specific qualms about attacking over this countryside. We hear a lot about the gift of hindsight - but I would think any fool would defer the chance to attack up and over one valley and up to another with the enemy holding all the high ground. But this is precisely what happened. The first pics show the view towards Beaumont Hamel cemetery from Hawthorn Ridge and then the reverse view from the cemetery. It is a great place to walk - but not with new boots, eh John!

 

Out of shot to the left of the cemetery seen from the ridge is the spot where Geoffrey Mallins filmed the Hawthorn Ridge mine being exploded. This tragic waste of effort alerted the Germans that an attack was coming. They had plenty of time to massacre the attacking infantry.

Mallins film remains a classic bit of Great War generic. What it must have been like to have crouched there filming is a moot point.

[Tony B]

The thing that struck me on first visit was, the area is so SMALL! They must have been queing up to fall over. To see it in summer now with birds, young calves palying in the feilds, just unbelivable.

[Joris]

Brunssum, a small town in southern province of the Netherlands Limburg, on the border with germany has a small cemetery. If I recall correctly a lot of man buried here were killed in a large ammonution explosion in January 1945.

 

 

 

 

[Joris]

These two shots I took purely by chance on exactly the same spot but in different weather conditions on the Canadian War Cemetery near Groesbeek.