Lest we forget...

[Goofball]

Hello all. I'm posting this a day early, because I probably won't be online tomorrow. Tomorrow is Remembrance Day in Canada; a day to remember and honor those men and women who have fallen so that the rest of us may live in freedom. It is also my son's birthday. So tomorrow, before there are any gifts opened or cake eaten, my son and I will carry on our annual tradition of attending the ceremony at our local cenotaph on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and taking a bit of time out of our day to contemplate how good we have it, and what price others had to pay for us to have it so good.

Happy Remembrance Day all...

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

http://kilby.sac.on.ca/towerslibrary/pages/users/819.152.jpg

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

do you guys wear poppies?

Strange as it is, I do miss Remembrance Day back home.

I lost 3 great-uncles in WW2.
Many of their siblings are still around to remember them.

I believe I also lost a couple of great-great-uncles in WW1. I doubt that any of their surviving nieces and nephews remember them

[Reverend Joe]

For some godawful, stupid reason, we in the US have changed Armistice Day into Veteran's day, so a lot of people in the US aren't going to know what this day is all about.

Sorry for the rant... but I feel that the memory of the first world war is a terrible thing to water down.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Thank you to all veterans. As they say, freedom isn't free.

Crazed Rabbit

P.S.: The US has fought in many wars were uncommon valor has been shown by our soldiers, and it was decided to not have a holiday for each war, I guess.

[Fragony]

Perfect occasion to bring up my favorite poem! Written by an english soldier and it slaps you in the face.


Move him into the sun--
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it awoke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds--
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs so dear-achieved, are sides
Full-nerved,--still warm,--too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?


Did I mention you guys rock? Many thanks!

[Reverend Joe]

Move him into the sun--
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it awoke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.

Think how it wakes the seeds--
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs so dear-achieved, are sides
Full-nerved,--still warm,--too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?




Sounds like a late Floyd song... something from "The Final Cut" or something. Really good.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

Anybody seen the Oscar nominated film "Hedd Wyn"?

about this boy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedd_Wyn

[Fragony]

Sounds like a late Floyd song... something from "The Final Cut" or something. Really good.

It is from Wilfred Owen, he died one week after he wrote this I believe. I can stare it it forever, especially this part,

Think how it(the sun) wakes the seeds--
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs so dear-achieved, are sides
Full-nerved,--still warm,--too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?

The poem is called 'futility', especially this line 'was it for this the clay grew tall?' reflects the way he must have felt in that hell. Sitting there with your dead buddy, and just wondering 'why'??

pure genius.

[Goofball]

P.S.: The US has fought in many wars were uncommon valor has been shown by our soldiers, and it was decided to not have a holiday for each war, I guess.

As it is here. Remembrance Day is the day we honor all of our fallen; it is not specific to WWI.

[Redleg]

The "unofficial words" to Taps.


Words to Taps
(Note: there are no "official" words to Taps
below are the most popular.)

Day is done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep,
peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light;
And afar
Goeth day,
And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise,
For our days,
'Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.



The link plays the bugle call

http://www.wingtop3.org/taps.htm

When one honors the fallen warriors - Taps always has a special meaning in my soul.

[Togakure]

Salute. *bows low*

[Duke Malcolm]

I hope that all the honourable gentlemen of the Org are wearing their poppies (be they two or four leaved) with pride, and remembering those who died for that which is in my signature...

[BDC]

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares2 we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest3 began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots4
Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines6 that dropped behind.

Gas!7 Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets8 just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime9 . . .
Dim, through the misty panes10 and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,11 choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud12
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest13
To children ardent14 for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.15

8 October 1917 - March, 1918 - Wilfred Owen

Did that for my GCSE English. Only moving poem in there.

[scooter_the_shooter]

I hope that all the honourable gentlemen of the Org are wearing their poppies (be they two or four leaved) with pride, and remembering those who died for that which is in my signature...

Take the king out of their and sure.

[InsaneApache]

do you guys wear poppies?

got one on right now,,,,,,

I ,too, had close relatives in WWII....maybe I'll share later :bow:

[Papewaio]

Remembrance day here and now... 2 hours and it will be 11am. :bow:

[Craterus]

Later this year (15th December), I'll be going to Ypres. My great-grandfather was stationed there in the First World War. During his time there, he was shot six inches from the heart and also subject to a few gas attacks. He survived the war, but died before I was born. I wish I'd have met him.

Anyway, I had a poppy but it fell off my jumper. I wish they'd make them as badges instead. I think they fall out of the pins far too easily.

