Rolf Harris 2 little boys

[ArtistsRifles]

You might find this clip interesting - I got sent the URL from a Regimental list - there are some good images from WW1 here:

 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8wCko00OTRU

[private mw]

great pics and song my 21month old son loves this song , i sing it to him a lot . not going on x factor tho :coffee:

[AndyFowler]

Thanks Neil , great song ! Very moving pictures ! Nuff said !

[Swill1952xs]

That certainly gives you a lot to think about after watching it. How on earth those men lived and fought in those conditions is unimaginable. It also is a good reminder of how far we've come since those days. They never had the benefits of medical and medicine technology that we have today. The sheer terror they must have experienced combined with the atrocious conditions they fought and lived under, and their life expectancy must have been very demoralising for them. The will to live and the hatred of their enemies must have been about all that kept them going. I've heard of soldiers being shot for cowardice after fleeing the battle zone and wonder just how many did; as not everyone has the strength of character to endure constant battle. I remember as a child seeing and hearing men walking down the street, talking to themselves, sometimes shouting loudly and in an uncontrolled manner and having my parents explain to me that they were suffering from something called "Shell Shock", as it was known then. I would imagine that mild sufferers would have been allowed to integrate with society, but I wonder how many were committed to "Lunatic Assylums" and labeled insane.

I often wonder how they managed without communication equipment that probably would have saved maybe hundreds of thousands of lives. They never had the benefit of airlifts to ferry the injured to surgical units, and no doubt most of us have heard of the horrific accounts of amputations carried out during battle.

 

The war in Vietnam has some very vivid and unpleasant memories and the after effects of the conflict are still evident. The things which stick in my mind most of all being Napalm, the naked and horribly burnt little girl running naked down the road, and the horrific after effects of "Defoliants" used. (Agent orange?). What a bloody waste of time, life and money that war was. Sort of the 1960's version of Iraq. Never achieved anything.

 

I was fortunate enough to miss WW2 by seven years and my only recollection of war affecting our country was the war in the Falklands. Some of the images and names from that period will always be in my memory. A least the soldiers who fought in that war had the benefit of modern medicine. Thinking in particular of Simon Weston and the way his face was reconstructed.

 

How different wars are now, laser guided bombs, HSE saying soldiers are now no longer allowed to jump from moving vehicles, soldiers virtually have to face a murder enquiry for shooting someone...... now thinking in particular of the recent war in Iraq. (Would have been better had Blair not had his head up Bush's a**se and we didn't go there in the first place.)

 

There will always be wars, usually caused by bigoted fanatics. All we can hope for is the gaps between them will get bigger, and that the lives of our fellow countrymen and women, will not be wasted fighting someone else's wars and crusades.

 

Remember the words of Edwin Star's song, War,................ what is it good for?...........absolutely nothing................well apart from the development of future Historic Military Vehicles :-D

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

Remember the words of Edwin Star's song, War,................ what is it good for?...........absolutely nothing..............

I like this one .War Breaks Out no one turns up.

[ArtistsRifles]

I like this one .War Breaks Out no one turns up.

 

Gets my vote too mate!!

[AlienFTM]

For images in a music video that evoke the pointlessness of war, I always find I Believe In Father Christmas by Greg Lake one not to miss.

 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FqOfXumI18A

 

Note that this video runs maybe half a minute longer than you ever see on music TV and totally changes the message.

 

This is something I dislike about music TV who want to concentrate on the music and don't need the video once the body of the track has finished.

 

They are also guilty of usually (but not absolutely always) cutting:

 

A minute and a half of guitar solo from the end of Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush and maybe even more from November Rain by Guns'n'Roses.

 

I am sure this could grow into quite a list.

[ArtistsRifles]

There was always Jonah Lewie's "Don't Stop The Cavalry":

 

 

[Snapper]

Wish I was at home for Christmas...

 

Great song. Good call..

 

The semi-classic Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello is about the Falklands. I prefer Robert Wyatt's version which is really haunting.

 

You can also look for his nutty acapella (I can't spell it Tony B) gem

Stalin Wasn't Stallin' - but I haven't been able to find it on iTunes or anywhere like that. The single 45 cover was a picture of a huge pile of German helmets. This is circa 1980.

 

The classic Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel is wonderful and made me think he'd been a marine in 'Nam. No.

 

The great Steve Earle brings us Johnny Come Lately - about a P47 pilot and a bit more with the help of the Pogues and he continues the white trash theme with Copperhead Rd, which comes from the album of the same name and includes the previous track.

 

Then there is Al Stewart's The Road To Moscow - a curate's egg about the Russian Front.

 

I liked Two Little Boys when I was a kid and have every respect for Rolf Harris, I once spent an afternoon in a pub watching him explain how to spit long distance mouthfuls of lager into a glass. I assume the Aborigines used the methods to catch frogs or Rolexes, who knows?

[abn deuce]

If your taste run more to WW2 and the Red Ball Express there a song on youtube about that , although he's being very negative he does paint a picture of the times

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=F7rslXLtJJs its clean basicly but a bit crude .

[Mark]

I think (and not ashamed to say) that it is an icon song, liked it when first released and absolutly love this version, says a lot...............................I think.

[Richard Farrant]

Did anyone see Rolf on BBC TV recently, in a programme where he visited the WW1 battle fields to find out where his Father and Uncle fought? Very moving, as his Father had never spoken of what happened, and his Uncle died over there. They had both volunteered to join the Australian Army, but had only been in the country for two years, having emigrated from Wales.

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

Yes Richard i did,Bad luck for the brother going thro all that then he died of flue.

[AlienFTM]

Wasn't Rolf's uncle that died of flu was it? Didn't he die in the battle? Wasn't it the Scottish lass whose great uncle was taken into hospital the day before he was due to ship back to Blighty and was dead and buried three weeks after Armistice?

 

90 years ago today he died IIRC.

[Richard Farrant]

Wasn't Rolf's uncle that died of flu was it? Didn't he die in the battle? Wasn't it the Scottish lass whose great uncle was taken into hospital the day before he was due to ship back to Blighty and was dead and buried three weeks after Armistice?

 

 

 

You are right Alien, it was the Scots soldier who died of Spanish Flu. Rolf's uncle suffered a shrapnel wound to his leg, I think and it seems he probably died of blood poisoning, thats what I recollect of the programme.