Remembrance day

[goinbroke2]

Cheers to all my brothers in arms out there, some above and some below ground, I'm raising a glass in your honour.

For those who don't know, today is Remembrance day in Canada and other commonwealth countries. A chance for so many to appreciate so few for doing so much with so little.

Arte et Marte (by skill and by fighting)

[thecroweater]

Yep my Great Grandfather for one and he fought for Canada. Was nice to hear from my kids that the school observed the 11th of 11th 11 o'clock minute of silence after the reading of the ode, did wonder if schools still paid that honor.

[Plaincrazy]

When I was a kid Remembrance day had old men in wheel chairs with chests full of medals, now Remembrance day has young men/women in wheel chairs with chests full of medals.
Thank you to all who served, serve and will serve.

Lest we forget.

[goinbroke2]

Raising one to all that came before and paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Lest we never forget.






ARTE et MARTE! (by skill and by fighting)

[Bushman]

Wreaths across America is a great program. You can volunteer or purchase a wreath to be layed on a grave of a fallen soldier.
If you live near Arlington cemetery it is a moving experience.

[TDick]

Cheers to my friends to the North.
It wasn't easy finding a version that wasn't before a hockey game!

[thecroweater]

The signing of the armistice is a big deal but these dates 12 months earlier were very significant. It was on the 10th of Nov 1917 that the Canadian expeditionary forces took paschendeal breaking the German line while the Anzac took the polygon woods nearby. Those battles cost 20,000 casualties including my Great Grandfather who lost his leg there. Those battles at great cost changed the course of the war in Europe. I remember seeing photos as a kid, that place looked like some kind of hell on earth.
The 31st of October 1917 was the date of the most successful cavalry charge of the Australian light horse at Beersheba using just hand help bayonets .
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba_(1917" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow)

[Stainless]

Never forget those who went before.

[Stainless]

Gone but not forgotten.

[Pikey]

To be honest, I struggle a bit with Remembrance day this year, Bearing in mind all those graves of young men and how the Aussies, Canadians and other Commonwealth countries turned out for us (UK), only to have us desert them a few years later when Harold Wilson took us into the "Common Market" and one of the conditions was that we disband the Commonwealth !

I think for "oldies" like me, the guilt of that weighs heavy, although I never realised until just a few weeks ago that "Brexit" had other symbolic implications too !

[thecroweater]

Yep don't want to disrespect this thread too much but brexit is the first morally right thing the UK as a commonwealth nation has done in a darn long long time and about bloody time. Took a lot of years of getting shafted by the EU for the UK to work out old mates are best mates and a nation needs to know who its friend are.

[Truckinbutch]

Yep don't want to disrespect this thread too much but brexit is the first morally right thing the UK as a commonwealth nation has done in a darn long long time and about bloody time. Took a lot of years of getting shafted by the EU for the UK to work out old mates are best mates and a nation needs to know who its friend are.

Well spoken . A common people banded together , formed a common bond , and defeated a common enemy . Bless all of us for their sacrifices .

[frost021]

Great Post GFB ...Salute to all our Veterans That have put their Lives on the line that are here and no longer with us to give us the freedoms we have today My ultimate respects to all that Have Served to protect,Salute !!!

[thecroweater]

With the centenary of armistice day fast approaching (2 days away here) I thought some of you guys might be interested to know that the Canadian Expeditionary Force personnel records finally seen to be digitalised. Just spent a good long awhile going over my great grandfather's records. War Diaries to coincide with dates you might require are pretty darn hard to navigate and might not be all digitalised yet but there is a great deal of service records that can be publicly viewed.

[Yonder]

Next 3 days I'll be doing veteran's day celebrations here. Local middle school does a terrific honor ceremony for all the local vets on Friday. The city does a memorial at the park where the Legion is hosted by Hizzoner, and the 11th they do a big city shindig in rememberance. Never forget the sacrifices of those who serve and fought for your freedom.

[Pikey]

It strikes me that some of our younger readers may not know what all the fuss is about.

Here Eric Bogle puts it in song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxkhBvO8_kM

Please take the 6 minutes to watch this if you don't really know (and probably as well if you do ! ) - see where the poppies came from too.

7 million civilian types and TEN MILLION soldiers were killed in that damned war !

https://www.historyonthenet.com/how-man ... ied-in-ww1

[thecroweater]

It strikes me that some of our younger readers may not know what all the fuss is about

Most young folks here would know, we learn it at home and in school. Although Australia has been involved in 15 conflicts since independence none quite had the same effect on the young nation as the Great War. Australia's AIF casualty rate was the highest among the Allied nations at nearly 65% resulting in 13% of the Australian population. Just to put that per capita in perspective that would be the same as 42,625,000 American casualties today, there simple no unaffected families or industry, it is burnt into the national psyche. I know I have relatives that did not return and one Great Grandfather that returned physically ok but mentally messed up. God only knows what he endured in Gallipoli, Palestine and the western front but he was just one of many.
My paternal Great Grandfather fought in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the 19th battalion, I alway knew about where he was wounded but until reasently no exactly where and when. The last major engagement he was in was the battle for Mont Sorrel Ypres salient that was successful but at a very heavy cost with the 19th suffering over 8,000 casualties. He actually survived that relatively unscathed only to be badly wounded by trench mortar shrapnel two days latter on the 16th of June 1916. I fondly recall him as a kind old Gentleman and wished time had allowed me to have known him better

[TDick]

Cheers to my friends to the North, AS WELL AS OTHER PARTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH!
It wasn't easy finding a version that wasn't before a hockey game!

Has it already been a year?!

Of course here in the United States, "the eleventh day of the eleventh month" used to be Armistice Day, now Veteran's Day.

[Fiddleford]

Here's one of my great-grandfathers I don't know much about him Key points I know is he like his chair, pipe tobacco and he served as a infantryman, his brothers were pilot's that got shot down and served as pow's, and his father served in the first world war

[Beerbrewer]

Remembered my great, great uncle, David Pierce, South Lancashire Regiment who died on the 7th November 1916. From what I can remember he was promoted to sergeant very quickly because of the high attrition rates. I think myself very thankful that I did not have to go through that. Also remembering my Taid and Granddad who fought in the Mediterranean, one as a mine sweeper and the other being at the battle of Monte Cassino.

[DetroitDIY]

I listened to a very good pod cast on WWI this summer: Hardcore History - Blueprint for Armageddon, by Dan Carlin, about 15 hours long in total. I highly recommend it for those who want to understand the why this was like no other before it; so terrible. My heart goes out to all the soldiers and service people who have given so much for us.

[The Baker]

I listened to a very good pod cast on WWI this summer: Hardcore History - Blueprint for Armageddon, by Dan Carlin, about 15 hours long in total. I highly recommend it for those who want to understand the why this was like no other before it; so terrible. My heart goes out to all the soldiers and service people who have given so much for us.

Idiot generals on both sides sending waves of infantry against sited-in machine guns.
My father's brother died in that war, hit by shrapnel from a shell. We visited his grave last year.

Geoff