[Meneldil]

I could have quoted a poem of Guillaume Apollinaire, but heh, since you don't speak french...

Anyway, my respects to my great-grand-fathers, great-uncles, who fought and died during the war.
To all the French who died for a few meters of no man's land
To all the Brits who died on the soil of France. Although you're sometimes annoying, your courage shall not be forgotten.
To all the Americans, Australians, Canadians, who fought and died to protect France.
To all the Algerians, Tunisians, who were always sent to the bloodiest fights. To the Cambodians, Vietnamese, Senegalese, who fought for a country that treated them like animals.
To the Russians, Italians, Germans, Austrians, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Turks, etc. who were just as unlucky as us and got caught in this mess.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

I can post "Yr Arwr" by Hedd Wyn if anybody wants it.

It'll be in the original Welsh because it's very long and I don't have the time to translate it.

[Papewaio]

Go for it... I will either google a translation or get my Mum to translate it... good thing that I have made her a Mamgu as that has got me in the good books ~D

[Beirut]

My grandfather in WWI. :unitedstates:

My old man in WWII. :canada:

~:cheers:

We're all wearing poppies over here.

[kiwitt]

:bow: You fought us so we could play :bow:

You have earnt an honour that will never be lost.

[KukriKhan]

I could have quoted a poem of Guillaume Apollinaire, but heh, since you don't speak french...

Anyway, my respects to my great-grand-fathers, great-uncles, who fought and died during the war.
To all the French who died for a few meters of no man's land
To all the Brits who died on the soil of France. Although you're sometimes annoying, your courage shall not be forgotten.
To all the Americans, Australians, Canadians, who fought and died to protect France.
To all the Algerians, Tunisians, who were always sent to the bloodiest fights. To the Cambodians, Vietnamese, Senegalese, who fought for a country that treated them like animals.
To the Russians, Italians, Germans, Austrians, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Turks, etc. who were just as unlucky as us and got caught in this mess.

Beautiful tribute.

[Prodigal]

Anyone who is interested...A book, "Forgotten Voices" is compiled from audio recordings made by the Imperial War Museum, it includes, British, Canadian, US, French, Belgium, & German soldiers, women, & children...It gives a very unique insight into the Great War, through 1914-1918.

[InsaneApache]

A very remarkable man leads the two minutes silence....

here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4427132.stm)

[Ja'chyra]

My poppies are lined up on the divider of my desk, I alwys lose them, one for each year I have worked here.

We should always remember the price paid by others, for us and everyone who comes after.

:bow:

[ah_dut]

Yes, had the two minutes silence in school but I have never been able to get the poppy on without pricking myself a few times so I buy it an stick it in my blazer pocket.

Went to a remembrance day talk after school with a bloke called Nigel Cave and he was barking mad...though his history was good. I went to Ypres and the Somme earlier this year

[Meneldil]

The British National Anthem has been played in some cities in France today, right after or right before the French one.

[t1master]

Ah the sun's shining now on these green fields of France
The warm winds blow gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished under the plough
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now
But here in the graveyard it's still No-Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To Man's blind indifference to his fellow-man
To a whole generation who were butchered and damned


And I can't help but wonder now William McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause
Did you really believe that this war would end wars
Well the suffering and the sorrow and the glory, the shame
The killing the dying, the dying, it was all done in vain
For Willie McBride, it all happened again
And again, and again and again and again.

[InsaneApache]

Amen to that. :bow:

[King Henry V]

Maternal great-grandfather: Major James Leigh, Royal Engineers, missing in action, Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916.
Paternal great-grandfather: Hauptmann Friederich von Nass, killed in action, Battle of Passchendaele.
:shame:

[InsaneApache]

I see no shame there my fellow, rather just two sides to a coin, so to speak.

[King Henry V]

That was not meant to be shame, just the smilie which best corresponded to my feeling of respect and remembrance.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

Pape,
the amazing wikipedia came through so that I didn't have to paste pages of stuff:

http://wikisource.org/wiki/Yr_Arwr

Also, anybody ever read "In Parenthesis" by David Jones?

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Great uncles, dead, WW2, Eastern Front.

Aunt's father, essentialy executed by the Russians (shot at close range). In a way though, I am thankful for that, as without that, my oma wouldn't have married by opa, then my dad and me wouldn't have been born...so he really did give his life for me.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death August and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted:
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the starts that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end they remain.

Laurence Binyon

Here's a very good poem.

