100 years since the outbreak of WW1

[Astoness]

thought i would post this in its proper section..come this july it will be 100 years since the outbreak of the great war...really hoping that the city will do something special to commemorate and remember all those who gave their lives for england...a nice parade would be good including military on horseback as we must not forget all the horses who also perished in the most awful conditions...

lyn

 

[Morturn]

Great topic Lyn, I understand that events are planned as an on going series of on this day events as the war unfolds. A good friend of mine, an historian has written a book about animals used in the war. She has a website here; https://hildakean.com/ well worth a read.

 

[Astoness]

hi mort i am going to try to find out if maybe bcc have anything planned for july or if any members know please let us know about it...thanks for that link i will have a look at it...

cheers

lyn

 

[Frank Hill]

No lets forget such a terrible mess

 

[Astoness]

No lets forget such a terrible mess

why forget it frank??..if it was not for the bravery of our men during both wars we would probably not be here talking about it..surely they all deserve to be remembered at least once a year and especially on the 100th anniversary

 

[Dave M]

Lest We Forget

Flanders Field
by John McCraeIn Flanders

Field 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 Field.​

 

[Wendy]

There has been a project on facebook where a photo and name is posted every week and people fill in the details. I am sure this will be fantastic when complete. We should never forget the sacrifice made by these men and their families.

 

[Astoness]

hi wendy..thats sounds a great project but as i am not on facebook i cant contribute to that but will keep everyone updated if i can find out if anything special is to be arranged in the city centre

lyn

 

[aston lad]

hi wendy..thats sounds a great project but as i am not on facebook i cant contribute to that but will keep everyone updated if i can find out if anything special is to be arranged in the city centre

lyn

Lyn.....most of us on here are on facebook in one form or another, and over the last couple of years local history has come to be one of the main subjects on there...so if you get the chance join up do so, you will enjoy it, you are allowed more freedom of speech on there than here, and you will be surrounded by family and friends of your choice, sorry for changing the subject ....but we did lose thousands upon thousands of our men and women in two wars so we could have freedom of thought, speech etc.

 

[BernardR]

Thanks for posting this here Lyn it it a question that all councils should be addressing.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Astoness]

Lyn.....most of us on here are on facebook in one form or another, and over the last couple of years local history has come to be one of the main subjects on there...so if you get the chance join up do so, you will enjoy it, you are allowed more freedom of speech on there than here, and you will be surrounded by family and friends of your choice, sorry for changing the subject ....but we did lose thousands upon thousands of our men and women in two wars so we could have freedom of thought, speech etc.

hi aston lad and thanks for the advise i am aware of the facebook history groups that are now springing up... its just that i have never felt the need to subscribe to any facebook group/s....but never say never who knows one day i might...happy new year to you...

lyn

 

[Astonian]

bernard and lynn
Nobody ever forgets the sad and traumatics of the yester years wars going back a hundred years old even
and most cerainly the older folk whom are still alive ;i have met afew jewish people from there comuntity especialy the older ones
whom lost there parents and them there selves walking around alive to day scarred by the tattoos they carry on there arms
when they talk about it and they show you there numbers there tears roll there ther faces it is sad to see some one recall there days of horror and the lost of he sibblings and parents as they escaped themselves from these wars so you see these people and our good fortunate one living today will never forget our great men
whom fought for us all and we all learnt about our ancestors of these wicked wars now how far you go back
and people will never forget its a scarred memory of the yest years and things like this reminding them can be upsetting to some one whom in there later years roll
up [ signeed up with this great site i am surely do not want to be reminded they have there memories within there hearts and souls and look to our site for comfort and friendships ; okay once in a blue moon some ones to know about there father or son or any sibblings whom may have fallen in battle like i have a relie whom died in flanders
which i never knew until i learnt thats where he was killed and his name is listed onthe gates of flanders which i never knew until a banned member informed me
that i thank that i enrolled to this great forum and yes it my blood yes i may talk rubbish alot of times but i certantly dont think we should keep going on with the boar war
yes indeed by all means please keep us posted about any council ; if any can afford to choose to recall or do ay think for the people as we are told they are cashed strapped
and we all know why we are trying to be number one again but its cost money and also the marjority of the human race is exstintwe do not need to be reminded of it
and i would never join face book its complete lunany i have not registeed either but i have sibbling and friends whom are but i tell them all the reason why i will never enlist
even hou i think this forum is drying u slightly i will stick to my party the BHS ; BEST WISHES ASTONIAN;;

 

[paul stacey]

God Bless all those poor, sad lads and lass's. paul

 

[Smudger]

No lets forget such a terrible mess

I can`t agree with you Frank. We should remember, even if it`s just for the callous disregards our Generals had for the ordinary soldier. They gave amateurish orders from the comfort of their "digs" behind the lines, as if they were out for a days foxhunting. Only "Jerry" was no fox, & they didn`t seem to understand the futility of sending men over the top, time & time again. There was a scene in the recent film " War Horse" where a cavalry charge was ordered against machine guns! If you must go to war, do your homework & be prepared.

 

[Astoness]

thank you for your post alan always a pleasure to read and please keep on posting have to go out now.im on another mission with my camera lol....a happy new year to your and yours

lyn x

 

[Charlie]

We've just been given (by a niece) a notebook that was used in the trenches by my father-in-law. He was in the Warwicks as a signaller.
It's written in stubby pencil and has faded badly but I'm going to try and transcribe it so it's not lost forever! A lot of it details German numbers (Ein, Swei Drei etc) and it jumps around a lot, so not really a 'journal' but parts are like a diary and detail the bombs and marching they did on a particular day ... our son read some of it and was in tears! It's very poignant and moving at times, how any of them came back is a miracle!

