11/11/11

[The Year Of The Fox]

I had a argument debate with a bloke at work about the origins of our soldiers being called Tommy and he said it was because we used the American Thompson gun (tommy gun)...

But i knew Tommy was around well before that gun was...

Thought 'Tommy' came from the gun we used. Though I thought it was a British weapon?

[Head Honcho]

Something I think worth sharing with everyone.

This will be the first remembrance day with no surviving WW1 combatants alive.

[The Year Of The Fox]

Reynard bleu- were you on the guards then? You're not giving much away! (maybe you don't want to to be fair)

[davieG]

Thought 'Tommy' came from the gun we used. Though I thought it was a British weapon?

It's believed to have originated from a soldier called Tommy Atkins, leastwise that's what I thought certainly well before the 'Tommy Gun' was introduced.

A poem from 1899

Such was the day for our regiment,

Dread the revenge we will take.

Dearly we paid for the blunder

A drawing-room General's mistake.

Why weren't we told of the trenches?

Why weren't we told of the wire?

Why were we marched up in column,

May Tommy Atkins enquire…

[Rincewind]

Posted on Facebook.

On a cold November Sunday morn, an old man sits a while

Looking though old photographs, he can’t help but smile

They’re all there, all the boys, with hair cut short and neat

Uniforms of khaki, strong black boots upon their feet.

They met as strangers but soon became like brothers to the end

... Smiling at the camera, there could be no truer friends.

They all took the Queen’s shilling, went off to fight the hun,

Soon learnt the pain of loss once the fighting had begun.

So many never made it home, lost on foreign shores

Many more were injured and would be the same no more.

The old man’s eyes mist with tears as he remembers every face

Each of his fallen brothers and the killing which took place

He proudly dons his beret, his blazer and his tie

For today he will remember the ones who fell and died.

On his chest there is a poppy, a blaze of scarlet on the blue

He steps out into the cold, he has a duty he must do

Once at the cenotaph he stands amongst the ranks

Of those who marched to war and those who manned the tanks,

He bows his head in reverence, as the last post begins to play

And he wonders what will happen at the ending of his days

Will anyone remember? Will anybody care?

About the lads so far from home whose life was ended there?

I wish that I could tell him, that he should fear not

For this soldier and his brothers will NEVER be forgot

We owe a debt of gratitude that we can never pay

And this country WILL remember them, on each Remembrance day xx

[The Year Of The Fox]

Posted on Facebook.

On a cold November Sunday morn, an old man sits a while

Looking though old photographs, he can’t help but smile

They’re all there, all the boys, with hair cut short and neat

Uniforms of khaki, strong black boots upon their feet.

They met as strangers but soon became like brothers to the end

... Smiling at the camera, there could be no truer friends.

They all took the Queen’s shilling, went off to fight the hun,

Soon learnt the pain of loss once the fighting had begun.

So many never made it home, lost on foreign shores

Many more were injured and would be the same no more.

The old man’s eyes mist with tears as he remembers every face

Each of his fallen brothers and the killing which took place

He proudly dons his beret, his blazer and his tie

For today he will remember the ones who fell and died.

On his chest there is a poppy, a blaze of scarlet on the blue

He steps out into the cold, he has a duty he must do

Once at the cenotaph he stands amongst the ranks

Of those who marched to war and those who manned the tanks,

He bows his head in reverence, as the last post begins to play

And he wonders what will happen at the ending of his days

Will anyone remember? Will anybody care?

About the lads so far from home whose life was ended there?

I wish that I could tell him, that he should fear not

For this soldier and his brothers will NEVER be forgot

We owe a debt of gratitude that we can never pay

And this country WILL remember them, on each Remembrance day xx

That's brilliant, especially the last few lines. Copying that now

[Rincewind]

Not mine I left the poster name off cos I dont know where they got it from.

[I am Rod Hull]

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,

Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;

The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,

The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,

Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.

Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,

And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.

I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,

I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,

Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

The second verse (not included in the vid) is deemed unfit for todays world, quite amusing when gangster rappers can spout crap about popping caps in peoples asses and killing cops...

The second verse for me is for all our Canadian, Aussie, NZ, SA, Indian, African and other brothers who fought along side us for freedom and democracy... (doffs cap)

[Rincewind]

The Generals Speech 1914-1918

A young man watched open-mouthed

As he listened to the general's speech

Who spoke of pinnacles of bravery

That only a fearless man could reach.

The young man was given a uniform

And a rifle placed into his hand

He proudly stood on the ship's deck

As it sailed to a foreign land.

Lying in a trench covered in mud

He waited anxiously for the call

Thinking about going over the top

Where he would see the enemy fall.

At last the captain gave the order

Righto chaps do your best

The young man ran but 20 yards

Heedless of shells hitting his chest.

His memories spilled onto the ground

Where his comrades were not far behind

They trampled his short life underfoot

Lost in the earth never to be found.

The young man was laid beneath the grass

Where he used to run and play

On his old school's roll of honour board

Was added another young mans name.

A young man watched open-mouthed

As he listened to the general's speech.

© Copyright

[Houdini Logic]

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest 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 hoots

Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!---An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...

Dim, through the misty panes 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, 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 cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,---

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

[I am Rod Hull]

Any WW1 stories ?

An old WW1 soldier that used to live across the way from us used to tell us about his time in the "Great War".

In the mid 1970`s my dad used to poach shoot rabbits and pheasants on a Sunday Morning and swap them for allotment veg down the working mens club on a Sunday dinner time.

There was one bloke who got a rabbit or two for nowt, we knew him as "adgy". Many a time my mam and dad sent me and a brother over to his house to take a rabbit or two for him and his old gal. They were fantastic people, so warm and friendly and we always got a glass of barley water and a biscuit, no TV , just the radio and the ticking of the clock above the fire place.

