General Chat

Profoundly moving and beautifully done.

An ancestor from a branch of the family I never knew existed until I started my research, died in the Somme offensive - in September 1916 at the battle of Flers-Courcelette.

It must have been amazing for him - and something he will remember for the rest of his life......x

The grandson of Ros from Glasgow played one of the Ghost soldiers, it must have been an honour for him.

Lizx

I read about the Ghost Soldiers last night, and found it very moving.

and very sad that apparently some (??many) people passed by seemingly without even noticing them :-(

My grandfather served in WW1 from 1915-1919, mainly in the Machine Gun Corps in possibly France, butmost time in "Mesopotamia", ie modern day Iraq.

He was in his mid-30s, married, with 3 children. He did come home, seeming uninjured. He never talked about it, I think there was one photograph of him in his uniform that my grandmother had on her dressing table but it disappeared after she died in 1954, and he never went to any service or marched on Novembr 11.

My father's oldest brother also served in WW1 from 1914-1919. He was 19, single, and spent most of his time in France. He received a shotgun wound and was gassed .......... but met his future wife when returned to England and sent to a rehabilitation hospital. He was never really fit afterwards, but they did have 6 children, and he died in the early 1970s in Australia.

He also never talked about the details, though his children knew about the injuries ........... the gun scar obvious!

A true ghost story :

After the Battle of Gallipoli Claude was sent to the battlefields of France. When Raymond, who was stationed near by, found out he was there, he went and sought out his brother. They agreed to meet when they both had leave. This happened 3 or 4 times.

The last time they met, Raymond was just walking down the road and meet Claude coming the other way. As they parted Raymond had a feeling it was for the last time. When he got back to his unit, there was a telegram from his father saying that Claude had died 2 days earlier.

Claude died July 30 1916 at the age of 27.

I hope Claude and Grandpa are enjoying their time together now, just chatting and walking over the old battlefields

Your poor father Jean......how awful for him :(

I thought it was a brilliant idea - well planned and well done. x

I too thought the ghost soldiers very moving, my father was in that terrible war, he was gassed and sent home, I remember him saying "I would have been better if I had been killed "
He had some years of hell unable to breathe and I remember seeing him crawling on the floor on his way home from work,heartbraking...

Jean x

for anybody who missed it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ9j5mDRCwQ

it just makes me weep

I feel the 'ghost' soldiers really brought home the huge losses In WW1.

very poignant indeed

Yes, a 1000x yes.

It is often said that the events of 100 years ago are just stuff in history books. My GF, a professional soldier, fought from the first to the last day - I still have his Mons clasp. Through the Royal Artillery and Gaudeloupe Barracks in Hampshire he met my granny. She had four brothers all of whom were killed 1916-1918 two on the Somme.

She never even began to get over it and the sadness was with her all the rest of her life passed on to her grandchildren. She was wildly against the sort of narrow "patriotism" espoused by UKIP and its ilk. She passed on to me an undying hatred of fascism in whatever crawly shape it may emerge from under a stone.

My GF main objective was to keep his men alive in which, by the standards of the day, he was reasonably successful. This are his military codes:

"There are bold soldiers.
There are old soldiers.
There are no old, bold soldiers"

"Dead soldier's don't shoot"

"A horse is man's best friend"

H eschewed the celebrations of what was, for him, the mass murder of the common man such as those celebrations we saw yesterday. Then as now most of the men who were killed, injured and disfigured would not have been allowed across the door step of the "great and the good" before 1914 and certainly were not after 1918.

Instead decorated men with families were left starving on the street at the mercy of the relieving officer. The country came close to revolution in 1919 and again in 1921.

Get your google out and enter these search terms
stanley spencer sandham memorial chapel
choose "images"

<3

It was very impressive and very thought provoking. I didn't realise they handed out cards with a soldier's name on it. What a great idea.

Kath. x

I thought it was wonderful. Both our grandfathers fought in this war, one survived, the other didn't, so it was a poignant reminder of what happened all those years ago.

Certainly made me think. Very moving and humbling too.

Imprssive.

Very very touching .....reflection was certainly made

Saw a clip on this mornings news .. A wonderful idea to bring history to life.

Was anyone else moved by the sight of the young men, dressed as WW1 soldiers, marching through various towns and cities yesterday?

To commemorate the start of the Battle of the Somme, these young, silent actors appeared at various venues as a reminder of how many were killed during that horrible war. Occasionally, they burst into "We're here because we here".....which was apparently sung regularly at the battle front.

When approached by a member of the public, they simply handed out a card bearing the name and details of a soldier who had been killed 100 years ago.


Personally, I thought it was a fantastic idea to bring home - especially to the younger ones - just what happened all those years ago - in the name of freedom.