 

[MWS]

It seems strange to me that you would want to make a big event out of the start of the war. The end yes but not the start. So, lowering of flags and some services around the country would be enough.

 

[Alberta]

22 years ago, I stood in front of the Thiepval memorial, 72,000 names of young men whose bodies were not found so have no known grave.
The day before I had visited the cemetery at Baupame and walked in the silence except for the occasional birdsong, my youngest son was 18 years old and dozens of the graves bore the age 18, a generation of youth sent to their slaughter , I tried to imagine what their mothers went through.

We should never ever forget and we should certainly honour them 100 years after the outbreak of WW1.

Can I just add that whilst visiting Thiepval there were parties of school children , all silent, paying attention to their teachers who were explaining the facts to them some were French but one party was German.

This is one event in history that I feel no-one should ever forget.

 

[Astoness]

hi MWS..i dont think its strange to want to mark the beginning of ww1...providing i have my facts straight it started on 28th july 1914 so from this point onwards many lives were in danger of being lost...in fact the first soldier to lose his life was private john parr born 1898 in england...died 21st august 1914 age 15 to 16..he did of course overstate his age such was his passion to join up..all i would like to see is a small parade of some sort just to say thank you to all those boys and men that went into action on that date not having a clue of just how god dam awful it would be for them and worst still once they did realise praying that they would make it back home..its the least they all deserve...just my opinion of course..

lyn

 

[Astoness]

We've just been given (by a niece) a notebook that was used in the trenches by my father-in-law. He was in the Warwicks as a signaller.
It's written in stubby pencil and has faded badly but I'm going to try and transcribe it so it's not lost forever! A lot of it details German numbers (Ein, Swei Drei etc) and it jumps around a lot, so not really a 'journal' but parts are like a diary and detail the bombs and marching they did on a particular day ... our son read some of it and was in tears! It's very poignant and moving at times, how any of them came back is a miracle!

wow charlie what a treasure to have..i should imagine that reading that notebook would really make it sink in and know that the war was real and did happen..

lyn

 

[Charlie]

wow charlie what a treasure to have..i should imagine that reading that notebook would really make it sink in and know that the war was real and did happen..

lyn

There's not much content Lyn - but what there is is special! I'll try and post up some of the diary entries when I've done it.

 

[Astoness]

hi ya charlie even though there may not be much content it was written in your father in laws own hand and came back home with him..priceless stuff..look forward to reading some entries if possible

lyn

 

[Donbogen]

WW 1 is coming up a lot from folk at my bar even young folk its time i dug out the tools used in this war i be posting pics soon i must sort out medals and photos as well of my grandad prisoner of the Kaiser only to be shot in the spine by a Black and Tan.

 

[Astoness]

WW 1 is coming up a lot from folk at my bar even young folk its time i dug out the tools used in this war i be posting pics soon i must sort out medals and photos as well of my grandad prisoner of the Kaiser only to be shot in the spine by a Black and Tan.

oh yes please...would love to see medals and photos you have ...

lyn

 

[brummie nick]

I thought you might like to see this, Its my wife's Grandfathers mobilization papers telling him to report back to his regiment, he was on the reserve,

 

[Astoness]

thanks for sharing that with us nick...a great piece of family history to treasure..

 

[Rupert]

I think that we, seniors anyway, know more about the first world war now, then we did when teenagers in the fifties. Sure we knew about WW2 and Spitfires and such; it was all closer but WW1 was too far away and old wooden spoke'd wheels were something from a different era. I can't say that I even gave it much thought back then and was probably more impressed by Custers last stand. Movies and the Internet have joined to foreshorten time I think and now WW1 does not seem so far back. There are photographs of WW1; many on here, but considering the catastrophic nature of the event for Europe in general, not as many to view as one might think.
It's hard to have feelings about the start of such an event other than sadness for the human condition and horror at the loss of life. We remember the lost soldiers on Remembrance Day with our silence and poppy every year. Reverence for an anniversary of the start of the first event that caused their loss might be a stretch for some.

 

[terry carter]

Hi Lyn & all

I do hope I can help with stories and anecdotes from the local news of the day or any other aspect of Birmingham and it's citizens who were involved in WW1

Regards

Terry

 

[Alberta]

As well as the men who lost their lives we should not forget those who lived but with 'shattered' lives.

Not a story that I have told 'in public' before but my maternal grandfather started life as a butchers boy prefering not to enter his fathers earthenware factory in the Potteries.
When the butcher retired my great grandfather bought the shop for his son life was good for Frederick and his fiancee and then came WW1.
Frederick was gassed in France and when he returned to England was very,very ill not only in body but in his mind.
He married but his wife dealt with his mood swings,depression and dreadful nightmares.
They had one child , my mother,and he began , over the years, to get steadily better.
Then came 1939 and he began to go downhill again, he hated any talk of the war, the newspaper reports , the radio announcements.
In 1943 as the war escalated his depression and nightmares began to get really bad and in 1943 when i was 8 months ald he killed himself.
A casualty of WW1. R.I.P The grandad I never knew.

 

[Astoness]

morning alberta how very sad and just goes to prove that for so many the nightmares of the great war did not end when the war ended...my grandad was in the field artillary and was gassed twice but did return..his health was never the same again and he died in 1938 aged 50 leaving my nan to raise 3 young girls alone..our mom was just 9 years old and to make matters worse for nan who never remarried the year after saw the outbreak of ww2...no wonder folk had to tough in those days..it just makes me wonder how on earth they carried on...thanks for sharing that alberta total respect for a grandad i never knew..i have his war records but here is his medal card..


lyn