I was going to post on this earlier but was struggling with the words. Western Europe has been relatively peaceful since in my lifetime and I’m grateful I never had to go to war.
There’s a little film on the BBC site about a 12 year old soldier who fought at The Somme which is worth a few minutes of your time. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/36661783
Here are TMTCH with their version of Eric Bogle’s The Green Fields of France. Even though most people here will know this, it’s worth watching today for the images.
The things that always strike me are the youth of the dead (dying as virgins) and dying before they had even left the trenches. What madness, how on earth did survivors recover their mental equilibrium ?
I have come across the following writer/photographer who has photographed the Somme area as it is now at the exact time the offensive took place. There’s an exhibition of his panoramas in some gallery in elite London. Details here – http://www.jolyonfenwick.com
The Joe Sacco fold out panorama – The Great War – is well worth checking as is the Gentle Men/Robb Johnson cd.
Most of the British soldiers who took part in the assault on the first day were volunteers from the great recruitment drives of 1914 who answered the call to join Kitchener’s ‘New Armies’. One of the great tragic legacies of this was the ‘Pals Battalions’, where recruits were promised that those who joined together would serve together. As a result, whole communities suffered devastating losses in menfolk after the Somme, and the Pals were largely disbanded shortly afterwards.
I came across this remarkable project by artist Rob Heard, who hand-crafted 19,240 individual shroud-wrapped models, one for each soldier killed on the first day. Even more remarkable is that each model has one of the names of the fallen, in remembrance.
It’s a bit hard to know where to start on this one. Just watching a Dan Snow documentary on Quest. We talk about modern soldiers being under equipped, but at least we don’t send lads into battle wearing a bloomin’ kilt.
My main problem, though, is that the troops were led to believe that the artillery barrage had got rid of the barbed wire and machine guns. That’s why they were told to walk. It seems that, 100 years on, we are still being lied to by our “betters”.
On a personal note, my grandfather lost an eye in a shell blast earlier in the war and was invalided home. Other than that incident, he never talked about his experiences. On reflection, he probably regarded the loss of an eye as the best thing that ever happened to him.
As recently as Afghanistan, a British soldier on patrol could be carrying loads of around 50lbs. The Taliban would often refer to them as “tortoises” or “camels” on their radios as the British soldier nearly buckled under the weight.
The latest body armour is lighter but there are doubts about its effectiveness.
Thirty years or so ago, the most events on the Somme were seen increasingly as the beginning of the end of the period of deference to one’s social superiors. Paradoxically, as the Somme and WW1s profile generally has grown, this aspect appears to have been pushed into the background.
davebigpicture says
I was going to post on this earlier but was struggling with the words. Western Europe has been relatively peaceful since in my lifetime and I’m grateful I never had to go to war.
There’s a little film on the BBC site about a 12 year old soldier who fought at The Somme which is worth a few minutes of your time. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/36661783
Here are TMTCH with their version of Eric Bogle’s The Green Fields of France. Even though most people here will know this, it’s worth watching today for the images.
Dodger Lane says
Very much so.
The things that always strike me are the youth of the dead (dying as virgins) and dying before they had even left the trenches. What madness, how on earth did survivors recover their mental equilibrium ?
I have come across the following writer/photographer who has photographed the Somme area as it is now at the exact time the offensive took place. There’s an exhibition of his panoramas in some gallery in elite London. Details here – http://www.jolyonfenwick.com
The Joe Sacco fold out panorama – The Great War – is well worth checking as is the Gentle Men/Robb Johnson cd.
ruff-diamond says
Most of the British soldiers who took part in the assault on the first day were volunteers from the great recruitment drives of 1914 who answered the call to join Kitchener’s ‘New Armies’. One of the great tragic legacies of this was the ‘Pals Battalions’, where recruits were promised that those who joined together would serve together. As a result, whole communities suffered devastating losses in menfolk after the Somme, and the Pals were largely disbanded shortly afterwards.
I came across this remarkable project by artist Rob Heard, who hand-crafted 19,240 individual shroud-wrapped models, one for each soldier killed on the first day. Even more remarkable is that each model has one of the names of the fallen, in remembrance.
http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad15/camplimp/fc6baab2-f38d-437f-af89-abfbc0d4d6f6_zps924a9lg0.jpg
Tiggerlion says
19,240 was just the number of British dead. Nevertheless, Rob Heard’s piece is deeply moving.
ruff-diamond says
Yes, I should have said “each British and Empire soldier…”
bungliemutt says
This is very imaginative and very touching.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-36683549
ruff-diamond says
Yes, a very touching and thoughtful remembrance. #wearehere of course echoing the well-known soldiers song “We’re here because we’re here…”
Fintinlimbim says
It’s a bit hard to know where to start on this one. Just watching a Dan Snow documentary on Quest. We talk about modern soldiers being under equipped, but at least we don’t send lads into battle wearing a bloomin’ kilt.
My main problem, though, is that the troops were led to believe that the artillery barrage had got rid of the barbed wire and machine guns. That’s why they were told to walk. It seems that, 100 years on, we are still being lied to by our “betters”.
On a personal note, my grandfather lost an eye in a shell blast earlier in the war and was invalided home. Other than that incident, he never talked about his experiences. On reflection, he probably regarded the loss of an eye as the best thing that ever happened to him.
ruff-diamond says
Nor do we send them into battle carrying 70 pounds of kit on their backs.
Tiggerlion says
As recently as Afghanistan, a British soldier on patrol could be carrying loads of around 50lbs. The Taliban would often refer to them as “tortoises” or “camels” on their radios as the British soldier nearly buckled under the weight.
The latest body armour is lighter but there are doubts about its effectiveness.
ernietothecentreoftheearth says
Thirty years or so ago, the most events on the Somme were seen increasingly as the beginning of the end of the period of deference to one’s social superiors. Paradoxically, as the Somme and WW1s profile generally has grown, this aspect appears to have been pushed into the background.