My family lost a good many men to wars, I will not list them as I do not know everything about them. Many records died with them. But they all died bravely, fighting for what they beleived in, and for that, I shal always respect them.


Those long uneven lines
Standing as patiently
As if they were stretched outside
The Oval or Villa Park,
The crowns of hats, the sun
On moustached archaic faces
Grinning as if it were all
An August Bank Holiday lark;

And the shut shops, the bleached
Established names on the sunblinds,
The farthings and sovereigns,
And dark-clothed children at play
Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day;

And the countryside not caring
The place-names all hazed over
With flowering grasses, and fields
Shadowing Domesday lines
Under wheats' restless silence;
The differently-dressed servants
With tiny rooms in huge houses,
The dust behind limousines;

Never such innocence,
Never before or since,
As changed itself to past
Without a word-the men
Leaving the gardens tidy,
The thousands of marriages
Lasting a little while longer:
Never such innocence again.

Philip Larkin

[InsaneApache]

Some more from the oldest vet...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4429218.stm


One night while recovering aircraft in the Ypres Salient, he fell into a ditch full of rotting rats and body parts.

and from a soldier in Afganistan...


The soldier, from Tiverton, Devon, was on patrol in a Land Rover in the capital Kabul when a taxi exploded.

He was blown into a nearby field and later found wandering and still on fire by locals.

To this day, his memory of the event is hazy.

One can only admire such men. :bow:

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

I found this letter fascinating:

"Sir - The tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey (letter, November 12) is where we honour a grave to the Unknown British Warrior; the difference between soldier and warrior is not mere pedantry or semantics - it goes to the heart of who is buried in that especial place.

Soon after the end of the First World War, it was decided to inter an unidentifiable British serviceman who would otherwise be buried on the battlefield. The unidentified serviceman was most likely, statistically, to have been a soldier, but could have been an airman or a sailor, so any grieving mother, wife or sweetheart, could imagine that their beloved might be the one buried among kings.

The black marble slab over the grave was quarried in Belgium, the inlaid brass inscription was made from spent cartridge cases collected from the trenches, the earth within the grave came from the French battlefields and the coffin was made of English oak given by George V from his Windsor estate; thus symbolically uniting the Western nations who fought that war from its beginnings. The site of the tomb is the only grave in Westminster Abbey never walked on."

Robert Wardell, Pickering, N Yorks

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Extending on T1master's earlier post:

"Green Fields of France"

Tell me how do you do, Private William McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
And rest for a while, 'neath the warm summer sun
I've been walkin' all day, and I'm nearly done
Well I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the Great Fallen in 1915
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or Willie McBride was it slow and obscene

chorus:
Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fifes lowly
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down
Did the bugles blow "The Last Post" in chorus
Did the pipes play "The Flowers of the Forrest"

Now did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916
To some loving heart are you forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enshrined forever behind the glass pane
Of an old photograph, torn and battered and stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame

chorus

Ah the sun's shining now on these green fields of France
The warm winds blow gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished under the plough
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now
But here in the graveyard it's still No-Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To Man's blind indifference to his fellow-man
To a whole generation who were butchered and damned

chorus

And I can't help but wonder now William McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause
Did you really believe that this war would end wars
Well the suffering and the sorrow and the glory, the shame
The killing the dying, the dying, it was all done in vain
For Willie McBride, it all happened again
And again, and again and again and again.

chorus

-- Eric Bogel

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

Bogel almost makes me teary eyed.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Bogel almost makes me teary eyed.

Bogel gets me misty-eyed.

Bogel and 2 pints of Guiness = ~:mecry:

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

I've only heard that one and "Waltzing Matilda" and bothe were covers (The Men They Couldn't Hang and The Pogues, respectively).

It's good stuff.

I think the Dropkick Murpys have just murdered, oops, I mean covered one too.

[Strike For The South]

The greatest man I ever knew was my great-grandfather he was a preacher and became a chaplin in ww2 and gave 256 men there last rights (he had all of them writtien down but sadly when he died he no one could find it) RIP Humpy 1909-1996:bow:

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I've only heard that one and "Waltzing Matilda" and bothe were covers (The Men They Couldn't Hang and The Pogues, respectively).

It's good stuff.

I think the Dropkick Murpys have just murdered, oops, I mean covered one too.

I've heard a few others of his tunes, mostly covered by Makem & Clancy, though I've also heard Matilda by John McCormack and by -- believe it or not -- Sen. Bob Kerry