We used to ask him what it was like in the war but looking back now he told us nothing of what he really went through, but one story stays in my mind...

He was ordered with a few others to clear some trenches, he caught some huns unaware and pointed his Enfield at them. they were surprised and surrendered. In taking them back to friendly lines they were caught by some Bosh (and this part still makes me smile to this day) with one of them waving his finger and saying "no no tut tut".

He got rescued by the rest of his squad shortly after and shared a ciggy and food with his prisoners...

These are memories that i cherish but im sure they were not for Adgy...

[Brainy]

You are gonna get it off walkers when he wakes up if that was meant to be as sarky as it sounded.

Ever thought that he may work nights?

I worked 5-8. I decided to sleep when I got back, as per usual.

[Rincewind]

Don't know if it was mum or dad that mentioned this about his time during WW2. He served in Italy and Greece and had reached the rank of Lance Corporal. This time he was offered a promotion to Corperal. He turned this down because he said one of his duties would be to arrange firing squads for deserters, He could not do this as he regrded all the men as his mates. I can't remember him telling many stories. I don't think he liked it. He was not a lover of the Americans either. One story was where his battalion captured a bridge then handed it over to the yanks to look after who promptly lost it. The brits took it and handed it over only for the Yanks to lose it againg. The Brits took it again but then kept it.

Not sure how true it is. Anyway he did not like the officers, so I imagine he had it pretty bad and saw horrific things.

[The Year Of The Fox]

A friend of my grandparents died last year and they were entrusted to sell the house etc. They found all sorts of medals, some from ww1 others from ww2. My grandma has a book on collectable things, and from the ww2 set she's one ribbon (she has the medal) short of the full set. Think these medals were awarded when a soldier had been posted to a certain country. Think there are 6 in total. We also came across a ww1 medal which we believe got issued when a soldier died. (about as big as a saucer)

Anyone know what I'm on about? I'll take pics when I go to see her next. I know to some its no big deal, but being from a bible bashing family, my great grandparents were all non combatants, so these were the first medals I've ever held from back then.

[I am Rod Hull]

A friend of my grandparents died last year and they were entrusted to sell the house etc. They found all sorts of medals, some from ww1 others from ww2. My grandma has a book on collectable things, and from the ww2 set she's one ribbon (she has the medal) short of the full set. Think these medals were awarded when a soldier had been posted to a certain country. Think there are 6 in total. We also came across a ww1 medal which we believe got issued when a soldier died. (about as big as a saucer)

Anyone know what I'm on about? I'll take pics when I go to see her next. I know to some its no big deal, but being from a bible bashing family, my great grandparents were all non combatants, so these were the first medals I've ever held from back then.

I for one would love to see the pictures...

[The Year Of The Fox]

I for one would love to see the pictures...

We are talking medals still and not my gran eh?!

[I am Rod Hull]

We are talking medals still and not my gran eh?!

Either..

[The Year Of The Fox]

Medals it is!

[wellsy]

I work for Betfred and my customers were very respectful. Apart from 2 cvnts who didn't stop talking through it all. I gave him my views afterwards and he soon apologised, still pissed me off. No respect. Wore my poppy with pride today.

[ajthefox]

I work for Betfred and my customers were very respectful. Apart from 2 cvnts who didn't stop talking through it all. I gave him my views afterwards and he soon apologised, still pissed me off. No respect. Wore my poppy with pride today.

How do you know that?

For one reason or another it did not dawn on me at 11.

I was sat in a lecture room with about 40 other people waiting for our lecture and then all of a sudden someone starts getting uppity about it.

As soon as someone mentioned it I and everyone else talking shut up, but how dare you or anyone tell me how much respect I have for those who lost their lives just because I forgot about it.

[The Doctor]

Completely agree with AJ here, just because a person doesn't follow conventional tradition doesn't mean they have no respect for those who died in the two world wars (that's all Armistice day means and is why I recognise it as a valid day but not remembrance Sunday).

Saying that anyone who doesn't remain silent is akin to saying anyone who wears a poppy is truly respectful when in reality they could be a knuckle-dragging ****wit who has no idea what the poppy stands for and just wears one because he's told its' the right thing to do.

[Rincewind]

I was at my IT course. When I got there I heard one of the tutors say something about it. I was expecting at 11 for them to ask for quiet but it never happened. Next time I looked at my watch it was 11.05. It would have been difficult to implement it for all anyway. There may have been one or two on exams and they are timed so 2 missed minutes could see them fail. I dont mean that to sound bad just saying it is not always possible to observe the silence. The room was fairly quiet anyway and anyone wanting to stop what they were doing could have done. I forgot because I was grappling with an IT problem.

[J.Lisemore]

How do you know that?

For one reason or another it did not dawn on me at 11.

I was sat in a lecture room with about 40 other people waiting for our lecture and then all of a sudden someone starts getting uppity about it.

As soon as someone mentioned it I and everyone else talking shut up, but how dare you or anyone tell me how much respect I have for those who lost their lives just because I forgot about it.

Read what hes put... their were people talking in a betting shop when everybody else were quiet. Shame on the people who talked through it. A couple of minutes of respect was called for, and that wasn't it.

How anyone can 'forget' something like this is beyond me anyway.

[The Year Of The Fox]

How do you know that?

For one reason or another it did not dawn on me at 11.

I was sat in a lecture room with about 40 other people waiting for our lecture and then all of a sudden someone starts getting uppity about it.

As soon as someone mentioned it I and everyone else talking shut up, but how dare you or anyone tell me how much respect I have for those who lost their lives just because I forgot about it.

Sorry but if someone had that much respect then they wouldn't forget. It was the only thing on my mind all day. Not trying to insult you, just saying.

[Finnegan]

It's getting awfully GCSE in here.