Armistice Day

[Big_Sharps]

Given the day, I propose no bickering today and everybody getting along if only just for 1 day.

Lest we forget remember to be silent at 11am.

[Jamster26]

Agreed, Sharps.

[Diana Prince]

Well said.

[Sluffy]

Absolutely.


"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 contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them".

Laurence Binyon



(contemn = view with contempt).

[1andonly1derer]

Lest we forget.

[Mr Magoo]

God bless them all.

[aarons2009]

Well said sharps.

Lest we forget.

[1andonly1derer]

Some people at work didn't even log out of the phones and were taking calls during the silence.

Extremely disrespectful.

[largehat]

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

- Rupert Brooke

[Squidgy]

Well said.

I'm man enough to admit I always get a lump in my throat when observing the silence

[Big_Sharps]

Some people at work didn't even log out of the phones and were taking calls during the silence.

Extremely disrespectful.

Did your work not highlight it?

My place has mentioned it to us numerous times and it was silent in here for 2 mins, not that we should have a problem giving up 2 minutes but how long does 2 minutes in silence seem to last.

[1andonly1derer]

I know, an email went round to say that there would be ONE minut'es silence. It was quickly pointed out it was 2.

I couldn't believe that people carried on working as though it was nothing.

[Big_Sharps]

I know, an email went round to say that there would be ONE minut'es silence. It was quickly pointed out it was 2.

I couldn't believe that people carried on working as though it was nothing.

The ignorance of some people is baffling.

[ReebokTrotter]

I was in Asda and they held a two minute silence.  Really good to see.

[bwfcbob123]

Lest We Forget. God bless them all.

[exile in bolton]

Ninety Four years ago on the 10th nov at 5.50am the 1st. Canadian Division which included the 7th. battalion(1st.British Columbia)
started the final attack on what was Passchendaele village, now in total ruins.
It was raining again and bitterly cold, that Autumn the area of Flanders had 4 times the normal rainfall.

John Morgan Jones, born in Birkenhead but after leaving school couldn`t get work as lots of soldiers returning from the Boer War
caused mass unemployment. He decided to emigrate, sailing from Liverpool in June 1902 and went to work for his uncle on a
farm in Nebraska, U.S.A. After three years he went across the border into Canada, tens of thousands were going into the country
at this time, railroads being built, timber working, mines for coal and precious metals.
The next we know of him is signing Attestation Papers to join up for the army in March 1915 at New Westminster, now Vancouver.
His battalion sailed to England in August 1915 after training and then had another month in trench warfare training before going
over to Flanders in September 1915.
Wounded late in 1915 which required hospital treatment, fighting in various places in 1916, but not on the Somme and a slight wound again
which needed a short stay in hospital.
Spring of 1917 saw him in the battle for Vimy Ridge after being in hospital for a bit with tuberculosis, another small wound in this fighting
and a return Flanders which saw him in trouble with some of his pay being stopped and going to hospital for treatment for an STD.
The battle for Passchendaele ridge started in the Autumn of 1917, this ridge alongside Messines ridge were the only high ground for miles.

On the 10th November the 7th. Battalion were attacking from the Musselmarkt in a N.E. direction to clear the last remaining Germans from the
remains of the village. Mud was up to their knees, rifles had covers or bits of hessian wrapped over the muzzle and the bolt  to try and keep
them clear and not jam, reports after the battle said that not many rifles remained working after 5 minutes.
The attack was held up by two concrete block-houses supported by 3 machine-guns and casualties were very high, the advance was only
coninued after a sergeant and 4 scouts attacked the Germans from the side.
All this was going on with heavy artillery barrage from the Germans, even more so when the ridge was cleared.

John Morgan Jones was reported as missing in action the next day, a week later his family in Birkenhead were informed of the news.
Shortly after this his mother put a photo and a piece in the local newspaper asking if anyone had information about him.
Just before Christmas 1917 he was officially declared as killed in action.

In May 1920 while clearing the ground to build a church on the outskirts of Passchendaele his remains along with two other Canadian
soldiers was found. John was the only soldier of the three to be identified and all were given a proper burial in Tyne-Cot Cemetery.

In Flanders Fields
The Poppies blow,
Between the Crosses
Row on Row........

This poem was written by a Canadian Captain on the ridge in memory of a friend who had died in the final attack


Just one story from the many thousands

[spudulika]

I am at Squidgy's place and was able to hear The Last Post being played at the memorial service where he works with canon fire straight afterwards, I have to say it brought a lump to my throat.

Lest we forget.

[ReebokTrotter]

Ninety Four years ago on the 10th nov at 5.50am the 1st. Canadian Division which included the 7th. battalion(1st.British Columbia)
started the final attack on what was Passchendaele village, now in total ruins.
It was raining again and bitterly cold, that Autumn the area of Flanders had 4 times the normal rainfall.

John Morgan Jones, born in Birkenhead but after leaving school couldn`t get work as lots of soldiers returning from the Boer War
caused mass unemployment. He decided to emigrate, sailing from Liverpool in June 1902 and went to work for his uncle on a
farm in Nebraska, U.S.A. After three years he went across the border into Canada, tens of thousands were going into the country
at this time, railroads being built, timber working, mines for coal and precious metals.
The next we know of him is signing Attestation Papers to join up for the army in March 1915 at New Westminster, now Vancouver.
His battalion sailed to England in August 1915 after training and then had another month in trench warfare training before going
over to Flanders in September 1915.
Wounded late in 1915 which required hospital treatment, fighting in various places in 1916, but not on the Somme and a slight wound again
which needed a short stay in hospital.
Spring of 1917 saw him in the battle for Vimy Ridge after being in hospital for a bit with tuberculosis, another small wound in this fighting
and a return Flanders which saw him in trouble with some of his pay being stopped and going to hospital for treatment for an STD.
The battle for Passchendaele ridge started in the Autumn of 1917, this ridge alongside Messines ridge were the only high ground for miles.

On the 10th November the 7th. Battalion were attacking from the Musselmarkt in a N.E. direction to clear the last remaining Germans from the
remains of the village. Mud was up to their knees, rifles had covers or bits of hessian wrapped over the muzzle and the bolt  to try and keep
them clear and not jam, reports after the battle said that not many rifles remained working after 5 minutes.
The attack was held up by two concrete block-houses supported by 3 machine-guns and casualties were very high, the advance was only
coninued after a sergeant and 4 scouts attacked the Germans from the side.
All this was going on with heavy artillery barrage from the Germans, even more so when the ridge was cleared.

John Morgan Jones was reported as missing in action the next day, a week later his family in Birkenhead were informed of the news.
Shortly after this his mother put a photo and a piece in the local newspaper asking if anyone had information about him.
Just before Christmas 1917 he was officially declared as killed in action.

In May 1920 while clearing the ground to build a church on the outskirts of Passchendaele his remains along with two other Canadian
soldiers was found. John was the only soldier of the three to be identified and all were given a proper burial in Tyne-Cot Cemetery.

In Flanders Fields
The Poppies blow,
Between the Crosses
Row on Row........

This poem was written by a Canadian Captain on the ridge in memory of a friend who had died in the final attack


Just one story from the many thousands

Nice one, Exile.

 http://youtu.be/jDnbsrjd8Qg